Page 17 of Take My Heart
‘Behind you.’ I head over to the cupboard where I keep theplates, the only two that I own.
Kate flips around just as I’m reaching up to get the plate and slams into my chest.
‘Sorry!’ She rears back. ‘I didn’t see you.’
‘It’s fine,’ I say, smiling when I see her cheeks blushing. I don’t know why she’s embarrassed. It’s not a big deal. I hand her the plate.
‘I didn’t mean to do that,’ she says, her voice breathy like she’s nervous.
What’s the deal with her? She’s so uptight. Or maybe she’s just shook up from what happened today.
‘You like ham?’ I ask, taking it from the fridge where I just put it away. ‘It’s either that or peanut butter. I need to go to the store. I probably should’ve gone before the storm started, but I got busy and forgot.’
‘Ham is fine,’ she says, taking it from me. She carefully peels back the plastic top from the container and takes out two slices.
‘You can have more than that,’ I tell her.
‘That’s plenty,’ she says, looking around.
‘What do you need?’
‘A knife.’
‘The drawer in front of you.’
She moves back and opens the drawer. ‘You only have one?’ she asks, seeing my nearly empty drawer.
‘I live alone. One is all I need.’
‘But if it gets dirty—’
‘I wash it.’
‘You don’t use the dishwasher?’
‘It’s broken. It’s been broken since I moved in.’
‘How long have you lived here?’ she asks, cutting her sandwich in half.
‘A few months.’
‘And you haven’t fixed the dishwasher?’ She turns and goes to the sink to clean the knife.
‘I got other shit I need to fix before I deal with the dishwasher.’
Just saying that makes my shoulders tense up and a knot form in my stomach. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking buying this house. The plan was to flip it, meaning fix it up and sell it for more than I paid, but once I moved in, I found the place needed a lot more work than I thought. My original plan was to re-tile the bathroom, paint the walls, replace the trim, and maybe put in new kitchen cabinets. Then I moved in and the furnace died, a water pipe burst, and the electrical kept shorting out. Those were all things I had to fix before doing anything else.
I’ve sunk thousands of dollars into this place and haven’t even started the repairs I’d planned to do. My credit cards are maxed out and last month I couldn’t even pay the mortgage. My brother Jason did. He had to. He’s on the loan. We didn’t tell our parents because I didn’t want them to know. I wanted them to think I did this on my own, and I tried to, but the bank wouldn’t let me. I’m too much of a risk. I’ve already got debt from buying equipment for my business and the bank didn’t want me taking on more. So Jason helped me buy the house, with the deal that I’d split the profits with him when I sold it. But now the place has become a money pit and Jason’s stuck paying the bills.
‘Brody?’ Kate says, waking me from my thoughts.
‘Yeah?’
‘Your phone.’ She takes it from the counter and hands it to me. I didn’t even notice it ringing.
‘Hey, this is Brody,’ I answer, not recognizing the number on the screen.
‘Brody, it’s Al Roberson,’ he says in his gruff old man voice. ‘The wife and I were wondering when you’ll be out to clear the driveway.’
