Page 21 of Ocotillo Kisses
“Well, it’s really what we can do for you,” Poppy said, her voice as bright as her dress. “We’re on the Fourth of July celebration committee and we’re here to ask for permission to fix your walkway cover. We’ve noticed it’s sagging, and Con, Beck and Caleb are going to work to fix it here, and over the grocery store. But, you know, it will be disruptive, so we wanted to make sure we had your permission.”
Mr. Nazareth’s suspicious expression didn’t change as he looked from one to the other. “Why is he here?”
Con didn’t say he thought Mr. Nazareth would listen to a man better than a woman. “I want to get up there and look at it, make sure it’s not part of the roof.”
“It is.”
Con grimaced. Not the news he wanted to hear. “Okay, well, would it be okay if I went up and had a look anyway? See what kind of workaround we could manage?”
“I don’t want you cheaping out and then I have leaks in my store.”
Con blinked, but of course, he knew this conversation could turn into a confrontation. That was the other reason he was here. “We wouldn’t let that happen. But we’re not charging you for it, we’re doing it with the money from the town. We’re not out to ruin your roof. We’re trying to help you.”
Mr. Nazareth’s mouth settled into a deep frown, but he stepped back and motioned Con toward the back room. “There’s a ladder back there. You can go up and take a look if you want.”
“Thank you, sir.” Con hesitated, concerned about leaving Poppy alone but he went to retrieve the ladder, and motioned for her to hold the front door open for him as he carried it out. As the door closed, he heard Poppy ask Mr. Nazareth if she could clean the glass door. Con hoped she wasn’t going to do it while she was wearing that pretty dress, but he didn’t stop to say so. He found the sturdiest part of the walkway to lean the ladder against, and climbed up.
Man, this job was going to be a pain. He didn’t have much experience with this type of thing, but it looked like they were going to have to remove the shingles, rebuild part of the walkway, and reshingle. He’d hoped they’d be able to do the repairs from underneath, without having to get on the roof, but he didn’t think that was the case. He’d have to consult Caleb or Beck, since that was their job. He pulled out his phone and took a few pictures to send to them. To be honest, the whole roof needed work, but he wasn’t volunteering for that, especially as summer was approaching.
He was still on the roof when he saw the dark BMW pull into the square. Of all the luck. He was never in town, but when he was, she had to show up? He stayed on the ladder until he saw it pull in front of Austin’s offices. Britt hopped out first, circled the car as her grandmother got out of the passenger door.
Of course. She was taking care of her grandmother, and that would include doctor appointments. But today?
He leaned a little heavier against the roof as he watched her. Even though she was coming to a podunk doctor’s office in a podunk town, she still wore heels and a pants and a jacket, her long hair lose and blowing in the wind. She held it back with one hand as she leaned into the car to retrieve her grandmother’s purse.
Why did he still have this visceral reaction to her? Was it just memory? He had a perfectly suitable woman who liked him just feet away, but the pull was to Britt.
Maybe when she was gone, he could look at Poppy again with different eyes. Move on with his life when Britt had moved on with hers.
He’d tried that once, he remembered as he descended the ladder. Gone into the arms of Noelle Cassidy, a girl from Kimmel who had gone to high school with them. Married her impulsively, but he never could love her the right way, and she resented him for it. He could only be grateful they hadn’t had any kids in their short marriage, and even more grateful that she, like Britt, had left town after their divorce.
He hopped down the last two rungs, collapsed the ladder, and opened the door to see Poppy approaching with a rag and bottle of cleaner.
“You’re not doing that now, are you?”
“I mean, it shouldn’t take me long.”
“Yeah, but you’re dressed so nice.”
She smoothed her hands down the skirt. “Oh, thanks. We’ve been wearing jeans so much recently, I thought I’d dress up as much as I could before the end of the school year.”
He didn’t know what that meant, but watched as she sprayed the inside of the door generously. He stepped forward and took the rag from her.
“I’ll do it.”
She stepped back, speechless, and he found pretty quick that the rag wasn’t going to do enough to cut through months—who knew, years?—of grime. It was streaking across the glass, and he grumbled. Poppy went to fetch more rags, though he suspected that would only smear the glass more.
He had gone through half a dozen paper towels before he started to get rid of the streaks, and he was only on the top part of the door. He was glad he’d taken over from Poppy because his hands felt slimy, and his jeans were grimy.
He was about to quit at the midpoint of the door when he looked through the glass and saw Britt looking back at him.
He stilled, and she angled her head, a crooked smile canting her lips. He cursed and stepped back as she pushed the door in and entered.
“Should I ask?” Britt looked from him to Poppy and back to him.
“Ah, clean up committee. Your idea, I believe.” He stepped back beside Poppy.
“Seems random to start with the door?”
