“Please. Thank you,” I said, shaking my head.
I turned back and looked at Horatio who had pulled off his tie and the crisp white business shirt he’d been wearing, paring down to a white T-shirt over his dark jeans. As he pulled off his dress shirt, the T-shirt slipped up just a bit to reveal a tanned six-pack with a blush of dark hair just above his belt buckle. Given the scene I’d just witnessed, and the fact that my blood was thundering so loudly in my ears that I could barely stand it, my heart still pumping hard, something inside me groaned. I looked away, feeling a blush rise in my cheeks.
“So, with that matter out of the way, what do we work on first?” he asked.
I looked back to see him toying with a hammer.
My head screamed, the bedroom, let’s work on the bedroom, but pulling myself together, I asked, “What just happened here? Did you just quit your job?”
“Since my mom died, my dad has turned into the biggest ass on the face of the planet. As of this morning, I’m done. Today, I’m your handyman. Tomorrow, I’ll start my position as the Executive Director of the Chancellor Arts Council.”
“Well, then,” I said, stepping close to him, taking the hammer from his hand, “seems like I have you right where I want you.”
Horatio smiled deeply at me.
I wanted to kiss him. More than anything, I wanted to kiss him.
“What now?” he whispered, leaning in toward me.
My stomach shook with giant-sized butterflies. “Floorboards?” I said, my voice shaking.
“Floorboards?”
“In…in the…the kitchen,” I stammered. “They need to be fixed.”
Horatio smiled, touching my chin lightly with his curled finger, then he took the hammer back.
“Then I guess I better get to work,” he said and headed toward the back, leaving me behind with my heart still pounding. But now, it was thumping out a new song.
Chapter 12: Horatio
“Anyone hungry?” Alice called from the door of Julie’s shop late that night. Without waiting, she entered at once, uttering an “oooh!” as she gazed over the room. Grinning, Rayne entered behind her. Chancellor’s matriarchs had truly adopted Julie. All day long, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, lawn care workers, and even a guy to measure the greenhouse windows, had been by. By that evening, Julie had running water, electricity, the gas turned back on, minor repairs taken care of, and thanks to me, much of the shopfront cleaned…as well as her loose floorboards repaired.
“I always wanted to see inside here. I even snuck a peek through the window once. It’s beautiful,” Alice said, admiring the place. “Julie! Hope you don’t mind the impromptu welcome party.”
“You have beer and food. You can always come in,” Julie said with a laugh.
“I’m just freeloading. Does that count?” Rayne asked.
“In my books, yes.”
“God, look at this woodwork. This place is amazing,” Alice gushed once more.
“I love it,” Julie said wistfully. “I feel like I’m riding some strange wave of fate, tossing me along toward a dream come true.”
Rayne, a perpetual metaphysical guru, smiled at that. “Massive action leads to massive results.”
“Ah, another Rayne-ism,” I said jokingly.
“No, that’s Tony Robbins.”
We laughed.
“Picnic?” Alice asked.
“Well, the greenhouse is mostly cleared out now, and I have some candles we could light. There are some paint throws in the back. I’ll go grab them,” Julie said then darted toward the back.
“She is adorable,” Alice said to me. “Do not screw it up…again.”
“I’m trying.”
“So I hear. Viola called. She said you quit the winery.”
“Well, massive action leads to massive results,” I said, grinning at Rayne.
Rayne winked. “What’s next?”
“The Arts Council…I took the job.”
“No. Freaking. Way. You did?” Alice said.
Rayne nodded approvingly.
“It was time. I needed to move to something good, something different.”
“And something sweet,” Alice said with a wink.
As if on cue, Julie appeared from behind the counter. Her clothes were dirty from the long day of work, her cheeks flushed red from exhaustion, but she looked perfectly beautiful. Everything in me wanted to just crush her against me and hold her, protect her. She was just a tiny sweet thing, but she was no wilting violet. The image of my father standing over her, his face shaking with rage while Julie stood her ground, struck me to the core. In that single moment, I hated my father more than I had ever hated him before. And I was also struck with awe of this girl who took no shit from him, not caring even a little about who he was. That day, I’d seen both of them very clearly, and it was very obvious whose side I wanted to be on.
“Here, let me help you,” I said, crossing the room to take the bundle of paint throws from her.
Alice, Rayne, Julie, and I then went about setting the blankets out on the floor of the old greenhouse. A worker had hauled away a ton of weeds, old pots, and worn tables, to reveal that the floor of the greenhouse was actually set with stonework. Overhead, wrought iron, the white paint now mostly chipped away, curved beautifully. Being in the greenhouse was a little like being in an ornate Victorian birdcage.
“This place is so cool,” Alice said as she helped spread out the cloths.
“I’m going to open a tearoom,” Julie said. “I’m going to get café tables for this area. I’ll offer daily high tea. Wait, that won’t put me in competition with you, will it, Alice?” Julie said. A look crossed her face when it suddenly appeared she might be drawing business off a new friend. The look made me adore her all the more. This was no ruthless businesswoman. And someone with a heart like that belonged in Chancellor.
Alice shook her head. “I mostly get the college crowd, weekend brunch people, people on their way to work. Sandwiches, coffee, and bagels on the run. Different market. But if you ever want to cross promote, I’m all ears.”
“You got it.”
Alice set out dinner, handing each of us a box. “Corned beef on an asiago cheese bagel for the carnivore,” she said, handing me a box. “Jalapeno Swiss cheese bagel and turkey for me, and for the resident vegetarians, grilled portabella parmigiana on a rosemary Panini.”
“And an alcoholic beverage,” Rayne said, handing us each a pumpkin wheat beer, “not made from grapes,” he added with a smirk. “Shall we toast? To Julie’s new venture?”
“How about to Mrs. Aster, who was kind enough to leave this place to my family?”
Rayne nodded.
“To Mrs. Aster,” Julie called, hoisting her beer.
“To Mrs. Aster,” we all added.
At that, a deep chill swept through the place, and along with it came the sweet scent of flowers. We all paused and looked at one another.
After a moment, Rayne laughed. “Looks like Emma Jane didn’t want to miss the party,” he said then lifted his beer. “And may our lives be ever serendipitous,” he added.
I turned to Julie. “To serendipity,” I said.
She smiled softly. “To serendipity.”
Chapter 13: Julie
By the time Alice and Rayne left, my head was in the clouds. I picked up the throws while Horatio dropped the bottles into a recycling bin. Things in Chancellor were moving forward with such speed that I hardly knew what to think. The property, the help from Mrs. Aster’s old friends, Horatio, it was a lot to take in at once. All this time, finding a great guy had felt a bit like finding a proverbial needle in a haystack. It seemed that most of the guys at college had only one agenda in mind, and while I had my occasional dalliances, that wasn’t the kind of guy I was looking for. My mom’s and dad’s relationship had always been loving and respectful. My dad was a gentleman, and he had treated my mother like a lady. I wanted what they’d had. Thus far, I hadn’t found anyone who fit the bill. Horatio had made a horrendous first impression, but now I understood what had motivated him. Wanting to make your parents happy was a driving force I understood very well. It made you do stupid things.