Page 9 of Nobody Does it Better (Lucky in Love)
My dad snickers.
I tilt my head. “What are you laughing at?”
With crinkled eyes, he shoots me a knowing stare. “Here and there? Are you softening things for the jury?”
“Are you saying I’m a man ho, Dad?”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “I’d never use that word. But I am saying you milked every possible advantage out of the Keating family charm. Your position in the firemen’s calendar too. You’ve never wanted for female companionship.”
I straighten my shoulders. “I like the ladies, and they like me. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Nothing at all. But that’s part of the issue for your sister. You’ve never been terribly serious with anyone, so Perri thinks you’re wrong for her friend. To top it off, you don’t seem sure whether you’re committed about Vanessa. Seems you have a few issues to deal with.”
I scrub a hand across my jaw, glad he broke it down but still perplexed as to what to do. “Guess I do have my work cut out for me.”
“Which one are you going to tackle first?”
“You tell me.”
He takes a drink of water, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “The most important part is how you feel for Vanessa.”
That’s the big one. I answer as truthfully as I can. “All I know is I don’t want anyone else near her.”
“You need to get to the bottom of that and understand precisely why. Once you know, then you can lay out the next steps: Are you asking Perri for permission to date Vanessa? Are you asking for permission to tell Vanessa you’re in love with her? Are you wanting something else? But more than that, it comes down to this—what about Vanessa? You don’t even know if she likes you. You need to figure that out, because if she doesn’t feel the same, nothing else matters.”
He’s right. That’s what I need to uncover sooner rather than later.
Sooner as in during these last days before the wedding.
After I say goodbye to my dad and slide into my truck, my phone rings.
What do you know? It’s sooner calling.
6
Shaw
With the phone cradled between my neck and shoulder, I rub my hands together, trying to warm up as I turn on the truck’s heater. Tahoe is balls-cold this time of year. “You’re saying your grandpa was going to help you get the cabin ready?”
“Yes. He was going to do all that, you know, manly stuff,” she says with a laugh, since we both know she doesn’t like handling those tasks. “Check the fireplace. Test the stove. Do stuff to the water heater. Make sure the gutters are un-guttered. You know what I mean.”
I laugh lightly. “All the things you don’t want to do.”
“Exactly. I freely admit I detest things with knobs and wires that require tools and hammers.” She emits a shuddering sound that’s horror-flick cringeworthy. I start to make a knob joke—because she can’t really detest a knob that can hammer well—but since I’m now officially jockeying for pole position with Jamie “Mr. Perfect” Sullivan, I might need to dial down the usual banter.
Be a little more sophisticated.
“Tools can be confounding,” I say.
“Exactly. Now, if Perri was around, I’d have her do that stuff. But since I’m getting the cabin ready for her honeymoon as a wedding gift, it was going to be Gramps and me. He was going to do all the maintenance, and I was going to change the bedding and set out towels, and make sure they had plenty of pretty shampoo and body wash.”
“I’m sure Derek will love the body wash. Make sure to get him a gardenia or lavender-scented one.” I’m not turning off the humor hose completely.
“Very funny. The body wash is for Perri.”
“Like I said, I’m sure Derek will enjoy the body wash,” I say, then it’s my turn to cringe, horror movie–style. “Wait. Let’s not talk about my sister and body wash. Back to Gramps. What happened? Is he busy at the horse ranch?”
Shortly after her granddad moved his family to the States two decades ago, he began working as a ranch manager and eventually went on to buy his own spread. Now he owns one in Nevada as well as the cabin here in Tahoe. He did well for himself for sure.
“Nope. He’s just not feeling so great. He has a stomach bug, and he’s staying at their main home an hour away.”
I pride myself on my iron stomach, glad it’s made of metal. “That’s no fun.”
“I know. He was planning on coming over this afternoon, but he has a date with the porcelain god. So Arden and I were on the phone, trying to figure out if I could find a local handyman. It’s getting late though.”
“I’ll do it.” There’s no way I’ll let another man save the day for her.
“Well, that was easy. Arden said that Gabe mentioned you were up here meeting with your finance guy, so I was hoping you were still around. I don’t have a clue how those dang fireplaces work. You’re handy, right?”
