Page 67 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
“I know that. But he needs help. Besides, you know everyone. You know him, right? Is he a bad guy?”
“No. He’s not a bad guy. Nice enough. Don’t know him very well. Works as a janitor at the school. But he’s still not staying at the farmhouse.”
“Where’s he going to stay then?” I asked.
“He’s just got to find a place to stay while he’s waiting on insurance. I’m sure he’ll get a payout. Probably within the week. Until then, he’s staying with Everett Carlson.”
“Everett?”
I hadn’t seen Everett yet today but I was definitely going to track him down after Jess left.
“Yeah. He lives next door. Was out there all night.”
“Really?” I said. “That’s nice of Everett to take him in.”
“Ha. I bet Maze doesn’t think so. Actually surprised you haven’t gotten the scoop from her yet. She was with him last night. Came outside wearing his shirt and sweats.”
“You’re kidding!” I jumped up from my seat to kneel in the chair.
“Nope.”
“Wow. She said they’d gone out a couple of times but that he hadn’t seemed too interested in being more than friends. I guess that changed.”
Jess checked his watch and stood up to leave. We’d just made it to the front doors and he’d given me a quick kiss good-bye when “Gigi!” sounded behind me. Jess rolled his eyes and pulled on his sunglasses, heading out, while I turned to greet a very excited Maisy.
“So? What do you think?” he asked.
We were exploring my new garage after work. Ryan and his crew had just finished this morning.
“It’s, ah, big.”
And it was. Huge. Way bigger than anything I needed.
“I’m not quite sure why I need all of this extra space. I could fit two extra vehicles in here plus all of the boxes I have stored in the attic with room to spare.”
He smirked at me like he knew something I didn’t.
“It’s nice though,” I said. “I like that the outside matches the house. And the little windows all along the sides and the front were a nice touch. Makes it seems less garagey.”
“Garagey?”
“Garagey. You know, not pretty. Usually garages are so boxy and practical. Big white doors that don’t coordinate with the rest of a house.”
“So you like that I had him make it ‘pretty.’ ”
“Yes. I like that it’s pretty.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
He could tease all he wanted. I didn’t feel one ounce of shame that the aesthetics of the garage were my favorite part.
“I had them put in a thermal water heating system so it will stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Won’t skyrocket your heating bill. Does that rank above pretty?”
“Nope.”
“That bench is custom built over there for tool storage. The cart and drawers, specially brought in. Does that rank above pretty?”
“Tools? No. Definitely not.” I laughed.
He took a deep breath and sighed. “So you’re saying you would have been fine with anything I decided to have them build as long as you got those fancy little windows, the wooden doors out front, the barn-style hardware and the expensive lights that match the front porch.”
