Page 90 of Must Love Flowers
Her father wasn’t finished with him. “What the hell are you doing tearing up my house?”
“I’m repairing these steps, old man, and you should be grateful. Fact is, I could use a bit of help, so get out here.”
“Like hell I will.”
The standoff continued.
“Then I’m leaving, and you will only have half a porch.”
“Good riddance.”
“Dad,” Maggie cried, staring her father down.
Cursing everything he could think to blaspheme under heaven and earth, Roy opened the screen door and stepped outside. Nick handed him a hammer and told him what he needed to do. While her father was busy taking apart the steps, Nick worked on repairing the screen door.
Maggie had a dozen questions she wanted to ask him. Standing on the other side of the door, the screen between them, she watched him work.
“Nick.” She said his name as if it was a prayer. “I’ve missed you every minute of every day.”
He shrugged as if to say he’d gotten along just fine withouther.
Maggie smiled to herself, knowing from the way he’d returned her kiss that he felt as strongly about her as she did about him.
“You told my dad you intend to take advantage of me,” she reminded him.
He shrugged. “That’s what your dad’s doing.”
“If you believe that, then why are you here?”
He looked up and sighed. “Because I couldn’t stay away. God knows I tried. Then Mom told me what you’re doing and that you need a bank loan. She said it was unlikely with the house in its current condition.” He met her gaze. “I figured you could probably use a carpenter, and so here I am.”
“This old house needs more than a few new steps,” she said, feeling more than a little overwhelmed.
“You can say that again,” Nick said, looking around him.
He was right; it all felt so hopeless. “I called for a bid to see the cost of what it would be to paint the house and it was thousands of dollars.”
“Can you afford the paint?”
“I…I don’t know.” She wasn’t sure why he was asking.
“Seems to me between you, your dad, my mom, and me, we could work on getting it painted a bit at a time. Phil would probably help, too.”
Maggie bit her lower lip and nodded. “We could do that.”
“I couldn’t let the woman I’m falling in love with tackle this all on her own,” he said, meeting her gaze through the filter of the screen.
Maggie placed her hand over her heart and then set it on the screen. Nick grinned and pantomimed her gesture, their hands pressing against each other with the screen between them.
In the background, Maggie heard her father continuing to cuss away. It was all she could do to keep from laughing.
Chapter 30
Joan was exhausted and at the same time exhilarated. She’d spent the day helping Maggie and Roy Herbert, with Nick and Phil working at their side. They’d been at it for two weeks and made vast improvements—enough for the bank to agree to a loan. Roy was in rehab and following the program, determined to maintain his sobriety.
Nick and a couple of his friends from the construction crew had repaired the leaky roof, the house had a fresh coat of paint, and they’d recently started work on the inside, painting and updating. Most all the updates in the furniture had come from the Salvation Army. The kitchen had been the first project Maggie had tackled, with freshly painted cupboards and an almost new table-and-chairs set. She’d been able to replace the stove’s burners after trying to repair them and failing, and Nick had found a toaster oven on eBay for less than ten dollars.
The best news was that Roy was a resident at the Turning Point Treatment Center. Even better, Maggie had decided to move back in with Joan. Hearing the news had made Joan’s day. She’d missed her.
