Lucky Break (Lucky 3)

Jason explained the situation, the emergency nature of the flood and the need to inspect the rest of the pipes in the old house as soon as possible.

“I understand and thanks.” Jason hung up. “All his guys are busy working at the elementary school. One of the pipes burst and they’re getting it fixed.”

Lauren gnawed on her lower lip. “What next?”

“He has a new guy who he just interviewed but hasn’t officially hired yet. He says he’s eager. Keeps checking in to find out if J.R.’s got room to hire him. He’s going to give the guy a call and send him over.”

She exhaled hard. “Okay, that’s one down. Ready to see the rest of the house?”

Half an hour later, he had a basic list, certain he’d be adding more as he started to work. Lauren would be in charge of cleaning and removing her grandmother’s clutter and deciding what large items needed to go. The buyers were coming from a small apartment and had agreed to take most of the existing furniture.

“We need to test the appliances and see if any require repair or replacement, check the overhead fixtures for the same thing, repaint the walls, refinish the floors, check the windows and doors, and that’s just off the top of my head.”

She nodded, appearing pale and overwhelmed.

“Before we go further, what’s with all the holes in the walls?” he asked. “It looks like someone deliberately broke through the Sheetrock.”

She shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. They weren’t here the last time I visited my grandmother.”

“What about the alarm system?” he asked.

“Broken.”

He made a note of that and realized Lauren had clenched her hands into tight fists.

“Listen, the next step is for us to talk budget,” he said.

Lauren drew a visibly shaky breath. “Let’s sit,” she suggested, leading him to the den, where he sat beside her on the couch.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, reading the worry in her expression.

“It’s the budget. There’s just so much more to do than I originally expected.”

He nodded in understanding. “I assumed as much.”

“Look, I make a great living. That’s not bragging, it’s fact.”

“Based on the Porsche in the driveway, I figured as much,” he said, grinning.

“It’s preowned but it’s my baby.”

He caught the satisfaction in her voice and understood. “I bought the Carrera after I nailed my first sponsor. And I sold it after the scandal.” It wasn’t easy to reveal his biggest humiliation, but he wanted her to know he truly understood her. Better than she might think.

She moved her hand, covering his, squeezing tight. “I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”

“By then there’d been so many degrees of awful, it didn’t matter all that much.”

“Liar,” she said softly.

His mouth pulled upward into a smile. Leave it to Lauren to call him on it. “Let’s focus on you, okay?”

“For now,” she said, giving him fair warning she wasn’t finished with him yet. “Anyway, after the first of the year, my dresses are debuting for a huge label in Paris. If it’s successful…” Her eyes widened, filled with excitement and anticipation. “It would be the answer to my dreams.”

“Then I have no doubt you’ll succeed.” He placed his hand over hers.

“Really?” She tilted her head to one side as she looked for his reassurance.

“Really. You have the drive, you have the talent and you’ve already been discovered. Now you just need for the world to see it, too.” He smiled, his pride in her growing as he spoke.