Lucky Baby (Crescent Cove 11)

“God, I wish,” I muttered and unclipped my seatbelt. I opened the door and Butch leaped off my shoulder, then bounced from my lap to the ground. “Oh, shit.”

I should have gotten a damn leash. But instead of heading for the hills, she trotted after Ruby.

I relaxed and jogged after them. Damn woman had legs almost as long as mine. She stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. I came up behind her and she quickly moved to the side.

“As you can see, it’s a blank canvas.”

I reached behind my head to grip my neck. Blank canvas? It was a fucking wreck. The rafters looked half rotten and the roof was…not good. There were a f

ew half framed out sections that held rusted farm equipment. An honest to god hoe and rake that belonged in a horror movie hung on the wall. Moldy hay was strewn across the ground with a bale stuffed in the corner from God knew when. The flutter of wings made me wince.

Probably bats.

I glanced at her. “What are you looking for?”

“I was thinking a rec room-style bottom with maybe a bedroom or two. Actually, the more sleeping room, the better. Three brothers, remember?”

“Right.”

She twirled lightly with Butch dancing around her heels. “Pool table, a small kitchen kind of deal, beer cooler, electronics, and maybe a pinball machine or two.” She put her hands on her waist again. “Those are my first thoughts anyway.”

I walked into the musty, dust-filled space and mirrored her stance. I could see the walls fixed up with some shiplap, which was still a fairly hot commodity these days. A big TV with surround sound, maybe a record player if she was into that kind of retro thing. The roof needed to be replaced for sure, so maybe I could raise it a bit for some extra room.

“What’s my budget looking like?” Before I got more grandiose plans going in my mind, I needed to know where my ceiling was. “The bones are great, but I’ll need to figure out what the structure looks like.” I slapped the post in the center of the room. I could build around it and frame out the entire recreation space fairly easy. “These kinds of barns were built to last, but only when they’re properly taken care of.”

She tipped her head and gave me a long look. “Huh.”

“What?” I turned around and walked back toward her.

“You really do know what you’re doing.”

I frowned down at her. “Why the hell would you look to hire me if I didn’t?”

“I don’t know shit about you, buddy. You walked into my shop and bulldozed me into doing you a favor. Who knows what I was going to get in return? Guys talk a good game—like all the time.”

I stepped closer to her. “You must be talking to shitty guys, Ruby.”

She tipped up her sharp chin to meet my gaze. “We’ll see. Come on, I’ll make us some coffee, and we can hash out the details.”

And then she walked away from me again.

I looked down at my dog. “I hate when she does that, but I sure do like to watch her go.”

Butch yipped and followed, leaving me to be the caboose again in our crazy train.

I took another minute to take some photos with my app that gave me a fair assessment of measurements. I’d do a real measure when I brought my equipment.

I made some notes on my phone as I crossed her lawn. It was more crabgrass than anything at this point. I made a few more notes about doing a till and reseeding her for the spring. Not much use doing it now, of course. Her porch needed some help as well. I wasn’t sure just how much of a project she was looking for me to do, but I added it to the list of supplies I’d need.

The property was prime, that was for sure. I glanced over my shoulder at the shoreline less than an acre away from her front door. She had a rickety dock at the edge of her property line. If it were me, I’d put a wide dock instead of just a slip. She didn’t exactly seem like the boating type, but I bet she’d look damn hot in a bikini, sunning on the dock.

If redheads did that sort of thing.

Hmm. Maybe in her case, it would be more like one of those flowy girly coverups and a huge hat. Either way, I saw it in my head far too easily.

I turned back to her house and paused. Was I supposed to knock?

I scrubbed my palm on my thigh.