He didn’t say much during the meal and he didn’t linger long afterward. She walked him to the door. “Will you buy the paint for the trim? I’ll reimburse you, of course.”
He nodded. “I’ll pick it up tomorrow. Light cream, right?”
“Right. Thanks again for everything, Trent. I love the way the room looks.”
“I’ll get to those broken boards this week. The whole place should be painted by the end of this month. That will leave plenty of time for me to get to Trent’s cabinets.”
“I’ll see you at your place Tuesday morning.”
“Yeah. See you.” It made him feel good just to say the words.
He was halfway home when he realized he was smiling, an image of Annie’s paint-freckled face still fresh in his mind. Then his smile faded as he realized he could be headed for another crash, if he wasn’t very careful.
ANNIE SMILED BRIGHTLY at Trent when he opened his door to her Tuesday morning. Carrying her cleaning supplies, she passed him quickly and set her things down before turning to him. “I saw that you dropped off the paint for the trim in the spare bedroom yesterday afternoon. I didn’t have time to paint, but the color looks as though it’s going to be perfect.”
“Good. I thought it would work. Maybe I’ll get to the trim today after I fix those boards.”
He was already moving to the door. Annie was disappointed that he seemed in a hurry to leave. She was hoping they could perhaps have coffee together before he left. They’d had such a nice time Sunday, but now Trent was acting distant again.
Did he regret spending those pleasant hours with her? Was he worried that she was starting to like him a bit too much? She couldn’t really blame him, since she’d quivered like a jellyfish every time he’d touched her Sunday, a reaction she hoped she’d managed to hide from him. She had convinced herself that her attraction to him didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends, which was all either of them was interested in for now. Apparently Trent still needed convincing.
Which meant that she should probably follow his example and keep things professional between them this morning. “Is there anything in particular you need me to do today?”
He shook his head. “Just the usual. I’ll see you around, Annie.”
“Okay. See you, Trent.”
But he was already gone, the door closed firmly behind him.
Annie sighed and shook her head as she set to work. One step forward and three steps back. That seemed to be the progression of her friendship—or whatever it was—with Trent. He was definitely a difficult man to understand. She wondered why she seemed so hell-bent to try.
She was leaving his house when she noticed a dark car parked on the opposite side of the road. She paid attention to it only because Trent’s house was on a cul-de-sac, and there was nothing beyond it in the direction the car was facing. Was someone lost? Having car trouble, perhaps? She wondered if she should ask, and had just taken a step toward it when the vehicle backed up, turned around and drove off in the direction of town. She caught only a glimpse of the driver—a man with dark hair, no one she recognized.
Shaking her head, she climbed into her own vehicle. The planets must be in a weird alignment or something today, she thought whimsically. Perhaps that was why everyone seemed to be acting so strangely.
ENCOURAGED BY how much better the one room already looked with a fresh coat of paint, Annie began to plan to further redecorate her home. She could already picture how much nicer and brighter everything would look when she and Trent had finished.
Deciding she might like a boldly patterned wallpaper in the kitchen, she stopped by a popular home-decorating store, Intriguing Interiors, on her way home Thursday afternoon, having finished a couple of hours earlier than usual. She’d seen an ad in the Honoria Gazette promoting several patterns of wallpaper on a half-off clearance through the end of the month, which just might put it in her price range.
She was browsing through the clearance racks at the back of the store when she overheard a conversation in the next aisle. She couldn’t see the speakers, nor did she recognize the voices, but she couldn’t help eavesdropping since they made no effort to lower their volume.
“Did you hear about someone breaking into Joe Baker’s storage shed?” one woman asked the other. “They got his four-wheeler and all his fishing gear.”
“I heard they even took the old fly rod that had once belonged to his granddaddy. Now what kind of lowlife scum does things like that?”
Making a mental note to be more careful about locking her doors and windows from now on—and uncomfortably remembering the car that had been parked so mysteriously outside Trent’s house—Annie moved on to the next batch of wallpaper, looking for patterns and colors that appealed to her.
The women continued their conversation. “I’m sure Chief Davenport will find whoever did it. He sure seems to take it personally when someone breaks the law around here. By the way, did you know someone bought that old house on the end of Deer Run? The old Garrett place?”
“You’re kidding. Who would want that eyesore?”
“I heard it was someone from out of town. Some guy who likes to buy old houses and restore them.”
“I’m sure the Garrett place was nice in its time, but I don’t think it’s worth restoring. It will probably cost him more than it’s worth just to make it livable.”
“Well, you never know. A good contractor can do wonders with those old historic places.”
Annie wondered if the unknown buyer would be interested in hiring a very skilled woodworker to assist in the restoration project. Trent could…