After she was comfortable, he sat as well. There was no need for them to stand, although he did continue to look around. Although, there was nothing wrong with two people meeting in a gazebo and talking. There certainly were no laws against it, and there was no reason for anyone to think that they were the Secret Saints.
He hadn’t made any deliveries tonight, although he didn’t know about her. But it was less important that people not see them now that they were together. As far as he knew, people assumed there was one Secret Saint.
“All right. This is what I think. Just from working with you with the wood, I got the feeling that you’re someone who works with your hands.”
“That’s accurate.”
“And that you can do handy jobs, like fix-it jobs around the house? That older people might need, or that people might not be able to afford to hire a handyman for.”
“That’s true. I’m—” He closed his mouth immediately. He was almost going to say that he had been doing handyman jobs around his mother’s house for years and that he had helped his family with various jobs as well, including roofing and putting additions onto homes, but he stopped just in time. He didn’t want to give her information that would identify him. He had to keep his guard up, no matter how disarming she might be. Although, he did not believe that she was being disarming in order to try to get him to give her information.
“All right. My expertise is more in knowing children’s Christmas lists, being able to buy groceries, and other things. And I’m very good at organizing and not so bad at decorating. I have a really vast supply network, and I can get a lot of donations without revealing my identity.”
“I have quite an extensive network of supplies as well, but you’re right about the organizing and decorating, and children are definitely not my forte. It sounds like we would work well together.”
“Yes. I was thinking that. I know of several large projects that Iwould like to have done, but I haven’t been able to because they’re beyond my skill level, and hiring someone to do it is a little bit different than having a volunteer.”
“All right. I suppose you know about the Kowalskis?”
“Yes. And the fact that their gutters are falling down and their shutters need to be rehung?”
“Exactly.”
“I know.”
“I would do it, but it’s gonna require some pounding, and that’s not exactly something you can sneak up and do in the middle of the night without waking people.”
“Actually, they’re going away all day tomorrow to visit their son and daughter who live in Maryland for a Christmas celebration with them. Their son couldn’t get off over Christmas, so they’re heading up there early. But just overnight. They’ll be back the next day.”
“All right. Perfect.” Wow, her sources were really good. “So we have a one-night opening.”
“Yes. And I can have all the supplies that you need.”
“I’ll have to check, but I think I can get everything.”
“I can come and give you a hand—I don’t know how much help I’ll be with the actual work.”
“Just knowing when an available time is is actually a huge help, because I didn’t know that they were leaving.”
He couldn’t see inside her hood enough to know whether she smiled or not, but there seemed to be a loosening in her body language, and he thought she was pleased, like she was pulling her own weight.
He was impressed with her knowledge and truly with her organization as well.
“There are a few other jobs that are small like that that need to be done, and I’ve been keeping an ear to the ground to try to figure out when people will be leaving so they could be slipped in. There’s also a porch that needs to be replaced, but that’s not exactly the kindof job one can do without permission. I’ve been trying to figure out?—”
“Are you talking about the Martins?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding eagerly.
“I know them, and I have a couple contacts. We can probably get permission. But I still think it would be nice to try to do it when they’re not around. Although… I’m not sure that’s something we can do in a night.”
“No. Probably not, although you would know that better than me.”
“And that will require a lot of material. A little bit more planning. We’ll have to keep that one in our pocket and think about it for a bit.”
She nodded, going along with what he suggested.
They talked a bit more about a few other families that they both knew, but the Kowalskis were the first on the list. He didn’t know about her, but the more he talked to her, the more he was impressed with her, the thought that she had been putting into this, as well as her extensive network of information. It rivaled his and maybe even surpassed it.
