“Okay.” Quinn swallowed hard as she stared at the open door to her old bedroom, then took a deep breath and told herself not to get sentimental. She checked the handle and poked the lock. “The latch isn’t falling into the hole.”
“I already established that,” Riley said humorously.
Quinn arched a brow as she turned to her. “Don’t get cheeky with me now. Watch and learn.”
“Sure, boss. You have my full attention.” Riley’s eyes lingered on hers for a long moment before she averted her gaze with a subtle flinch. Was Quinn mistaken or was there a hint of flirtation there?
“That’s what I like to hear,” she said, shaking off that thought. There was no way Riley would flirt with her; it made no sense. She opened and closed the door a few times. “The latch is too low. See how it doesn’t fall into the middle of the strike plate but slightly below?” She held her breath when Riley leaned in so close that their cheeks almost touched.
“Yes.”
“We need to reposition the strike plate, so the latch falls into the middle. Solutions are often simple. It’s all about analyzing the problem.”
Riley looked a little flustered as she straightened herself. “Does that mean someone did a bad job at installing it?”
“Exactly. They didn’t measure it properly.” Quinn tapped the handle. “See this system? It looks brand new. My guess is the previous owners did it themselves as a quick fix before they put the house on the market.” She handed Riley the screwdriver. “If you screw off the latch and measure how much higher it needs to go, I’ll go get my electric screwdriver from the truck to put it back on.”
By the time Quinn returned, Riley had already done what she’d asked her to do and carved a line a quarter of an inch higher. “Perfect. Have you ever used one of these?” She held up the small, wireless screwdriver.
“No. Is it dangerous?”
Quinn laughed and shook her head. “Far from. I’ll hold the latch while you screw it on. Just position it on the screw and press the button, that’s all there is to it.”
Riley didn’t look too sure of herself as she did so, and it was kind of adorable how she seemed terrified of a user-friendly household screwdriver even kids would be fine with. When the screw went in, her eyes widened, and she gasped. “It works!”
“Of course it works.” Quinn stepped back. “You can do the others yourself now, as long as you hold it in place.”
“I love this thing,” Riley said as she fixed the last screw. “It’s so quick and easy. I must get one.”
“You did great. Now try to close the door.”
Riley pumped her fist when the door fell into the lock, and to Quinn’s surprise, she hugged her. “Thank you! This was so much fun.”
“Fun?” Quinn’s heart did a little jump when she felt Riley’s breasts pressed against her chest. Yes, it was most certainly fun, especially this part.
Riley opened and closed the door again a few times, observing the basic mechanism that was clearly a miracle to her. Then she ran her hand over the doorframe, pointing out the carved ridges. “Now that you’re here, I might as well take advantage of your expertise. Can I use wood filler for this?” she asked. “Or should I sand it down and repaint it? It doesn’t look terrible, but I like things to be smooth.”
Quinn smiled sadly as she caressed the ridges.Happy birthday, Quinnie. Let’s see how much you’ve grown in a year.Her grandfather’s voice echoed through her mind. It was their birthday tradition, as she was always with her grandparents on August first. He’d made it so much fun for her that she didn’t even care that her parents were hardly ever there on her special day.
“Quinn? Are you okay?”
Riley’s voice pulled Quinn out of her memory. “Yeah.” She sighed and bent down to scrape off some of the paint with the screwdriver. “They’re not deep, so sanding would be best.” There it was; her name.
Riley followed her gaze and bent down to read it. “Quinn, August first, 1999.” She looked from Quinn to the doorframe and back and frowned. “You?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Quinn pointed to the top ridge. “This was my last birthday here. I was fourteen.”
A long silence followed as Riley studied her with intense curiosity. Then she frowned and cleared her throat. “I think we should have that coffee now.”
17
RILEY
“Your great-grandfather built this house?” Riley sat back and blew out her cheeks. “Wow. No wonder you were a bit touchy about my clumsy home improvements.”
“No. I had no right to be precious about it. It’s your house.”
Riley nodded. “Still, it must be difficult to see someone else move in here.”
