And before she could press him for more details, another potential customer approached, and Thea settled in to watch him work.
It was her pleasure, truly.
Eleven
“Hello?” Aiden pushed open the front door and stepped over the threshold of the house on Prospect Point. “Is there a homeowner on the premises?”
“In the back!”
He weaved through the stack of boxes piled against the wall in the hallway and headed for the sunroom. As he moved through the house, he squinted up at the low-wattage fixture struggling to illuminate the hallway. One more thing for his list of items in need of the Murdoch touch. When he reached the all-glass room, the lady of the house was sprawled on one of the three colorful striped lounge chairs lined up and facing the Illinois River.
“The queen’s in her castle, I see.”
Thea stretched like a lazy cat, grinning up at him. “She is. She’s quite content, despite the shag carpet and the ugly kitchen and the drop ceiling.”
He settled into the lounge chair positioned next to hers. “Nice view you’ve got here, Ms. Blackwell.”
She sighed dreamily. “It is, isn’t it? And it’s all mine.”
“Yes it is. Happy closing day.” He’d stopped by her brand-new home toward the end of his workday, and the sun hung low in the sky, painting the river, bluffs, and bare trees with its dying rays. Since it was March, everything would be greening up soon enough, but for now it was a black-and-orange landscape.
“Honestly, you could touch not a single thing in this house, and I think I’d be perfectly happy with just this view.”
“It is gorgeous.” But he wasn’t looking at the river. Thea’s hair was pulled into two braids, and she’d shut her eyes again, the tiniest smile ghosting across her pink lips. In that moment, he believed that she’d live with the shag and the dim lighting and all of it, and she wouldn’t complain once.
“Does that mean I’m off the hook on refinishing those floors?”
“Nice try.” She cracked open one eye. “You can’t dump me that easily,huggy bear.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. My guys love you.”
She rolled to her side to face him. “Well, that’s good. I tend to be a love-me-or-hate-me kind of person.”
“Who could possibly hate you?” The very idea baffled him.
“You’d be surprised.” She spoke lightly, but the question took root in his brain. In the month since the offer on her house had been accepted, they’d spent major chunks of time together making renovation plans, and he’d become a fan of her bouncy good cheer. They’d turned into regulars at the hardware stores around town as they looked at options for lights and fixtures and flooring, and every single Murdoch employee knew her by name at this point because everywhere she went, she was unfailingly friendly and upbeat. Amazingly competent too. The woman never met a situation she couldn’t fix or improve in some way.
Speaking of.
“New purchase?” He patted the metal frame of his chair.
“First thing I bought for the house. Two for down here and one for the balcony off the master bedroom.”
“What, you didn’t walk out there, did you?” He lifted his head in alarm. “I know the home inspector said it was safe, but some of those support beams look water damaged. I’m going to—”
“Yeah, yeah.” She waved him off. “You’re going to replace some sketchy wood with your magical tools to make the balcony safe and sound, and I’m forbidden out there until you do.”
“Okay.” He settled back again and crossed one ankle over the other. “So you’ve officially owned this place for three hours. Do you want to go over the renovation schedule now?”
“Honestly, I kind of want to chill and enjoy the moment.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Then he frowned. “Oh, do you mean you want to enjoy it alone? I didn’t mean to intrude.”
She lazily swatted at his arm. “Don’t be weird. I’m glad you’re here.”
He was too, and they lapsed into contented silence as the sun finally vanished behind the horizon and the stars poked through the darkening sky one by one.
He let his imagination wander to what this place would be like once he’d made it worthy of her. Pictured her neatly made bed nestled against the wall in the upstairs room with exposed ceiling beams and a new skylight letting in the warm morning sun. Pictured her sipping coffee in the breakfast nook on Saturday morning, that dark, shiny hair mussed from sleep. Pictured her ending every night in the lounger on the balcony, watching the sun set over the river.
