Chapter 2

 

Peach Tree was supposed to be just a quick stop on the way to a new job and a new place to live. It was a pretty town with a hill covered with peach trees nearby and plenty of tourists milling around. Mitch had chosen to stop and have lunch here because Sammy seemed taken with the place.

Now he was unsettled by the bad news about the job, and unsure about the offer he just received from the café owner. Hungry but too wound up to eat, Mitch offered half his grilled cheese sandwich to Sammy.

"That's your sandwich, Daddy," she told him and then watched to make sure he ate it.

Mitch was still caught between disappointment and rising hope that he might get some work and a place to live. That was a strange piece of luck if it panned out. Mitch still had to take a look at the place and give Mrs. Del Rio an estimate.

For now what worried him was that Sammy was already getting her heart set on living in this house. Kicking her feet under the table, she couldn't wait to see it. She had her mom's crazy, boundless optimism, not Mitch's more gloomy outlook on things.

If it was just him, he would live in any old hovel and take the work without a second's thought, but not with Sammy to consider. Having the grandson in the mix also made him uneasy. It would be a miracle if this Enrico turned out to be of any help to him. He seemed like a college boy more at home in a coffee shop than a construction site.

Still, Mitch was pretty sure that it was thanks to him overhearing his call with Jo that he had this job offer. Now he had to wait and see if anything came of it. He couldn't afford another disappointment.

 

Eager to get going and see the big house, Sammy finished her lunch fast. But as soon as her lunch dishes were cleared, Sammy ended up with a peach pie piled high with whipped cream in front of her.

"That's from my grandma," Enrico said to Sammy then he turned to Mitch. "It's on her, and yes, she is trying to butter you up."

He shot Mitch a quick smile, gave Sammy a thumbs up for the big bite of pie and whipped cream she stuffed in her mouth, and then he was off.

Enrico was very good looking and had a kind of off-handed, flirty manner. Mitch wondered if he was gay. Something told him that he was, but maybe the flash of interest in his hazel eyes was meaningless. It was meaningless to Mitch, of course, since he had no interest in guys.

 

Sammy was done with her pie just as Mrs. Del Rio and Enrico came by their table. As Mitch wiped Sammy's face, she thanked Mrs. Del Rio sweetly for the pie. "It was yummy," she said.

"You are more than welcome, sweetheart. You ready to go?"

With that, the four of them left the café. On the way to their cranky, old GMC Yukon, Sammy held Mitch's hand and looked up at Mrs. Del Rio. "Did you make the pie?" Sammy asked her and Enrico laughed.

"Don't laugh. I'm a darned good cook," Mrs. Del Rio claimed. "I can make a pie."

"Sure. If half of it comes from a box," her grandson said.

"So what if I use a shortcut or two. That's still cooking, I'll have you know," Mrs. Del Rio said.

Sammy smiled up at them. Though they seemed to be fighting, she could tell that they weren't really cross with each other. There was a lot of warm affection between Enrico and his grandmother.

They went to their own car and Mitch secured Sammy in her car seat. Noticing that she was fidgety and her feet were kicking again, he wished he knew how to cool her enthusiasm a little without sounding negative. He couldn't come up with anything, so he just kissed the top of her head and hoped for the best.

 

Following Mrs. Del Rio in her classic, dark red Chrysler Imperial, they set off for the fixer upper. It took longer to get there than Mitch expected. Mrs. Del Rio was behind the wheel and apparently in no hurry to get there. While driving through town, she stuck her hand out on every block and waved at people they passed by. Mitch could just imagine what her grandson was telling her about her slow driving.

She drove faster once they got out of town. The house was outside the town limits and then down a long, private driveway. As they pulled up in front, Sammy clapped.

The house wasn't as big as Mitch expected, but it impressed her anyway. They had never lived in a house, only apartments, and they had to move any time Mitch heard about a better job.

 

Getting out of the car then letting Sammy out of her car seat, Mitch was already scoping out what he could see from the front. He kept his expectations low, but right away he liked the look of the old place.

With two stories and a wrap around porch, it was a nice old, brick and mortar, country house. Shrouded by greenery on every side, the house didn't look so bad from the outside, but Mitch worried about the kind of mess he would find inside.

 

Mitch had his clipboard and pen in hand as he and Sammy went to join Mrs. Del Rio and her grandson. As he looked up at the treetops above them, Enrico's eyes took on a golden color of sunlight, and Mitch had to tell himself not to stare. But maybe a good-looking guy like that was used to being stared at. Mitch just hoped he didn't notice.

Turning more businesslike and stepping up onto the porch, right away Mitch saw that it needed some fixing. He went all around and made notes on how much work needed to be done.

Sammy was crouching down to look under the railing at the flowers in the overgrown garden. They were plenty of them though the garden had gone wild.

"Maybe Sammy should get off this porch before she falls through," Enrico said and gestured toward a hole where a board had rotted through.

"I can't fall in there. It's too small," Sammy objected.

"Is it?" Enrico said like he wasn't sure though the hole was only big enough for one of her feet.

Mrs. Del Rio tapped her high-heeled shoe on the porch and said, "I'm thinking you could start out here in case more of these boards are ready to go. Make the place safe to approach."

"We don't want Sammy falling through," Enrico added and Sammy made a face at him.

 

From the back part of the porch, they could see the back garden. It had nice open area and a cobblestoned path where Sammy spotted a broken, stone bench and pointed it out.

"Too bad about that," Enrico said.

"Daddy, can you fix it?" Sammy asked that about every broken thing.

Mitch hated to disappoint her. "I think it has to be replaced."

"We'll get a real nice bench to go there," Mrs. Del Rio told Sammy consolingly.

Mitch was just about to test out the railing, when he saw that Enrico was leaning against it. "Don't lean on it until I checked it out," Mitch warned him.

Enrico fixed him with a faint smile as he pushed away from the railing. The movement drew Mitch's attention to his lithe body and the smile to the curve of his mouth and the sparkle in his eyes. Damn, why was that guy doing that to him.

 

They were now heading to the front. Mrs. Del Rio unlocked the front door, but then couldn't get it opened.

"I can't budge it. That's one more thing for you to fix," she said to Mitch then stepped back and instructed her grandson to deal with it. "Kick it in for me, sweetheart."

"Sure thing," her grandson said, but he only shouldered the door to get it unstuck. Watching him do it effortlessly, Mitch noticed he was slim but strong.

Sammy noticed something else. "You didn't kick it," she said.

"I'm just lazy like that," Enrico told her. "Path of least resistance and all that."

Of course Sammy didn't know what that meant, but she grinned when Enrico winked at her.

Mrs. Del Rio tapped the thick wood of the door. "This door should be fixed up and refinished. That's what I want to do with all the doors, window frames and the built-ins. They put some good quality wood into this house. I don't want to swap it out for what passes for wood these days."

"I agree, as long as it's in good shape," Mitch told her. He wasn't one to make empty promises. "I'll salvage whatever I can."

 

Going inside, they were faced with a fairly narrow staircase and the first thing Mitch did was test the railing. It wobbled only a little. "I can tighten that," he said then walked up to test out each step.

As he went up, he noticed that some of the old steps creaked, but they didn't give. He was already thinking that this house was well worth fixing up. He then glanced down and saw Enrico looking up at him then turning away to stare at a random picture on the wall.

"Since you're going up, I guess we'll start with that," Mrs. Del Rio said and the rest of them came up too.

At the top of the stairs, Enrico went by him and Mitch held his breath. Even as he did so, he remembered that he had already noticed he smelled a little like food from working at the café, also like soap and underneath that... Hell, why was he dwelling on what he smelled like? But the word that popped into his head was "good." Enrico smelled good.

Mitch needed to remember that he wasn't here to sniff some guy. His aim was to check over the place and get his estimate ready, and also make sure the place was livable in case he and Mrs. Del Rio ended up making a deal.

There were only three bedrooms upstairs. The biggest bedroom had its own bathroom. The room was in decent shape, but the bathroom needed work.

Mitch went in there and then everyone else went into the bathroom too. They were all milling around in the small space.

As Mitch moved over to test the small window, he found himself a little too close to Enrico. The green flecks in his eyes stood out more now, as did his eyelashes and dark eyebrows. The stubble on his jaw and on his upper lip was drawing Mitch's eyes to his mouth.

Nothing needed fixed on him, so why the hell was Mitch staring at him?

As she looked around, Mrs. Del Rio was more focused on the real work. "The wallpaper needs to come down. All of it, from the whole house," she said as she stepped out into the bedroom again.

"Wallpaper is so old lady," Enrico said then he sidestepped some imagined attack from his grandmother, but all she did was raise an eyebrow at him.

"Take down the old curtains too. I'll put in some blinds and you can slap on a fresh coat of paint," Mrs. Del Rio said.

They moved on down the hall and found that one of the smaller bedrooms needed the most work. It had a leak around the window and the wood floor had warped right underneath it.

"No one is staying in here," Enrico said while Mitch took notes on the repairs.

The last room was in good shape, and Mitch was relieved since he was already thinking of it as Sammy's room. It was too soon for that, but the place was winning him over, and Mrs. Del Rio seemed serious about giving him the job.

 

Going downstairs, Mrs. Del Rio was saying, "As you see, it's a little ways out of town. I hope it won't bother you not to be in the thick of things."

"In the thick of what exactly?" Enrico said and she shook her head.

"We're busting at the seams with tourists, but you'll get plenty of peace and quiet out here," she told Mitch. She did sound like she thought he and Sammy would be staying here.

In the living room, she pointed out the built-in shelves. "I want to keep that bookshelf, refinish it and take out some of these shelves in the middle so a big TV can fit there."

The rest of it was just taking down more wallpaper and curtains including in a small sitting room that Sammy liked because it was prettily decorated. Going to the other end of the hall, they reached the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets were keepers too, but the tiled countertop had to go.

Enrico and Sammy looked out the back door at the open space they had seen when they circled the porch. Sammy once again gave the bench a sad look.

Next they were going to see about the basement. "Daddy," Sammy said plaintively and stopped at the top of the basement stairs. "It's dark."

"I'll fix that," Enrico said and went ahead into the basement. After some mumbled curses, he had the light on, but Sammy still wouldn't budge.

"Oh, she doesn't want to go down there," Mrs. Del Rio said as she also hung back at the top of the stairs.

"There is a reason they say, 'Don't go down into the basement,'" Enrico joked but Sammy didn't get it. "Not a big horror movie fan?"

"Let the boys go down there. Me and you can stay up here, honey," Mrs. Del Rio said to Sammy.

"Stay there with Mrs. Del Rio. I'll be right back," Mitch said and smiled at Sammy so she wouldn't be worried. Then he followed Enrico into the basement.

Using a flashlight to see into dark corners, Mitch was looking around for potential problems with the foundation and leaks. Enrico was poking around in the huge pile of stuff that was stored there. While doing that, he found a locked door in the back of the basement. There was a key in the lock, and Enrico gave Mitch a significant look before opening it in slow motion. All they found inside were shelves with decades old canned food.

"It's just a pantry," Enrico said, disappointed. "Or a dungeon?"

Mitch pointed to the door. "This door bolts from the inside, so it's not a dungeon but it might be a bomb shelter," Mitch said noticing that the door was heavy and there was more room in there than just for storage.

Enrico perked up. "A fallout shelter? That has potential."

"By the look of it, it might be just a regular bomb shelter," Mitch told him.

"What, from WWII?"

"That's just a guess. Some people did think the bombers might reach here." Getting down, Mitch was examining a corner to make sure it wasn't damp when Enrico came over to crouch next to him.

"Any dead bodies? Satanic symbols? Nail marks from kidnap victims trying to claw their way out of this pit?" Enrico asked.

"None of the above. And I hope you won't say anything like that in front of my kid," Mitch warned him.

Enrico stood up indignantly. "What do you take me for?"

"I'm not sure," Mitch said even as he again noticed his smooth, agile movements and his lean physique. Enrico was one really attractive guy, but there was no reason for Mitch to pay so much attention to him.

"What do you see, boys?" Mrs. Del Rio called out from the top of the stairs.

"What's down there, Daddy," Sammy also wanted to know.

"Junk," Enrico told them as they came out of the room. "More junk, and lots of old junk."

Mitch gave his own answer. "The basement is dry. The supports look solid. It seems to be in good shape. It could use some more light down here," Mitch said as he made notes under the one bare light bulb that hung from the ceiling.

Sidling up next to him, Enrico whispered, "But that will ruin the lair of a serial killer vibe."

Despite his talk of serial killers, Enrico came up the stairs with something nice for Sammy. He had found a flower made of blue sea glass. "Look what I found," he said as he showed it to her.

Sammy was delighted. "It's a blue flower. It's pretty."

"It's pretty junk, and you can keep it. Right, Grandma?" Enrico said.

"Of course she can," Mrs. Del Rio said. Mitch didn't object, though neither one of them seemed to know that they should have asked him first.

"And after your dad puts in more lights, you can come down here and explore," Enrico told her.

"Maybe," Sammy said while peering down into the gloomy basement uncertainly.

"If her dad says it's OK," Mitch said to remind them that he had the final word on what his kid was allowed to do.

At that, Mrs. Del Rio gave him an indulgent smile while Enrico had on an expression of someone who wasn't used to listening or obeying. Mitch already had the strong impression that those two were a handful.