A Marriage-Minded Man / From Friend to Father: A Marriage-Minded Man / From Friend to Father

“I suppose…” Fred exchanged another glance with his sister. “We could lower the asking price…”

“Actually, I think you should raise it. A lot.” As expected, four eyes popped wide open. While Tess had them in stunned mode, she moved in for the kill. “Slow market or no, there’s still some demand for these old adobes—”

“Then—”

“—as long as they’re in tip-top condition,” she said, and both faces fell. Gee, big surprise. “For the most part, people are looking for vacation homes,” she continued, “someplace to spend weekends skiing or escape from the summer heat. Soon as they get the keys, they want to walk through the front door, kick off their shoes off and run a hot bath, not start gutting old kitchens. And cleaning up mouse droppings.”

Gilly’s eyes darted around the kitchen. “You think there’s mice?”

“Oh, I’d stake my life on it. Look,” Tess said, gently, but firmly, when they both made a face, “you gave the fixer-upper plan a year and it didn’t work. Be honest—would you want to live here? In the shape it’s in now?”

Another shared glance. Then the woman said, “What…do you suggest?”

Tapping her pen on her clipboard, Tess looked around, pretending to consider. “I’m not talking major remodel, but the kitchen and bathrooms need some serious updating. New cabinets and countertops, tile floors. And the shelves in the den? Really awful.”

“Dad built those himself,” Gilly said, sighing. “He was so proud.” She looked at the seventies-era harvest gold stove. “And the appliances?”

“Wouldn’t hurt to change them out. Don’t have to be top of the line, but they should at least be from this century.”

The siblings looked at each other, then back at Tess. “What kind of money are we talking?” Fred asked.

“Well…you could easily sink forty, fifty grand into the place—”

“Good God!”

“But twenty-five should cover it.”

“Forget it—”

“Oh, come on, Freddy, it’s not as if we don’t have it. And if she can get us—” Gilly turned to Tess. “How much?”

Tess wrote a number on her pad, then turned it around to show them.

“Oh, my,” Gilly said, hand on cheek.

Fred frowned. He seemed to do that a lot. “But there’s no guarantee it’ll sell.”

“No, there’s not,” Tess said easily. “And I understand your concerns, I really do. But you know, we’re so close to Taos and Santa Fe…once the house is fixed up, even if it doesn’t sell it would make a terrific vacation rental. So there’s another option. We could manage the property for you. You wouldn’t have to do a thing.” When the two exchanged another glance, Tess picked her purse up off the chipped Formica counter. “Tell you what…why don’t I give you a few minutes to talk it over between you? I’ll just wait outside.”

Tess crossed to the kitchen patio door, the glass practically opaque from God-knew-how-many years’ worth of grime and dust. French doors, both in here and the living room, would be spectacular…

Five minutes later, if that, she heard the door slide open behind her. “Ms. Montoya?”

Tess turned, trying not to look too eager. “Yes?”

“Tell you what,” Fred said, hiking up his designer jeans as he walked out onto the redwood deck. “If you can bring in the renovations for twenty grand, we’ve got a deal. I’m not real keen on the vacation house idea, but Gilly seems to think it could work. And we like your style.” He extended his hand. “So. You’ve got the listing. Until Christmas.”

Tess’s stomach dropped. “But…that’s less than two months! Six is more customary.”

“If you can’t sell it before the holiday vacation season starts, we might as well rent it out.”

That’ll teach her to come up with brilliant ideas.

“And one more thing—long as you’re hirin’ a carpenter anyway…you know Gene Garrett?”

“Uh…sure…”

“He and I went to school together, I know he’s got a cabinetry shop in town. If I gotta spend the cash to fix this place up, might as well toss some of it his way, you know what I mean? Especially these days, I imagine he could use the business. Betcha also if you mention my name? He’ll give us a good deal.”

Lord save her from cheapskates. And heaven knew there were other carpenters in the area she’d much rather hire, for obvious reasons. But if Gene Garrett was part of the deal, she’d deal.

“I’ll get in touch with him this afternoon,” Tess said, shaking Fred’s hand.

“For crying out loud, dog,” Eli yelled at Blue, his father’s old Heeler, when the mutt started yapping up a storm at the front of the shop. “What’s your problem?” A moment later, light flashed across the front room as the door swung open.

“Anybody here?” Tess called out.

Thinking, What the hell? Eli set down the sander and walked out front, his fingers jammed in his jeans’ pockets. Busy with the dog, Tess didn’t see him at first, giving him time to give her a nice, leisurely once-over. Tight jeans. High-heeled boots. A soft, body-hugging sweater too long for her leather jacket. Big old dangly earrings. An aura of purpose he still wasn’t used to.

“Slumming?” he said mildly, making her jump. She straightened, clutching a purse bigger than she was to her side, out of which she dug his sweatshirt.

“Um…I brought this back,” she said, handing it to him, then looking around. “Your dad here?”

“Nope. Out on that install. So’s everybody else. Just me and the dog holdin’ the fort. What can I do for you?”

Yeah, the double meaning had been sorta deliberate.

Not that she’d give him the satisfaction of reacting. Except for her eyes. Gal’s eyes gave her away every time. And why he was goading her, he had no idea. Wasn’t like he expected, or wanted, anything to come of it. Then again, maybe that was the point. That, knowing he was perfectly safe, he could goad all he wanted.

Safe from her anyway. Safe from himself? Maybe not so sure about that.

“I just got the Coyote Trail listing,” Tess said, and he dragged his head back from wherever it had wandered.

“You’re kidding.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Because the place is a dump?”

“It’s not a dump, it just needs…a little TLC.”

“Honey, what that place needs is ten years of intensive care.”

“In an ideal world, maybe. But what I got the Harris spawn to agree to is the rehab equivalent of Botox. In any case, Fred Harris apparently went to school with your dad, wants to give him the work—”

“Wait a minute…you actually talked them into fixing the place up?”

She almost smiled. “I can be very persuasive,” she said, her voice all low and sexy, and Eli literally bit his tongue to keep from saying something stupid. Instead he squatted to scratch Blue’s ears.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Dad’s booked through January. Unless y’all can wait until February—”

“No, it has to be done immediately. I only have the listing until Christmas.”

“That’s insane.”

“Tell me about it.” For the first time, doubt wrinkled her forehead. “Are you sure he couldn’t squeeze this in? Somehow?”

“You’re talking, what? Kitchen and bath update?”

“And redoing some of the built-ins, and the window trim…”

“Then I think it’s safe to say Dad’s not gonna be able to ‘fit you in’.” To prove his point, he walked over to the old, beat-up desk on the other side of the room and picked up a bulging folder.

“Crap,” she said. “Not that I’m not thrilled for your dad, having so much work.”

“Of course, if you’re really hard up…” Eli grinned. “There’s always me.”

“Um, I think I’ll pass.” But she didn’t sound all that happy with her decision. Or him, hard to tell. “Were you always this…cocky and I somehow missed it?”

“I prefer to think of it as charming.”

“As I said.”

Eli crossed his arms. “How come you didn’t call first, save yourself a trip?” Saved yourself the awkwardness of having to talk to me.

“I did. Nobody answered. Kept getting the machine.”

“But I’ve been right here…” Eli glanced over at the phone, blinking its little butt off. Messages, 3. “How many times you call?”

“Three.”

“Guess I couldn’t hear over the sander.”

“Guess not,” Tess said, starting for the door.

“You’d rather lie naked on an anthill than work with me, wouldn’t you?”

Slowly, she turned, her brows drawn. “Something like that, yeah.”

“Funny, I would’ve never pegged you as somebody who’d judge a person without having all the facts.”

The frown deepened. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“Frankly, yeah. Because apparently what I said, about how I’ve changed? Didn’t even register. And excuse me, but it’s just the tiniest bit annoying that you’re assuming a lot based on what basically amounts to hearsay.”

“You’re saying…the gossip’s untrue?”

He hesitated. “Not all of it, no. But…” Digging his fingers into the back of his neck, Eli tried to pull in enough breath to ease the tightness in his chest. “But what you hear…I’m more than that, Tess. I swear.”

“Then if there’s some salient fact I’m missing, by all means, clue me in.”

A couple of beats passed before Eli walked over to an old futon on the other side of the room and sat on the arm. Unfortunately, this wasn’t just any random piece of furniture, but the very one where they both lost their virginity many moons ago. When Tess sucked in a breath, Eli softly laughed. “Yep. It’s still here. Even if the two kids who enjoyed each other on it aren’t.”

“Eli…don’t—”

“You know, I still see glimpses of the crazy, funny girl who could light up a room just by walking into it. Not to mention the one who never had a bad word to say about anybody. It’s not that I don’t understand why she doesn’t come around much anymore,” he said quietly, “but I sure do miss her. Like I said, I know I hurt you back then. And I don’t even expect you to accept my apology. But seems to me that girl wouldn’t still be obsessing about a failed high school romance.”

Tess gave him a long, penetrating look, then let out a sigh that seemed more perplexed than mad. “First off, that girl? I’m not all that sure she ever really existed. Secondly, I’m hardly obsessing about our breakup. What still bugs me, though, is that you never gave me an explanation. Not even when you called to apologize the other day. So, combined with your reputation? The anthill’s looking pretty good.”

Eli’s brow knotted. “You never asked.”

“I shouldn’t have had to ask! Because I deserved an explanation. I deserved…” She pushed out a breath. “More. And I’d expected more from you. Hence the mop. And the anthill thing—”

“I was scared, Tess. That’s it, bottom line. I was terrified out of my skull.”

“Of what? Me? That’s—”

“Hell, yeah, you. I had no idea it was possible to feel so strongly about somebody at, what were we? Seventeen? And I couldn’t deal with it. So I snapped.”

For a moment—barely—he thought he saw a glimmer of sympathy in her eyes. “For heaven’s sake, Eli, it wasn’t like I expected us to get married or anything.”

“Logic didn’t even enter into it,” he said, getting to his feet. “All I knew was, things were happening way too fast, and I wasn’t even remotely ready. And I had no earthly idea how to tell you that.”

She glanced away, like she was trying to process this. But when she looked back, the sympathy had gone buh-bye. “And somehow this translated into going after Amy Higgins?”

Cripes, it was like having a conversation with two different people. He half expected to see her eyes glow red.

“It was sorta the other way around, truth be told. I swear,” he said when she huffed out a sharp laugh. “But it never felt right. We broke up, like, a month later—”

“Yeah. I remember. I also seem to remember you recovered from her quickly enough, too. And the one that followed. And the one that followed after that—”

“Didn’t take you long to hook up with Enrique, either, as I recall.”

She flinched, and Eli finally got it, that this wasn’t only about the two of them. That somebody else far more recently than him had hurt her, too—

“Actually, it was more than a year,” she said in that wind-outta-her-sails voice.

And once more Eli happened to be in the line of fire, just like he’d been the other night.

“But from everything I heard,” she said, “your pace sure didn’t slow down any—”

“You were away for several years, don’t forget.”

“True. But when I returned…well, let’s just say the broken heart trail didn’t seem to be in danger of stopping anytime soon. Oh, come on, Eli,” Tess said, revving up again, “you know you can’t go anywhere in this town without running into somebody hot to tell you the latest, good or bad. And people have long memories, especially those well-meaning souls eager to assure me—even after all this time—I was better off without you, that the boy who skipped on me just kept on skipping, from one chick to another like rocks in a creek.”

Her words pelted him like sleet, stinging all the more because they were truer than he wanted to admit, inflicting enough pain to make him say, “Wow—you must’ve been really out of it to end up in my bed.”

Color flared in her cheeks. “Already established that,” she muttered, this time making it all the way to the door, and Eli wondered if he’d ever learn to think before he spoke.

“It’s okay, I completely understand,” he called after her. “But if you get desperate, you know where to find me.”

After one final, flummoxed glance, Tess walked out, slamming the door shut behind her.

Which Eli stared at for a lot longer than he should’ve probably, but the feeling-like-dirt feeling had come back with a vengeance, clobbering him upside the head over and over and over. Because no matter which way you looked at it, Tess was right. If not about all of it, about enough to completely justify her attitude. Because he had hurt her, he hadn’t bothered to tell her why and he’d definitely provided plenty of fuel for the gossip mill these past several years. So from where he was sitting, he had some serious atoning to do. And some lame “I’m sorry, I’m not that man anymore” wasn’t gonna cut it—somehow he had to prove to Tess he’d changed.

For his own peace of mind, if nothing else.

Mulling that over, Eli trudged back to work, letting himself get caught up in his tasks until, maybe two hours later, the phone rang.

And yeah, he might’ve smiled for a second when he saw the caller ID, relishing the victory. Except underneath the relishing, something else kinda hummed. Like the sound from those overhead wires they said messed with your brain or something.

“Garrett’s—”

“Fine, so you win. I’ve called every carpenter within fifty miles, and there’s nobody else available unless I want to bring in somebody from Albuquerque, and no way are the Harrises gonna fork over the extra cash for that. So when can you meet me at the house to give me an estimate?”

“You sure do cut to the chase, don’t you?”

“The groveling stings less that way.”

Eli chuckled. “In an hour good for you?”

“That’s fine. Long as you don’t mind the kids being with me.”

The humming got louder. “Not at all,” he said, looking out the wood-dust-coated window. Telling himself he was strong enough to avoid that particular pull. That if he wanted an opportunity to prove himself, this couldn’t be a better one. He smiled. “Especially since you clearly need a chaperone. Or two.”

“Bite me,” she said and hung up.

Chapter Five

An hour gave Tess just enough time to pick up her kids and put her pride back in the dungeon where it belonged. Umbrage was all well and good in its place, but it had no place in business. And business was what this was all about, she thought when Eli knocked on the house’s open door, the dog bounding inside ahead of him.

And only what it was about.

“Cool!” Miguel said, immediately on his knees to hug the dog. “What’s his name?”

“Micky! Be careful—!”

“It’s okay, he loves kids,” Eli said, then gave Micky a half smile. “And his name’s Blue. I’m Eli.”

One eye on the dog and Julia balanced on one hip, Tess literally met Eli halfway, in the middle of the musty, mud-colored carpeted living room. But before she could open her mouth, Eli said, “You really okay with this?”

“I’m…” A smile tugged at her mouth. “Getting there. In any case, I’ve had lots of practice making the best of a bad situation.”

With a soft laugh, Eli headed for the kitchen, clipboard in hand. “Good to know. Because I’d hate to mess up the whole symbiotic thing we’ve got going on here.”

“Symbiotic?”

“Yeah, you know, when each entity needs the other to survive?” At her poleaxed look, he grinned. “Mom was one of those word-a-day freaks. Her two goals, when we were kids, were making sure we knew the right way to hold a fork and force-feeding us a whole bunch of ten-dollar words. Because God forbid anybody take us for hicks,” he said, carefully opening a kitchen cabinet door about to fall off its hinges, then brushing dust from his hands. “Yep, place looks about as bad as I remember.”

From the living room, Tess could hear Miguel chattering to Blue. Hiking a squirmy Julia higher on her hip, she glanced through the doorway to see her son perched on the edge of the raised hearth, the dog sitting in front of him with his head cocked—

“You’ve been here before?” she said, Eli’s words sinking in.

“Yep.” Leaving the door ajar, Eli squatted to inspect one of the lower cupboards. “Used to come over now and again to check up on Charley after he started going downhill.”

“Huh. Fred didn’t mention that little detail.”

“Not sure he knew about it, to be honest,” Eli said, straightening to make notes on the clipboard. “Dad did, mostly, but I’d stop by once a week or so. Bring Charley a stuffed sopapilla from Ortega’s. Or a beef and potato burrito. Man, he did love those. Grinned like nobody’s business the minute I’d unwrap it—”

“Down!” Julia screeched. “Down, down, down!”

Realizing she and Eli would never be able to hear each other if she didn’t give in, Tess lowered the child to the dusty tile floor; immediately she zoomed off to join her big brother. Eli glanced over, his expression…odd.

“Sorry,” Tess said. “What she lacks in vocabulary she makes up for in volume.”

“And earnestness.”

“That, too. My little toughie.”

“Like her mother,” he said, opening another door. “And that was a compliment, so don’t go gettin’ all bent out of shape.”

She smirked. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Wandering away to keep an eye on her little hooligans, their high voices echoing in the empty space, she shook her head. “I just wonder why Charley’s kids didn’t get him out of here sooner.”

“You’d have to ask them that. Although I think you can guess.” When she turned, Eli rubbed his thumb and fingers together. “As in, they didn’t want to see their potential inheritance dwindle by spending it on their own father. Fortunately, he never got too bad—never wandered down Main Street naked or anything. And he always knew who Dad and I were. It was just…It was like he was in a dream. In his own little world.”

“Still,” Tess said, facing her kids again. “That’s so sad. To think…” She shook her head.

“If it makes you feel better—” she heard Eli’s metal tape measure rattle across the countertop “—I don’t think he was unhappy. Or lonely. But I know what you mean. I can’t imagine leaving my folks to the mercy of whoever happened to be available.”

“I couldn’t do that to Flo, either.”

The tape measure snapped back. “Still on the outs with your mom, then?”

“She has her life, I have mine,” Tess said softly, her heart swelling with love for those hooligans even as old hurts tried to wind themselves around it.

“She sees her grandkids, though, right?”

“Once in a blue moon, maybe. She’s…not much of a kid person.”

In the empty room, Julia let out one of her belly laughs, probably at something her brother did. Tess nearly jumped when Eli’s hand landed on her shoulder—bzzzt—for an instant before he swept past her out of the room. “Okay, that’s it for in here,” he said as Tess told herself she didn’t miss his touch. Really. “Let’s go check out the bathroom. No telling how bad that must be by now—”

“I got Blue to sit, Eli!” Miguel said, accosting the poor man the instant he hit the living room, as he was wont to do with every male he met these days. Sensing the void, Tess supposed, left by his rarely-there father, their infrequent visits infected both with the boy’s wary neediness and his father’s discomfort or guilt or whatever. “Wanna see?” Miguel said, hopping about like a curly-headed little flea.

Eli halted, briefly, giving Miguel a strained smile. “Maybe later,” he said, with an equally brief, strained glance at Julia, who’d taken up the flea dance, too, accompanying herself by “singing” at the top of her robust little lungs.

As Eli continued down the hall, Miguel frowned at Tess, not so much hurt as confused. Make that two of us, Tess thought. Seeing Eli with Christine in Ortega’s, listening to him talk about how he and his dad kept tabs on poor old Charley…why would he be standoffish with her kids? Although…

“It’s okay, baby,” she said. “He’s just busy. Um…watch Julia for a sec, okay?”

“’Kay.”

Busy poking at tiles and such, Eli didn’t at first notice Tess when she leaned against the bathroom door. “Sorry about the ambush,” she ventured. “Micky tends to gravitate to Y chromosomes like metal filings to a magnet.”

Eli flashed a glance in her direction. “No problem.”

“Even so…all he did was ask you to watch him get your dog to sit.”

Retracting his tape measure from across the grime-encrusted sink cabinet, Eli gave her a steadier look, his normally mischief-riddled eyes flat. “Just trying to keep things moving, that’s all,” he said mildly.

“You don’t like kids?”

Eli’s brows shot up, followed by a startled laugh. “Just because I didn’t stop and watch Miguel and the dog, you automatically assume I’ve got a problem with kids?”

“You looked…pained, is the only word I can come up with.” No, she realized as the flatness in his eyes sharpened. What he looked was scared. “I mean, not that I care one way or the other. I’m just curious.”

One corner of his mouth tucked up before he looked away. “Nothing to be curious about. You’re reading more into it than there is.” He scratched behind one ear, then squinted at her. “And when we’re done, I’ll be glad to let Miguel and Blue show me their trick, okay? So you can ratchet down the Mama-protecting-her-cubs thing a notch.”

“This isn’t about me, Eli,” Tess said, unaccountably irked. “But after what Miguel’s been through with his dad, he’ll pick up in an instant if you’re just playing nice.”

“I won’t be,” he said, frowning at the ugly gold sink before gesturing toward the hard-water-stained tub. “You do realize this room’s gonna have to be gutted, right? New tub, new toilet, the works?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“No, actually I’m getting back on subject,” he said, his opaque eyes at odds with the it’s-all-good grin. “Which would be this house.”

Fine, two could play at this, Tess thought, despite the not-so-vaguedissatisfaction suddenly gnawing at her. No, more than that—an annoyance that the man was systematically annihilating her preconceived notions about his being, well, basically one-dimensional.

Like she needed layered men in her life right now.

Like she needed any man in her life right now.

“The Harrises have been warned,” she said, following him out of the room and back into the kitchen, hauling Julia up into her arms when the little girl came running over to her, a multilimbed bundle of joy. “In fact—” she kissed the baby’s chubby cheek, then looked back at Eli, who was giving her a strange look “—I told him flat out the scuzzy bathroom was a big reason why the place hadn’t sold. Squicking out potential buyers is not the way to go. Oh, no, honey,” she said when Julia launched herself toward Eli. “He doesn’t want—”