He gavehimself a mental shake. Make time to surfon the weekend, buddy! He pulled up on thebusy Beach Road and stepped out of his dark blue HiLux Ute. As heapproached the front door he appraised the old house.Good bones.
The front dooropened as he climbed the porch steps, and a woman stepped out. Hestopped dead in his tracks, one foot a step above the other. Now heunderstood why Todd had been so happy to help out with thisrenovation.
Her sea greeneyes bewitched him, held him captive. He could not move. The harshsounds of the traffic and the squawk of the seagulls on the beachbehind him all but disappeared. With his heart beating wildly,palms sweating, his mouth suddenly bone dry, he couldn’t evenintroduce himself, let alone have a conversation with this stunningyoung woman. His eyes left her face for the briefest moment, takingin the tall slim figure, long blonde hair pulled back in a tightponytail, white tank top and paint-spattered blue jeans.Not afraid to get her handsdirty. Impressed by that thought, hereturned his gaze to her lovely face. His eyes lingered on her lipsas they quirked up in a smile. She ventured forward, her handoutstretched.
On autopilot, heattempted to climb up another step, clasping the hand she held outin a firm handshake, and noticed she returned the pressure. Hisfather always said a firm handshake was the measure of a man or awoman. Based on that premise, a strong, confident woman stoodbefore him. One who looked a man square in the eye when she spoke.Their faces nearly level, his attention flickered between her eyesand her full lips as she spoke. He imagined how those lips wouldfeel against his, how they would sound whispering his name.Immersed in this fantasy, it took him a few seconds to tune intothe conversation.
“ … You mustbe Patrick, Todd’s brother. He’s told me all about you. Although Ihave to admit you look nothing alike. If it wasn’t for the name onthe truck, I would never have guessed. I’m Chloe, by the way.” Shegestured to the truck on the street with the Baker Logo emblazonedon the door.
He swallowed, peeled histongue off the roof of his dry mouth, and ventured a greeting. “HiChloe. Yes, I’m Patrick. It’s a pleasure to meet you, although youhave me at a disadvantage. You seem to know about me. Other thanyour name and address, Todd has told me nothing aboutyou.”
“That’sinteresting, isn’t it? I wonder why?” Chloe frowned, lookingperplexed.
He had noanswer to that question. Oh, a few wild ideas had popped into hismind, but nothing he could share with her right now. Come to thinkof it, nothing he could share with her ever. Content to stand and stare, hewaited for Chloe to make the next move.
“Well, nevermind. Let’s go through the house and I can tell you my plans. Oh,where are my manners. Let me get you a drink first. Todd mentionedyou were providing quotes on the other side of the city today. Youmust be parched in this heat. I’ve just made some iced tea if you’dcare for some?” She took a step back and held the front door openfor him to enter.
As he brushedby, the smell of paint did little to counteract the fragrance ofexotic flowers exuding from warm feminine skin in such closeproximity. His hormones stood to attention. Down, boys. In an effort to diverthis libido’s attention he glanced around, his gaze following thecarpeted staircase to the second floor. The landing was bathed inlight, from a skylight window he presumed. She placed a hand on hisarm, pointing out the direction of the kitchen off to the left. Herhand scorched his skin and warmed his blood. He attempted to focuson her conversation once again.
“It’s not verywell laid out, which is one of the reasons I asked Todd if he knewa good builder. The sun is on the back of the house in the morning.That’s why I want to relocate the kitchen. You know, build a deck,put in some bi-fold doors and have the kitchen opening out into thegarden. I also want to take full advantage of the sunsets over thebay and build a veranda running across the front of the house. Hey.Listen to me, I’m waffling.”
They entered a smallcramped kitchen, made up of dark timber cabinets and formicabenches. A dreary view through the window of the neighbour’s housegreeted him on one side, and the fridge and a wall of cupboards onthe other. At this time of day the sun had moved around to thefront of the house. No doubt an overhead light would be necessaryin the dark room, even in the middle of the day. Although veryclean, all of the appliances looked well worn andoutdated.
She opened the largefridge and poured them both tall glasses of iced tea, adding somelemon slices and ice cubes to each.
He took the glassgratefully, drinking half the contents in one swallow. Leaning backagainst the counter, he scanned the room around him.
“I was hopingto make this room an ensuite for the downstairs guest bedroom sinceall the pipes are already here. Lay down white tiles and enlargethe window to brighten it up. What do you think?” She sipped hericed tea as she stood by the fridge. “Bring your tea and I’ll showyou the two rooms I want to combine into one for my kitchen familyarea, with access to the garden.” She moved ahead of him into thehall. As she walked ahead of him, he observed her slightlimp.
He checked the structureby knocking on the plasterboard, identifying the load-bearingwalls, and paced out the dimensions to relocate the features shedescribed. She produced a sketchpad and he made rough drawings ofthe room, the positioning of the windows and sliding doors, theslope
