Restoring His Heart

But she preferred a man of faith. A man with character in his face and compassion in his heart.

Heavy footsteps on the stairs let her know Holbrook was finally ready. He stepped through the kitchen door and stopped, his green gaze slamming into hers. Her throat closed up and her heart skipped a couple beats. A short while ago he’d resembled James Bond fresh from saving the world. Now, he stood in the kitchen looking ready for a photo shoot for a Rugged Men of the South calendar. The gray knit Henley shirt hugged his chest and broad shoulders like an old friend and brought out the vibrant green of his eyes. The jeans called attention to his narrow waist and long powerful legs. A pair of well-worn dark boots anchored him to the floor. Apparently, adventurers needed sturdy footwear in their wardrobes.

She shook her head, trying to regain her composure. “If you’re ready, we need to get going.”

There was a half smile on his face. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Laura pushed through the back door and headed for her red truck. “I hope you’re ready to work because we have a lot to do and very little time to get it done.”

Chapter Two

Adam followed Laura Durrant to her truck and climbed in, wondering how so small a woman could command such authority. Her no-nonsense attitude was intriguing and a bit intimidating. He’d decided to be a good scout, do what he was told and get the lay of the land. Eventually he’d find a loophole, some way to get out of Dover and back to Atlanta on time. Of course there was always his last resort—calling one of his dad’s lawyers. He didn’t want to think about the repercussions of that.

He glanced over at Laura Durrant. Her slender figure was obscured by stained and faded jeans, ending in heavy brown work boots. That explained the loud thumping on the stairs. Her purple T-shirt was worn and faded, with a quarter-sized hole in one sleeve. Her head was covered with a ball cap and spikes of hair stuck out from the adjustment opening in the back and the edges over her ears. He guessed at its color. Dishwater blond? What stood out the most were her violet blue eyes. Eyes that were staring at him with disdain. She looked small behind the wheel of the big truck but absolutely in control. Which raised a lot of questions. “So, you’re in charge of the work detail, huh?”

“That’s right. You answer to me.”

“What do I call you?”

“You can call me Boss or LC.”

“I thought your name was Boo.” He saw her scowl at the name.

“My dad is the only one who calls me that. And my brother Ty sometimes. LC is the name of the company. LC Construction and Restoration.”

Adam wanted to ask what the initials stood for, but decided it might be safer to wait on that. “So how long do you think this repair job will take? How much damage did I do?”

She glanced at him briefly, eyes narrowed. “It’s not a repair job, Mr. Holbrook. It’s a restoration and that takes a lot more time.”

“Restoration. Repair. Same difference, isn’t it?”

“Not even close. The building you drove your little car into is a National Historic Landmark. Which is why I’m doing the job. If all it needed was repairing, any competent carpenter could do the work in a few days.”

“And what makes you different?”

“I’m a certified restorationist.”

“Meaning?”

“I’m qualified to restore old homes and buildings to their original state when possible. That’s what I do.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing. How did you get to be one?” She exhaled an exasperated sigh as if reluctant to explain.

“I studied architecture in college, but I found I didn’t like the designing as much as I liked the hands-on ground-level work. When I moved home, I bought this construction company from a local man who was retiring. He did a lot of restoration work, so all I had to do was expand on that customer base.”

“Still, a girl in construction. Where did that come from?”

Laura turned and smiled, her expression softening the way it had when she’d looked at her father earlier. Something inside Adam shifted.

“Oh. My dad owns the hardware store in town. I grew up around nuts and bolts.”

She turned back to the road ahead. “So how did you come to lose control of your car and ram it into our historic gazebo?”

For a moment Adam considered avoiding the question, but then he remembered her uncle was the judge and her father his jailer. No point in trying to hide the truth. “I left a friend’s house in Dallas early yesterday morning and planned on spending a few days in New Orleans. You know, eating fine food, listening to good music, maybe do a little deep-sea fishing. I got hungry, saw a billboard for some mom-and-pop diner in Sawyers Bend—”

“Jingles.”

“What?”

“The name of the diner is Jingles.”

“Right. Well, somehow I missed the turnoff and ended up in your fair community. I was trying to find a way back to the interstate on my smartphone and the rest you know.”

“You didn’t have GPS in that fancy car of yours?”

“No, it’s a vintage machine. I was going to have it installed after my meeting in Atlanta.”

Laura Durrant pulled the truck to a stop along the fence line near the gazebo. “Too bad you didn’t have that done before you left Dallas. Might have saved everyone a lot of trouble.”

Adam scanned the area. Yellow police tape marked the site. His car had been removed and he could clearly see the gaping hole in the side of the little building. He climbed out of the cab and joined the boss lady at the back of her truck. “Where do you suppose my car is?”

“I have no idea. Impound probably. You won’t be needing it for a while.”

“No, but I’d like to see about having it repaired. I’ll have to leave here eventually.” He took the hard hat and work gloves she handed him. He tucked the gloves in the back pocket of his jeans and tried the hat on for size, pulling it off again and adjusting the band inside.

LC broke the caution tape and walked toward the damaged section of the gazebo.

“Should you be crossing that police line?”

“We’ll put up our own safety fencing.”

Up close, Adam was surprised to find the gazebo larger than he’d expected. He figured it was about twenty-four feet across. He also had a clearer picture of the damage he’d caused and he wondered if anything could be salvaged. He saw tire tracks in the dirt where he’d tried to stop, and pieces of glass were scattered around the ground from his broken windshield. A gaping hole in the brick foundation of the gazebo marked the spot where his car had come to rest. He looked upward at the roof which sagged from the loss of several broken support beams. The cupola on top tilted at a precarious angle and the decorative spindles were little more than kindling.

He glanced over at Laura, stunned to see a deep sadness in her eyes. For a moment he thought she might burst into tears. Did the old gazebo mean that much to her? He didn’t understand. It was just a small building in the center of the town.

But the sadness in her eyes made him so uncomfortable that he looked away, scanning the area. Surely the workers would show up anytime now. He was anxious to meet the real carpenters. She may own the construction company, but a woman her size couldn’t lift a can of paint by herself, let alone a two-by-four. He could, however, see her as the boss. With her hardline attitude and biting comments, he doubted any man would dare to cross her. “So when do the others arrive?”

“What others?”

“The carpenters and guys with the muscle.”

“Sorry, Holbrook, no others. Just you and me. My guys are all busy on other jobs. I can’t afford to pull them off to do this restoration.”

Adam frowned. “I wasn’t expecting it would be just the two of us.”

“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of things you aren’t expecting.”

He stared at the small structure, rubbing his jaw. “You sure we can’t use more help?”