It’s the wrong thing to ask, and I know it the moment his entire body goes solid. I want to stuff the words back in my mouth and forget I spoke them, but it’s too late for that.
“Forget I asked. I’m sorry.” I have no idea what happened, but I get the impression I just stepped on a landmine.
He relaxes a little then physically shakes himself. “Don’t apologize.” He stares at his feet for a moment before he says, “I lost my wife a few years back.”
My heart sinks for him.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Jared waves this off. “You didn’t know. I guess it’s still kind of a raw wound for me.”
“Understandable,” I tell him, truly meaning it.
I can’t imagine how it must feel to lose someone you love. My split from Thomas was easy because I already fell out of love with him. Our past was too difficult to get around, and Thomas didn’t help matters by being violent. He thought he could control me with words, and when that failed, he used fists. It took me a while, and a lot of support from Simone, to eventually do what I had to do and leave him. He can’t stand losing that control, though. That’s why he’s making our divorce so difficult.
Jared grunts, then shakes himself. “Do you want to show me this leak?”
“Oh. Right. This way.”
I lead him through the door into the back and to the small kitchen area. I placed a bucket under the sink to catch the drips.
I watch him crouch down and lean under the sink. He finds the main shut off and turns the water off, then he starts working.
I hover around, unsure if I should leave him to it or wait for him to finish. He takes that decision out of my hands, by asking, “So, you’re opening on Saturday?”
“That’s what the flyers say, so I guess I’ll have to do it.” My grin fades. “At the rate I’m going, though, it’s more likely to be a week on Saturday.”
He reaches for the wrench and says, “I can’t imagine you being late for anything.” His voice is a little muffled by the fact his head is stuck under the sink. “You don’t seem the type.”
How he knows this, I don’t know, but he’s right.
“Usually, I’m not, but this might be out of my hands if the sink is broken. I need water to continue cleaning.”
“If I can’t fix it, I can always run a hose over here from the garage, so you at least have water. It’ll be cold, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Seriously, you’re already doing more than enough.”
“I don’t mind helping. Isn’t that what neighbors do?”
“Rescue their neighbors from heavy objects and leaky faucets?”
“You were handling things fine before I came along.”
“I was making a mess.”
He lets out a low breath and doesn’t respond to my statement, instead saying, “It looks like the washer’s gone.” He emerges from under the sink. “I have a couple spare at the garage.”
“Really, I can’t take your washers.” I realize how ridiculous I sound the moment the words leave my mouth, but there’s no taking them back. “Honestly, Jared, you’ve already done more than enough.”
“I said I’d fix it, so I’ll fix it.”
He straightens from the floor and I can’t help but notice how the thick muscles in his arms bunch as he moves. I also can’t help but notice how flipping tall the man is. He towers over me.
“Really—” I start, but he cuts me off.
“I’ll be back in a minute.”
And with that, he disappears through the door that leads to the front of the store. I stand, a little unsure of what to do with myself until he returns and holds up the small piece of rubber I need.
“This’ll stop your leak,” he assures me.
“All righty then.”
He disappears back under the sink and I take a moment to appreciate how good his legs look in those coveralls.
I’m ogling. Again.
I snap my gaze away and try to focus on a spot on the wall, far from him.
“How’d you learn to do plumbing?”
“I renovated the house when I first got married. The plumbing was a disaster. I had to learn how to do it, or find thousands of dollars to get it fixed.”
“Ah, well, I’m grateful you did learn, because otherwise I’d be in trouble right now.”
“I’m sure you’d figure it out on your own if you had to.”
I would because that’s the kind of person I am. I don’t give up easily.
“Right, that looks about done,” he says, pulling his shoulders out. “I’ve just got to turn the main water pipe back on and make sure it doesn’t drip.”
He turns it on. Then returns to check for any more leaks. After a moment, he says, “It’s dry.”
Relief floods me.
“Thank you so much.”
“Don’t mention it.”
He climbs to his feet, and I have to tip my head back to meet his gaze.
“I need to mention it. You saved my ass.”
“Nia, it’s fine.”
“What do I owe you?”
“Nothing.”
“Let me at least pay you for the washer.”
“They’re like a buck. I don’t want your money.”
“Fine then have dinner with me instead.” My world screeches to a halt. What the hell made me ask that? “To say thank you,” I clarify with a wince. “Sorry, that was a little forward.”
I watch as he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck and feel the heat rising in my face as he seeks a rebuttal.
“I… uh… can’t.”
“No, right. You’re absolutely right. It was a stupid thing to ask.” I wince again, glancing down at my feet. “I don’t know what possessed me. Sorry.”
I’m aware of his proximity to me. Too aware. “I can’t have dinner with you, Nia. I’m sorry.”
He turns on his heel and walks away, leaving me alone to deal with my mortification.
5
Jared
“Coop, kid, come on. It’s time to get up, buddy.”
My three-year-old makes a groan worthy of an Oscar as he tosses in his bed, but doesn’t move to get up. He’s developed his mother’s love of sleep, something that makes my chest pang when I think about it. I deprived him of ever finding that out himself.
“Don’t wanna,” he whines, and I don’t blame him. I don’t want to be up either, but I have to be at work this morning.
“Kid, cut me some slack here.”
“What’s slack?” His words run together and it takes me a second to understand what he’s asking. I swear I spend half my life translating the untranslatable. His language is getting better, though. He knows a lot more words and he’s not afraid to use them, but sometimes he has trouble pronouncing stuff and he gets easily frustrated when I don’t understand him right away. I can’t help but think Robyn would have been better at this shit than me.
“It means get up without complaining, Cooper.” I rake my fingers through my hair as I say it, feeling a little of my patience slipping.