Chapter 1

"Hey, asshole, you up?"

"I am now." Declan Doyle rolled over on the couch and eyed his best friend, who looked far too happy considering the sun was barely up.

"I have an early start at the shop, and I wanted to talk to you before I head out."

"What's up?" Declan stood and stretched. He'd been sleeping on Tyler's couch for a week and the springs were killing him.

"Frankie is getting a little irritated with you being here. He thought you were staying for like a day, and that's on me." Tyler pressed a hand to his chest. "I thought I made it clear you needed a place to stay. I'm sorry, but I got something else for you."

"Look, I appreciate the place to sleep." Not so much the uncomfortable couch. "I can make my own way." He'd left his brother's house knowing he needed a change, but going without a plan wasn't working so well.

"No. Really. This is a win-win situation."

"What is?"

"My sister needs some help with that crappy house she bought. She drove me crazy when I was there because she needs all this work done, but she can't afford a lot, and I'm not into construction. Give me an engine to work on, and I'll do it all day. But a piece of wood or drywall? Hell, no."

"Are you telling me Rennie wants me to move in?"

"First, you know she hates when you call her that."

He did know. It was why he did it. If he couldn't treat his best friend's older sister like his own, what was the point?

Tyler continued, "Renee needs someone to guide her through what she should do first and if that someone can do some of the work for cheap, say free room and board...She'd really appreciate it."

Declan laughed. "Your sister doesn't appreciate anything about me. I don't think she even likes me."

"She likes you just fine. Except when you call her Rennie."

It was a silly childhood thing. He'd known Tyler since the third grade and Renee was in seventh. She was too cool to hang out with them, so it had been their duty to torment her. "Why did she buy a crappy house if she doesn't have the means to fix it?"

Tyler shook his head. "Ever since the divorce, everything that happened with Graham, she needed to start over. The divorce pretty much bled them dry because Graham's an asshole, and crappy was what she could afford. But it's livable. And you'd have your own bedroom."

"I don't know. I need to get a job. How am I supposed to fix her shit and work a job?"

"Do some of her stuff while you look. Anything's an improvement. Plus, Sadie adores you."

"I am pretty adorable. That's why all the ladies like me."

"Yeah, whatever. So you'll do it?"

Declan shot his friend a look. "What's in it for you?"

"Besides you getting off my couch? It gets her off my back. Like I said, win-win."

"The idea of win-win isn't supposed to be about you."

"I take what I can." He pulled out his phone. A moment later, Declan's phone pinged. "That's her address and number."

Declan narrowed his eyes. "Did you already tell her I'd do this?"

"Maaaybe."

"Asshole. What if I said no?"

"I had faith that I'd talk you into it. I was prepared with pics of Sadie and everything." He waved his phone in front of Declan.

"Like a cute little kid would make me change my mind."

"What time should I tell her?"

"You mean I'm supposed to go now?" Declan looked around the room, where his few belongings were scattered.

"She works from home, so why not?"

"Fine. Tell her I'll be there by lunch. I want to shower and get my stuff together."

"Cool. Meet for beers tonight?"

"You're buying." He grabbed a T-shirt from the arm of the couch and sniffed it.

"You got it." Tyler grabbed his keys and left.

Declan sank back to the couch, T-shirt in hand. Working on Renee's house couldn't possibly be that bad. He'd survived a couple months living with Ronan who didn't cook, rarely had groceries in the fridge, and had no furniture. Renee might be a cranky chick, but he knew she'd have the basic comforts. And it would afford him time to figure out his next moves while giving him more experience. Living with the wicked witch wouldn't kill him, would it?

Renee scrolled through the spreadsheet double checking her figures. She knew it was right. This was more like triple-checking. Her phone bleeped with a text from her brother.

Declan will be there by lunch.

He better be able to really do the work. I'm not playing.

Do you ever play? He grew up with brothers who do construction and he redid Ronan's kitchen. He's the best you can afford.

She made a face at her phone even though he couldn't see her. She didn't like the truth he was spewing. She sighed and looked around her kitchen. She'd love to redo this room first, but she wasn't sure if it was the best use of her limited funds. She wasn't thrilled with the state of her new house, but it was hers. Graham had no part of it and there were no memories of him in it. So no matter how rundown it was, it was worth it.

The thought made her smile.

A moment later, Sadie came running into the kitchen. "Can I have a snack?"

Renee sighed. Growth spurts were going to kill her. Sadie was back to eating nonstop. "You can have an apple or grapes. It'll be lunchtime soon."

"Grapes."

She gathered a handful of grapes and put them in a bowl for her daughter. As she handed Sadie the bowl, she said, "Declan will be here around lunchtime. Remember I told you he might be coming to stay with us for a while?"

"He's funny." She snatched the bowl and ran back to the living room.

Funny. That was one way to think of Declan. Renee closed her laptop and checked in the fridge to decide what to make for lunch. "Hey, babe. What do you want for lunch?"

"Chicken nuggets!"

She should've guessed. Sadie was in a pattern of eating the same food over and over for days on end. Renee was fine with it, but she had no desire to eat chicken nuggets again. She turned the oven on and grabbed the chicken and a pizza from the freezer. While the oven preheated, she pulled out her notebook where she kept all of her ideas and thoughts about the house. She wanted to be able to have a starting place for Declan.

As she thumbed through the pages, she created a mental list of work she needed to finish by the end of the week. It was hard to believe that her baby was starting kindergarten. When Sadie was an infant, it felt like it would take forever for her to get to school age. Now, she was there, and Renee wasn't sure she was ready to let go.

When the pizza and chicken nuggets were ready, she set plates on the table and called Sadie. They settled in for their usual lunch routine, where Sadie told her about her morning as if Renee hadn't been there with her. It made sense when Sadie was coming from preschool or one of her classes when she was on her own.

But Renee let her chatter on about the cartoon she watched or the game she played with her toys or the city she built with her Legos. Mostly, Renee just needed to smile and nod and ask an occasional question.

"School now?"

Renee sighed. "I told you, school on Monday."

Sadie bounced in her seat in excitement.

"But we can go pick out a backpack today if you want." Renee had already bought all of the other school supplies and painstakingly wrote Sadie's name on every little thing. She almost hadn't because who cared if someone stole a pencil or crayon? But she knew Sadie would notice if other kids had their names on everything, so Renee followed the instructions the school had emailed.

She checked the clock. Still no word from Declan. Was she supposed to sit around all day and wait for him?

She sent a text to Tyler since no one had thought to give her Declan's number.

He's still not here. I have shit to do.

So go do it. He'll get there eventually.

She gave him until she had lunch cleaned up and Sadie ready to go. No Declan, so they went to the store. Sadie had to try on nearly every backpack before settling on the first one Renee handed to her.

"Can I wear it home?"

"You can wear it until we check out and you can hold it in the car. It can't stay on your back. It's not safe."

Sadie squinched up her face and nodded, her light brown curls bouncing around her face. They held hands as they walked through the store toward the registers. After paying for the bag, they drove home, Sadie playing with the zippers on her bag, testing them repeatedly.

"Who's that?" Sadie asked as Renee was parking.

"Who?"

"On our steps."

Renee put the car in park and looked through the window to their front porch. Sure enough, a man was lying on the stairs, legs outstretched, his head resting on a bag. A moment of panic hit her, but then she remembered Declan. She honked the horn. He sat up and pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. He squinted at her and smiled.

"It's Declan."

"Yay!" Sadie unbuckled herself, grabbed her bag, and flew out the door. "Declan!"

How the hell did a guy who they hadn't seen in almost a year get a reception like that?

Renee climbed out of the car and locked up. By the time she reached the house, Sadie was showing Declan how awesome her new backpack was. He looked different than she remembered. He was one of those people who were frozen in time in her mind. Although she'd seen him in recent years, he was always seventeen in her head. Cute, but annoying like a little brother.

He looked at her over Sadie's head and shot her a grin. That smile had always been a killer and seeing it on a guy who was definitely more man than boy was quite the hit.

"Hey. How are you? It's been a while." He stood and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

For some stupid reason, it made her blush. "I'm doing okay."

She pointed to his scruffy jaw. "That's—" Sexy. "New."

He rubbed his hand over the close-cut beard. "Yeah. Ronan had one for a while because he didn't want to look like our dad. I figured I'd give it a try."

She'd never met his dad. He went missing right before Ty and Declan became friends. She wasn't sure if it was a sore subject. "Ty said you were gonna be here by lunchtime."

He shrugged. "It's only like one-thirty. That's still lunchtime, right?"

She sucked in a deep breath. "Let's go in and get you settled." She looked around. "Is that it?" she asked pointing to the duffel he'd been resting on.

"Yep. I travel light."

She walked past him to the door, unlocked it, and ushered Sadie in. "Go put your backpack away. I'm going to show Declan around."

Declan followed them in as Sadie ran off to her room, bag thumping at her side.

"Your room is this way, toward the back of the house on the other side of the kitchen." She led the way, looking at her house the way he might see it. It was a little dingy and had an old lady vibe, but she was working to change that. "Here you go."

She gave the bedroom door a shove and stepped back toward the kitchen. He tossed his bag on the bed and turned in a circle.

"Nice place."

"If you say so."

"I slept on Ronan's attic floor. This is furnished and everything."

"Your brother made you sleep on the floor?" She couldn't keep the shock from her voice.

"He lives alone and didn't have much furniture to begin with. But he bought a mattress, so I wasn't on the bare floor." He lifted a shoulder again as if he didn't have a care in the world.

To be so laid back.

"Should we see what needs work?"

"We will. But first, some ground rules."

"Shoot." He sat on the edge of the bed and gave a bounce. Then he patted the mattress beside him. "Take a seat."

She waved him off. She was better when standing. "First, no parties, no women."

"You mean here, right? Like you don't expect me to be celibate. Just don't bring them here."

"What you do out in the world is your business."

"I would never be so disrespectful to bring another woman into your house. What do you think of me, Rennie?" He put a hand over his heart and looked at her with wide clear blue eyes.

"Second, do not ever call me Rennie. It annoys me."

He huffed out a breath. "I'll try."

"Three, you're welcome to eat or drink anything in the fridge. I cook or pick up dinner most nights. I'm willing to get you something specific when I do the grocery shopping—within reason."

"Whatever you have, is good with me. I'm not picky."

"Four, I expect you to treat this like a job. No sleeping all day and then working at midnight. Sadie has a regular bedtime and I don't want work noise to keep her up. Plus, she's starting school next week, so her routine is shifting. It's going to be hard enough without adding lack of sleep. Any problems?"

"Got it. Don't be a douche. Get the work done."

She cringed. "And maybe try to curb the language. I really don't want to have to explain to a five-year-old what a douche is."

"Again, I can try." He stood up. "My turn."

"For what?"

"My rules."