Chapter 25

Declan stretched and reached for Renee, only to be met with empty space. He sat up and listened. Maybe she ran to the bathroom. But he heard nothing. He climbed out of bed and pulled on his underwear. Her clothes were gone from the floor. No sign of her in the kitchen or at the dining room table. He continued through the house until he was at her bedroom.

Sure enough, she was asleep in her own bed. She'd fallen asleep in his arms last night, so he had no idea when she left. Or why.

As much as he wanted to crawl back under the covers with her, she hadn't invited him here. And if he knew anything about Renee, it was that she needed to make that call. So he turned around and went back to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. While it brewed, he checked the bathroom. He had to do some touch-ups, but then it would be done.

Today would be a good day to check out reclaimed cabinets. Sadie was supposed to be with Graham until dinner, and although the windows would be in soon, he could start on the kitchen. Even if she wanted to wait on ripping things out, they could store the cabinets in the garage until they were ready.

He grabbed his clothes and used Renee's bathroom to shower and get ready. As he was tugging on his pants, Renee knocked.

"Almost done?"

Opening the door, he said, "All yours."

His gaze raked over her. She wore a long T-shirt and he wanted to see if she had on anything underneath. "Sleep well?"

She blushed. "Yeah." Brushing past him, she said, "Excuse me. I gotta pee, and I don't need an audience."

He left her to do her business. In the kitchen, he poured them both a cup of coffee. When she came in, and went to the pot, he handed her the ready cup.

"Thank you."

He leaned against the counter, trying to remain casual. "Want to tell me why you snuck out of my bed?"

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't exactly sneak. I woke up. After thinking about it, I decided staying in your bed wasn't a great idea. What if Sadie came home early? How would I explain that?"

Bullshit. The word almost slipped from his lips.

She bit her lower lip. "Spending the night together feels like more than fun. I don't think that's where we are."

"We? Or you?" He took a step closer to her. "Because I'm telling you, I'm ready for whatever you want, Rennie."

She snorted. "We talked about this. Sadie can't know about us."

"Yet."

Her eyes narrowed at the word. He looked around exaggeratedly. "And no Sadie. You left because you're scared."

"Yeah, I am." She set her cup on the counter. "I don't know if I'm ready for anything beyond fun. And you have your life to figure out too. If we fuck this up, everyone gets hurt."

"I get that. But sleeping in my bed when Sadie isn't home can't hurt. I like having you in bed. In my arms." She looked so conflicted and he was afraid to keep pushing. He said he wouldn't. "Besides, it's harder to have wake-up morning sex if you're not there."

She smiled. "Maybe I don't like morning sex."

He recoiled playfully. "Who doesn't like morning sex? It's a great way to start your day. Loosens your muscles. Keeps you relaxed."

"Makes you sleepy and want to stay in bed..."

"That's not bad thing."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"What do you think about going to check out some reclaimed cabinets today?"

"Today?"

"Graham has Sadie till dinnertime. You're usually busy during the week."

"But I'm not ready to start this project. I mean, you already have the windows to do, and the living room and dining room need to be painted." She looked around the kitchen.

"I'm not saying we have to start this. But we can look and see what's available. If, by chance, we find something that's perfect, we get them and store them in the garage. It'll give you an idea of what's possible."

"Okay. Let me get dressed. Want to go to breakfast first?"

"Sure." They parted and went to their respective rooms to finish getting ready.

Renee didn't know what she'd expected after her awkward conversation with Declan over coffee this morning, but it was like it never happened. They had a great time at breakfast, talking about so many different things. And he made shopping for cabinets fun. They didn't quite find what she'd need, but now she had some ideas. He was making her believe that a new-ish kitchen was possible.

Once they were back at home, she sat on the couch and checked job boards half-heartedly. Declan went back outside to check the playset one more time. As if something had changed since last night. He was so excited for Sadie to come home. She glanced at the time on her laptop. Knowing Graham, he'd be dropping Sadie off soon.

She went to the kitchen and washed the few dishes that were in the sink while she considered what she should make for dinner. She had some leftovers from lunch yesterday. That would probably be enough. From her spot at the sink, she could see Declan testing the chains on the swings and then hanging from the monkey bars. He was being so careful, worrying about whether her daughter would be safe. Her chest tightened at the sight.

All of a sudden, her feet were wet. Stepping back from the sink, she saw water trickling from the cabinet. She slapped her hand on the faucet to turn off the running water. "What the fuck?"

She opened the cabinet and found water streaming from the pipe. A puddle filled the base of the cabinet and continued to drip onto the floor. She grabbed her towel from the counter and slapped it on the floor. Then she ran to the bathroom and grabbed a few more towels.

Just as she was mopping up the puddle, the doorbell rang. Taking a deep breath, she went to let Sadie in. When she opened the door, Sadie smiled and said, "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, baby. Go put your bag in your room."

Graham took a look at her and asked, "What's going on?"

"The pipe under the kitchen sink is leaking."

He shook his head. "I told you this place was a money pit."

"Seriously? That's all you can say?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You're a God damn plumber. You could offer to fix it."

He huffed. His blue eyes filled with scorn. "You wanted to be on your own, Renee." He stepped closer. "Is this you saying you need me?"

She stepped back. "No. I'll handle it."

He shook his head. "That's always your problem. You can never admit when you need help."

"I have no problem asking for help. You just reminded me of all the strings that come attached to your help. No thanks." She started to close the door, so he'd get the hint.

Sadie came back into the room. "Where's Declan?"

"He's out in the yard. He has a surprise for you."

"Yay!" she squealed and ran through the house.

Renee followed her, pausing to toss more towels on the puddle under the sink. Outside, Sadie was already testing out the swing.

"Mom! Declan made me a jungle gym!"

"I know. It's pretty cool isn't it?"

"It's the best!" she yelled as Declan pushed her higher on the swing.

As much as she wanted to stay and play with them, she had a mess in the kitchen. "Are you okay out here?" she asked Declan.

"Of course. We have to test out the monkey bars next."

"Thank you." She hoped he understood how much Sadie's happiness meant to her.

In the kitchen, she picked up the sopping towels and carried them to the washer. Then she added fresh towels to the floor. She reached under the sink, twisted the water shut off, and hoped it would be enough to stop it for now. She pulled all the items out from the cabinet and filled the counter and kitchen table.

As she looked at the new mess in her kitchen, Sadie came through the back door with Declan behind her. "Can we go back out and play after dinner?"

"You didn't eat dinner with Dad?" Her blood began to boil and she inhaled deeply. "Don't worry about it. I'll throw some chicken nuggets in the oven in a minute. Go to the bathroom and wash up. After dinner, it'll be too late to play, but you can play after breakfast tomorrow. Okay?"

"Yes." She took off through the house.

"What's going on here?" Declan asked.

"I was washing dishes and all of a sudden, my feet were wet." She kicked at the towels she had on the floor. "The pipe is leaking. And when Graham showed up, you think he would've said, ‘Hey, let me take care of this simple little thing, you know, since I'm a fucking plumber.' But no, not that shithead. Not unless I was ready to ask really nice."

Her body vibrated with anger.

"Hey. It's okay." He stepped over the pile of towels and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened.

"Sadie isn't here and even is she was, this isn't sexual. I'm giving a friend a hug." His hand rubbed her back. "I got this."

She pulled away. "Don't worry about it. I'll call a plumber in the morning."

"I can figure it out. It's probably something simple. Go put the nuggets in for Sadie. I'll grab some tools."

As much as she didn't want to be relieved Declan was here and offering help, she was. His calm attitude eased everything inside her that had knotted up. "You sure?"

"If I can't figure it out, we'll call a plumber tomorrow."

His use of we had her heart tripping. It meant nothing, and she knew it, but she missed being part of a we, especially at times like this. "Thank you."

He disappeared to the basement where he had all the tools he'd brought. She put chicken in the oven for Sadie. While Declan crawled under the sink, she kept Sadie in the living room so she wouldn't bother him. A few minutes later, he stood in front of her with a wrench in his hand.

"I gotta run to the store to grab some supplies. Can I take your car?"

"Of course. If you write down what you need, I'll go get it."

"You stay. Feed Sadie. I'll be back soon."

She handed him her keys and credit card. He looked like he wanted to argue about taking her card, but she was not about to have him buy anything when she hadn't even paid him for any of the work he'd already done.

While he was gone, she let Sadie have a picnic on the living room floor and listened about what she'd done with Graham all weekend and how much she loved the playset in the yard. She wanted to have the monkey bars mastered by next week.

Renee smiled and shook her head. Her life had taken a hell of a turn since Declan showed up on her steps. She didn't know what she was doing. He was so involved here that it was making her nervous. None of this seemed like just some fun.