Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"I hate to admit it," Lori said in a playfully begrudging tone as she looked at yet another pile of stuff. "But I couldn't do this without you, Hudson Boone."

From his now customary spot beside her, Hudson pretended to be knocked over by the praise. Lori rolled her eyes, but there was no animosity in it.

"Yes, yes, you're very funny," she groused. "Now, get to work."

Dorothy had finally agreed to Lori's request that they declutter the house a bit to make it look more spacious, and he and Lori had spent days sorting through decades of Dorothy's assorted knickknacks.

They had learned that sorting through an eccentric rich person's stuff was kind of like being an adventurer on a treasure hunt. They'd found all sorts of wild things. Hudson's favorite was a framed newspaper article from nearly forty years ago that showed Dorothy as the grinning champion of a pie-baking contest from a small town Hudson had never heard of. Lori's favorite was an ancient cuckoo clock that didn't seem to work but still bore charmingly carved details.

She hadn't been at all surprised to find that she worked really well with Hudson… and then, upon further thought, had been surprised at how not surprised she'd been. Yes, they'd been rivals for years, but…

Working together, that rivalry felt like a weird dream, one that faded more and more the longer you were out of bed. It turned out that Hudson was pretty easy to get along with, especially given their shared passion for real estate. As they'd worked their way through the seemingly endless rooms in Dorothy's house, they had swapped tips and tricks for staging homes with different quirks and had traded stories about their funniest and most challenging clients over the years.

Lori was not about to admit it, but she'd actually learned a thing or two.

"Lor," Hudson said. She was glad her back was turned, since she didn't want him to see the smile that always crossed her lips when he addressed her by a nickname. "I think it might be time for a break. My back isn't as young as it used to be."

She repressed another smile. She had also picked up on this little trick of Hudson's after a few days of working together. He would make a comment about being older or needing a rest… but she saw that he never struggled to lift a heavy box or stretched out any aches or pains during those breaks. He was taking a pause to remind her to take a pause, so she could grab a snack or a rest or a drink of water.

This should annoy her. She should find it condescending! Or bossy! Wasn't that just like a man, to tell her what to do?

But she didn't find it any of those things. She found it sweet.

She actually felt kind of silly about how sweet she found it.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, grandpa," she said teasingly, putting down the box where she'd been carefully packing up items to head to Dorothy's storage facility. "Let's find you a comfy chair, huh?"

When she turned to look, Hudson was trying to look wounded, although his grin kept breaking through.

"Don't tease me like that, woman!" he scolded. "I'm old enough that I want to be a grandpa. Calling me that just makes me want to start bugging my daughter to get a move on."

Lori, who was maybe occasionally a bit guilty of bugging her daughters to get a move on, decided to say nothing to this.

"Besides," he continued. "I don't want a comfy chair. I want some fresh air. It's the best part of summer and we're stuck inside sorting through the Burrows Family Museum."

"Now that you mention it," she said, "I could go for some lunch."

Her stomach grumbled audibly, as if it had been waiting for her permission to make itself known. Both realtors chuckled as Lori pressed a hand to her stomach.

"Well, let's not keep you waiting, huh?" Hudson said. "Let's grab some grub."

Dorothy's house was located on a beautiful beachfront property at the outskirts of Whale Harbor. The weather was perfect, breezy and much more temperate than July usually got, so they decided to sit outside at a café that had the usual assortment of sandwiches, salads, and soups. This place, however, boasted all local ingredients purchased from independently own farms.

Lori ordered a sandwich with grilled peaches, goat cheese whipped with local honey, and fresh basil. It came on a multigrain bread that was baked in-house. Hudson, inspired by her cheese selection, opted for a big salad that included lots of fresh spinach, sliced strawberries so fresh they were ruby, crumbled goat cheese, and herb croutons made from the same bread as Lori's sandwich. This all came topped with a house balsamic vinaigrette that smelled incredible. Lori drank lemonade that was perfectly crisp and light, while Hudson drank a blend of lemonade and iced tea.

Their meals were so good that for several minutes, they did not exchange a single word, so focused were they in the food before them.

Lori only came out of her deliciousness-inspired fugue when she spotted the most perfect strawberry in existence at the edge of Hudson's plate.

"Hudson," she said, her tone slightly wheedling. "I'll trade you a bite of my sandwich for that strawberry."

He looked doubtfully where she was pointing. "I don't know, Lor. That's a mighty good-looking strawberry. I think that's worth a bit of your sandwich and one of your chips."

The potato chips that came with Lori's sandwich were also house made… and also very, very good.

"You've got yourself a deal," she said. She handed over her sandwich and nabbed the strawberry, popping it into her mouth. It was exactly as perfect as she'd expected.

"Is there anything better than a strawberry?" she asked happily as she pretended not to notice Hudson stealing a second potato chip.

After lunch, they strolled back up to Dorothy's house, not bothering to rush. Having Hudson's help over the past few days had taken a huge amount of stress off Lori's shoulders. She no longer felt like she was being crushed under the weight of her responsibilities.

When they got back up to the house, she even found that she didn't find it as hard to be inside, instead of out enjoying the sun. She had to hand it to Hudson. He really knew when it was time to take a step back and unwind so they could return, recharged for the afternoon's work.

They settled easily back into their pattern of working alongside one another. During the first day or so, Lori had checked which items Hudson put into the "stow for now" boxes and which he'd kept out for display. By this point, she no longer bothered. She trusted his judgment. Case in point…

"Hey, Lori, what do you think about this?" he asked, breaking through her reverie. She looked over her shoulder to see him holding a slender sculpture that suggested, rather than actually depicted, a woman dancing. "I feel like this might be just the thing for that one spot in the study, you know, on the shelf we thought was looking a little too empty?"

She grinned. She knew exactly what spot he was talking about.

"Hudson, you're a genius," she said before she remembered that she was supposed to playfully tease him instead. "That's perfect."

Her enthusiasm was contagious. "I know, right?" he asked. "It's a little funky but still kind of elegant, so I thought it might tie the space together."

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Yes, exactly."

She felt a warm rush of appreciation for his eye for detail and for the way he could slot his talent for staging into the gaps left in her overall vision for Dorothy's house. Who else could say "you know that spot on that shelf" and leave her knowing precisely what he meant?

It was wild, but working together with him was just… fun.

Excited to have solved one of the little loose threads in their staging, they hurried into the study. Lori would have needed to get out a step ladder to place the little statuette, but Hudson was tall enough that he could just manage to reach up and place it without any aid. Together, they stepped back and admired the complete picture.

"That looks great," she said, shaking her head. It was astonishing, sometimes, how a little detail could take something from middling to exceptional.

"We are really good at this," Hudson agreed.

Lori liked that we . She liked it a lot. Maybe more than she should.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. The message was just an unimportant email that could wait for another few days, but she blinked in shock at the time.

"Oh my gosh, it's so late," she said, laughing. She showed the screen to Hudson, and he laughed too.

"We lost track of time! I have to get going though. I'm supposed to be meeting Claire and Liam for dinner and if I don't hustle, I'm going to be late."

"Yes, go, go," Lori urged, shooing him toward the door. "I'm going too."

They quickly gathered their things and headed to the front of the house where their cars were parked.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked, wary of taking up too much of his time but enjoying having a partner in this project.

She didn't need to worry, as it happened. He shot her an easy grin.

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it."

As they slid into their respective cars and started to drive back toward Whale Harbor, Lori couldn't help but feel a frisson of excitement for the next day's work… and a strange pang of loss at saying goodbye to Hudson, even just for the evening.

Hudson Boone was not what one might call a ‘morning person.'

But he had found that recently he was buzzing with energy from the moment he woke up. Maybe he'd just been working on his own for too long. Maybe it was just exciting to get to chat with a coworker during the day again.

He knew it wasn't just getting to chat with any coworker that had him so excited though.

So, when he woke up one morning even before his alarm went off, feeling fresh and ready for the day, he decided to use his extra time to pop into Seastar Espresso to grab some breakfast and coffee for himself and his current coworker…

Charity arched her eyebrow at him when she handed over his drink order, which included a cappuccino for him and a hazelnut latte for Lori, and box of food with a couple of mini quiches and some pastries. He waited, but she didn't say anything, just looked at him with that amused expression.

"Have a good day, Hudson," she said politely. "Tell Lori I said hi."

He bit back a chuckle. The good ole Whale Harbor gossip mill was at it again, it seemed.

When he arrived at Dorothy's house, he settled in on the porch to wait for Lori. Since he wasn't the official realtor listed on the project, he didn't have a key, but he didn't mind. The summer sun was warm and the breeze was cool.

And the quiche was delicious.

When Lori arrived, her face lit up twice, first when she saw him and then again when she saw the Seastar Espresso cup waiting for her.

Hudson was a little bit concerned that he might be blushing. The sun reflecting off her red hair just looked… nice. Just really, really nice.

"Morning, Lori," he said, shoving down his embarrassment. Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice.

"Oh my goodness," she said, taking the waiting cup and giving it an appreciative sniff. "Is that a hazelnut latte? Boone, you're a hero."

He had to chuckle at that. Even when she was making him flustered, Lori was also always making him laugh.

"Frankly," he said jokingly, "I'm terrified to see what you're like when you have an extra cup of coffee in you. Your determination is already off the charts and your energy is contagious." He pretended to think about it. "Is it going to be like I had an extra cup of coffee too? I get jittery. Maybe I should have gotten you decaf."

She gasped. "Bite your tongue," she scolded. "'Decaf' is a swear word, as far as I'm concerned."

He chuckled and they spent a few minutes eating their breakfasts before heading inside to get to work. They were on the last room that needed decluttering today, one of the guest bedrooms upstairs. Dorothy had apparently used it as more of a storage room than a true bedroom, and sorting everything off the floor-to-ceiling shelves had been a monumental task. They were almost done though. In fact, today was probably the last day they'd spend packing up boxes.

He wondered if Lori would still need his help after this. He sure hoped so.

After all, if he wasn't coming out here every day, he'd miss things like what she was doing now, which was taking a single blown glass knickknack off the shelf, then putting it back on.

Then taking it off.

Then putting it back on.

Then taking it back off.

"When," he said in a dramatic announcer's voice, "will the mystery of the glass blob be solved? Tune in next week on Lori's Decisions, coming to a station near you."

"That joke makes you seem really old," she said without taking her eyes from the shelf. "Television is all digital now."

"Well, joke's on you," he returned, "because I was actually making a radio reference."

"Oh, right, sure thing, Father Time," she teased back. She didn't stop the on and off movement of the knickknack though.

He gave her about three more moves before he snatched it from her hand.

"Off," he said firmly. "It's better off."

She narrowed her eyes at him, snatched the item back, and put it back in place.

"You're crazy," she said. "It's clearly better on."

He grinned. "Ah, but now you've made a decision, haven't you?"

She frowned at him. "Tricks are not fair. And maybe it's actually better—"

She reached for the object again, but he caught her hand before she could touch it. Her eyes flew to his and…

And then, somehow, they were looking right at one another. And her hand was in his. She moved, not to pull away, and he moved too, and then he wasn't holding her hand back from fidgeting.

They were just… holding hands.

"You," he said, smiling to show that it wasn't a real criticism, "overthink minor details."

"That's what makes me so good at my job," she said, but her voice too, was gentle.

"You are very good at your job," he agreed. He didn't let go of her hand.

He didn't want to let go, that was for sure. When he held her hand like this, he felt like it was the most obvious choice in the world, like they had been building toward this moment for weeks now without realizing it, but now that they were here, he couldn't believe he hadn't seen the path lying before them.

It just felt right .

Hudson felt a burst of energy, one that was swiftly followed by a burst of fear that if he didn't act now, he would lose his moment. He wasn't sure he was ready, but…

"Lor," he said. "I want to ask you something."

She smiled a little bashfully. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." He nodded, perhaps a bit too eagerly. He probably looked like he was fourteen, not in his mid-sixties, but he hardly even cared. "I, uh… well, I think we've had a nice time working together, don't you?"

She nodded.

"So I was thinking that maybe, if you wanted to, that we could go out on a date?" He shook his head. That sounded like a question… and not the right question. "What I mean to say is—will you go out with me? Maybe..." He thought about the coming week. "This Saturday?"

Her mouth dropped open in a little moue of surprise, her cheeks flushing pink, and for one terrible moment he worried that she would turn him down. But then a shy, happy smile crossed her face.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I would really like that."

"Me too," he said, unable to keep his own grin from spreading. "I know you're a planner, but I can't tell you what we're going to do yet. I have to think of something good. But Saturday, seven o'clock. You and me, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

Excitement buzzed through him as he finally dropped her hand.

"Good. Now get back to work. Gosh, Lori, you're such a slacker."

She used the hand he had just dropped to swat at him playfully, and Hudson found that even the playful contact made him feel like a teenager with his first crush. Even so, he wasn't that teenager and there was work to be done.

They each turned back to their tasks, working as well together as they'd done earlier, although Hudson couldn't deny that there was a new, sparkling energy cracking in the air between them as they tended to their respective tasks.