Hometown Holiday Reunion

Someone was going to die.

She’d start with whoever thought it was a good idea to start hammering at—Erin squinted at the clock on her phone—seven on a Wednesday morning. Thankfully, Parker had spent the night at a friend’s house and wasn’t here to be rudely awakened by the busy beaver hacking away downstairs.

Recognizing that her tattered sweats and “Whatever” T-shirt were hardly the right outfit for this particular confrontation, she yanked an oversize Cincinnati football jersey overtop and stormed down the stairs to restore some peace. Her bare feet stomping down the wooden steps didn’t make much of an impact, and by the time she reached the first floor she had a good head of steam going.

Seeing who she had to thank for her early wake-up call didn’t help settle her temper even the slightest bit. “Cam!”

Obviously startled, he jerked his head around and stared at her as if she was the last person he’d expected to find there. “Yeah?”

Reminding herself that cluelessness was a dominant male characteristic, she struggled not to scream at him. “Do you know what time it is?”

“About seven. Too early for you?”

“It’s Christmas vacation.” He gave her the blankest look she’d ever seen, and she realized that he needed more of an explanation than that. Without caffeine, the best she could dredge up was, “Sleeping in is part of the deal.”

His sheepish expression was completely at odds with the cocky guy she remembered, and in her foggy state she actually thought it made him look cute. “Sorry. I don’t have kids, so I didn’t get that memo. Want me to come back later?”

“No,” she answered on a yawn. “I’m awake now, and I’ve got tons to do myself. Want some coffee?”

The offer was clearly a surprise to him, and she had to admit she didn’t know where the invitation had come from. She must be more tired than she thought. But it would be rude to extend it and then yank it back, so she tried to look okay with the idea.

“That’d be nice,” he said, grinning over at her. “Can I make a suggestion first?”

“Sure.”

“You might wanna turn your sweatshirt right side out so people can see more than just an outline of the tiger.”

Erin glanced down to discover that she had indeed pulled her outer layer on inside out. Seeing as the rest of her life felt totally discombobulated these days, the mistake fit right in. She set it to rights, then took a moment to check out what he’d been up to. There were a lot of markings on the walls and the scarred wooden floor, measurements for the furnishings they’d briefly discussed yesterday.

Then she saw the gap in the ceiling and the pile of acoustic tiles that had fallen from it. “What happened?”

“I hate these drop ceilings,” he grumbled. “I was poking around with a broom handle to make sure there weren’t any soft spots, and that section just about fell on my head. I really think you’d be better off to pull the whole system down and either Sheetrock it or leave the beams exposed.”

Erin craned her neck to get a better look through the hole. “What’s up there?”

“The original oak beams, ductwork, stuff like that. These days, lots of folks paint the metalwork and either stain the wood or leave it natural. It’s a cool look, and as a bonus it brings a lot more height to the space.”

“Interesting.”

Cam went over to the makeshift workbench he’d made using a wide board resting on two sawhorses. Taking a large set of drawings from the top, he brought them over to her and held them out for her to see. “I found the original plans in the office at the café. Up here—” he pointed “—it looks like they had four windows just a little ways down from where you’re living. Back in the day, they probably used it as a storage loft. If the windows are still intact, we can open things up to let in a lot more light.”

“That would be great.” Erin was impressed, not only with his obvious knowledge but with the effort he’d already put into improving the neglected old building. “This is more than construction experience, though. Where did you learn all this design stuff?”