After giving herself a stern talking-to, Kristen carried on. By the time she reached Harvey’s Hardware, she’d almost managed to push thoughts of Ford out of her head. Then she almost walked into a display of hard hats and she was a goner.
“Miss Barnes, welcome back,” Harvey himself greeted her. “The new catalogues came with today’s mail. Did you want to take a look?”
“Thank you, yes,” Kristen smiled and went into work mode.
She finished up way too early to go straight home. Home. Funny how Ford’s place had become ‘home’ overnight. Well, home is where the suitcases sleep, after all. Kristen decided that was the best explanation and moved on to ponder her options.
She could walk out to the building site, but then she’d be hanging around the trailer and thinking about how sturdy that table in there was… no, she definitely needed to clear her head some before going out there.
As if her body was offering up one good idea after another, it finally landed on something physically possible. Eating. She could definitely go for some food.
Some minutes later, Kristen walked into the Sea Shack. It took less than a minute for Hallie to spot her and rush her over to her old table.
“Great to see you again, Kristen,” Hallie beamed at her. “How’ve you been? I thought you’d left town, I didn’t see you in so long.”
“Nope, still hanging around… Actually, you might be able to help me…”
“Sure, name it.”
“I’m looking for a place to stay. Preferably somewhere I can stay until August of next year.”
“Old lady Breezer driving you insane, huh? Is that why you haven’t been around much? She been force-feeding you chopped liver?”
Kristen repressed a shudder. “Something like that.”
“Well, I can’t say I blamed you. Let me think…” Hallie muttered names to herself, obviously discarding each option for whatever reason. Then, suddently, Hallie’s gaze snagged on something behind Kristen and she broke into a smile. “Ford!”
Oh, crap.
“Hey, Hallie,” his gravelly voice sounded behind her. He must have been barking a lot of orders today to make it that hoarse, Kristen thought to herself.
“Kristen.”
“Hey, Ford,” Kristen looked up at him, careful keeping her voice neutral and her smile polite.
“We were just trying to think of places for Kristen to stay,” Hallie said. “You have a spare room, don’t you, Ford?”
“Uh… well… yeah, but…”
“See? That’s perfect. Kristen, you can stay with Ford. Don’t worry, he’s a great guy,” she added in a stage whisper. “Go on, have a seat. You two, get to know each other better and work something out. Let me know when you’re ready to order.”
“So… you wanna move in?” Ford said casually, picking up a menu to peruse.
“That’s a generous offer, Mr. Hamm. I can’t stay too long, though.”
“We’ll figure something out. Annabelle’s only staying for two weeks. You could move back in after that.”
“I need something more permanent, though. A place where there’s no confusion about the sleeping arrangements.”
“You’re right. Last night was a mistake,” he said quietly, checking to make sure there were no eavesdroppers in sight – or earshot.
Kristen tried not to feel hurt, but the words still stabbed at her. “Right.”
YOU ARE READING
Build Me Up (NaNoWriMo)
RomanceKristen Barnes has become successful as an architect catering to the rich. Hired to design yet another millionaire's dream home in a small but wealthy town in Massachusetts, she runs into trouble. Trouble in the man-shape of a construction company o...
