The fact that Zach had invited her made her a little bit nervous, but even more excited. The result was butterflies in her stomach.
A pretty brunette crossed the yard to meet her. “Are you Stella or Tess?”
“Tess.” She hoisted the Crock-Pot. “Baked beans.”
“Yum. Why don’t you bring it in the house? The electricity is still on. The men seem confident they won’t crash through the ceiling and electrocute themselves on the way down.” She flashed a smile as she led the way to the front porch. “I’m Paige, by the way. I’m engaged to Zach’s brother.”
Geez. Typical man, not to have said who Paige was. Tess picked her way carefully up the obviously rotten steps to the front porch. “I haven’t met Bran,” she said. “Congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thank you.” She preened, lifting a hand to display a diamond ring. “Who knew planning for a wedding was practically a full-time job?”
Not Tess.
Paige’s forehead crinkled. “It was really odd, the way he had a brother materialize from nowhere.”
Intrigued, Tess asked, “You don’t believe they are brothers?”
“Oh, they’re brothers. You can’t mistake it.”
Tess lost interest in the other woman the moment she stepped inside. She immediately saw the appeal of the house. Her experienced eye noted that the wood floors—were they maple or sycamore rather than the more common oak?—were in good condition, considering. They badly needed refinishing, but she didn’t see any irreparable gouges, water stains or rot.
She mentally listed the jobs that needed to be done. Sandblast the fireplace and replace mortar. Strip paint from the thick slab of wood that formed the mantel. Peering at it more closely, she suspected that Zach would find himself stripping off many layers of paint. But she bet he’d find something interesting under it all. A lot of wallboard would need replacing or patching. Refinish or replace molding.
She and Paige chatted as they went to the kitchen, where she set her Crock-Pot on the counter with relief and plugged it in. “Do you suppose Zach would mind if I wander and check out the rest of the house? I don’t know if he told you I’m in the business.”
“Real estate?”
“No, remodeling. My partner and I own Fabulous Interiors.” She smiled. “In case you ever need new blinds, flooring or tile.”
Paige’s smile was polite but she didn’t appear very interested. “I live in Mount Vernon, and in an apartment, at that. All maintenance is my landlord’s obligation, thank goodness.”
“When’s the wedding?”
“This summer. July twenty-third—” Her head turned at the sound of other voices. “Excuse me. That might be Stella.”
“Go ahead.”
Instead of inspecting the kitchen more closely, Tess slipped into the hall and poked her head into more rooms. Male voices came from above along with occasional, alarming thuds—bundles of shingles being dropped?—and the tearing sounds of boards being ripped up. Someone was hammering up there, too. The ceiling quivered in one bedroom as she looked up and she hastily withdrew.
The bedrooms were nothing special, but the ceilings were high and some of the molding seemed worth keeping. She liked the proportions. The bathroom? Well...there wasn’t much he could do but tear it down to studs.
At the back of the house she found a glassed-in porch that had hookups for a washer and dryer. It was too nice a space to waste on a utility room, she thought, then looked through the windows to the backyard, where the construction activity seemed to be centered. A man stood on one of the two tall ladders propped against the house, visible to her only up to his armpits. As she watched, another man descended the other ladder and dropped lightly to his feet on the grass, his muscles flexing with athletic ease.
Zach.
He stayed where he was, apparently listening to what someone up above was saying. Then his head turned and his eyes locked on her.
For a moment all they did was look at each other. She had that shocking sense of connection just as she’d had that first day over Antonio’s battered body. As if the rest of the world blurred and only he remained in focus.