He’d even held off going for the home equity loan knowing that he’d have all the cash back and then some once he closed on his house in three weeks.

  Until then his credit card bills were taking a massive hit. But he had to stop stressing right now, knowing everything worked out in the end. Most of his life he didn’t stress. He just put one foot in front of the other and did what had to be done.

  He worked nonstop to free his mind of guilt and demons the majority of the time.

  He grinned at her text asking if he’d be free for dinner tonight. She’d lost track of the days and realized he was starting back to work tomorrow.

  Rather than text her back, he called. It’d be faster anyway.

  “Hello,” she said. “I didn’t want to bug you as I knew you were probably working.”

  “I am. I needed a break anyway.”

  “How’s it coming? Will you have the floor done by tonight or will you still be working on them?”

  “I’ll be done with any luck by this afternoon. I just need to finish the dining room and foyer.”

  “Wow,” she said. “And you finished your master bathroom too?”

  “I did. That was done on Monday. Well, that’s wrong. I didn’t paint anything yet. But the master suite is complete. Floors, closet, and bathroom. I even put a closet unit in there.”

  “You did. Oh, that makes a girl’s heart go pitter-patter. I’d think that would be a last minute thing for you?”

  “Nah. When I say I need it done, it has to be completed or I won’t go back to it. I’ll just make sure it’s painted before I move in. Probably one day next week.”

  “I’m a good painter. I could help you do some rooms if you’d like.”

  No one ever offered to help him before. Not a woman he’d been dating. When he was dating someone.

  “I couldn’t ask you to do that. You’ve got a busy enough schedule and I’ll be working this weekend too.”

  “But you aren’t at night. I’m sure you’ll be working on it at night, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “How about I come over tonight and paint your bathroom and bedroom for you? Or don’t you have the colors yet?”

  “Sorry. No paint yet. I’m not sure of the colors. But you’re welcome to come over and check the place out. How about we go to dinner?”

  He knew he was going to need to take a break and walk away anyway.

  “Dinner sounds good. I might be able to sneak out early today.”

  “Really?” he asked. “What’s considered early for you?”

  “Four. Maybe even three thirty.”

  “I should be done by then.” He could come back tomorrow night and lay all the paper down on top of the floors to protect them. The way he was working, his body was going to be screaming as it was. He actually stretched and felt his joints pop in his shoulder.

  “Good,” she said. “Do you want to meet somewhere? Or maybe I could go to your current house. I bet you need to pack still too. I probably shouldn’t be taking up much of your time.”

  “I need to do a lot of things in the next three weeks,” he heard himself saying. Which was why he was thrilled that he got the bath and floors done.

  “Could you use some help packing?”

  “Aren’t you just a bundle of offerings.”

  “I’ve got a lot of things I could offer,” she said, some humor in her tone.

  “Then I can’t wait to find out what they all are.”

  And several hours later he was getting out of the shower at his house and drying his hair off when he heard a car door.

  Here he thought she was always late, but it looked like she was on time. Of course he was late because he’d underestimated his time after his nail gun decided to jam on him.

  He dried off fast, pulled on shorts, and then opened the bathroom door to let the steam out waiting to see if his doorbell rang or not. It did.

  “Wow, now this is a welcome I’d like to get more often,” she said before she leaned in to kiss him. He was slightly shocked by the move and she must have noticed. “Too much too soon? I mean you did open the door half dressed. Some might take that as an invitation.”

  He laughed. She sure knew the way to lighten his mood. “No, it’s all good. I thought you were always late.”

  “I actually am,” she said. “I left work at three and yet it’s five. It shouldn’t have taken me this much time to go home, change and get here, but I ended up starting laundry and then got sidetracked and was rushing out the door.”

  “You didn’t need to tell me that, I’d just thought you were on time.”

  “Maybe I should keep my mouth shut in the future then.” She was standing in the living room, her head moving around. “Nathan, this is stunning. You did all this work?”

  “I did. Let me show you around. It’s small but took me about a year.”

  “Considering how much you’ve gotten done on the other house, how is that possible?”

  He brought her into the kitchen. “This house was a foreclosure and I decided to pay cash for it, so that drained me for a bit. I lived here the whole time and did work little by little. But it needed things like a roof, the outside had to be painted. Stuff like that.”

  “So living here you just did one room at a time?”

  “Yeah. I’ve never put myself in a position like I’m in now. It’s a little daunting to know I’ve got to be out so fast. But there was just so much work to be done on the other house that I knew I had to gut it first. It’ll be fine.”

  “Yet you seem nervous for some reason.”

  Funny how she noticed that. “Just stretched thin until the closing.”

  She tilted her head. “That’s too personal, I know.”

  “It’s fine. Not a big deal and since you work for the same firm I’m sure if you were real nosy you could find out, but I paid cash for the house in Paradise Place. Once I close in a few weeks on this house, I’ll be breathing just fine.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I mean you’re young to have that kind of cash to be doing that.”

  “As you can tell by looking around, I’m not a flashy person. The furniture you see is what I’ve got along with my bedroom. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

  He put his hand on her lower back and moved her to the rear of the house. “This is a nice big room. Oh, you can access the bathroom from the bedroom or hallway.”

  “Yeah. Being on the first floor I knew that’d be key. This was a two-bedroom one-bath house. The upstairs was an attic, but I put a dormer in and added the two bedrooms and a bathroom up there. I turned the two bedrooms and existing bath into the master down here.”

  He opened a drawer and pulled a shirt out. “Oh please, don’t cover up for my sake.”

  He shook his head. “I thought we’re were going to dinner.”

  “Damn. I should have brought pizza again.”

  “Another time. And I put the dormer on first and finished the whole upstairs so that I could move my bedroom up there before I did the master down here.”

  “Smart,” she said. They walked upstairs and she looked in on both rooms and the bathroom. They were empty but neutral. “This would be great for a couple of kids. The parents downstairs.”

  “That’s what I figured when I did it. Or an older couple could buy this house to downsize, have first floor living, and two guest rooms up there.”

  “So do you know who is buying the house?”

  “No,” he said. “I’ll find out at the closing. As long as their money is green, I could care less. It’s just a business for me.”

  “A lucrative one by the sounds of it.”

  “I don’t plan on being a trooper forever,” he said back. “All those years in the service, I never spent much money and it built up enough for me to start doing this. I’ve never had a flop; I’ve always made money and since I live in the house too, it always works out.”

  “So you’ve been living rent or mortgage free for over a year and then will again.”

  “That’s the plan. Once I move into the house in Paradise, I’ll slow down on the work. I’m not in a rush. This is probably the fastest I’ve worked and my body is paying the price too.”

  “I can help you with that,” she said.

  He grinned. “You are one of a kind in more ways than one.”

  “That’s a good thing too, isn’t it?” she asked as she went into his arms and wound her fingers around his neck, pulling his head down for a kiss.

  “It’s a great thing.”

  15

  Intimidate Me

  Two weeks later, Brina found herself rushing out the door bright and early like she always did. She was trying not to be late for a staff meeting. She was always on time, or in the office on time and that counted to her.

  Most people walked into the meetings a few minutes late because they were held up on a call or in traffic.

  When she got closer to her car in the spot in front of her garage, she noticed it was tilted.

  Walking around to the driver’s side she saw that she had two flat tires. No, correction, her two tires were slashed.

  “Son of a bitch,” she said. She pulled her phone out and called the police. Then she called her office to say she wouldn’t make the meeting and would be in as soon as she could.

  Over an hour later, she was in the car with her father. “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate the lift. Thankfully I don’t have court today.”

  “We’ll come get you when you’re done later. Just give your mother or me a call. Did they say when your vehicle would be ready?”

  “The garage said they’d call. It should be this afternoon so if I can sneak out I’ll see if someone can run me over to get it. I’ll let you know either way.”

  The four tires were going to be an expense she hadn’t planned on. But wasn’t that life? It wasn’t like she could just get two since her other ones were a few years old and would wear uneven. Or so the garage told her when the tow truck picked it up.

  “So what’s this I hear you’re dating someone?”

  She should have figured calling her father for a ride would result in this. It’s not that she kept secrets from her parents. She really didn’t.

  But she wasn’t always so forthcoming with her personal life.

  “I am. I guess you could call it that.”

  It’d been close to a month and multiple dates. Most could consider that dating, but she wasn’t one for relationships and she was pretty sure Nathan was the same way. Hadn’t they agreed it was just fun?

  “Hannah said he’s a state trooper.”

  “He is. His name is Nathan. He’s also a house flipper. He has a property he is working on not far from Blair.”

  “I did hear that too.”

  “Not surprising,” she said. “From Hannah or Blair?”

  “Grandma,” he said. “Which means she must have heard it from Blair because you know how close the two of them are.”

  She’d never been jealous of that relationship even though Brina was the oldest grandchild. Blair had the most in common with their grandmother. Just because Blair was adopted meant nothing.

  And Blair’s father, Brina’s Uncle Tyler, was an attorney too. If Brina was close to anyone in the family it was Blair’s father.

  They didn’t see or talk as much now because she was so busy. Uncle Tyler even wanted her to work at the same firm as him, but she didn’t want special treatment and took the job where she was now. She was happy. It was a bigger firm and they got a lot more cases that she preferred to take.

  Not that she didn’t have to do her fair share of other cases. But not many staff wanted to deal with the pro bono ones. Not many found it worth their time.

  If it didn’t pad their wallets, they didn’t want it.

  “Blair is a bit nosy but we’ve always known that.”

  “And how many dreams has she told you she’s had about you and this guy?” her father asked.

  “More than I care to know about. You know I don’t believe in that crap, but she’s been kind of right on with him. At least how we met or how it started.”

  “Do I want to know?” he asked.

  “Not really, though it isn’t that big of a deal.”

  “Are you going to tell him about this today?”

  “Yes. As soon as I’m in the office I’ll send him a text. He’s working tonight so he’s sleeping now.”

  As soon as those words were out of her mouth she realized that maybe she shouldn’t let him know until later. She tried not to bother him when she knew he’d be sleeping.

  “How do you two find time together?”

  “We make it work. We don’t see each other much. He’s closing on his current house next week. I’m going to help him pack this weekend and bring over stuff. He’s got a moving truck and a friend helping him bring over his little bit of furniture.”

  “Little? No one owns a house and only has a little bit of furniture.”

  She laughed. “He’s pretty minimalistic. He moves around every year or so living in the houses he flips.”

  “Could you be happy living like that?”

  She turned her head sharply. “What? First off, I’m not even sure what we have but it’s pretty light. How he lives has no bearing on me. I’ve got my own place.”

  “One of these days you’re going to find someone that won’t appreciate how independent you always are.”

  “Then they aren’t for me,” she said, her voice firm.

  “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. You know your mind and I should keep my opinions to myself. I guess talking about that is trying to take my mind off of the fact that someone slashed your tires.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m trying not to think of it either.”

  “Do you have any idea who could have done it? Have you had any problems at work? Don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe you shouldn’t be alone.”

  “I’m not sure who could have done it. Not enough to make an accusation or list names.”

  “But you’ve got a thought?” he asked.

  She did, but not enough facts. The slumlord from a few weeks ago not only wasn’t doing the work he was ordered to do, but tenants from another one of his properties came into her office last week. Yesterday he was served with a lawsuit on another property. His lawyers called, but she wasn’t backing down on this one either and pointed out that he only had a week to ensure the other work was done before they appeared in court again.

  “Maybe. Not much I can do now. I’ll try to shove my stuff around in the garage and pull my SUV back in there.”

  “That’s a good idea, but the bigger issue is that someone knows where you live now too.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “You should have a security system,” her father said. It wasn’t the first time he’d brought it up.

  “It’s not like I live alone like you think. I’ve got neighbors on both sides of me.”

  “Which didn’t stop your tires from being slashed.”

  Thankfully they pulled into the parking lot of her office. She was fast to open the door and climb out. “Thanks for the ride, Dad.”

  “Brina, you know we worry about you.”

  “There is no reason to be worried. I’m fine.”

  Two hours later there was a knock on her door. “I hear you had some trouble this morning?”

  One of the partners was standing there. “Yeah. It’s fine.”

  Carol Monroe walked in and shut the door. “Do you think it was Ralph Freeland?”

  She reported to Carol. All her cases went across Carol’s desk first and last before they were filed away. “It smacks of him. Desperate people who don’t like to be told they need to take care of their shit.”

  “Did you tell the police you thought it was him?”

  “No. That would only piss him off more if it was. If it wasn’t him, then it might give him ammunition to think he could intimidate me.”

  “You sound like me when I was your age.”

  She smiled at Carol. As a partner, Carol brought in a lot of money to the firm, but she was a do-gooder like Brina.

  “Is that the only reason you came in here or do I need to up my revenue?”

  “You know the firm is always looking for that. But in this instance, I’ve got a case I’d like you to assist me on.”

  “Me?” she asked. Carol never came to her to assist.

  “Yes. I had a man in my office yesterday. He claims he was being discriminated against at his job. And that when he brought it up to his employers they terminated him after they made his job almost impossible to do. Gave him deadlines he couldn’t meet and so on.”

  “So they used that to set him up to fail and terminate him that way?”

  “That is what he says. He also claims it’s been happening for years. That older men and women are being forced out for younger employees that they can pay less.”

  “It could happen. Businesses are always trying to save money. How old is he?”

  “Thirty-nine.”

  “Just under the ADEA.”

  “Exactly. Most wouldn’t think anything of using that for thirty-nine. When you think of age discrimination you normally think much older.”

  “Sounds like an interesting case.” And one right up Brina’s alley.

  “He claims he was the fifth person forced out, or terminated in the past two years. Everyone just under forty.”

  “And you’re going to take it? What are you suing for?”

  “I’m going in for the kill. Not just lost wages and their jobs back, if they want them, but several million in damages. This could be a big notch on your belt for the underdog.”

  “I’m not about money, Carol.”

  “I know you’re not. And that isn’t why I’m coming to you. This is your passion and I guess you could say that this is my middle finger to the other partners who gave me shit on my way up the chain. There are plenty I could ask in your place, but I see a lot of myself in you, as I said.”

  She was oddly touched. “I’d be honored to help you on this.”

  “That means you might have to close up some of your smaller cases or pass on them.”