Maid for the Millionaire (9 page)

High on the success of the first part of his plan, Cain called Liz the minute he returned to his house.

She answered on the first ring. “Happy Maids.”

“You really should have a personal cell phone.”

“Can't afford it. What do you want, Cain?”

“Is that any way to talk to the man who's offering you a ride to our job site on Saturday? I'm already stopping for Billy—one more will fit into the truck.”

“You got Billy to take a job?”

“I made him an offer he couldn't refuse.”

“That's great! Amanda will be so thrilled.”

“I'm glad to be able to do it.” He paused. “So what do you say? Want a ride?”

“I haven't even agreed to work with you yet.”

He could have threatened her with calling Ayleen and forced her hand. He could have said, “Please,” and maybe melted her the way she could melt him. Instead he said nothing, letting the decision be her own, following his own directive that this relationship would be totally different. Fresh. New.

“Okay. But I'll meet you there.” Her answer was cool, businesslike, but he didn't care. They'd had a crappy marriage. He'd hurt her. But more than that, he'd pulled her away from her dreams. He had to accept
that she'd be wary of him. Then he had to prove to her she had no reason to be. They were starting over.

 

Peggy Morris had chosen not to be home when Cain and company did the work on her house. Liz had said she would get the keys and be there when Cain and Billy arrived. As Cain opened the back door into the kitchen, she turned from the sink. When she saw the picnic basket Billy carried, she grinned.

“Your mom's a saint.”

Billy frowned. “Why?”

“For making lunch.”

“I made that,” Cain said. “Well, actually, I had Ava call a deli and place an order. I've got sandwiches, soda, bottled water, dessert… The cheesecake you like.”

She groaned. “Oh, Cain! I can't have cheesecake! I'll be big as a house.”

He laughed. She might have groaned about the cheesecake, but she accepted that he'd brought lunch. It was a good start. “You've lost weight since we were married.”

Billy glanced from Cain to Liz. “You two were married?”

Cain said, “Yes.”

Liz said, “A long time ago.”

Billy shook his head. “You don't look like married people to me.”

Liz walked over and put her hand on Billy's forearm. “Your parents' situation wasn't normal, Billy.”

“Yeah, but even my friends' parents argue all the time. You two get along.” He looked from Cain to Liz again. “So why'd you get divorced?”

“Long story,” Liz said.

“I was too busy,” Cain countered.

Before Billy could say anything more about them, Liz turned him in the direction of the door again. “You don't need to know about this. It's ancient history, and we do need to get started on what we came here to do.” She pointed at the door. “I'm guessing Cain's got about ten cans of paint in his truck. Let's go get them.”

The three of them made a good team. Liz jumped into the truck bed and handed paint gallons, brushes, trays and other equipment to Cain and Billy who carted everything into the garage.

When the supplies were on the garage floor, Cain took charge again. “We're starting at this house because essentially everything is in good repair. When Ayleen brought me over this week to check things out, I noticed a few of the walls and ceilings need to be mended and there's also some work in the bathroom.” He pointed at a new shower head and some unidentifiable plumbing equipment in another package. “I'll do all that. You guys can paint. I thought we'd start upstairs and work our way downstairs.”

Liz said, “Okay.”

Billy said, “I already know how to paint. I want to help with the repair work.”

“The thing about construction is that you have to do whatever needs to be done. You don't get to pick your job.” He handed Billy two gallons of beige paint. “Eventually you'll demonstrate that you have a strength or two like electrical or plumbing, and you'll be considered the expert and get to do those jobs whenever they come up. But if there's no electrical or plumbing, you'll paint.”

Billy grumbled, but Cain pretended not to notice. Hiding a smile, Liz picked up some paint trays, brushes and rollers and followed Billy to the door into the kitchen.

He waited until Billy was through the door before he called her back. “Liz?”

She turned, her eyes wide and round, as if afraid of what he might say.

He wanted to tell her thanks. He wanted to say she looked pretty that morning. Because she appeared to be afraid of him and his motives, he handed the blue tape to her. “You're not a good enough painter to forget the blue tape.”

She didn't have a free hand, so he tossed it onto a paint tray, then turned and picked up the bag of plaster.

 

Liz spent an enjoyable morning painting with Billy. A few times Cain came into the room and either pulled Billy to show him something about the repair work he was doing on the ceiling or in the bathroom, or to praise them for the good job they were doing. Billy blossomed under Cain's attention. He even chattered to Liz about the toilet tank “guts” exchange that Cain had explained to him.

“Because it's normal for commodes to need these kinds of repairs,” Billy repeated Cain's comments verbatim. “My mom might need me to do that one day.”

Though Liz was tempted to laugh, she held it back. “That's right. If you learn enough with Cain, you'll be able to fix things as they break at home.”

“I know,” Billy said seriously, sounding proud and responsible.

Liz ruffled his hair. “Get your paintbrush. We've got hours of this ahead of us.”

Lunch was fun and relaxing. Billy had a million questions for Cain and he happily answered them. Having completed the repair work to the walls and ceilings, Cain joined the painting in the afternoon.

At five, Liz suggested they begin cleaning up.

“I could go for another hour or two, how about you, Billy?”

“I'm cool.”

Liz shook her head. “The family has to come home sometime. Because Peggy is new and doesn't know any of us, Ayleen doesn't want her to find us here when she returns.”

“Oops.” Cain laughed. “Forgot.”

Leaving the paint and supplies in the garage, Cain and Billy piled into his truck again. Liz walked to her car.

“See you tomorrow?”

She faced the truck. “Yeah.”

Cain grinned at her. “Okay.”

She climbed into her car with the same strange feeling she'd had at Amanda's about Cain being normal. Wondering if he was working to make her a friend or trying to ease her back into a relationship. But this time it was slightly different. Dealing with him today had been like dealing with a new friend. A
new
friend. Which was odd.

She knew their discussion about his brother had released him from the burden of guilt that had held him back emotionally. He was happy now. Easygoing. Which was probably why he seemed like a new person to her. She was also grateful that she had helped him. But something new was entering their equation. A question. A problem.

What if she told him about their baby and it threw him into a tailspin again?

She turned and watched his truck as it roared down the road. Billy sat in the passenger's side, his elbow out the open window. Cain sat in the driver's side, his elbow
out the open window. They could be friends. Older and younger brother.

The truck turned right and disappeared down the street. Liz watched after it. He couldn't fake what he felt for Billy. The boy was just a tad too inquisitive for an impatient man like Cain to fake patience. He was the happiest she'd ever seen him. And her secret could ruin that.

 

The next morning Cain arrived at the house with Billy in tow and another picnic basket stuffed with food. Eager for lunch, Billy went straight to work. He'd become so good at painting and had such a steady hand that Cain suggested he paint the line bordering the ceiling and around the windows and trim.

Proud of himself, Billy continued to blossom under the praise.

But Liz found herself watching Cain, watching his patience with Billy, watching his commitment to doing a good job for A Friend Indeed, watching the way he treated her. Not as an ex-wife, not as a woman he was pursuing, but as a coworker.

In a lot of ways that was weird.

“Get the lead out, Harper. If you keep repainting the same wall, we'll be here again next weekend.”

“Got it. Sorry.”

“If you're tired, take a break.”

She faced him. “A break? What's a break? Billy, do you know what a break is?”

“Not hardly.”

She laughed and went back to painting, but Cain sighed. “All right. We'll all take ten minutes then we have to get back to it.”

Liz didn't need to be told twice. After using the
bathroom, she jogged down the stairs and into the garage, where Cain had stored a cooler with bottled water and soft drinks. She took a can of diet cola, snapped open the lid and drank.

“Sorry about that.”

Lowering the can from her mouth, she turned and saw Cain walking into the garage. “You don't have to go overboard with being nice.”

“I'm not.”

“Sure you are. I'll bet you wouldn't apologize to your workers if you got so wrapped up in a job you forgot to give them a break.”

“Probably not.”

“So why treat me and Billy any differently?”

“Maybe because I'm having trouble finding a happy medium.”

“Billy's a good kid who needs to be in the real world. And that might include a boss who forgets to give him a break.”

“I'm not having trouble figuring out how to deal with Billy.”

Right. She got it. She was the problem. Their feelings around each other had gone up and down, back and forth and sideways. Plus they had a past. Even as objective as she tried to be, sometimes that past snuck up on her.

“Maybe that's because we shouldn't be working together.”

Just when she thought he'd admit he'd made a mistake in asking for her help, he surprised her. “We both like Billy. We both recognize that if somebody doesn't grab hold of him right now God only knows what he'll get into.” He caught her gaze. “We can do this, Liz. We can help him. Save him. Don't you even want to try?”

She swallowed. “Actually, I do.” And for the first time since she'd seen him standing in only a towel in his kitchen, she wanted to tell
him
she was proud of
him
. She wanted to say it so much that she suddenly understood what he'd been going through every time he'd seen one of the changes she'd made since their marriage.

The feeling was nearly overwhelming.

“You know I'll help Billy. I'll do everything I can.”

He smiled at her, a smile so warm and open, she could only stare at him. The spark was back in his dark brown eyes. His hair fell boyishly to his forehead. But that smile. Oh, that smile. She would have done anything to see that smile three years ago. It seemed to say that he was different. Happy. Easy to be around. If they didn't have a past, if she didn't have a secret, Cain would be the man she would actually consider giving her heart to.

But they did have a past. And she did have a secret.

She chugged her soda and headed into the house just as Billy came out.

“Hey! I didn't even get a drink.”

“Go ahead and get one. I'm ready to get back to work, so I'm going in. You and Cain take all the time you need.”

C
AIN JUMPED INTO HIS
Porsche and punched the address on the invitation in his hand into his GPS unit. He'd been invited to a party being hosted by one of the women who'd been helped by A Friend Indeed. In a few minutes, he found himself driving down the street of the middle-class, blue-collar neighborhood.

He hadn't wanted to attend this party. But it had been a real stretch for him to volunteer to help with the Friend Indeed houses and an even bigger stretch to have taken Billy under his wing and those things had worked out amazingly well. So attending an event for the families involved with the charity was simply another level of change for him. Especially since it would involve chitchat. No bankers or businessmen to schmooze. No business talk tonight. Somehow or other he'd have to be…well, normal.

But he'd decided to once again push beyond his own inadequacies to attend tonight because he couldn't stop thinking about something Liz had told him. When he'd first arrived at Amanda's, Liz had instructed him to accept anything any client offered because this might be the first time in a long time they'd had something to
offer. He'd finally wrapped his head around just how demoralized and demeaned these women had been and then his thoughts had segued to the fact that Liz and her family had been abused.

Liz had been a child in a family just like this one. Alone. Scared. Usually hungry. He couldn't bear the thought.

But that also meant he couldn't refuse an invitation to anything connected to Liz. He didn't want her to feel rejected by him, or that somehow she and her friends weren't good enough. They were. He was the socially awkward one. So to protect her, here he was, driving in an unfamiliar section of the city, about to attend a gathering with people he didn't know.

He parked on the street and headed up the sidewalk to Joni Custer's house. As he climbed the stairs to the front door, he held back a wince of pain. He'd been so busy proving himself to Liz and enjoying doing the work he loved—the work that had nudged him in the direction of success and riches—that he'd forgotten he wasn't eighteen anymore. Billy was probably stronger. And maybe he should be the one hefting boxes of hardwood, while Cain stuck to measuring and fitting.

He found the bell and within two seconds, the bright red front door opened. Liz stood on the other side. Dressed in shorts and a halter top, she looked amazing. Comfortable. Confident. Relaxed.

Their gazes caught and she smiled sheepishly. His heart did a cartwheel. She was smiling at him now, like a real person, not a person she was forced to socialize with, not a person she had to pretend to like. Her smile was genuine.

“Come on. Everybody's outside on the patio.” She
took a look at his attire and winced. “Somebody should have told you dress was informal.”

Cain immediately reached for his tie. Walking into the foyer, he yanked it off and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. “I can make do.” He removed his jacket and tossed it over a hook on a coat tree in the foyer. Following Liz to a sliding glass door at the back of the house, he rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt. “See, now I'm dressed appropriately.”

“Well, not exactly appropriately.” She turned and gave him another smile. “But better.”

“How about a little background before I go out there into a sea of people I don't know.”

“Joni is one of the first women we helped. Every year she hosts a barbecue. Most of the people attending are also A Friend Indeed women, but some are parents and friends of the clients.” She hooked her arm in the crook of his elbow and headed for the door again. “I'll introduce you around, but then you're on your own.”

It felt so good to have her at his side that it disappointed him that she wouldn't stay with him, but he understood. If they had just met, they'd still be in a friend stage, not behaving like a couple. He had to accept that.

“I appreciate the introductions.”

She hesitated another few seconds at the door. “You might get a critique or two of the work you've done.”

“Hey, you helped!” He opened the sliding glass door. “If I'm going down in flames, you're going with me.”

She laughed and the second they stepped onto the stone floor of the small patio, Liz said, “Hey, everybody, this is Cain. He's the new board member who's been fixing up houses.”

A general round of approval rippled through the crowd.

Liz leaned in and whispered, “Get ready. Any second now you'll be surrounded.”

Her warning didn't penetrate. He was too busy analyzing whether it was good or bad that she hadn't introduced him as her ex-husband. On the one hand it did point to the fact that she saw their association as being a new one. On the other, she could be embarrassed about having been married to him. So it took him by surprise when a middle-aged man approached him and extended his hand for shaking.

“You did Amanda's house?”

“That was mostly painting,” Cain said, snatching Liz's hand, holding her in place when it appeared she would desert him. “And Liz and I were equal partners on that one.”

“Don't be so modest,” Ayleen said, ambling up to them. “I hear the whole house is to die for.”

“It is.” Amanda walked over. She unexpectedly hugged Cain. “Thanks again.”

Embarrassment flooded him at her praise. What he'd done was so simple, so easy for him. Yet it had meant the world to Amanda. “I guess that means you like the house?”

“Like is too simple of a word,” she said with a laugh.

Liz shook her hand free of his, as if eager to get away. “How about if I get us a drink? What would you like?”

Not quite sure what to say, Cain raised his eyebrows in question. “What do they have?”

“What if I get us both a cola?”

“Sounds great.”

The second Liz left, he began fielding questions
about the work he'd done on Amanda's house and the four houses he still planned to repair.

Eventually he and the middle-aged man who introduced himself as Bob, Joni's dad, wandered over to the grill.

“This is my grandson, Tony.” Bob introduced Cain to the man flipping burgers.

Cain caught a flash of yellow out of his peripheral vision before a tall blonde grabbed his forearm and yanked him away from the grill. “Sorry, guys. But he's mine for a few minutes.” She smiled at him. “I'm Ellie. My friends call me Magic.”

“Magic? Like Magic Johnson, the basketball player?”

“No, magic as in my wishes generally come true and I can also pretty much figure out somebody's deal in a short conversation.”

“You're going to interrogate me, aren't you?”

“I know who you are.”

“Who I am?”

“You're Liz's ex. She hasn't said anything, but for her to be introducing you around, I'm guessing she likes you again.”

He paused. His heart skipped a beat. Her wariness around him took on new meaning. He'd been so careful to behave only as a friend that she might not understand his feelings for her now ran much deeper. She might think he didn't like her “that” way anymore. But he did. And if she wanted more, so did he.

“Really?”

Ellie sighed. “Really. Come on. Let's cut the bull. We both know you're cute. We both know she loved you. Now you're back and she's falling for you. If she's
holding back, I'm guessing it's only because she thinks you don't want her.”

Cain couldn't help it; he smiled.

Ellie shook her head with a sigh. “Don't be smug. Or too sure of yourself. As her friend, I'm going to make it my business to be certain you don't hurt her again.”

“You don't have to make it your business. You have my word.”

She studied his face. “Odd as this is going to sound, I believe you.”

Liz walked over with two cans of cola. “Ellie! What are you doing?”

“Checking him out,” Ellie said without an ounce of shame in her voice. “I'm going to help Joni with the buns and salads.”

Liz faced him with a grimace. “Sorry about that.”

“Is she really magic?”

Liz laughed. “Did she tell you that?”

“Yes.”

“Then she likes you and that's a big plus.”

Liz casually turned to walk away, but Cain caught her arm. “So these people are your friends?”

“Yes.”

He expected her to elaborate, but she didn't. She eased her arm out of his grasp and walked away. Ten minutes ago, that would have upset him. Now, Ellie's words repeated in his head. “If she's holding back I'm guessing it's only because she thinks you don't want her.”

He glanced around and frowned. They were with her friends. He couldn't make a move of any kind here. That much
he
was sure of. But soon, very soon, he was going to have to do something to test Ellie's theory.

Cain went back to the group of men at the grill and in seconds he felt odd. Not exactly uncomfortable. Not exactly confused. But baffled, as if something important sat on the edge of his brain trying to surface but it couldn't.

The conversation of the men around him turned to children, house payments and job difficulties. He couldn't identify with anything they were discussing. He didn't have kids or a mortgage or job difficulties. So, he didn't say a word, simply listened, putting things in context by remembering the things he'd learned working with Billy and for Amanda, and then he suddenly understood why he felt so weird.

It wasn't because Liz's magical friend had basically told him that Liz cared for him. It was because Liz had left him alone with her friends. Alone. Not monitoring what he said. Not anxious or fearful that he'd inadvertently insult someone.

She trusted him.

She
trusted
him.

Just the thought humbled him. But also sort of proved out Ellie's suspicion that Liz liked him again as more than a friend. A woman didn't trust the people she loved to just anyone.

When the burgers were grilled to perfection, Cain scooped them up with a huge metal spatula and piled them on a plate held by Bob. When everything was on the table, he took a seat at the picnic table where Liz sat. He didn't sit beside her. He didn't want to scare her, but he did like being around her. And Ellie's comment that Liz was falling for him again was beginning to settle in, to give him confidence, to make him think that maybe it was time to let her know he was feeling the same way she was.

Not that it was time to get back together, but to start over.

The group at each table included adults of all ages and varieties and their children. They ate burgers, discussing football and fishing, and when everyone had eaten their fill, they played volleyball—in spite of Cain's Italian loafers. When the sun set, the kids disappeared to tell ghost stories in the dark, humid night and the adults congregated around the tables again, talking about everything from raising kids to the economy.

All in all it was a very relaxing evening, but an informative one, as well. Liz fit with these people. Easily. Happily.

And he had, too.

It was time for him to get their relationship on track. And since they were doing things differently this time around, he wouldn't slyly seduce her. He intended to actually tell her he wanted to be more than her friend, ask her if she agreed. To give her choices. To give her time.

Exactly the opposite of what he'd done when he met her six years ago.

The back door slid open. A little kid of about six yelled, “Hey! There's a jacket in here that's buzzing.”

Everybody laughed.

An older girl raced up behind the kid. “Somebody's cell phone is vibrating. It's in the pocket of a jacket hanging on the coat tree.”

Cain rose. He'd been so caught up in being with Liz that he'd forgotten his cell phone, hadn't cared if he missed a call. “I think that's mine.” He glanced at Joni with a smile. “It's time for me to be going anyway. Thank you very much for inviting me.”

Joni rose. “Thank you for coming. It was nice to meet the guy who's stirred up so much gossip!”

Not exactly sure how to take that, Cain faced Liz, who also rose. “She means about fixing the houses.” She slid her hand in the crook of his elbow. “I'll walk you to the door.”

 

Liz waited as Cain said his good-nights. Together they walked into the house and to the foyer. He lifted his suit jacket from the coat tree and the phone buzzed again. He silenced it without even looking at caller ID.

She nearly shook her head in wonder. She'd been worried about how he'd handle this party, how he'd get along with her friends, and she needn't have given it a second thought.

He opened the front door. “Walk me to my car?”

Her breath stuttered in her chest. If they hadn't had such a nice evening, she might have thought this was her perfect opportunity to tell him about their baby. But they had had a nice evening. A quiet, comfortable, relaxing time. She'd seen how hard he worked to get along with her friends. And she'd appreciated that. Her sad revelation was for another time.

She pulled her keys from her pocket. “How about if you walk
me
to
my
car?”

He smiled. “Sure. I just thought you'd be going back in.”

“Nope.”

“You know Ellie's going to give you the third degree. Might as well get it over with tonight.”

“Not necessary. She'll call me before I even get home.”

He laughed. Her chest constricted with happiness as
unexpected feelings rippled through her. She hadn't fully admitted to herself how important it was to her that he like her friends. But it had been. Seeing him interacting with the Friend Indeed people had filled her with pride. She couldn't remember a time when he'd ever been this relaxed and she knew she'd had something to do with that. She'd helped him get beyond his guilt and helped him acclimate at A Friend Indeed, and in the end he'd become the man she'd always known he could be. Warm. Caring. Wonderful.