Mister Fixit (Love in New York #3) (24 page)

“If you want to come, that’d be great,” Rob says. “Even if it’s just once. Val and I talked about it, and we decided that Brian’s old enough now to have some more transient type relationships. We’re not worried as much about explaining why people are there or not.” He looks around the table. “Change is good, right?”

“A necessary part of living,” Leah says. “Now can someone please pass me the salt?”

“No.” James says, glaring at everyone. “No salt for you.”

She pouts at him and grumbles as she gets her next bite of noodles on the fork. “Party pooper.”

When I laugh, I feel like I’m filling with helium, I’m so light. I’m not even really sitting on my seat anymore. I never would have imagined this night going this well when Rob first suggested I come. I’m so glad I listened to him. I’m so happy I have him in my life now, and not as my brother’s best friend who I’m crushing on from afar, but as my boyfriend. And maybe in the not too distant future, something even more.

“We good?” Rob asks me as we dig into our dessert.

“Yes,” I say, watching Cassie feed her daddy a handful of cake. She smears it all over his face, but all he does is try to lick it off, leaving her to do her worst, which she happily continues to do. Sarah watches them off to the side, smiling with her gaze full of love. “Better than good.”

Chapter Forty

I’M STANDING IN THE MIDDLE of my fixer-upper that’s now almost completely done. My hardwood floors are glistening with the new wax coating they just got, and the stain my contractor used matches the beautiful muted gray/green color I put on the walls perfectly.

Rob stands next to me, wiping his hands off on a rag. “Not bad at all,” he says, looking around and nodding in admiration.

“More like excellent.”

He comes over and kisses me softly on the lips. “I never had any doubts.”

The doorbell rings, and I leave my lover to go answer it. I have one more walk-through to finish up before I call it a day over here and go back to Rob’s place where I’ve pretty much moved in. Three months ago we both decided that the commuting between my place and his was getting annoying. And now we’ve made plans to move in here together, two miles away from my brother and his wife and Cassie. I couldn’t be happier.

I open the door and smile at who’s standing there on my porch. “Jake! I’m so glad to see you!” My tall plumber acts like he’s going to shake my hand, but I take him into a hug instead. He quickly changes stride and hugs me back.

“Nice to see you too.” He stands back straight, looking around the house from the foyer. “Wow. You’ve gotten a lot done since the last time I was here.”

“I know, right? Come check it out.”

Jake and I proceed into the living room, and Rob steps over to shake his hand.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Rob asks.

“Well. And you?”

“Couldn’t be better.” Rob hangs his arm over my shoulder and smiles.

I recognize Rob’s peeing-on-the-territory thing for what it is and stay there. I don’t need him getting jealous over feelings I don’t have for the plumber.

“Did you get that faucet changed out?” Jake asks. “If not, I have one in the truck.”

“I fixed that,” Rob says. “No problem at all.”

“Great. And the gasket around the sink drain?”

“Fixed that too,” my boyfriend volunteers, sounding very proud of himself. He might as well whip his pants down and start comparing penis size. I roll my eyes.

“Awesome. I guess you’ve been kind of doing my job for me around here.” Jake looks at me. “Sorry about that. Big job over in Long Island was killing me.”

“No problem,” I say, poking my thumb at my boyfriend. “I have Mister Fixit here taking care of things.” And not just things with my house, but my heart too. He’s fixed everything.

Jake nods, looking Rob up and down before turning his attention back to me. “Good for you. Really. I’m happy for you.”

I walk out from under Rob’s arm toward the hallway. “Come check out the window seat he made me. You’re going to love it.”

Jake follows me into the master bedroom where Rob not only built me a cushioned window seat with storage underneath, but a whole wall full of custom book shelves. Crown molding rings the ceilings and baseboards six inches tall frame the floors. It’s my dream bedroom.

Jake’s gaze moves around the room, and he walks over to run his fingers on the fine wood of the shelves. “He does good work. Is he a contractor?”

I laugh. “No, he’s a lawyer if you can believe that.”

“Huh.” Jake looks at the window seat and then at me. “You seem really happy.”

“I am.” I grin. “Come see what he did in the other room.”

Jake follows me into the guest room where we installed a huge window that looks out into the back yard. A box of freshly planted spring flowers are just outside, the tops of their many colored petals peeking up above the windowsill.

“Nice.” He takes in the crown molding, the huge closet, and the attached bathroom.

“It’s handicap accessible,” he says, standing in the entrance.

“Yeah.” I lean on the doorframe. “Rob’s son has cerebral palsy. We’ve been talking about having him over for a sleepover once in a while.”

Jake turns to look at me. “Where is he? With his mother?”

“At a skilled nursing facility.” I point to the two beds, one regular twin-sized and one hospital bed with side rails. “Hence the second bed for the nurse.”

Jake turns and stands in front of me, looking down. “You changed your life.”

I shrug. “A wise friend once told me I just needed to start looking at things differently and then my life could be different.”

“Sound kind of far-fetched,” he says, the hint of a grin there.

“Yeah, it’s a little new agey for me, but what can I say; the proof is in the pudding.”

He looks around. “The proof is in the changes you made. Good for you.” He envelopes me in a strong hug. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks.” I pull away and smile. “So maybe you can bring your dog by sometime when Brian is here and we can all watch him perform.”

Jake looks out to the backyard. “There’s not much room out there, but if you guys want to meet us at the park, we’d love to show off for ya. We’ve been working all winter, and Bosco’s ready to run off all this extra energy he’s got.”

“Cool.” I gesture for him to follow me as I walk out into the living room. I stop under the new chandelier that used to be a hole where mice fell out on innocent people’s heads, and I shake Jake’s hand. “It’s a deal. The next really sunny day and we’re there.”

“Great. So, is there anything you need me to do?” Jake asks. “Plumbing good?”

“It’s all good.” I pull out a pre-filled and signed check from my back pocket and hand it to him, the last payment for all his work. “I’ll be in touch for my next project. And for the performance.”

“Performance?” Rob walks up, drying his hands off on a towel.

“Jake has a frisbee-playing dog, and I told him maybe when Brian comes for a visit, we could all go to the park and watch.”

Rob’s smile is slow in coming, but it’s real. “That might be cool. I’ll run it by Val.”

I nod at Jake. “Val will love it. Trust me. And you’ll love her. She’s awesome.”

Rob jabs me with his elbow, but I ignore him.

“Talk to you soon?” I say to Jake as I walk him to the front door.

“Absolutely. Just text me when you want to go to the park.”

“Will do.” When I shut the door behind him, I turn to glare at Rob. “What’s up with the elbow to the ribs?”

He shrugs, grinding away at his fingers with the towel. He has a permanent layer of glue on his hands that he says makes his clients suspicious. “Nothing. Just didn’t want you to encourage him too much.”

Rob’s tone is funny.

My eyes narrow as I try to figure out what he’s thinking; I sense jealousy, or concern, maybe. “Encourage him? About what? Or whom? Brian or Val?”

Rob turns to go into the kitchen. “Neither. Whatever. Are we ordering pizza for dinner or what?”

I catch up to my silly boyfriend before he can escape into the dining room. “Hey,” I say, making him turn around and hug me, “you don’t need to worry about Jake. He’s a good guy, I promise.”

“Oh yeah? How do you know? Val’s very special to me, you know. I don’t want you hooking her up with just any guy.”

I lean back and frown at him. “Does that sound like something I’d do?”

He sighs. “No.”

“Okay, then stop it. Just hug me.”

He throws his towel on the counter and bends over a little, enveloping me in his strong arms.

“Thanks for fixing all the things around the house,” I say into his shoulder.

“You’re welcome.”

“Thanks for fixing me.”

He kisses my neck. “You weren’t broken.”

I kiss his neck, pulling his shirt out of the way so I can reach his sensitive skin. “My heart was, but it’s not anymore.”

“I love you, you know.” He pulls me in even tighter, almost taking my breath away.

“I love you too, babe.” I lean my head back. “You okay?”

He nods, his eyes shining as he looks down at me. “I just can’t believe you’re mine.”

I smile. “Yours? Well, I’m not sure I’d go
that
far. I am an independent woman, you know.”

He digs around in his pocket and holds something up that he pulls out of it. “Oh, then I guess you wouldn’t be interested in something like this, then.”

I back up really fast, focusing on his hand. “Something like what?”

He shrugs, acting like he’s going to put the jewelry box back into his pocket. “Oh, nothing.”

“Nothing, my butt.” I jump toward him, reaching for his pants.

He holds the velvet box high above his head. “Easy now. Don’t get grabby.”

I calm down immediately and stare at him, giving him my evil-eye. “Give me that box.”

He laughs. “And here I thought I was going to have to convince you to say yes.”

“Say yes to what?” My heart feels like it’s burning a hole in my chest. If that box has earrings in it, I’m going to use the nail gun on him, I swear to God.

He lowers the box until it’s between us and slowly pries the top off. “Say yes to my proposal.”

I stare at the glittering monstrosity of a ring buried in black velvet.

“What proposal?” I whisper, mesmerized by my life, by what’s happening in it, by the craziness that’s obviously taken over my reality.

When he lowers himself down onto one knee, my hands fly to my mouth. It’s not so much a reaction of shock as it is the fact that I’m afraid I’m going to vomit on him. This can’t possibly be happening, can it? I’ve dreamed of this moment since I was so little I was still wearing princess costumes on halloween. He was my dream prom date, even though he was a grown man not interested in high school dances. His was the face I saw whenever I pictured my Prince Charming.

“Jana Oliver … would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

I start to cry, and those cries quickly turn to sobs.

He frowns, his face falling. “Please tell me that’s a yes.”

I drop to my knees in front of him and grab him into a hug. Or maybe I’m just trying not to drown in the emotions, and he’s my life raft, keeping me afloat.

Amidst my loud and sloppy blubbering, I manage to finally answer. “Yes! Yes! Of course it’s a yes, you idiot! I’ve been waiting for this my whole damn life!”

He laughs, holding me close. “You have the strangest way of expressing yourself sometimes.”

I pull away and hold out a trembling hand. “Just put that thing on me before I change my mind.” As if that would ever happen. Ha!

He grabs the ring out, throws the box over his shoulder, and shoves the ring onto my finger. Then he sits back on his heels and wipes his hand over his forehead. “Phew! That was close. Almost lost you there.”

I tackle his gorgeous self to the kitchen floor and quickly go about showing him just how
not
lost I am to him.

Chapter Forty-One

I HAVE TO HAND IT to Leah; she sure knows how to put together a wedding. And the fact that she did it with a newborn in her arms the entire time is pretty damn impressive.

I’m looking out Brian’s bedroom window the white folding chairs on the lawn, arranged to face the arbor erected just this morning for the big event. Our family and a few close friends are milling around, waiting for the announcement that I’m ready. My cell phone rings, and I look down at the number on the screen. Smiling, I press the green button and put it to my ear.

“Hello, Rose. So nice to hear from you.” I can’t stop smiling. Today is the perfect day.

“Hello, Jana. I didn’t want to bother you; I was just calling to say congratulations. I wish I could be there with you.”

“You are in spirit,” I say, looking at the amazing flower arrangements adorning the arbor in my yard. “The flowers are gorgeous. It’s like Spring all over again in my backyard.”

“Oh, wonderful. Please tell Robinson I send him my love, would you?”

I smile at how well she and Rob get along. They’ve spent countless hours discussing Rose’s past and her career as an archeologist, something he studied in college but never pursued. It makes me just the tiniest bit sad we’ll be living here and not across the hall from her. “I will, I promise.”

“And don’t be a stranger. My door is always open and my teapot always ready to be warmed up with some nice Earl Grey.”

“I’ll be there Sunday, after my honeymoon. You’re going to give me a knitting lesson, remember?”

“Oh yes! Of course. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me too. Bye, Rose, and thanks again.”

“It was my pleasure. ‘Bye, Dear.”

My heart feels like it’s going to burst with love coming at me from all sides. I can’t believe this is really happening to me.

The bedroom door opens and closes behind me, distracting me from counting my blessings, and I turn to look at my visitor.

“Hey, Val,” I say, smiling at her. I look back out the window and see Brian in his wheelchair, a nurse standing nearby to keep an eye on him. He’s wearing a tux specially made for his big day as Rob’s best man.

“Hey there. Nervous?” She stops next to me, looking out the window at the pretty scene in front of us.

“Not really. Just standing here thinking about how lucky I am.”