Stepping Up To Love (Lakeside Porches 1) (10 page)

“At one time, I didn’t know my way around a kitchen at all, and I ate every meal at one restaurant or another, either alone or with friends. That really put on the pounds. I cut down on restaurants and started cooking for health. That had consequences. The local businesses worried that I didn’t like their food or had another favorite restaurant, or yada yada. I realized then it was important to keep good relations with local food service providers. So I continued to eat around town, but in self-defense enlisted their help with a healthy food plan. It has all worked out well.”

Joel cut the omelet in two and slid each half onto a plate. “If the coffee’s ready, I’ll take a carafe out to the balcony. Will you grab the plates and the forks?”

Moments later, seated on the porch overlooking the lake, Manda moaned with pleasure at the taste of the omelet. “What is that herb?” she asked.

“Cilantro. While the eggs are setting up in the bigger pan, I use a small pan to sauté the mushrooms in olive oil with a little fresh ground pepper and cilantro. I do need to take these calls,” he apologized when the phone buzzed in his pocket. “And you can’t leave until Tony gives the all-clear.”

Manda was in no hurry to leave. She tipped back her chair and propped her bare feet on the porch railing. Joel, she noticed, followed her example, all the while carrying on a conversation with one of the contractors.

The sun warmed them. Manda sipped her coffee and listened with half an ear as he fielded phone calls from the work crews and the insurance company and the displaced family. After a while his voice got testy, and she knew he was past his limit. She checked the carafe, poured the remaining coffee in his mug, and took the dishes inside. She decided not to start a fresh pot and, instead, washed her way through the plates and pans, and found where they belonged. Joel came inside, mug in hand, looking for more coffee.

He scowled at her just as she reached to put the larger pan on the rack over the stove. It fumbled in her hand, and she caught it just as Joel grabbed it away from her.

“Let me do that,” he snapped. “Make another pot, will you?”

Manda backed away and let him see the fear in her eyes. Her voice trembled when she said, “You are no good to anyone right now; you need sleep.”

Joel looked like he wanted to say, “How dare you!” but he held his tongue.

“I came inside when you started snapping, and it did not get better.” She kept her gaze steady when she told him, “You’re way more effective when you’re rested.” She watched his jaw harden, but she stood her ground.

Slowly, Joel’s face changed as he realized how badly he’d treated her and how much he’d frightened her. His voice was deep and dark when he told her, “You are right. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

Wordlessly, he handed his smartphone to her. He walked into his bedroom and closed the door, leaving her standing with her mouth open, cradling his phone in her hands.

Manda quieted her breathing until all she heard was the ticking of the grandfather clock and the pounding of her own heart.

Chapter 4

Had Joel surrendered his smartphone to her, or did he want her to take messages?  With a shrug, she set the phone to vibrate, set up her laptop on the island, and angled the stool for a view of the lake. With her fair skin, she’d had enough sun, but she could never have enough of the dazzling view.

Manda wiggled her fingers and immersed herself in the massive semester-long spreadsheet assignment. When Joel’s phone vibrated, she picked it up without thinking, punched the green-phone button, and said, “Hello?”

One of Joel’s contractors was checking in to say his job was finished. Manda noted his name, the address where the work was done, and a summary of his message while she introduced herself and chatted for a bit. During the three hours that Joel slept, she logged thirty-eight messages and watched the count of voicemail increase by fifteen.

The calls she answered were intriguing. Two callers were women making personal calls. Joelle with the syrupy Southern accent, wanted to know “when Joely will be coming to Atlanta?” Manda confessed she had no idea. She could hear the pout in Joelle’s voice when she said goodbye. Manda noted in her log, “left no phone number and did not ask for a callback.” She might get some good teasing out of that, if Joel’s mood improved. And, okay, she was a little jealous.

Rachel was a different story. Manda took down the message verbatim and did not ask for any clarification. “Let him know my brother Randy really valued everything he did. The family is grateful.” Rachel left a phone number but did not ask Joel to follow up.

The call piqued Manda’s curiosity, but she knew it was private and she would not ask Joel about it. Her therapist had been helping her understand boundaries—her own and other people’s. Boundaries were a foreign concept to her before she got sober, so every week at her regular therapy appointment, Manda had abundant material to sift through.

Every time one of Joel’s contractors called they asked who she was. Manda simply introduced herself as the new bookkeeper. Even though they were under pressure with long lists of repairs after the storm, all of them were calm and professional and glad to meet her, even if quickly over the phone. She could not imagine a faster way to get to know so many of them.

Her favorite caller was Phil with the gravelly voice. Phil challenged her, “Joel doesn’t let anyone take his calls. Who are you really?”

“Manda. I really am the bookkeeper.” She gave him a cheery voice. “I’ll just tell him you called.”

“Hold on there. How’d you get him to hand over his phone?”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” Manda simpered.

“When’s he coming back? He’d better be picking me up at seven. We’re solo for Corrections tonight.”
Whatever that means
. Phil was obviously not one of the contractors. Manda liked this character.

“I’m sure he knows that and he’ll be there on time.” Hey, she was getting good at this boundary stuff.

“I don’t suppose he’s developed the good sense to get some sleep, has he? Was he up all night checking on those properties of his?”

Manda chuckled, “He was up all night checking the properties, and—while I’m not sure good sense was the motivator—yes, he is sleeping.”

“Well done, Manda,” he said graciously.

“Okay, thanks. And I’ll remind him he’s picking you up at seven.”

“Tell him he’ll need to explain what you did to get him to hand over his phone and get some sleep.”

“You know, Phil, I’m not going to put that in the message.”

He barked a laugh. “I can see your point, Manda.” He hung up on that note.

Manda noticed the last missed call was Tony’s number. She still had no idea what had happened to her apartment that needed his attention. She wished she could just let the rest of the calls go to voicemail and head back to her apartment to see if the work was finished.

Well, why couldn’t she? No one had told her she needed to plant herself on this kitchen stool and take messages. She issued the Print command for her log of messages before realizing Joel’s Wi-Fi network was pass-worded. “Bother,” she muttered. She couldn’t print or email the log to him.

While she debated leaving her laptop open on the island and slipping downstairs, Joel’s bedroom door opened a crack and the phone buzzed again. Manda gestured with the phone to ask if he wanted to take the call himself. He shook his head. Manda’s eyes followed him across the kitchen as she listened and typed. He was bare chested, and those biceps and shoulders were even more impressive in daylight than they had been last night by flashlight.

Joel came up behind her and rested one hand gently on her back. The heat of his touch made her breath quicken and her heart dance.  Joel read the screen over her shoulder. “Thank you,” he said quietly when she stopped typing. “I am mortified for yelling at you and scaring you.”

Manda turned sideway to look at him. “You really were over the edge. That wasn’t doing anyone any good. And you’re right, I was scared when you dove for that pan.” She knew her therapist would shout, “Hooray! You told him your truth!”

“I apologize. I need to pay attention to how I’m acting and how it affects other people.”

Manda nodded her agreement. “You missed a bunch of contractor check-ins,” she told him, her voice light. “No crises, unless there are some in voicemail. And some personal calls, everyone from Joelle to Phil.”

He laughed softly. “God help us.”

“I’d like to print this out for you, but I don’t know your password.”

“Actually you do. Try yours, but add the year at the end.”

Manda pulled up the Wi-Fi setting again and typed the password eleven-eleven-eleven. The printer stirred and quietly issued her call log.

“That is seriously spooky. Or did you just reset your password when I told you mine for voicemail?”

“No, I’ve been using that password for years. I agree it’s spooky.”

Manda wished she had the courage to tell him what she’d been thinking during the three hours she fielded his calls. Was this violating a boundary? She didn’t know. Probably. She opened her mouth and closed it again at least twice.

Joel made no move to retrieve the printout or to reach for his cell phone. The suspense got old. “Just say it, whatever it is.”

Manda took measure of his face and told him, “I’ve been thinking, you can’t be any more than thirty, and you carry a heavy load. I think too heavy, too much work and responsibility. And I don’t see someone sharing your life or your work.”

He started to object.

“I know,” she held up her hand, “You’ve got lots of people working with you and for you. Good people, competent people. But I don’t see someone you love.”

Joel looked away awkwardly.

“Someone who warms your heart every day and who shares the day with you. And the night.”

His eyes were slits.

She started to apologize but knew she meant every word. “I just... wanted to say that.” And she kind of thought she’d earned the right after he’d treated her so badly a few hours ago.

“And you want that for me?” He nailed her with his hawk look.

This time she didn’t feel like a helpless little song bird. She nodded calmly.

“I… will take that under advisement,” he said seriously, “and point out that’s probably a good description of what you want for yourself.”

Manda felt her eyes open wide.

Joel laughed. “What, you never thought about finding your soul mate, getting married, the whole package?”

Manda realized her mouth was open. She laughed at herself.

“Well, duh, Manda.”

“Duh,” she agreed.

On his way to the printer, Joel mumbled, “Couple of orphan loners.”

Manda barely heard him. She was busy contemplating the notion of a soul mate. She liked the idea.

Joel listened to his voicemail messages while reading through the log. “Tony is done with the repairs,” he told Manda. “He left some clean-up for us.” At the next message, he looked quickly at Manda and scanned the rest of the printed log. Relief flooded his face.

When he offered no explanation, Manda shrugged and busied herself shutting down her computer and gathering her things. She told Joel, “I can take care of whatever clean-up needs to be done downstairs. You’ve got other things to worry about.”

Joel shook his head. “Turns out you can’t take care of it by yourself. I’ll explain when we get there. Let me grab a sweatshirt.”

“Darn,” Manda said to herself.

“What?” he called from the bedroom.

“Nothing,” she said with a saucy smile.

Inside Manda’s studio, they found a pile of twigs, leaves, and household trash in the kitchen. Puddles of water stood on the tile. Joel pointed to the window in the kitchen area. “They had to replace that. Something came through it, probably a projectile blown by the wind. Tony’d like you to look around, sort through the rubble and identify anything that would not normally be here.”

Manda was on red alert. Had Kristof discovered where she lived and come after her last night? He’d have to be insane to come out in a storm like that, but then he was insane. Anyone who wielded a razor in a college library was insane.

“You’re worried Kristof broke in, aren’t you?”

“You read my mind.” Manda poked through the pile in the kitchen and looked around for anything else that might have caused the broken window. She spotted a metal watering can that definitely was not hers lying on its side near the bathroom.

“I think that’s it. It’s not mine. A strong wind could pick it up and slam it into anything in its path. Either the spout or the handle could have broken the window. What do you think?”

Joel nodded. “The spout is bent but not rusty, as though it just happened. It’s unusable this way, and someone would have thrown it out before this. You don’t recognize it as yours or as something from Cady’s Point?”

“No, it probably lived on someone’s porch nearby. I can’t see Kristof using it as a weapon.”

“Problem solved.” Joel put in a call to Tony while Manda went to work scooping leaves and debris into a trash bag and straightening up the mess in the kitchen. Joel’s call to Tony was followed by one to the insurance adjuster concerning the property that burned.

Manda listened to Joel’s voice get tighter and more anxious, even though the discussion was amicable and business-like. When he finished the call, Manda was uneasy with his level of agitation.

He snapped, “You’re looking at me like I’m doing it again.”

“I’m hearing how frustrated and upset you are about the fire, and I didn’t make the connection before. That was subject of the phone call earlier that sent you off the deep end.”

Joel would not meet her eyes, but he nodded his understanding. “Thank you for making that connection. Now I get it.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“I’ll talk with Phil about it tonight, but thanks for the offer.” He added, “And I would appreciate a kick in the butt anytime I am out of line like that.”

Manda moved around him with a smile and told him, “It’s such a cute butt, I don’t know.”

Joel grinned and made a grab for her.

Manda dodged him.

“You are good for me. Seriously, I want you to know I didn’t intend to take advantage of your good nature to field phone calls like you did today. That was a big help, but—”

“Listen, it was a good chance for me to meet the contractors, and it will make it easier when the data starts coming in for all the repairs they’re working on. So it worked out okay.”

“You had to sit indoors on a beautiful day.”

“I had committed to studying this morning, which I did between phone calls. I actually finished the killer spreadsheet assignment that’s due at the end of the semester, so I came out ahead. I’m not saying I want to be your answering service. I’m just saying it worked out okay this time, so don’t worry about it. And it’s still a nice day outside.”

“Let’s postpone the visit to the attic and get this place in shape. Rain check tomorrow morning?”

“Only if you promise it’s not going to storm again tonight.”

“If it does, you’re welcome to crash on my sofa again.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “If you dare.”

She teased, “I have come to the conclusion you’re not sneaky about sex.”

Joel frowned. “And that’s a good thing?”

“It’s a very good thing.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and went looking for a sponge and pail to clean up the kitchen floor.

Phil was less willing to give Joel an endorsement for his sexual conduct when Joel picked him that evening. After a bone-crushing hug, Phil settled himself in Joel’s passenger seat, buckled his seatbelt, and settled back for the ride. He gave Joel a few minutes to catch him up on mutual friends.

When Joel did not bring up the subject himself, Phil growled, “So who’s this fair maiden that knows how to get you into bed when you need it. And are you taking her to bed with you?”

“Manda is my bookkeeper for the properties and my junior accountant at the Manse, and she’s newly sober. No, I am not sleeping with her, although it’s in my plan after an appropriate period of sobriety and persuasive courtship and marriage.”

Phil said grudgingly, “I’m glad to hear you’re exercising restraint. You’d lose my respect and that of everyone in the program if you put the moves on a newcomer. I don’t care how long you’ve known her or how well you know her outside of the program, she needs time to clear up and get a foundation with the twelve steps—would you agree?”