that? He hated the sorrow he’d heard in Audra Marshall’s voice. A woman alone, raising two young children all by herself. And now she had to deal with this dilapidated old house she’d purchased online.
Her daughter’s heart-wrenching words played through his mind. Our daddy gave us away. What kind of man gave up his own children? Not him. At least, he wouldn’t if he were ever to have a child of his own, which he had no intention of doing. He was plenty content to spoil Katie rotten and then send her home to her daddy. To think Audra’s ex had so little appreciation of his beautiful little girl and smart-as-a-whip little boy made his heart ache for them.
Life was too precious. He’d learned that a little over a year before, when the F4 twister took the lives of his parents and his sister-in-law. It was a day that would never be erased from his mind. He and Nathan had been the ones to find their parents. They’d pulled their momma’s lifeless body from the rubble that had once been their family home and then found their daddy, broken and bloodied, close by. By then rescuers had arrived and a desperate search went on for Isabel and Katie. Carter had been the one to find Isabel, who’d looked like a broken doll. Her last words had been “Keep them safe and happy for me, Carter.” Words he would honor. Words he had kept to himself, not wanting Nathan to know his beloved wife had suffered even in the slightest before passing. It was better that way.
Katie, who the rescuers had found cut and bleeding, her leg severely broken, in what had once been his parents’ hall closet, had been the only survivor. Their daddy, who had been severely injured, was called home to the Lord just a day after losing his beloved wife of thirty-two years. His brother had done his best to fill the void Isabel’s death had left in their young daughter’s life, but it had taken a toll on Nathan emotionally. On all of them, truth be told. The tragedy of that day had changed all of their lives forever. And unlike houses, which could be repaired, hearts were a whole different story. His brothers were living proof of that.
“You’re really tall,” Lily said, drawing Carter back from his troubled thoughts. She looked up at him from her perch atop the porch swing, where she sat beside her mother. The same light brown eyes flecked with gold as her mother’s. The same honey-brown hair.
“Reckon I am,” he replied with a grin.
“Bet you could reach the spiderweb curtains on my windows.”
“Lily,” Audra gasped, “Mr. Cooper is not cleaning the cobwebs from your windows.”
“I happen to be real good at removing cobwebs from high places,” he said. “I’d be happy to—”
“We’ve held Mr. Cooper up long enough,” she said, not giving him the chance to offer any more assistance than he already had. Easing her young daughter upright in the swing, Audra Marshall pushed to her feet. “I’ll show you to the back door so you can take a quick look at it and then you can get on your way.”
As he followed her into the house, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was anxious to get rid of him because he’d overstayed his welcome, or if she really felt like she’d imposed on his time.
“I’d ask you to forgive the mess,” she called back over her shoulder as she made her way toward the back of the house, “but I assume you understand.”
“Completely,” he replied. He did a mental sweep around him. The outside was in need of major repairs, but the inside was far worse. A major undertaking for even a professional like himself. “So you’re gonna be hiring someone to do the necessary repairs to the house?”
“I hadn’t planned on it,” she replied as she led him down a wide hallway.
“Excuse me?”
“I came here with the intention of doing most of it myself,” she explained without slowing her steps.
“Mommy can fix anything,” Lily said as she scurried to walk beside him. “She fixed my dolly’s broken arm.”
He chuckled, slowing his step to allow her to keep up. His gaze dropped down to her adorable little face. “Did she now?”
“A little glue goes a long way,” Audra said, her determined strides taking her into the kitchen.
Maybe when it came to small fix-its. But glue wasn’t going to make this house habitable. “You really should reconsider hiring someone on to help with the repairs.”
“There are plenty of books on doing home repairs.” She crossed the room and stopped next to what could only be the inoperable door. Then she turned to face him. “I’m a fast learner.”
He should have known that, as determinedly as she’d hung on to keep from falling off that roof, the woman was bound to have a stubborn side. Carter stepped up to the door to inspect it. “Before I leave, I’ll get that Frisbee down off the roof for you.”
“I’d rather you not risk getting hurt trying to do that for us,” she said with a frown.
His gaze shifted to her children, who were taking in every word like little sponges. “While I appreciate your concern for my safety,” he said as he once again removed his sunglasses and shoved them down into the front pocket of his shirt, “I go up onto roofs, good ones and bad ones, for a living.” He knelt to check out the doorknob and its locking mechanism. “And I’d never forgive myself for driving off with that Frisbee still up there. Too tempting for certain persons who might be stirred to try and find some way to get it off all by themselves.” He gave a slight nod in the direction of the children. “That should be left to someone who knows what they’re doing up on that roof.”
She glanced in her children’s direction. “Mr. Cooper’s right. Never go up on the roof. It’s too dangerous.” Her gaze shifted back to him. “If you’re sure you have the time to spare, I’d appreciate your help in getting it down.”
“Finished up work early today,” he told her, his focus returning to the stubborn old door, which was determined not to budge from the frame it was nestled far too snugly in. “Nothing else planned for the rest of my day except removing this ridiculous raccoon mask I’m sporting.”
A soft giggle sounded beside him, drawing his gaze upward. He quirked a brow.
“Sorry,” Audra said, not bothering to hide her amusement. “Actually,” she said, studying his face more closely, “in some strange way, the ‘mask’ suits you.”
“I’m not sure if I should thank you for the slightly offhanded compliment, or if I should put my sunglasses back on, which I will tell you will make it pretty hard to see what I’m doing here,” he added, motioning toward the door.
“Compliment,” she said with a smile. “Without a doubt.”
She was sweet, but he didn’t believe a word of her flattery. There was no doubt in his mind that he looked ridiculous. It was no wonder she wasn’t jumping at the chance to hire him on for her house renovations. Who in their right mind would consider hiring on a man wearing a shoe-polish mask? He stood, straightening to his full height. “As I suspected, the door’s rotted and swollen. It’s gonna need to be replaced.”
Her smile faded for the briefest of moments before she drew back her shoulders and lifted her chin. “We’ll just have to make do with one door for a while.”
One door? What if there were a fire and the front door wasn’t accessible? “It could be shaved down some as a temporary fix,” he suggested. “But you really should consider replacing it.”
She bit her bottom lip as if mentally assessing her choices. Then she turned to her children. “Kids, run out to the van and get Mr. Cooper a bottle of water from the cooler.”
Before he could tell her not to bother, her children were gone.
She turned back to him, craning her neck as she looked up at him. He hadn’t realized before what a tiny thing she was. Five-three if she were fortunate. Nearly a foot shorter than his own six foot two inches. “My children have had enough to deal with in their lives. The last thing they need to do is worry