it’s done right,” she added with a small laugh.
“Age has something to do with it,” he concluded as he ran his finger over the crumbling grouting. He eyed the medicine cabinet she’d purchased and the lighting fixture that would hang above it. She wanted quality, and that didn’t surprise him about Tori, either. He’d looked up her art gallery—Perceptions—in the phone book last night after she’d left her message. It was located on Old Santa Fe Trail. She must be doing well if she could afford this little gem of a house. Real estate in Santa Fe was over the top.
“The closet is in here.” After she led him to the second bedroom, she opened a closet door. Like the rest of the house—except for the kitchen and bathroom—the room had a hardwood floor, but it was expectantly empty. “I’d like shelves in the upper portion of this closet and a bar for hangers below.”
She pointed to patches of plaster near the floorboards that had crumbled. “Can you fix that, too?”
“Thanks to apprenticing with my uncle since I was about ten, I can do a little bit of everything. I have my general building license and one in ceramic tile, marble and teffazzo.”
She looked impressed. “You worked with your uncle before you entered the police academy.”
“You have a good memory.”
“I think I remember everything you told me on prom night.”
Then, as if she’d revealed a secret, she pinkened again and changed the subject. “How long do you think this will take? Barbara’s baby is due at the end of September.”
“If my estimate meets with your approval, I’ll work as fast as I can. The job will probably take four or five days.”
“That’s great. I’ll have about three weeks to get everything ready.”
She started across the room and then stopped. “I forgot to show you the breaks in the fence out back.”
“I saw them. I’ll put the numbers on paper tonight. I can drop it in the mail or give you a call.”
“You can just call me.”
“You might want to see everything itemized.”
“I trust your estimate will be honest.”
Her words took him by surprise. “Why is that?”
“Because I doubt if you’ve changed from the young man who took me to the prom. You could have taken advantage of me that night, and you didn’t.”
That night he’d seen the stars in her eyes and known she’d thought of him as one of those rescuing knights that had been painted on the paper taped to the walls of the banquet hall. Yes, he could have taken advantage of her.
“You think because I was a gentleman on prom night I won’t overcharge you?” His tone was amused.
She laughed. “I’ll be able to tell from your estimate. And, Jake…I’m not as naive anymore.”
He wondered if that was some kind of warning. “I’ll remember that.”
Leaving the bedroom, he crossed to her front door and opened it.
Tori came up behind him like an angel who moved with no effort at all. “If you talk to Nina or see her, please give her my regards. Maybe she and I can have lunch together sometime.”
“I’m sure she’d like that. I’ll tell her.”
With a last look at the woman Tori Phillips had become, he left her house, hoping taking this job wasn’t a mistake.
When the phone rang the following evening at about eight, Tori wondered if Jake had forgotten something. He’d called earlier with his estimate and she’d given him the go-ahead. Now, she recognized the voice on the other end of the line immediately.
“Tori? It’s Nina.”
“Nina! How are you? Jake told me about your husband. I’m so sorry.”
There was a momentary pause. “It was a shock. But we’re managing now. Shortly after it happened, Jake was…at loose ends. It’s one of the reasons he came back to Santa Fe, and I’m grateful. The boys need him around.”
“I’m glad he could be here for you. How long were you married?”
“Eight years. We…we didn’t have the best marriage.”
Silence fell over the line, and Tori didn’t know what to say to that. Nina had always been very open, and she could tell they’d fallen into the old camaraderie they’d shared as soon as she’d picked up the phone. “Jake tells me you have twins.”
“And you’re going to adopt a baby! I’d love to catch up with you.”
“We could go to lunch someday this week.”
“I have a better idea. Why don’t you come to dinner tomorrow night? You can meet my boys.”
“I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”
“It’s no trouble. Mama does some of the cooking. The guy I’m dating will be here, and so will Jake.”
“Jake?”
“Yeah, he likes a good meal a couple of times a week. Did you two talk about old times?”
“There weren’t that many. He only took me to my prom.”
“You two used to talk when he came into the store.”
“That was rare.”
“I guess he’d just finished at the academy then. He rose through the ranks fast. I just wish…”
Tori wondered why Nina stopped. “You wish what?”
“Did he tell you what happened? Why he came back to Santa Fe?”
“No. But then, he wasn’t here for a social visit, Nina. He came to look at the work I need to have done. Why did he come back to Santa Fe?”
“I’d better let him tell you about all that. He doesn’t like it when I talk about his life.”
“Are you sure he won’t mind me coming to dinner? I mean, he might not want to mix his professional life with his personal life.”
“You’re my guest. And as far as Jake’s concerned, it wouldn’t hurt if his personal life and his professional life got a little mixed up. He has no sense of purpose right now. That was one thing my brother always had.”
This baby was going to give Tori’s life the purpose and meaning she needed. She loved her work at the gallery—promoting artists, finding new ones and giving them a start. But she didn’t feel she was put on this earth to simply work and to make a comfortable life for herself. She wanted to be a mother so badly that tears came to her eyes whenever she thought about it. The car accident she and Dave had been involved in had destroyed her chances to conceive a child naturally.
