and told him he’d have to set his sights lower. He grinned at the memory. No. His grandmother definitely hadn’t planned on dying.
Damn it. He was going to miss that woman.
There were affairs to settle and likely some papers to sign. Right now though all he could think about was a huge glass of Pacific Northwest water, the kind you could drink straight from the tap, a long, hot shower, and sleep.
Long, uninterrupted sleep in a real bed.
As Rob hefted his pack and limped up the path he noted that somebody had swept the front steps recently and even planted blooming bushes in the brick planters.
For early September the night was cool, but to a man who’d spent the past few weeks in the African desert, almost everywhere seemed cool.
He couldn’t imagine who would have planted bushes, or why. His brain was way too tired to puzzle out such minor mysteries. Tomorrow. He’d think tomorrow.
AS A REALTOR, HAILEY liked to think of herself as a matchmaker putting the right house together with the right buyer. As of today she had a new unattached single waiting for the right person to fall in love with it—a loft condo downtown that she’d listed this morning, thanks to a referral from a satisfied client. She was new enough to the business that every referral, every listing and especially every sale filled her with pride.
Now she was ready to make another match.
She had a gut instinct that the Bellamy House she was about to show Samantha and Luke MacDonald was going to be a fit. A real-estate marriage made not in heaven but in the offices of Dalbello and Company, where she worked fiendish hours to make her mark in a competitive business.
Like any good matchmaker, she’d prepped carefully, hiring Julia to stage the faded but solid turn-of-the-century Craftsman and bringing in cleaners and a window washer. Hailey had planted cheerfully blooming winter kale and pansies at the entranceway in an effort to keep the buyers’ eyes from going immediately to the neglected garden. She wished she had the time and resources to do more, but this was an estate sale.
Everything was as perfect as she could make it. The sun shining on the gleaming diamond-paned windows showed the gracious contours of the home that must have been a real showpiece in its day.
The young couple scheduled to see the place arrived at eleven as scheduled. “I think you’re really going to like this one,” Hailey said, passing them a feature sheet. “It’s just come on the market and I immediately thought of you.”
She unlocked the shiny black front door and light spilled into the foyer bringing out the gleam on the newly waxed oak floors. It was amazing what a good cleaning could do to a house. Not that the previous owner hadn’t been a good housekeeper; Hailey could tell from the order in the home that she had. Still, in the months since Agnes Neeson had died, the house had been shut up and grown dusty. Today the air smelled not of must as it had the first time she’d viewed it, but of the lilies and roses that Julia had placed in a glass vase on the entranceway table.
Her heels clacked on the original hardwood floors as she pointed out the spacious dimensions of the dining and living areas, the original heritage features such as the hand-carved fireplace mantel and the built-in glass-fronted cabinets. Julia had indeed worked a miracle, hauling clutter and the dated furniture to a storage facility and replacing it all with modern pieces and splashes of designer color in cushions and throws.
She could tell Samantha and Luke were excited and she shared a little of the thrill. Who wouldn’t want a great house like this? It was barely in their price range but she knew they could do it. She glanced over at the couple, arguing good-naturedly about where they’d put his wine fridge and how hard it would be to baby-proof the place.
“You could put in a new kitchen, the space is here,” she said as she walked them through it. Personally she liked the big old cupboards and the cheerful yellow walls. She suspected though that the MacDonalds would probably prefer stainless appliances and granite countertops. When Samantha reminded her husband that they’d have to build renovation costs into their budget she knew she’d guessed right. He groaned theatrically, but his grin indicated he was excited about the home, too.
Hailey loved being single in the city. All the same there were times, like now, when she got a glimpse of another life. A man at her side, a baby on the way—and a home.
She loved the way Julia had artfully tossed a purple woolen throw over a gray couch to give the impression that someone with great taste and no clutter lived here.
“Four bedrooms?” Samantha asked.
“That’s right. One’s ideal for the baby’s room, there’s a nice-sized room for a guest bedroom, a home office, and the master is a treat. Come on, I’ll show you.”
They reached the top landing. She first showed them the two smaller rooms and the main bathroom, fine but nothing special. Then she opened the door to the master. “This is my favorite room in the house. There’s a vintage four-poster that you might be able to buy with the house if you’re interested. It’s a large room with wonderful dimensions, a window seat, a fireplace and a full en suite.” She flipped on the overhead light. She knew the room by heart but wanted to watch their faces when they saw the blissful space.
Hailey ushered them into the room. “What do you think?”
She was so ready for squeals of delight that Sam’s reaction was puzzling. The woman’s eyes opened wide. She blinked, looking over at her equally stupefied husband.
Hailey turned around and saw that the white bedcover she’d so carefully smoothed to rid it of any wrinkles was marred, not by a wrinkle, but by a big unshaven man in a blue-and-green checked work shirt, worn jeans and socks that didn’t match.
He was sound asleep.
Two grubby sneakers sat on the Aubusson rug where he’d obviously kicked them off prior to napping.
Silence reigned for a moment.
“Does he come with the place?” Samantha asked.
Sleepy blue eyes blinked at them out of a lean, weathered, stubbly face. The stranger’s overgrown brown hair was more tangle than style. He regarded them, seeming to consider the question, and cracked a smile. “Everything’s negotiable.” His voice was low, a little husky from sleep.
Sam giggled, thank heaven, though Hailey didn’t find anything amusing about finding a homeless guy with a whacked sense of humor snoozing in the house she was trying to sell.
His gaze then focused only on her and she felt the strangest sense of connection with this utter stranger. For a second their gazes held, her heart sped up and she felt as though something that had been out of place suddenly had clicked back in. She closed her eyes against the strange sensation.
She tried to ask “Who are you?” and “What are you doing here?” but in the rush to get it all out her brain short-circuited and instead she asked, “Who are you doing here?”
The twinkle in his blue eyes deepened and when he smiled she noted he had Bradley Cooper–white teeth. No homeless guy she’d ever seen had teeth that gleaming. “I’m not doing anybody here.”
Sam giggled again as if they were at an impromptu comedy club.
“I meant what are you doing here?”
