could,” she said agreeably, “but I already pay someone to do that.” She seemed to be fighting a smile.
“Maybe your place needs to be swept out. I could do that.”
She laughed then. “You are so pitiful, big brother. Go inside and give Shanna a hand. She’s the one who could really use some help today. Being a Good Samaritan to a newcomer in town will make you feel better. Who knows? You might even enjoy yourself.”
She was probably right about that. Gram had always taught them that reaching out to someone else was the best way to forget about their own problems. He regarded his sister with a narrowed gaze. “Only if you don’t mention it to anyone else,” he bargained. “I’ll do it, if you promise you won’t go blabbing to Jess, Abby and Gram, making some kind of big deal out of it or hinting around that I’m interested in Shanna.”
“You didn’t mention Dad,” she noted. “Can I tell him about it?”
“Actually, he sort of knows,” he admitted sheepishly. “Not about Shanna exactly, but that I was coming into town today for a reason. I used it as an excuse to get out of going with him to a work site.”
She stared at him in astonishment. “Dad wanted you to go to a construction site with him? Seriously?”
Kevin laughed at her reaction. “Yeah, it shocked me, too. Obviously he’s desperate to get me out of the house.” He sobered. “So, is it a deal? If I help Shanna, you’ll keep quiet about it? I just don’t need the aggravation.”
“What aggravation?” she asked, her expression all innocence.
He rolled his eyes. “We both know Abby and the rest of them would be down here before the day’s out to check out Shanna. Whatever antimatchmaking resolutions they supposedly live by would be tossed out the window. If Shanna passes inspection, they’ll be throwing her at me every time I turn around.”
“Would that be so awful?”
“Exactly how much of their meddling did you find tolerable?”
Her smile spread. “You have a point. It’s a deal. I won’t say a word.”
“And you won’t poke your head in every two seconds to see what’s happening in there,” he added.
“Why? You scared I’ll catch you sneaking kisses behind the bookshelves?”
Kevin turned on his heel. “That’s it. I’m out of here.”
Bree caught him before he’d taken half a dozen steps back toward his truck. “I’m sorry,” she said. Her tone was serious, but there was still a wicked twinkle in her eyes. “I just can’t resist teasing you. You’re so cute when you get all flustered.”
“How old are we? Thirteen?”
She held up a hand. “I’ll behave. I promise. Now, go. It’s a good deed, Kevin, not a lifetime commitment.”
Kevin hesitated, then walked back to the bookstore. He cast one last warning look at his sister, then turned the knob and went inside.
He found Shanna sitting in the middle of the floor with a screwdriver in one hand and tears tracking down her cheeks. She was surrounded by piles of unassembled shelves.
“Uh-oh,” Kevin said, immediately recognizing the problem.
Shanna swiped impatiently at the tears, then regarded him with a chagrined expression. “I thought they came assembled. When the delivery guy piled up this huge stack of boxes, then headed for the door, I almost went after him with a hammer. I begged him to stay. I offered him money. It was pitiful. I even offered him a lifetime of free books if he’d put these together for me, but he just waved and walked out the door. What kind of customer service is that? I’d call and complain, but there’s no time. I have to get these put together.”
She stopped babbling and gave him a watery smile. “Have I mentioned yet that I am really, really glad to see you, especially if you have any idea how to assemble these things?”
Kevin wanted to be the hero she needed, but the sight of all these pieces of wood, little plastic bags of screws and nails and other unidentifiable pieces of metal made him want to curse a blue streak himself. If his father heard about how Kevin’s day had turned out, he’d laugh himself silly.
Still, she looked so frantic, he had to do something. He took another survey of the materials. How hard could it be?
“Instructions?” he asked at last, resigned to taking a stab at putting the shelves together.
She held up a sheet of paper with a diagram on it.
He looked at it. “Okay, this looks easy enough,” he said, faking confidence.
She frowned at that. “Really? It makes sense to you?”
He considered lying to reassure her, then shrugged instead. “Not really, but we’re two intelligent adults. Surely we can figure this out. If not, I have an ace in the hole.”
“Oh?”
“My dad,” he said succinctly. It might be humiliating to call in Mick, but in the interest of making sure these shelves didn’t tumble down on top of Shanna the instant the first books were stacked on them, it might be necessary.
“Isn’t putting bookshelves together a poor use of his skills?” she asked. “He’s an architect, right? A really famous one?”
“He is, but he’ll see this as an act of kindness,” Kevin said. “He seems to be open to all sorts of unusual opportunities these days.”
She studied his expression. “You sound bitter.”
“Maybe, just a little,” he said. “But that’s a story for another day. You read and point. I’ll assemble.”
“Works for me,” she said.
An hour later they had the frame for the first set of shelves assembled and the backing nailed on. It even seemed relatively sturdy. Kevin stood it upright and gave it a gentle shove, just to be sure. It sat squarely in place. “Not bad,” he murmured.
“It’s excellent,” Shanna said.
He laughed at her enthusiasm. “Let’s not get carried away. Where do you want it?”
When he’d positioned it to her satisfaction, they installed the movable shelves.
“Perfect,” she announced, then met his gaze. “There are only fifteen more units to go.”
Kevin swallowed hard. “Fifteen?”
She nodded, her expression apologetic. “You don’t have to help with all of them. I think I’ve figured it out from watching you. And the units for the children’s books are smaller. I can handle those, I think.”
It was the I think that kept him squarely in place. He resigned himself to a very long day. “I’m here. We might as well finish, or at least get as many done as we can today.”
And
