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MATT LIKED LISTENING to Chelly talk about her idea for a junk repurposing business. She was so passionate about it, and her hands and mouth were going a hundred miles an hour. The towel slipped off her shoulder and exposed her bikini top. Thankfully, those dolphins showed up when they did earlier, or she would have seen his erection. When she’d bent over to touch the starfish, he couldn’t look away from her perfect butt. She was curvy in all the right places and seemed so comfortable with her body. He liked a woman who was confident.
Chelly cleared her throat. “I’m boring you. Sorry.”
“Not at all. So you take the old furniture, like my mom has in the garage, and turn it around and sell it for a profit?”
“Your mom’s furniture, at least what I saw of it, you would never touch. Painting or staining those things can ruin the value of the piece. But like that one desk we sold today—the school desk? It’s something that I could paint or do a fun pattern on or switch it into something else and it would bring in more money than the original would.”
“And you want to sell online?” He was getting the gist and trying to think of a way to give her a hand. That was something his mom had instilled in him. When you could do something nice for someone, you did it.
“To start with, yes. Someday I’d love to also have a storefront. And my ultimate goal is to build up my cash reserves so I can buy a retail warehouse. I never want to be in debt, so I’d save up first. I’m thinking solar panels for the roof to get off the grid as much as possible and save on costs and spare the earth. I know it’s probably a long way off, but a girl’s gotta dream. I like being self-sustainable.”
“I get it,” he said. And he did. An idea began to form in his mind. “So what if...and it’s okay for you to say no.”
She bit her lip. He noticed she did that when she was worried. “What did you have in mind?”
“We might be able to help each other out and in the process get your business started.”
Her eyes widenened. She asked, “How?”
“It’s clear that I have no clue what to do with all of my parents’ belongings. Some of those furnishings I want to save for my place, which I’m going to start building, but the rest I need to sell. Maybe you could assist me with that. I could give you a percentage and then anything that you might be able to repurpose, you could have for your business. I’d only be taking those items to the dump or giving them to charity, anyway.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’d help you for free,” she said. Still, she wouldn’t look at him. He’d pay big bucks to know what she was thinking just then.
“Nope. I need an expert and this only works if I feel it’s fair. You made me over six thousand today. I realize I keep saying that, but it’s so much more than I ever imagined. You get that I have no experience at this, and you’d be protecting me, as well. Making sure I get decent prices. You could build up an inventory. I bet that’s important. My mom used to have a store, which is why we have all this crap in the first place.”
“She had an antiques store? Now it makes sense. Everything was from different time periods and styles, and I couldn’t figure out how she would fit all of that in one house.” She smiled then, and her gaze met his. “It’s not crap, by the way. She had exquisite taste.”
“See? That’s why I need you.” He did.
“Do you do this with everyone you meet? Try to fix them? Sort out their lives? Is that, like, your thing?”
He crossed his legs and sat up. “What do you mean?”
“Saving damsels in distress. You’re a Marine. You’re probably wired to rescue people.”
Maybe he was, but it started a long time before the Marines. “You don’t really seem the type that needs to be rescued. I was thinking more of you being the one to save me, which is why it’s okay if you say no. There won’t be any hard feelings on my part.”
She shook her head. “You’re kind of a wonder, Matt. I’m not sure what to think.”
Given what she’d been through, she probably was a little shy about trusting anyone. He had the same problem, and he wasn’t quite sure why he was inviting her into his life. Over the past few months he’d done little except focus on work and make lists about what he wanted in his new house. Thinking of building it was the only light he had at the end of the tunnel.
He’d been forcing himself to go out with his friends, but more than anything he wanted to be on his own. To live peacefully. Get everything organized so he could move forward. He liked things ordered.
He had a feeling chaos followed Chelly, but there was something special about her. Something that called to him. The last few hours on the beach had been some of the most peaceful he’d experienced.
“You said you wanted to sell your family home. Can I ask why?”
That caught him off guard. “I have some river property not far from here, where I’d like to build a place. With the sale of Mom and Dad’s house I can afford it. I’m not much of a suburb kind of guy. I like my privacy. I’ve been meeting with an architect the last few weeks, but I really have to get my parents’ home and furnishings settled first.”
She seemed to consider this. “You mentioned you wanted to save some of their possessions for your place. What kind of a place? A cabin?”
“Nah. Can I show you?” He got out his phone, opened a real estate app and presented her with a photo of the iconic Texas river house he wanted. “It’s called a Texas T. Family room and kitchen in the center with hallways off to other rooms. And I want limestone floors and whatever else makes it fit into the landscape naturally.”
She flipped through the pictures. “Wow. This is incredible.”
He wasn’t sure why it pleased him that she liked it so much, but it did. “Here, I’ll show you the view from where I’m hoping the family room will be.” He took the phone and opened a new file of photos and handed it back to her.
She blinked. “That’s your view? Looking right out on the river? It’s totally incredible. And those cliffs. It looks like something on a postcard.”
That’s what he’d been thinking. When he was a kid he used to play in the woods around there while his dad and uncle fished in the river. Where the house sat was up on a rise, but there were a hundred acres, most of that on the riverfront. He’d been offered top dollar for it, but it was one of the most quiet, peaceful places on earth, and no way was he giving it up.
“You said you picked out an architect? Do you have a designer?” Her words came quickly now, her excitement was contagious.
He smiled.
“I hadn’t thought about a designer,” he answered. “One of my friends, Brody, is marrying a designer. She looked over the plans for me and told me how to—what did she say?—oh, to maximize the view. I guess I figured I could just ask her. Though, Brody says she’s busier than ever these days.”
“Or I could do that. Help you, I mean.” She worried her bottom lip. “Sorry, it’s just when I saw what you wanted, and where
