Dead Ringer. Sharon Dunn
his hands up, palms to the sky. “All done.”
Eli had a certain charm, but something about him didn’t ring true. What kind of a person gets moved into a place in less than an hour? He must have brought the stuff with him, which meant he had intended to move in regardless of what the rental looked like. Suspicion sparked in her heart. She took a step back.
As if he had read her mind, he said, “The move was kind of fast. I heard at the last minute that I had the job. So I just threw everything in my car and drove from Washington.”
She hadn’t thought her apprehension was noticeable. He sure was good at reading her signals. While Eli wasn’t at the top of her list for renters, she had been grateful when he’d shown up. Since the robbery, she’d been jumpy, uncomfortable in her own home. Having a close neighbor might make her feel safer. Now she wasn’t so sure if Eli was the right choice.
Nelson got out of the truck and ambled toward Eli and Lucy. Nelson was one of those men who showed up well groomed even for something like fixing a porch. He’d gelled his hair. His jeans and work shirt looked pressed. When they had known each other in high school, Lucy had joked that he was the kind of guy who dressed up to go to the Laundromat.
Eli held out a hand. “I’m Eli Hawkins. Lucy’s new renter.”
Nelson nodded. “Nelson Thane. I am an old friend of Lucy’s.”
Lucy placed a hand on Nelson’s shoulder. “We lost touch when Nelson got a job out of state after high school graduation.”
“I missed Mountain Springs and the people.” Nelson lifted some boards out of the back of his truck. “So now I’m back, teaching English to high school students.”
Eli lifted a can of stain from the back of the truck. “I’d love to give you a hand.”
Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, Nelson responded. “Jump in. The more hands, the faster it goes. Right, Lucy?”
Eli offered Lucy a victorious lift of his eyebrow in response to her scowl.
Talk about pushy. Lucy pressed her lips together, but resisted rolling her eyes. “You’re probably right,” she relented.
They moved the supplies to the back of the house and started by tearing up floorboards. Eli worked at an impressive pace, stopping only when Lucy offered him a drink of water.
Sweat glistened on his forehead as he gulped from the glass.
“So would this repair work have anything to do with your date?” Nelson gathered the damaged wood and placed it in a pile.
Lucy put her hand on her hips. “You’ve been talking to Heather. She says I need to give Greg more of a chance. Fixing the porch isn’t to impress him. We made plans to go into town.”
Eli cleared his throat.
Nelson hammered on a warped board with a vicious intensity. He stopped to catch his breath, waving the hammer in the air. “I don’t know if online is the best place to find true love anyway.”
“I’m just doing this as a favor to Heather.”
Eli handed the glass back to Lucy. “Is this the guy you were in the café with the other day?”
Lucy met Eli’s gaze. A hint of anxiety lay beneath his question despite his attempt at casualness. “Yes, Eli, it is. He’s a nice guy.”
“I’m with Nelson. I don’t think an online service is the best way to go. It’s too easy for people, especially guys, to be deceptive.”
Lucy’s spine stiffened. What business was it of his who she dated? If anyone knew about being deceptive, it was him. He was the one who had moved into his place with almost nothing and had decided to take it before he’d even seen it. What was he up to, anyway?
She tried to keep her tone friendly. “Really, guys, I appreciate the feedback. I can take care of myself.” She was just doing this to prove to Heather that no matter how much of a chance she gave Greg, nothing would spark between them. If she went on one more date with Greg and there was still nothing but friendly feelings, maybe Heather would quit matchmaking altogether.
Besides, Greg was a sweet man, and she wanted to find a way to tell him she wasn’t interested without hurting his feelings. As Lucy placed the claw end of her hammer under a nail and rocked it back and forth, her irritation grew. Why was everyone trying to run her love life?
She pulled out several nails and tossed them in the coffee can they were using for waste. Then she pounded on the rotted boards to break them up and loosen them.
When she looked up, breathless from the exertion, both men were staring at her. She readjusted the baseball hat she’d been using to hold her hair out of her eyes. “What?”
Eli grinned. “I would hate to be one of those boards.”
When he smiled, his eyes sparkled. A laugh escaped her lips. She’d let herself get way too worked up. “Guess I was being a little mean to the wood.”
Eli surveyed the area around her house. “Where are the tools to cut and place the new boards?”
Lucy sat up straight and massaged the small of her back. “Over in the shed. Why don’t you guys go get them, since I’ve been doing all the hard work?” she joked.
Eli glanced back at Lucy as he and Nelson walked toward the shed. She had taken the baseball cap off to wipe her brow. The thought of her being alone with Greg terrified him. The more time she spent with him, the more danger she might be in. Was it worth blowing the secrecy of the investigation to tell her that Greg was a suspect? Given her distrust of cops, she probably wouldn’t believe him anyway.
Nelson opened the shed door and clicked on the light. The shed had a concrete floor. A kayak and a variety of fishing poles lined one wall. Saws, drills and other assorted tools cluttered a table in a far corner.
Dust danced in the cylinders of light created by two small windows. Eli’s eyes adjusted to the dimness. He whistled. “Lucy has some pretty nice tools.”
“I think she got most of these from her brother.” Nelson grabbed a piece of plywood leaning against a wall.
“Her brother?”
The scraping of wood against concrete drowned out Eli’s question. Nelson pointed toward a corner of the shed. “If you want to grab the sawhorses, we can set up the tables.”
Eli picked up a sawhorse in each hand. “So you don’t like the idea of Lucy doing this online thing?” Maybe he could get Nelson to talk Lucy out of seeing Greg.
Nelson shrugged. “Lucy does what Lucy wants to do. I don’t think we have much to worry about. After a few dates, she’ll just decide she wants to be friends. That’s her usual pattern. It started with me in high school.”
“You dated Lucy?”
“All water under the bridge. She became a Christian a little before her mom died. We didn’t share the same faith. She didn’t want to date anymore.”
Eli detected just a hint of hurt in Nelson’s comments. They stepped back out into the sunlight. Lucy had gathered the rotting wood into a pile and was in the process of backing Nelson’s truck up to it.
They worked through the afternoon. Lucy loaded the old wood to be hauled away. Nelson cut and measured boards. Lucy brought the boards to Eli and helped put them in place so he could drive the nails in.
It was late in the day when they all stood back to admire their handiwork.
“You guys did a good job.” As she stood between them, Lucy wrapped an arm around each man. “I’ll just have to stain it tomorrow.”
Eli’s cell rang. William’s voice came on the other end of the line. “Hawkins, I got a little info you might be interested in.”
“Just a second.” Eli stepped