Redemption

The following day, Dove sat at her grandpa’s dining table – now her dining table – and looked over the list she had made in her notebook. The inside of the house was as disastrous as the outside. The furniture all looked as if it was from before she was even born, the place didn’t seem as if it had ever been dusted, and every surface was old and worn. There was no way anyone would want to buy it in its current state. She didn’t think anyone would take it even if she gave it away!

She had a lot of work ahead of her, that was for sure. She made inventory of everything that would need to be fixed or replaced. Build new house? she wrote at the bottom of the list with exasperated humor.

Realistically, she knew she’d just have to tackle everything one step at a time. So, on a fresh page, she figured out what she wanted to do first and what supplies she’d need for that. It quickly occurred to her that… she had no way of getting hefty supplies to the house. She drove a compact car. The small size helped in the city, but it would do her no favors here.

Mr. Johnson probably had a work truck…

She dreaded the thought of asking that rude man for help. She hadn’t spoken to him since their first encounter. She heard him working out there again, having come back like he said he would, and she hadn’t felt a need to stop what she was doing in the house.

Except now she had a need. Swallowing her pride, she gathered up her notebook and her purse, and headed over to his house next door. Standing on his porch, she noticed there was no doorbell. Of course there wasn’t. It was probably surprising these houses even had electricity. She lifted her hand to knock on his front door.

The knock set a dog off barking. Probably that big black one she had seen before, if she had to guess. She took a cautionary step back, in case that dog came flying out of the house when the door was answered.

That didn’t happen, thank goodness. But what she was met with didn’t feel much better. Burley opened his door and gave her a look as if he wasn’t pleased to see her. It was a brief look, before his expression went more neutral.

“You need something, Miss Donoghue?”

Dove put a smile on her face, trying to look as pleasant as she possibly could. It should’ve been easy, because he was still a hunky mountain of a man with a nice deep voice, but she couldn’t forget the irritating things he had said to her yesterday.

“Yeah, actually. Would you mind taking a trip into town with me? My car’s small and I could really use your truck.”

He eyed her for such a long moment that Dove’s smile faltered into uncertainty. What would she do if he said no? Maybe she shouldn’t be asking. He was taking care of the horses for her, sure, but that was only because it was his job before and he wanted to hang onto it. She didn’t think he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart. Yeah, she shouldn’t have bothered–

“Yeah, I guess I can do that,” he finally decided.

Dove smiled again with a sigh of relief.

“Awesome, thank you! You’re a lifesaver,” she replied. Burley didn’t match her smile. He looked at her for another moment, his features suddenly hard, before he disappeared back into his house to get his keys.

Soon enough, they found themselves on the winding road that led into the small town of Heart’s Peak. It was a pretty drive. The trees were all dressed up in their fanciest reds and yellows. Dove leaned closer to her side window, enjoying the view.

“You put any more thought into keeping the place?” Burley asked, breaking the silence that had filled the cab ever since they left his house.

“No,” she frowned. “I’m fixing it up to sell it.” And don’t you dare try calling me selfish again, mister.

Burley let out a deep sigh and shifted in his seat, his knuckles drawing tight around the steering wheel. To her surprise, he didn’t throw a complaint back at her. She didn’t see why it mattered so much to him, anyway. Was it just because it was convenient? Working right next door? Well a fit young man like him would have no trouble finding another job, and it wasn’t her fault he might have to actually commute.

“Do you know anyone around here who’d want to buy the horses?” Dove went on to ask. She didn’t know the first thing about selling horses. Or houses, but somehow houses seemed easier.

“You’re seriously gonna ask me that?” Burley said, and when she briefly met his eyes, she saw frustration.

“Well… I mean… You’re from around here. You know the other horse people.”

“Lady, you’re unbelievable,” he said, and she narrowed her eyes.

“Fine, I’ll figure it out on my own.”

“You do that.”

Dove felt like she wanted to smack him! Was he this insufferable to her grandpa too? She looked back to the window and said nothing more. Burley didn’t either and silence again surrounded them, though unlike before, now she couldn’t focus on the scenery.

It felt like an incredibly long drive into town and she was grateful when they finally arrived at the local hardware store. She grabbed her purse and notebook and, holding her chin high, she got out of the truck and went on ahead of him into the store. She didn’t bother asking for his help once they were inside. Even though… honestly, she wasn’t very familiar with home improvement.

She rented an apartment back home, so it was up to her landlord to deal with the projects she planned to take care of now. But she had looked up a lot of things on the internet, so she vaguely knew what it was she needed to be doing. For what she didn’t know, there was a very helpful man working there named Logan.

Logan was quick to ask her if she needed any help, and she didn’t hesitate to flip open her notebook, showing him her checklist for this trip. Logan was all smiles until Burley caught up with her. He looked at the taller man with a frown, then he looked at her, seeming as if he was trying to figure out if the two of them were there together.

What was that even about? Was he hoping she was single and thought Burley might be her man? Ha, in his dreams. He was hot but that attitude was going to get him nowhere.

“So, do you think I can get all this today?” she said, pulling Logan’s attention back to the task at hand.

Happily, she was able to get most of what she wanted. She managed to assign Burley to cart duty as she went around with Logan and for the things that were too big, like the low budget replacement doors, Logan said he’d have them brought around for her. She didn’t feel so happy when they got to the checkout counter… but she unfortunately knew she’d have to make an investment before she could make any money back.

Pleased with her haul, and pleased Burley tolerated it, she left the store with him.

“You know, for this town being so small, I was worried I’d even be able to… Oh!” Dove stopped abruptly, hand flying over her mouth with a gasp. Burley’s truck! It was trashed!