N. Walters - By the Book

“Shamus told me what happened.” Cyndi carried the cheesecake over to the table and went back to the counter and grabbed plates and forks.

“It’s my own fault. I should have paid more attention, but everything happened so fast. Seymour’s death and the fact that he’d authorized his lawyer to sell the building was a blow.” Amanda watched as Shamus carried two mugs of coffee to the table and handed her one. “Thanks.”

“That had to have been devastating.” Cyndi cut a huge hunk of cheesecake, popped it on to a fine china plate and handed it to her.

“It was hard, but it all turned out for the best.” Amanda forked up a piece of the cheesecake and took a bite, savoring the rich chocolate flavor. When she put her fork back down on the edge of her plate, she noticed the intricate floral pattern around the edge. “You know, Linda would love this plate.”

Linda Fletcher was an antiques dealer and the reason that Amanda had met Cyndi and Shamus. When Cyndi had decided to clear out her family’s home, Linda had contacted Seymour and he’d sent Amanda to Jamesville. Cyndi, Linda and she had become good friends.

Cyndi wrinkled her nose and laughed. “Last time she was here, she tried to talk me out of them, but I like them. I think she’s slightly appalled that they’re my everyday dishes.”

“I think she’s afraid I’ll break them,” Shamus added as he carried the final mug over and sat back down. He smiled at his wife as she handed him a thick slice of the dessert.

“No she isn’t,” Cyndi scolded. “Okay, well maybe.” They all laughed and continued to eat. After a minute, Cyndi continued. “Now, back to the house…”

“Umm,” Amanda said as she swallowed her last bite of cheesecake. She wished she’d opted for wearing sweatpants instead of jeans. The zipper was about ready to burst and the button was digging into her belly. She was well and truly stuffed. “As I said, the decision to move here happened so fast.” She raised her mug and saluted Cyndi. “And thank you so much for the suggestion.”

“Hey, I was being selfish. I wanted you closer. A couple trips a year wasn’t enough time to spend with you.”

Tears pricked Amanda’s eyes. The emotion caught her slightly off guard. She was so used to it being just her and Seymour. It was nice to be wanted.

She blinked and changed the subject back to the house. “The minute I saw the house I knew I wanted it. I did check the foundation, the roof and the plumbing, but for some reason I didn’t even think about the electrical system.” Amanda took a sip of her coffee before continuing. “Of course, there was an inspection. I had to go back to Vermont, so the realtor handled it and faxed me the report. I went back and checked all the papers I received on the house and there in black and white on the inspector’s report is the fact that the electrical system needed upgrading. No one hid anything from me. I just wasn’t paying close enough attention.”

“The real estate agent should have made certain you understood everything about the house.” Shamus pushed his empty plate aside and sat back in his chair. “Who was it?”

“A guy named Jim Brown.”

Shamus frowned. “Damn, I should have known. He probably didn’t want to lose the sale.”

“Something wrong with him? He seemed like a nice enough guy.” In his late thirties, Jim Brown had been professional and amiable enough. “He gave me all the papers. It’s my fault for not reading them as closely as I should.”

“He’s Elizabeth Sutter’s ex-husband, and Jonah’s ex-brother-in-law. It wasn’t exactly an amicable divorce.” Shamus’s expression was grim. “It would be best if those two were never in the same room together.”

Amanda shrugged, not quite knowing what else to do. “It’s a small town. Not like they can avoid each other.” It would be awkward as hell though.

“No, it’s impossible to avoid someone forever in a town this size.” Cyndi hesitated as if she wanted to say something, but then changed the subject. “You brought paint samples with you?”

“I did.” Amanda accepted the change of subject, reached behind and grabbed her bag. Digging into it, she pulled out a handful of paint chips. “I’ve narrowed it down, but I’d like a second opinion. I also want to know how long you think this project will take?”

She directed her question to Shamus.

He tilted his head to one side and thought for a second. “Go ahead and buy your paint. I don’t think it will take Jonah long. He does quality work, but he’s fast. I can come by in the evenings once he’s finished in a room and make any necessary repairs to the drywall. That way you can start priming and painting a room at a time.”

“That’s a lot of trouble for you.” Although, Amanda couldn’t deny she was more than ready to get started painting.

“It’s no problem.” He hesitated. “It might be none of my business and feel free to say so, but are you okay money-wise? I mean you just bought a house, paid for a move and now this. I can talk to Jonah if you need some time to pay him.”

The tears were back in her eyes and there was a huge lump in her throat. No one in her life, other than Seymour, had ever shown such care and concern for her.

“And I’ll help you paint.” Cyndi picked up the paint chips and started to spread them across the table. “Show me what you’ve picked out.”

She cleared her throat. “I’ll be fine, but thank you so much for asking, Shamus.” A thought occurred to her. “I can pay you too if that’s what you were worried about earlier today.”

He held up his hand. “That’s not open for discussion. Our helping you is our housewarming present to you.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say in the face of their generosity, so she picked up a paint chip. “I thought I’d put this cozy forest green in the front room I plan to use for the shop. I think it will contrast well with the bookshelves I’m going to have built.”

When she unlocked her front door, Amanda was still feeling warm and fuzzy and stuffed from the wonderful supper that Cyndi had cooked for them. She closed and locked it behind her and just stood there, allowing the peace to surround her.

The house still felt empty, but that would change once the renovations were done and all her furniture was in place. At the moment, the bulk of her belongings were in what was the dining room. Thankfully, the older home had a formal living room as well as a front parlor. That allowed her to turn the parlor into her shop, while letting her keep the living room as a private space. It was confusing right now, but Amanda had it all planned in her mind.

Kicking off her shoes, she padded up the stairs and into her bedroom. She’d left the upstairs hall light on when she’d left, so she could easily find her way up the stairs without having to worry about tripping.

She stifled a yawn as she walked into her bedroom and dumped her large purse by her bed. It had been a long day. She’d managed to get Elizabeth’s books catalogued and she’d checked her online store and completed several transactions.

She’d have to go to the post office to mail the books to their new owners. Her life and work didn’t stop just because she’d moved. All the boxes for her shop had been carefully marked and coded so she knew exactly what inventory was in each of them. If only she’d done the same thing with the boxes for the rest of the house.

Not that she had a ton of stuff, but she’d collected more than she’d thought over the past few years. At least Seymour had hired a company to deal with his stuff after his death. The man had been ruthlessly organized to the end. She’d been allowed to pick out what she’d wanted before the rest was either sold or donated to charity.

Even with weeding out her belongings before she packed, she had an impressive amount of boxes.

Tomorrow, she promised herself as she pulled off her clothing and tugged an oversized T-shirt over her head. Tomorrow, she’d sit down with Jonah and sketch out a timeline for the project. That would give her an idea of when she could do what. She’d have him do the front room first, if possible. That way she could get the walls painted, the shelves built and her shop up and running. She might be doing okay financially, but it wouldn’t pay to be lax with her business. She had customers depending on her.

Amanda removed her glasses and placed them safely on the bedside table. She rubbed the pads of her fingers over her eyes and stifled another yawn. It had been a long, eventful day.

Padding to the bathroom, she brushed her teeth, washed her face and went through her nightly routine. She was proud of the fact that she’d managed not to think about Jonah all evening.

Closing her eyes, she groaned. “He’s back.”

Glancing at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she scowled at her slightly blurry reflection. “The man is sexy as all get-out, but he only wants to sleep with you.”

What’s wrong with that?

Ignoring the little voice in the back of her head, she continued her lecture. “Sure, you’d probably have the best sex of your life, but it wouldn’t last.”

But you’d have the best sex of your life!

That little voice was beginning to get on her nerves because it was starting to make sense. “Sex with Jonah would be incredible.” Her reflection nodded in agreement. She had no idea how she knew that, she just did. The man exuded sex appeal.

“What am I thinking?” She turned away from the mirror, flicked off the light, and headed to bed. “I’m thinking that it might be nice to actually have an orgasm that wasn’t self-induced.”

Amanda slapped her hand over her mouth even though there was no one there who could hear her. It was enough that she’d heard herself utter the words. Feeling silly, she pulled her hand away.

“Okay, so not every woman has an orgasm during sex,” she grumbled to herself. She could feel her cheeks heating as she stumbled to bed and crawled in. Yanking the covers up around her, she settled her head against the pillows.

Her body had not been silent during her conversation with herself. Her skin felt hot, her breasts heavy. Ignoring the pulsing between her thighs, she turned over on her side and reached for the knob on the bedside lamp.

Before she could turn it off, the phone rang.

Amanda reached for her glasses and slipped them on. She glanced at the clock radio as she picked up her cordless phone. It was only half-past ten. Not too late. Maybe it was Cyndi, checking to see if she made it home okay. “Hello.”

“Hello, sugar.” The smooth male voice went through her like a hot knife through butter. Every cell in her body seemed to spark with anticipation.

“Jonah.” Her voice shook slightly. It was if her very thoughts had conjured the man from thin air. Her fingers tightened around the phone.

“Did you have a good evening with Shamus and Cyndi?”

She frowned and then remembered he’d been here when Shamus had mentioned it earlier today. “Yes, I did. They’re good friends.” She could hear the defensiveness in her voice and sighed. Taking a deep breath, she tried to settle her nerves and slow her pounding heart. “I had a wonderful time.”

“That’s good.”

She closed her eyes and absorbed the sound of his voice. Damn, she had it bad.

“Jonah, what do you want?” The quicker she found out, the quicker she could get him off the phone. As it was, she suspected it would be quite some time until she relaxed enough to sleep. Her body felt as if she’d been drinking coffee for about six hours straight.

“You.”

That one stark word made her heart start pounding again. Amanda opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, trying to distract herself from the growing ache low in her belly.

The paint was chipped in several places. It was on her to-do list.

“You still there, sugar?”

She nodded and then sighed, giving up trying to get control of her unruly hormones.

“Yes, I’m here.” She raked her free hand through her hair, making an even bigger mess of her curls. “But I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes.” His voice was little more than a sensual murmur. Amanda swallowed hard and tried to ignore the hard points of her nipples pressing against her T-shirt.

“You know I can’t,” she whispered. But oh how she wanted to say yes.

She definitely wasn’t the type of woman to make a rash decision about anything.

Slow and methodical was more her speed, but these past months her life had been speeding out of control.