Hooked on You by Kathleen Fuller (hot novels to read .txt) 📕

I wanted to have my own business, I came back here.” She frowned slightly. “I’ve always been kind of an outsiderhere since I didn’t go to school with everyone else. It took me a while to ease back into friendships.”

Riley wasn’t sure what to say. She couldn’t admit to Harper that there were no friendships to ease back into. Of course Harperwouldn’t know that.

“So be sure to call me. Or maybe I’ll call you.” She made her way down the steps. “I know where you live, after all.” Shegrinned and waved as she walked to her car.

Riley watched them leave, and the lump in her throat reappeared. It had never occurred to her that anyone in Maple Falls wouldunderstand what she was going through. Not back then and definitely not now. But Harper did, to a certain extent.

Would Hayden?

She shook her head and went back inside. It didn’t matter if Hayden understood her or not. While she was changing her mindabout possibly taking Harper up on her coffee offer, she stood firm about not getting any closer to Hayden.

Chapter 7

To Hayden’s surprise, Monday morning was almost as busy as Saturday had been. Several customers had purchased paint, includingone woman who had taken more than an hour trying to decide on the perfect shade of white for her kitchen. Hayden always thoughtwhite was a bad color for a kitchen, especially if the family had kids. He intended to paint his own kitchen a light goldenyellow, once he got that far into the project. But white and gray and wood tones were in right now, and when she finally decidedthat Ice White was the perfect shade, he told her she had made an excellent choice, when in reality he was just glad she’dmade a decision at all.

“I’ll be back to pick out hardware for the cabinets,” she said as he rang her up.

“Great. Is there any particular kind you’re looking for?”

“I haven’t decided. I’m considering bright silver or matte silver. I have to think about it a little longer.”

“We’ll be here when you’re ready. I’ll take this out to your car for you.”

“Thank you so much. I’m so glad I stopped in here.” She pushed her long black hair over her shoulder. “I had gone to the bigbuilding store in Malvern, but they didn’t have the right shade of white. You have no idea how many shades of white thereare out there.”

He nodded and smiled. I sure do now.

After he put the paint in her car and went back inside the store, he helped another customer find grass seed for his lawn,then described the difference between a Phillips and a flathead screwdriver to a young man he thought should have known thedistinction already. Hayden had learned all the types of screwdrivers and hammers they had in the store by the time he waseight, but he had to remember that not every kid was interested in hardware. By the time lunch rolled around, he realizedhe hadn’t taken a morning break.

“This takes me back,” Dad said as the last customer left and the store was empty for the first time since they opened thatmorning. “I remember when we were this busy most of the time.”

Hayden smiled, glad to see his father happy. Even though Dad usually rolled with the punches, Hayden suspected he was concernedabout the downslide in business for the past several years. Or maybe he wasn’t as concerned as Hayden thought he should be.

When the phone rang, Hayden said, “I’ll get it. You go grab lunch.”

Dad nodded and went to the back of the store as Hayden picked up the portable phone off the counter. “Price’s Hardware, wherewe have the best price in town. This is Hayden, how may I help you?”

“Hi, Hayden. It’s Riley.”

He gripped the phone, instinctively turning around and putting his back to the door. “Hi, Riley,” he said, making sure tokeep his tone businesslike, as if she were just another customer. The drumming in his heart wasn’t exactly cooperating. “Howmay I help you?”

“I said I would call you today.” She paused. “About helping me with Mimi’s house.”

“Oh, right.” He sounded like he had forgotten, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It had taken everything he hadto keep a cool distance and not approach her at church yesterday. He wasn’t used to struggling this much. Calming his emotionshad always come easy to him. As a pitcher, he couldn’t allow himself to feel excitement or pressure or anxiety, and especiallynot during a big game or when the score was on the line. Being on autopilot and leaning on his training was key.

But how did he go on autopilot when it came to Riley? Somehow he would have to figure it out because Erma needed help, andfixing up her property was something he wanted to do for her.

“Could you stop by tonight?” Riley asked. “I can show you what needs work, and we can draw up the contract.”

“Is your lawyer going to be there?” He meant for it to come out sounding like a joke, but his tone was too sharp. Great. So much for keeping cool.

A pause. “I’m capable of writing a simple agreement.”

She sounded a little touchy, and he couldn’t blame her after his lawyer dig. He tempered his tone. “I’ll be there after six.”

“Thank you.” She hung up.

He stared at the phone, cleared his screen, and put it in his pocket. Whatever. He’d finish Erma’s projects, and then he andRiley wouldn’t have to cross paths again. He was even questioning what he saw in her in the first place. Good. He needed tohang on to that attitude if he was going to work with her.

Hayden went back to the office, expecting his father to be at his desk eating the lunch Mom packed for him this morning, sinceJasper hadn’t shown up today. But his father wasn’t there, and Hayden saw the note he’d left.

Gone to the diner for lunch. Call if you want me to bring you anything back.

He