Read Online Yuletide Hearts by Ruth Logan Herne - Free Book Online Page B

please… Help us get these last two homes covered.
    â€œIf it’s raining we can install windows.”
    Matt nodded, pointed out a problem to Jake and turned her way. “Exactly what I was thinking. That way we don’t lose time and prevent further damage. And the Tyvek wrap will help keep external walls from getting damaged over the winter if we can’t side them right away.”
    Not getting them sided would disappoint him. He’d laid out his plans the first night in their house, showing the time line to Hank and Callie after Jake had gone to bed.
    Hank had eyed the plans and made a skeptical face. “It works if everything goes perfectly.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œSo if it doesn’t,” Hank continued, turning a frank look Matt’s way, “We prioritize. Roofing. Tyvek. Windows. Get them sealed as best we can. Then interior work over the winter won’t suffer damage.”
    â€œAnd with a four-month window to get the Tyvek covered,” Matt observed, “we can apply siding when the weather starts to ease.”
    â€œYes.” Matt’s respect for the manufacturer’s guidelines earned him Hank’s approval. “Warranties remain in effect and the town doesn’t cite us for not following code.” Hank’s expression changed as he realized what he’d said. “You, I mean. Not us.”
    Matt had offered him a straight look. “I wouldn’t be here ifit wasn’t for you, Hank. Your vision. Your plans. Your project. Having you on board makes my life a whole lot easier right now. I’d be foolish not to realize that, and I finished being foolish a long time ago.”
    Matt’s words eased her father’s strained expression, and Callie blessed him for guarding the older man’s ego. Hank’s self-esteem had taken a beating these last two years, first from a debilitating and somewhat embarrassing illness that left him wearing a colostomy pouch, followed by losing the business he’d spent thirty years building. And because Callie had worked for Hank’s company, the double loss of income spelled near disaster.
    Matt’s investment in Cobbled Creek changed all that.
    His presence in their home was changing more than her business perspective, but she’d made a firm decision to keep her distance. Her father and son had been through enough, and adding romantic drama to an already-tense life would be foolhardy. Hadn’t Matt just mentioned how he’d stopped doing foolish long ago?
    Well, so had she, about the time Dustin walked out leaving her with an eight-month-old baby and little money.
    Matt’s engaging laugh drew her attention to the man and boy profiled in the window, heads bent as Jake worked out a word problem. Matt fist-pumped when Jake got the answer right, and Jake’s answering grin reaffirmed what Callie had shared with her father the week before. Jake didn’t know his dad enough to miss him, but he missed having a dad. That was evident in the shine he took to Matt, the way he tried to emulate Matt’s moves on a house. If she wasn’t careful, Jake would fall in love with the square-shouldered, sturdy builder and have his heart broken once Cobbled Creek was complete.
    She couldn’t let that happen, but she couldn’t deny Jake the chance to hang with Matt, talk with him. Chat with him. Matt’s positive influence was good for Jake. She recognized that. And while life handed out good and bad, some roughturns could be character-building. A boy didn’t grow to be a man without scraping a few knees, and Jake was no exception.
    â€œDone.” Matt grinned at the boy, satisfaction lighting his face.
    â€œDone.” Jake echoed, exuberant. He glanced at the clock. “And we did it quicker than Mom does. She talks a lot.”
    â€œI do not.”
    Matt held his hands up in surrender, his eyes bright with humor. “I didn’t say it.” He jerked a