Any Way You Build It: An Upper Crust Novel, Book 6 (Upper Crust Series) Read online

  He lifted her leg and sat with the pillow and her ankle on his lap, then he put his hands up behind his head and leaned back against the wall so that even though they were technically touching he wasn’t actually touching her. “Unfortunately, that’s true. At least for me lately, and I have to say I think I’ve had about as many nasty surprises as I can handle for a while.”

  “I bet. Well, one thing you need to know is you’re not alone in this.”

  She gave her head a rueful shake. “That’s very sweet of you, Todd, but the truth is I am very much alone. My aunt was my last living relative. My in-laws never even bothered to meet me. It’s just me and the kids.”

  “That’s not true. You’ve got me.” He gave her a smile. Okay, not forever but for now.

  “I really appreciate how kind you’re being to me, Todd, but you don’t even know us. I can’t expect you to look after me . . .”

  “Yeah, I know it is kind of weird but you’re forgetting a few things.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “First, you’re not in much of a position to argue.”

  “True.” She pushed her hands into the small of her back and arched it forward. An innocent stretch that was about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. He almost couldn’t think to speak again.

  “And second, in this town, no one is alone.”

  “No one?”

  “Yeah. It’s both a blessing and a total pain in the ass. In the short term, I think you’ll probably find it a blessing.”

  She laughed. “I take it you don’t.”

  “It’s a very hard place to keep a secret.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him. “We have a lot of secrets, do we, Todd?”

  “We have one or two.” His phone buzzed in his pocket.

  “Excuse me?” he said, texting back.

  “You don’t need to apologize to me. I’ve taken over your whole morning.”

  “I’m the boss so . . . really, it isn’t a problem.”

  He didn’t tell her that he could click his fingers and never work again. He didn’t say he had enough money to solve all her problems, or at least the financial ones right now, because that was none of her business and it would probably freak her out.

  It was Chloe. He had sent her a text earlier to see if she could pop over this afternoon. Todd knew Marissa and Mike were away until tomorrow, and as happy as he was to help, he wasn’t sure he was the guy to assist Sarah when it came time to shower.

  “I thought people who were self-employed could never get away,” she said. “What exactly do you do?”

  “I have a design business. I’ll get my laptop in a while and check some stuff.”

  Zach came into the room. His voice let out a whine. “I’m hungry.”

  “Me, too,” Todd said. “I hadn’t had breakfast yet when you came knocking, buddy. Let’s go scrounge up some lunch.”

  Todd wouldn’t have used that expression if he’d known the dire state of the pantry. He knew Sarah was on the way back from the shops but there didn’t seem to be much food. A few slices of bologna and white bread, sliced cheese, pasta, and a jar of sauce, some crackers, and peanut butter. Milk, bananas, and some berries in the fridge.

  “So, what do you like for lunch, Zach?”

  “I like hamburgers, but I get bologna,” Zach said, then realizing he sounded a bit ungrateful and backpedaled. “But I don’t mind. Mum and Livi like PB and no J.”

  “You guys are easy to please. Maybe I could make burgers for dinner?” he suggested, hoping to put the kid at ease.

  “Burgers are a treat, Todd.” Then, the kid whispered to him, “They weren’t on sale today, so Mom said we couldn’t have them.”

  “Okay, well, I already have some in my freezer, so we don’t need to worry about that.”

  Sarah needed help all right. She didn’t need just him, she needed the whole town to help her. He wished he’d known about their situation. If Esme had been alive, he would have and he’d have made sure they had anything they needed. He wouldn’t have had to meet them either. The nice thing about having loads of money was being able to give it away. He was always giving money away anonymously.

  Todd remembered being a kid and feeling like things were dangling on a knife edge. He knew their mother worried about money. In fact, he was sure it was why he’d married her jerk of a second husband. She wanted some security. It hadn’t quite worked out that way.

  Todd wasn’t much of a cook, but if you opened his kitchen cupboards you’d have thought so. He wasn’t a hoarder, as Marissa had tried to imply. He was just a guy making sure that he wasn’t going without. He hadn’t lied about the burgers. He could do burgers for twenty in twenty minutes if needed.

  He spread some peanut butter on white bread for the girls and decided he would politely have a bologna with Zach. It was a bad idea; the smell of it reminded him of the unhappy times after his father died. Times he spent a lot of time trying not to think about.

  Todd looked down at Zach who was pouring them each a glass of milk. Almost measuring them out so as not to waste any. He saw a lot of himself in the boy. This kid wasn’t going through any of the crap he had if he could help it. That was certain.

  He would help Sarah and Zach and Livi, and one of the best ways was to leave the woman alone and let her be a mother. Yep, there was a reason he didn’t date women with kids and the reason was the kids. These kids were no exception.

  Sarah called out from the other room. “You boys okay?”

  “We’re men, Mom,” Zach called back.

  “Yeah, men,” he echoed him, and pounded on his chest like an ape. Then he and Zach chased each other ape-like around the table. Men were boys and boys were men, no real difference. Todd wanted to be sure that Zach got the chance to enjoy being a boy without any of the stresses that should be reserved for adults.

  He’d already lost his father, had his sister injured, and been dragged halfway across the country to a new life. Todd made a vow to himself that that new life was going to be amazing.

  #

  Considering how the day had begun, Sarah couldn’t believe what a truly pleasant afternoon she’d had. The truth was it was probably more relaxing a day than she’d had in a while. Todd had even kept the kids occupied making her a get well card each so that she managed to take a much-needed nap.

  It was now close to dinner time and Todd was insisting he cook burgers for dinner, so even that was taken care of.

  “Maybe I should hurt myself more often and go the damsel in distress angle,” she said to him in a teasing voice as he sat next to her on the couch checking his email.

  “Probably not a great idea. My bag of tricks is almost depleted.” He gave her an easy smile. Easy, that was how things seemed when he was around. She wondered if this was how happily married couples lived their lives.

  Her own marriage had been made in haste. Young love and the threat of war and death had turned a fling into something permanent. She and Greg never even lived together, and when he came back, she had a small child. He hadn’t quite known what to do with a baby. Not that she’d been sure either, but when the baby was crying, she’d had no option but to figure it out.

  There must have been the odd easy afternoon like this but she couldn’t think of one. Sometimes Greg himself was hard to remember, a fact she rarely shared with anyone. They just didn’t get that much time to make a lot of memories and the Greg who came back between tours was not the one who’d left. She couldn’t blame him. Becoming a mother had changed her, too. They were two strangers trying to rub along.

  Todd snapped his laptop shut and turned to face her.

  “So tonight? I’m thinking it might be best if I stayed over.” She felt her eyes pop. “I’m just not sure how you’re going to manage the kids alone. I think by tomorrow you’ll be better on the crutches at least, but lifting Livi for example . . .”

  He was right. “No, you’re right. Are you sure that is okay?”

  “It’s fine, but if you feel uncomfo
rtable, I’m sure I can arrange a nurse or something.”

  She couldn’t afford a nurse even if that was her preferred option. “If you’re sure you don’t mind. My kids have seen enough nurses to last me a lifetime.”

  “Yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve been meaning to ask about that.”

  “I’ll tell you later. It’s a story best served with a glass of wine,” she said. The truth was she hadn’t had to tell many people about Livi. People she knew back home had heard on the grapevine or read it in the paper. She wasn’t quite sure if she’d get through it without crying. Considering thinking about it made her tear up, she doubted it.

  “Right, well, I was wondering if the kids like to camp . . .”

  “Camp?”

  “I thought we could set them up for an indoor campout in the television room, and then they’d be downstairs. Easier if they need something and a bit of fun.”

  “They would love that, but I don’t have the gear.”

  “Leave it to me.”

  There was a knock at the door. “I’ll get that.”

  He came back into the living room followed by a pretty girl with a wide smile and long golden caramel hair. It wasn’t the same girl she’d seen last week outside his house, but she looked familiar.

  “This is Chloe. Sarah.”

  “Hi.” The girl seemed a little shy. “Todd told me you’d had a fall. You poor thing. I came to help.”

  “You hired a nurse?” She looked at him. Without talking to her?

  “I’m not a nurse.” Chloe laughed as if that idea was crazy and held up a bag. “I come bearing ice cream.”

  Zach’s spidey senses must have tingled because his head appeared around the corner. “Did I hear someone say ice cream?”

  “You sure did. This is Chloe. She runs the ice-cream parlor in town. She’s come to see if your mom needs a hand with anything. And to bring us ice cream.” Todd held his hand up for a high-five and Zach slapped it hard.

  “Yay. I’ll go tell Livi.” And he was off like a shot.

  “I just thought if you needed help taking a shower or changing or . . . well, that maybe you’d rather have a girl help you, not me.”

  She felt the color rise in her cheeks. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Todd obviously had. Interesting.

  “It’s kind of an odd way to make new friends, isn’t it?” Chloe said with a smile.

  “No, that’s so kind of you, I really appreciate it. I don’t seem to be thinking ahead at all today.”

  “Some days are like that,” Chloe said, her voice devoid of judgement. Zach came in wheeling Livi. Sarah watched to see if her reaction to her daughter would be odd, but she just smiled at her. “I need you two to show me where the freezer is because I have ice cream, I have cones, I have sprinkles . . .”

  “Follow us,” Zach said.

  “I’ll be back,” she said over her shoulder, following the kids into the kitchen.

  Todd was watching her. “She’s early. I was going to warn you. Chloe’s pretty new to town herself, and I figured she’d be a good choice. Not too bossy, and I knew she’d bring treats.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled up at him. She really wanted to ask if they were dating but it wasn’t any of her business. If this lovely man hadn’t been here to help her, she couldn’t imagine how the day might have gone. If he had a string of girlfriends all over town, that was not her problem. She might be a bit jealous, but she wasn’t in a position to be anyone’s girlfriend right now.

  And let’s be honest, lying here hot, sweaty, and unable to walk, she was pretty sure the thought had never even crossed Todd’s mind.

  Todd was relieved to see Chloe. This afternoon was altogether too cozy, and he needed a break. Sitting here on the sofa at Sarah’s working away on his laptop and hopping up to help the kids with snacks and projects had seemed too comfortable.

  Todd was a lone wolf. He wasn’t a coloring book and kids kind of a guy. And yet, sitting there watching Sarah nod off on the sofa, well, you could have fooled him.

  Part of it was that it was Esme’s house. It felt so familiar to him and he knew it almost as well as his own place, but he knew that wasn’t the whole thing. He liked belonging to this little family even just for the day. It was just for the day, well, maybe the day and the night. But then he was climbing back into his tree house and leaving them to it.

  So while Chloe was there, he headed back to his own place and got supplies together. He was in the garage rummaging through the camping gear when he heard a small voice.

  “My mom says we’re camping tonight.”

  “Yeah, Zach, I thought that might be fun. Living room camping.”

  “I’ve never been camping. I was in the Scouts, but I never got to camp . . . I was supposed to this summer, and then we moved.” His eyes were downcast and he looked sad.

  “You miss your friends, huh?”

  He nodded. “I know we had to move, and Mom says I’ll make new friends, but I really wanted to go on that trip.”

  Poor kid. “There are Scouts here and summer camps, maybe you can go to one of those.”

  He gave a resigned shrug. “I don’t think Mom will let me.”

  “Well, we shall see. Meanwhile, you can help me put up the tent in your living room, and then maybe you can put it up outside another night. Backyard camping is the best! My brother and I used to love it.”

  “You have a brother?” Todd handed the kid two sleeping bags.

  “Yeah, and we’re twins.”

  “Twins! I wish I had a brother.”

  “Everyone says that till their brother is pounding on them,” Todd said. The truth was he and Mike weren’t the pounding on kind of brothers. They’d had a few scrappy fights, but usually they got on pretty well.

  “I bet I could beat my brother.”

  “You are pretty strong.” Todd made a show of feeling the kid’s puny bicep.

  “Thanks for helping my mom, Todd.” His voice was quiet.

  “No problem. You know that people here are pretty friendly. I know you and your family are going to make lots of new friends.”

  “Like Chloe?”

  “I think you’d be crazy not to make friends with a nice lady who owns an ice-cream parlor, don’t you?” Zach gave him a nod. “Now come on, let’s haul this lot back to your house.”

  Okay, hanging out in a family was a little more complicated than Todd expected.

  Sarah really liked Chloe. She was balancing in the shower while the other woman sat on a stool on the other side of the floral shower curtain ready to help if needed. Sarah wasn’t a prude, in fact she didn’t really care if Chloe saw her naked body. She was a dancer so she was used to changing in all sorts of circumstances and she’d had two kids. She wasn’t especially modest, but she appreciated Chloe’s attempts to protect her privacy.

  “Thanks for doing this.”

  “No problem. I didn’t have anything else to do. My boyfriend is back in Maine and my friend Marissa, who is dating Todd’s brother, well, more than dating because they have a house together but they don’t live there . . . anyway, she’s away with Mike. I think that’s why Todd called me. Marissa is his go-to girl.” She prattled away. “Anyway, Todd has had my back since I came to town, so any friend of his and all that. And your aunt Esme was always really sweet to me.”

  “Well, thanks.” At least she had now established Todd was single. It shouldn’t have made her so happy but it did. “I thought maybe you were Todd’s girlfriend.”

  Sarah heard her laugh over the running shower. “Oh, goodness no. I don’t think Todd has girlfriends. Well, not in recent years. Those Kowalski boys are very much against long-term relationships.”

  “But you said Marissa was with Todd’s brother Mike.”

  “Now. She is now. Do you know how long it took for him to come around? Ten years. Ten. Imagine waiting for someone for ten years. It’s romantic that it worked out, but that’s quite a wait.”

  �
�Yes.” She lathered up her strawberry body wash. She’d used it since she was a teenager.

  “So I guess they had a complicated childhood. Who didn’t, right? And they were both anti-marriage. Mike caved, but I haven’t ever seen Todd with a woman. I’m sure he has women, I mean he travels a lot and he’s straight and he’s not churchy or anything . . . Sorry, I should shut up. Sometimes I talk too much.”

  Sarah rinsed off. “Don’t apologize to me. I mean, I haven’t talked to another adult except Todd in about two weeks. I know how you feel.”

  “Poor you! I used to love being alone, but these days I’m a regular chatty-Cathy. How are you going?”

  “Towel please,” she said, turning the taps off. “I feel so much better now.”

  She’d needed a shower. It was a hot day and she needed to cool off some of the lustful thoughts she’d had about Todd.

  Todd who it was now established did not date anyone.

  Chloe helped her step out of the bath and onto the mat. “You want me to step out while you dress? I chose a dress for you that you can pull over your head. Those shorts were a challenge.”

  They’d had to practically wrestle them off her earlier.

  “Thanks. You can stay. I’m not shy.”

  “Lucky you. I was raised in a fundamentalist sect. We kept our bodies well hidden.”

  “Wow.” There had to be quite a story there.

  “I know, right? I’m like a Lifetime movie.” Her laughter pealed around the bathroom.

  “I look forward to hearing all about it. I feel like all I’ve done is talk about me and my kids for so long now, it would be nice to get out of my own head.”

  “You’re on.” She was lifting the dress over Sarah’s head for her. “I’m sorry about your daughter. How did that happen?”

  “Hit and run.” From beneath the dress, she heard Chloe gasp. “Let’s not talk about that now.”

  “If you need to talk, I’m here. Now, come on. Let’s get back downstairs. It sounds like that’s where all the fun is.”

  #

  Todd hadn’t actually put up a tent in a number of years, but somehow he and Zach seemed to be doing a reasonable job of it considering four-year-old Livi insisted on reading the instructions and it was clear she couldn’t read because she was holding them upside down. It was just a one-room tent, but it fit just fine into the television room at Esme’s house. Todd wondered when he would think of it as Sarah’s house. It might take a while.