Page 17 of Keep My Heart (The Haydon Falls #1)

Nick

She was so happy that day at the orchard, laughing at her dad’s lame jokes.

He was one of those guys who told really bad dad jokes, but Lyndsay laughed at them even if nobody else did.

She loved her dad. She was devastated when he passed.

It happened that night. He was in the bathroom and collapsed from a heart attack.

‘Coffee’s almost ready,’ Patty says, coming into the living room. ‘Lyndsay, when’s the last time Nick was over? Do you remember?’

‘May of our senior year,’ I say. ‘Right before we graduated.’

I remember because it’s the day Chris proposed to Lyndsay, and the day I gave up any dreams that she’d ever be mine.

I always knew it was a long shot, but I held out hope, my na?ve teenage self thinking anything was possible.

But that day, when he gave her the ring, my hope fizzled out.

She was Chris’ girl and always would be.

He didn’t really propose to her that day.

He gave her a promise ring and told her he’d marry her someday, but to Lyndsay, it was as good as a proposal.

She and her friends even went out and bought bridal magazines.

‘You have a good memory,’ Lyndsay says, walking over to me. ‘But I bet you don’t know the day.’

‘The tenth. I only remember that because it was Jason’s birthday and I couldn’t stay long because I had to be home for his party.’

‘That’s right,’ Lyndsay says, nodding like she’s remembering it. ‘You saved up your money and got him that baseball card he wanted.’

‘You remember that?’ My brows rise. ‘I didn’t think you were listening when I was telling you.’

‘Of course I was listening. Why did you think I wasn’t?’

‘You were staring at your hand, at the ring.’

She looks down. ‘Oh. Yeah.’

‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.’

‘No, it’s true.’ She looks up. ‘I was staring at the ring, but I still heard what you said. I remember you telling me how you gave up buying that part for your car so you could afford to get Jason that baseball card.’

‘It all worked out. My dad ended up loaning me money for the part.’

‘Your father’s a good man,’ Patty says.

‘So is his son,’ Lyndsay says, gazing up at me.

Something beeps from the kitchen. ‘That’s the coffee,’ Patty says. ‘Come into the kitchen. I put out some zucchini bread.’

‘Mom, we just ate,’ Lyndsay says as we follow her mom to the kitchen table.

‘I know, but I have to at least offer Nick some. He’s our guest.’

‘I’d love some,’ I say, sitting down next to Lyndsay.

I’m still full from breakfast, but I could find room for a piece of zucchini bread.

It’s not often I get homemade baked goods.

My mom stuffs me full of them when I’m here in town, but back in New York, breakfast is usually dark coffee and a protein bar on my way into the office.

‘So how long are you here for?’ Patty asks as she serves me a piece of zucchini bread on a small white plate with a scalloped edge. I smile, feeling like I’m back in high school, sitting here at the kitchen table tutoring Lyndsay, her mom serving me cookies on these same tiny plates.

‘I’m leaving on Monday,’ I tell her.

‘Oh, that’s a shame.’ Patty goes to get the coffee. ‘It’s too bad you can’t stick around for the reunion.’

‘Reunions aren’t really my thing,’ I say with a laugh. ‘I’m trying to forget high school, not return to it.’

‘C’mon, it wasn’t that bad,’ Lyndsay says, putting her hand on my arm.

‘Perhaps you could take Lyndsay,’ Patty says, setting my coffee down and noticing Lyndsay’s hand on my arm.

‘As a friend,’ Lyndsay says, taking her hand off me.

‘Or otherwise,’ Patty mutters, going to get the other two coffee mugs.

‘So Mom, what do you want to do today?’ Lyndsay asks, trying to change the subject.

‘I need to run some errands,’ she says, setting the mugs down on the table and sitting across from us. ‘If you wouldn’t mind going to the hardware store, I’d like to go there and ask Hal what he thinks might be wrong with the dishwasher.’

‘It’s broken?’ Lyndsay asks, sipping her coffee.

‘It hasn’t worked in months,’ Patty says. ‘I didn’t want to spend the money to fix it so I’ve just been washing the dishes by hand. But maybe if I knew what was wrong I could fix it myself.’

‘I could take a look at it,’ I say, getting up and going over to the dishwasher.

‘Nick, no,’ Lyndsay says. ‘You don’t have to do that.’

‘I don’t mind.’ I open the dishwasher door. ‘What are you having problems with? Is it not running?’

‘It runs, but leaks all over the floor,’ Patty says, coming over to me. ‘It got so bad I just stopped using it.’

‘You got a screwdriver handy?’ I ask.

She nods. ‘In Harold’s toolbox. It’s in the garage.’

‘I can show you,’ Lyndsay says, getting up.

We go in the garage and I see the toolbox sitting on the workbench, the same place it was 15 years ago. I’m starting to wonder if Patty kept everything the same because it made her feel like Harold was still around. She took his death really hard, barely leaving the house after he was gone.

‘Nick, you really don’t have to do this,’ Lyndsay says as I go over to the toolbox. ‘You’re on vacation. You shouldn’t be doing chores.’

I open the toolbox and take out the screwdriver and a wrench. ‘It’s not a chore. I’m helping out your mom. She’s a nice lady, and maybe if I fix her dishwasher she’ll let me take her daughter out tonight.’

‘Tonight?’ Lyndsay says, sounding confused. ‘You have the party tonight.’

‘It’s not going to go on all night. It’ll wrap up around eight or nine. What do you say? You want another practice date?’

‘I’d love that!’ She leans against the workbench and looks up at me. ‘You really are a great guy, Nick. How are you not married by now?’

‘Just haven’t found the right girl.’ I nod toward the house. ‘We should get back in there.’

‘Yeah.’ She nods and hurries back to the house.

Why the hell did I do that? Why did I ask her out again?

First breakfast, then I asked her to spend the morning with me, and now I’m asking her out for tonight?

I know I’m supposed to be helping her learn to date, but spending all this time with her is making me have feelings for her again.

I shouldn’t be having feelings for a girl I can’t be with, so why am I doing this?

Five minutes later, I’ve got the dishwasher door off and notice the rubber seal is damaged.

‘It’s the seal,’ I say to Patty, showing her where it’s coming apart. ‘It’s old and worn out so it’s not keeping the water in anymore. I could stop at Hal’s and pick you up a new one. If you’ll be here tomorrow morning, I’ll come back then and put it in. You’ll be able to use it after that.’

‘Oh, Nick, I couldn’t ask you to do all that,’ Patty says. ‘You’re not home for long. You need to spend time with your family.’

‘It won’t take long, and I’ll see my family at the party. You go ahead to your hair appointment and Lyndsay and I will go to the hardware store.’

Patty looks like she’s about to cry, but then smiles. ‘Your father raised a very nice young man. Let me get you some money.’ She hurries over to her purse which is on the counter.

‘Mrs. Davis, I got this. Don’t worry about it.’

‘Nick, I have to pay you, at least for the part.’ She comes over to me, holding a $20 bill. ‘Is that enough?’

‘How about you let me take some of that zucchini bread instead?’

‘Of course! Take all you want. I’ll wrap it up for you.’ She goes to the pantry and takes out a box of foil.

‘Mom, I got it,’ Lyndsay tells her. ‘You go ahead and get ready.’

Patty sets the foil down and walks up to me. ‘I can’t thank you enough. With my arthritis, it’s been such a pain, literally, having to wash dishes by hand.’

‘It’ll be fixed by tomorrow,’ I assure her.

‘And you’re sure I can’t pay you?’

‘You can try, but I won’t take it.’

‘You sound just like your father,’ she says with a smile. Her phone dings and she picks it up. ‘Oh, she’s ready for me! I need to head out.’

‘Bye, Mom,’ Lyndsay says as Patty leaves.

When she’s gone, I walk up to Lyndsay. ‘If you want to skip the hardware store, I can go by myself.’

‘I’ll go.’ She rips off some foil and starts wrapping up the bread. ‘Just let me get your payment.’ She seals the foil over the bread and hands it to me. ‘I still can’t believe you’re doing this. Chris would never do this, and he was her son-in-law.’

‘Maybe he didn’t know how to fix stuff.’

‘Yeah, I guess he didn’t, but he could’ve helped her with the yard.

She asked him to cut a tree branch one time and he wouldn’t do it.

He said his shoulder hurt and he didn’t want to strain it.

He was such a liar, but a good one. People always believed him, including me.

’ She forces out a smile. ‘Okay, I’m ready if you are. ’

We go out to the car and head to the hardware store.

‘How do you know this stuff?’ Lyndsay asks as we’re driving. ‘You’re a lawyer. How do you know how to fix stuff?’

‘My dad taught me. He taught all of us. He said we shouldn’t be paying someone to fix stuff when we could just as easily do it ourselves. I remember being ten and one of the tillers broke down. The thing we use to till up the fields?’

She nods. ‘Yeah, I know what they are.’

‘My dad wasn’t around so I took it apart and fixed it. The thing was fucking sharp. I’m surprised I didn’t cut off a finger. My mom yelled at me later for doing it, but my dad just gave me a smile. I think he was proud I figured it out at that age.’

‘That is impressive. You have many talents, Nick Kanfield.’

I glance at her. ‘So do you.’

She laughs. ‘Yeah, I can teach yoga. And do bookkeeping. That’s about it.’

‘You do bookkeeping?’ I ask, thinking she must be kidding. She hated math, and bookkeeping involves math.

‘I had to get another job since Chris kept spending all our money investing in businesses that never made anything.’

‘You went to school for this?’

‘Just community college. I got my associate degree in accounting.’