Page 24 of The Handyman

Reece never talked about his mom with any kind of strong emotion, and I nodded with a hum. “Your sisters?” I’d rather hear about Reece’s tumultuous home life than think of my own, and I propped my elbow on the table to hold my cheek on my fist. “I have a brother, but really, he’s a loser, and my mom favors the crap out of him. It’s so annoying. I moved to New York City because I always wanted to, but he was definitely a reason, too.”

Reece nodded. “Yeah, both my sisters are drug addicts with a bunch of kids and blah, blah, blah. Stupid white trash. Whatever. They can fight over the house until they make it uninhabitable. Neither of them knows my phone number, and I sure as shit am never gonna initiate contact with them. It’s best to leave that shit in the past and in Arkansas.”

Setting the folder down, I flipped to the next page, but all the lines were starting to blur together.

“Your mom hasn’t tried to contact you at all?” he asked. “Not even from other numbers?”

“Even if she did, I quit all my jobs and changed my phone settings, so it only rings when someone from my contacts calls or texts me. It’d ring if my dad called me, but he never calls me. He’s kinda the archetypal work-all-day-eat-read-the-paper-sleep-and-repeat dad. What about your dad?”

“My mom is a product of how she was raised. Sure, she did better than her siblings, but she was still young and stupid at one time. My sisters and I have different dads. . . which is fine, you know— I’m not gonna split hairs. I hate them all the same, for reasons they actually control.” Reece shut off the tap to dry his hands, sauntering his way over to sit at the small table. “I don’t spend a lot of energy on it. It’s not worth it.” He smiled warmly at me.

My heart fluttered as he licked his lips to part them. “Sometimes, I wonder what the past three years could’ve been like if I’d cut off my mom when I left. I thought about it, you know? I think I didn’t because I always wanted the option to go back, but also…I can’t remember a single time my mom didn’t criticize a decision I made. Nothing I did or wanted or was good at— honestly, the more I wanted it, the better I was at it, the worse she would try to drag me. I can’t even say for certain that it’s because she wants control or to look good in front of her rich Ridgefield friends. Now, it was all said and done, and I’m going to unblock my mom underanycircumstances. I don’t know if it was just the honeymoon period, but I feel better than I ever had since blocking her. Everything got better, but more importantly— itstayedbetter.”

“I’m happy you’re happy, Riley.” Reaching to hold my hand, Reece’s smile widened, and flames licked up my neck. “I don’t want my profession to take away from your happiness.”

Ah— there it is.I knew Reece didn’t want to tell me exactly what he did for a living, or that he was afraid of my reaction. Staring at me under tightly knit brows, his face drew in sincerity, and the silence started to get heavy.

Uncertainty clung to my gut, and I inhaled a deep, stabilizing breath before opening my mouth. “I don’t think it will, but— like, maybe no specifics, yeah?” my lips quirked in a small smile.

His relief was palpable as he leaned over the table to kiss my mouth, Reece rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb affectionately.

I didn’t exactly know where to go from here, but I’ve been making a lot of seemingly good choices, lately. There was nothing wrong with just rolling with the punches.

“It’s honestly mostly just boring stuff. I—” Before Reece could get farther, his phone rang.

Curiosity sparked in my chest as he got up with an annoyed twist of his lips. It was a cool, little surprise to know he spoke Russian, and I rolled my lips deep between my teeth trying to contain my interest.

“Hello.”

He was so sexy, smart, and nice. Here I was, in his home, wearing his clothes, looking at all his dead mom’s stuff, and I’d never been happier.Granted, I’d made a lot of life changes lately.

“Yeah, I’ll come in. Is there a reason you can’t just give me the details on the phone? Darren’s girlfriend is not exactly top-secret news.” Whatever he heard, he didn’t like. “Whatever, Vanessa. I’ll be there when I feel like it.”

I chuffed a laugh when he lifted his hand to mock whoever was talking.

“Oh, and I’ll bring Riley, too, so she can give you her resume.

Smiling happily when he shot me a thumbs up, I nodded at him.

He hung up to run his hand through his hair roughly. “I imagine you know what it’s like to contract. Never get a damn day.” Reece walked back over to sit down.

Nodding, I sat back and fingered the corners of the pages in front of me.

Reece sighed. “It’s got its up and downs like all jobs. I always knew, even when I was a teenager, I always suspected that the runner job I had would lead to something not exactly legit. My boss is one of the most powerful people in the world, and I’m never lacking for money or jobs. Working for him is a luxury. I don’t have to pay any expenses wherever I get sent to, and I only get the better paying jobs. This guy fields them to Vanessa, who sniffs around for who best would do them. I usually stick to the state or along the coast. I’d literally rather die than take a plane anywhere. Hawaii was the only exception because like…it’sHawaii, for fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Back when I was in my senior year, I did a lot of research about where I wanted to go and what opportunities I’d want to try out. I had this menial job at some strip mall since I was 16, but I didn’t spend a lot of money. In the end, New York City seemed the best place to go. It’s expensive, though. I saved enough to be okay for, like, 3 months, tops, but I wouldn’t want to be jobless for that long.” Honestly, I found myself enjoying just talking to Reece about nothing in particular, and he nodded firmly. “Hannah offered me a job at the restaurant she manages, but I know for afactthat I don’t wanna do that. I hate customer service work. I grew up in the rich part of Connecticut, so I know exactly how bad it can get.”

“It takes a special person to work customer service. For sure.”

The conversation noticeably fizzled, but I didn’t try to keep it going as Reece reached to scratch his scruff. He didn’t seem to really like having a beard, as thin as it was. “Do you want to go home and change or anything, or just head over to Vanessa’s office? I’m not really keen on hurrying, myself.”

“Oh— yes, definitely. I’ll make sure to take extra time on my hair.” Sharing a smile, I stood up as Reece nodded, and I felt somewhere deep in me that things were going to continue getting better. This content feeling would only grow and exploring my world with him by my side—anything was possible.

18

Reece

She’s stupid hot. I was convinced—convinced!—that Riley was an angel as she essentially interviewed with Vanessa. Confident despite her nerves, Riley didn’t stutter or talk too much, and I could tell Vanessa liked her. It was pretty much a given that Vanessa would hire Riley; she’d had to fire someone for the spot to open up, but I wasn’t going to divulge that little tidbit of information.