garbage cans. Two boat motors had been fixed. A glass repairman had been called for a window. Calling servicemen was something the residents never did for themselves. Why should they since Terri and her toolbox were at their beck and call? A child’s bicycle had been found. Poison ivy vines had been pulled off a tree. Four boys were having a loud discussion about how rugby was a better sport than American football.
The answer that Terri heard to her every question was, “Nate.” He fixed it; he said it; he suggested it; he showed them how. Mostly it was, “Nate did it.” With his superhuman strength, he’d lifted the iron barbecue grill. With his extraordinary intelligence, he’d figured out how to lock the garbage can lids down. This was said as Terri stood there with bungee cords in her hand.
“He was great,” said Mrs. Williams. Her husband only visited every other weekend. “Nate used my phone and called a local repairman. He should be here—Oh! There he is now. Isn’t Nate just fabulous?” She ran toward the van pulling into her driveway.
“He can use a phone,” Terri muttered. “Truly gifted man.”
A little girl on a pink bicycle rode by and waved at Terri. “Nate found my bike,” she called.
Terri put on a smile. “I bet it was on Timmy Gresson’s porch because he wanted you to visit him,” she said under her breath.
“Timmy had it,” the girl called over her shoulder.
With an eye roll, Terri went back to her boat. There was one more thing on her list. The Coldmans needed their huge cabin cruiser on its long trailer put into the water. Mr. Coldman, an attorney, couldn’t back up a trailer to save his life, so someone in the office—meaning Brody or Terri—had to back it up for him.
When she pulled up at the dock, the big boat was already in the water. Mrs. Coldman waved and called out, “Thanks for sending Nate to help us. Is he your boyfriend?”
“No,” Terri shouted back. “He’s not.”
“Too bad. If I weren’t already married I’d go after him.” She laughed as though she was the only person to ever have said that cliché.
Terri managed to give a weak smile and a wave, then she turned her boat toward home. But when she got halfway across the water, a wicked little smile transformed her face. She went from anger to smirking. Turning around, she headed back to Club Circle.
Mr. Nathaniel Taggert wanted to play games, did he? Well, let the best woman win!
Chapter 3
Terri was sitting in the wooden chair in front of her house, sipping a beer and looking out over the dark water. It was nearly 9:00 p.m. when she heard the glass door behind her open. Ah, she thought, wonder if he’s tired. She repressed a snicker.
She didn’t take her eyes off the water as Nate plopped down in the chair next to hers. Even though she didn’t look at him, she could smell him: sweat, grease, old oil, years of dust and grime.
She made an effort to hide her smile but only half succeeded. Without so much as a glance at him, she reached into the cooler beside her, withdrew an icy cold bottle of beer and handed it to him.
Nate drained it in one go, and she handed him another one. When it was half-empty, she passed a paper bag of burritos to him. He ate the first one in three bites.
“Smugness chokes a person,” he said, his mouth full. “Too much of it and you die on the spot. And you can’t be buried in hallowed ground.”
Terri couldn’t contain her laughter—and when she looked at him, it increased. There were cobwebs clinging to his shirt and in his hair. Not clean, new cobwebs, but the kind that were so filthy the spiders had abandoned them.
“Go on,” he said. “I deserve it.”
“If it helps, Dad said you did a great job. Better than I would have. And best of all, you didn’t complain about having to do it. No siree bob, you cleaned that whole workshop all by your little self. Dad said you even cleaned under that old transmission. How’d you move it?”
Nate was on his third burrito. He didn’t say anything, just held up his arm and flexed a bicep.
“Ooooh,” Terri said. “Impressive.”
He held out his hand and she gave him another beer. “So when’d you figure it out?”
“It was the notebook and Anna acting like she was downright eager to do anything my dad wanted.