“Probably two weeks or so. I’m finishing three other jobs right now and then cutting my crew loose for the winter. I’d do this one myself.”

Clare raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you need help?”

“You hire me, the job gets done. Don’t worry about how.”

His tone bordered on rude, but after witnessing the scene on her front porch, she understood he was more harried than rude.

“Fine. Drop off your estimate when you can.”

Both cell phones and the pager rang in concert. He sighed, and with a halfhearted wave, he was gone.

Aidan sat in his truck to take both calls. He returned two pages and gave some more orders. Damned idiots, he thought of the guys who worked for him. Can’t make a freaking decision on their own. He couldn’t wait to get these last few jobs finished so he could be done with them. They were going to Florida to work for the winter, which was just fine with Aidan. Good riddance!

He leaned his head against the headrest. Something has to change. The dreaded phones and pager sat on his lap, links in a chain holding him to a life he’d stumbled into and no longer wanted. For some time now he’d been thinking about giving up the new construction end of his business so he could focus on the kind of restorations the cute blonde inside was looking to do. O’Malley Restorations had strayed too far from the restorations.

Somewhere along the way, he’d become tied to phones, pagers, and idiots. Maybe it was because his thirties were slipping away that he was feeling introspective. Who knows? Maybe it’s the freaking idiots. As he started the truck, Aidan hoped the blonde—he had her name written down somewhere—hired him. This job could be the new start he desperately needed.

After Aidan left, Clare used the phone book to identify two more contractors. She left messages for both of them before she wandered over to the window to find Aidan O’Malley’s large navy-blue pickup truck still parked in front of the house. She watched him lean his head back in a gesture of weariness that tugged at her heart. He seemed so unhappy that Clare ached for him. It didn’t occur to her to wonder why.

Chapter 13

Kate fell into a routine and began to feel at home in her new apartment. She started each day with an hour at the gym followed by at least two hours of guitar practice. The new songs she’d been working on were coming along well, and she hoped to have the chance to debut them soon at the Bluebird.