“How did you know?”
“Because he seems to think he is my competition.” He slapped his gloves on his thigh and walked over to the large picture window. He stared out at the lake.
“Is he your competition?” She narrowed her eyes not sure if she should trust someone who just barges in someone’s house.
“He’s more likeable than me so he gets more business. If you want someone to hold your hand and coddle you throughout the process, then I am not that man.”
Anger flared in her veins. “And what are you the man for?”
“Honestly? I do better work. And I can fix your roof at a better price.”
“Do you have an estimate for me?” She gripped the back of the couch and watched him. She felt like she needed some distance from this tornado of a man.
He pulled out a notepad from his back pocket. He wrote something down and pulled off the paper and handed it to her.
She held his gaze and took the paper. She glanced down and frowned. “This is cheaper than the other estimate.”
“That’s because I don’t have a lot of overhead. I work alone, except for getting the old roof off, so I don’t have to pay other workers. I arrive early and work until late. If you are a late sleeper then you’re not going to want to hire me,” he warned.
“I am an early riser.” She narrowed her eyes. “Mr. Harding, ...”
“Call me Thomas.”
“Thomas.” She sighed. “You don’t really act like you want this job. Can you tell me why?”
He shrugged. “I prefer to deal with men. I don’t have time for idle chatter or friendship. I prefer to be left alone when I work.”
“I see.”
“Do you?” He seemed to be studying her.
“Well Mr. Harding. I’ll let you know in a few days if you have the job.” She lifted her chin and showed him to the door.
As soon as she closed the front door she ran to the window and peered out.
Thomas Harding drove an older model Ford F250. It wasn’t new and shiny with all the bells and whistles like Randy Winkle’s truck.
Thomas Harding was the kind of man who was brutally honest, even when his comments would chafe. The guy seemed confident he could do the job, and at a much lower price. Yet, given his demeanor could she hire someone like that?
With time ticking away, she was going to have to make a decision soon.
Chapter 12
After Thomas left, Carolina spent the rest of the day scrubbing the house. When she finished, the kitchen sparkled and the living room was dust free. She had even managed to get the stains out of the couch with the cleaner she picked up at the store.
She also cleaned the living room and put the area rug on the back deck where she beat it to get the rest of the dust out that the vacuum left behind.
What little furniture that was left in the living room, made it easy to get the wood floor cleaned. She inspected the floor by the foyer where it had leaked. From the looks of things she could probably get away with just replacing the boards that had gotten wet.
Carolina went to the shed in the backyard and found a box of wood flooring that matched. She would get on the internet tonight and find a tutorial about how to replace a few boards of flooring before she attempted it. At some point she knew she was going to have to refinish the flooring.
But that would have to wait. She simply didn’t have the funds.
Next she moved into the master bathroom to give it a good cleaning. Admittedly she liked cleaning. When she was cleaning she didn’t have time to worry about her leaky roof, or her broken heart.
Her mother always said that a well-kept and tidy home could heal the soul.
The first time she’d said that their family had just moved into her grandmother’s house to help care for her.
