Page 5 of Written with Love

Chapter Two

Damn. Max was in trouble. Why in the hell hadn’t Sophia told him that her bestie was smoking hot? Like, really, really hot. The smoldering look she’d given him as she’d left his table had taken hours and a very long walk in the chilly night air to finally leave his system.

Somehow, her hazel eyes had bored into his soul and had left a mark. When he fell asleep that night, her voice haunted his dreams.

Over the course of the next few weeks, he continued to clear all of the old furniture from his new property. The back-breaking work cleared his mind and was oddly satisfying. He worked with Palmer daily on the plans for the remodel and got to know the man more and more.

Juliette was right. Palmer and his brother Parker were from good stock. The brothers were closer than Max was with his sisters, Ally and Faye.

In the following weeks, it was obvious that the brothers were also hardworking.

Every day that he worked to get his new property ready for its makeover, he hoped it would be the day that Juliette would take him up on his offer.

The Monday after Palmer had been attacked on his land by his and Parker’s parents, he stood back and watched the brother’s destroy his old well house and dig a new well closer to the barn. When the brothers’ crew left at the end of the day, his property was worse off than it had been before. Still, he had a new well that was already hooked up to the plumbing in both the house and the barn. All the new pipes would be buried tomorrow after they were tested and proven watertight.

“You’ve got to break some eggs to make an omelet,” Parker told him, slapping his shoulder. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

It was an improvement. When he showered next, the water sprayed from the shower head with a force that he hadn’t felt since moving onto the property.

He rode that excitement from the shower into the kitchen to make some coffee. When he turned the faucet on, the water sprayed in his face, soaking his shirt and the countertop.

He tried to stop the water flow, but the faucet handle came off in his hand, and more water sprayed in his face. Quickly, he opened the cabinet under the sink and turned the knob on the plumbing. With a groan of the pipes, all of the water stopped. The pipes shook slightly, but at least the water spray was over.

Lying on the floor with his head half under his kitchen sink, he heard someone knocking on his front door.

When he moved to stand up, he hit his head on the cabinet and fell back down.

“Hello?” someone called out as they stepped through the front door.

“Back here.” He groaned through the pain.

“Oh no!” Juliette rushed to kneel beside him. “Are you okay?” She took the towel from his countertop and pressed it to his forehead. “You’re bleeding.”

His eyes locked with hers and, for some reason, maybe the pain in his head, he blurted out the first thing he felt. “Marry me.”

Juliette’s laughter shook him from his stupor.

“I think you’re concussed.” She helped him sit up.

“My plumbing burst,” he said, still in a stupor. She helped him stand up and move over to his makeshift kitchen table. “Old pipes.”

“Hold this, Romeo.” She took his hands and wrapped them in a towel. He sat there while she rummaged through his cupboards for something.

“Don’t you have anything? A first aid kit? A Band-Aid?” she mumbled to herself while she looked.

“Second door.” He pointed. “Bathroom. Under the sink.” He groaned and rested his head back, letting the towel slip.

When something cool landed on his face, he opened his eyes. Juliette was leaning over him, her eyes locked on a spot on his forehead. She looked even more beautiful than the first time he’d seen her in the restaurant.

“Marry me,” he said, a little clearer this time.

Instead of laughing, she narrowed her hazel eyes and looked into his.

“I almost believe you were serious that time.” She touched his forehead with something that stung and he hissed.

“I am.”

“Well, I might just take you up on that offer, if I wasn’t pretty sure that you had a slight concussion. I think I need to drive you to see Dr. Stevens.”