* * *
Callie woke to the sound of pounding and banging and glanced to the bedside clock.
Nearly ten? She rubbed her eyes and looked again. She’d never, ever slept this late. The opposite side of the bed was empty, and when she ran her hand over the sheet, she found it to be cold, which told her Noah had been up for some time.
After she changed into jeans and a more fitted T-shirt, she flipped her head upside down so she could pull her hair up without reaching so far.
No one was in the house so she assumed they were all outside with the commotion. But the sight she saw when she stepped off the porch was one she’d never forget for as long as she lived.
Not only was her father up on the roof with his friend who’d offered to help, her brother was there and…Noah? For real? The man had a steady hand with a scalpel and a syringe full of Botox. He didn’t go around wielding hammers.
But he did look mighty fine with his sweat-stained gray T-shirt and muscles flexing as he pulled off the old shingles and tossed them into the yard.
He caught sight of her and smiled. It was the same smile he’d given her as they’d made love, the same smile she noticed he seemed to keep in reserve for just her…because there was heat and, dare she hope, promise behind that grin.
“Morning, sis,” her brother greeted. “What happened to your face?”
Callie sighed. Apparently, her parents hadn’t said anything to him. “Car accident.”
Her brother nodded and went back to ripping off shingles and tossing them. Apparently, a twenty-two-year-old didn’t think twice about her accident or the impact it had on her life.
“Did we wake you?” Noah called down from the roof.
Callie shielded her eyes from the bright morning sun. “I should’ve been up before now. Can I talk to you just a moment when you can take a break?”
Noah laid his hammer on the roof and climbed down the ladder.
“Don’t keep him too long,” her father shouted down. “We don’t have all day. Your doc has to leave for the big city tomorrow.”
Callie smiled at her father, grabbed Noah’s hand and took him around to the side of the house.
“What in the world is going on?” she asked.
“If you’ll let me get back up there, a new roof is going on.”
Callie propped her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. “Obviously, but where did the miracle funds and materials come from, and more important, why didn’t I know you could play carpenter, too?”
Noah slid an arm around her waist. “Ready to see me in my tool belt?”
Trying to hold back a smile, and failing, she placed a hand on his chest. “Simmer down, lover boy. I didn’t know you knew how to replace a roof.”
He shrugged. “I don’t, but I can follow directions and they need the help.”
Callie’s heart clenched. As if she hadn’t already been head over heels, the man’s simple declaration reached in, grabbed her heart and took it all for himself.
“Where did that truck full of new shingles come from?” she asked, trying not to put her heart on her sleeve.
“I called the local home-renovation store last night, put everything on my credit card and asked for immediate delivery.”
Flabbergasted, she gripped the arm that he still had locked around her waist. “How did you know what to order and when did you do all of this?”
“I talked with your father while you were in the shower and he told me what was needed.”
Callie quirked a brow. “My father just let you, a stranger to him, come in and pay for all of this?”
Noah’s eyes softened. “I may have mentioned we were closer than employee/employer and I had no real family of my own and I wanted to help.”
Tears lodged in her throat as wave after wave of emotions slammed into her. Gratitude and love played the biggest role.