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  Love at Last

  The Darlene Panzera Collection

  Love at Last

  A Books to Go Now Publication

  Copyright © Darlene Panzera 2013

  Books to Go Now

  For information on the cover illustration and design, contact [email protected]

  First eBook Edition –April 2013

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.

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  A Perfect Opportunity

  A Perfect Opportunity

  Sarah threw down the wrench and sank to her knees on the cold garage floor. Who would have thought putting wheels on a skateboard could be so complicated?

  She surveyed the scattered array of nuts, bolts, and screws beside her and squelched a pang of remorse. Yes, she should have paid the extra money and bought the board pre-assembled. Too late now. The store closed at six o’clock on Saturday’s and she needed the skateboard together before morning for her son’s birthday.

  It was at a time like this she really missed having a man around the house.

  Her grandparents next door were too feeble to be of any help. Joanne, her friend across the street, was out on a date. The computer geek two doors down couldn’t handle anything non-virtual, and the other couple on their block had been fighting. She didn’t dare bother them.

  She couldn’t hand her son a disassembled gift, either. Tommy had already had his share of disappointments.

  His father’s life insurance money paid for the funeral and most of their debt, but didn’t leave them much else. She and Tommy had been forced to make a lot of sacrifices over the last eighteen months. Tight finances made it impossible to send Tommy to winter camp with his friends. When spring came, she couldn’t afford the required physical and uniform fee to register him for soccer.

  This year for his birthday, Tommy had asked for only one thing, a skateboard, and she couldn’t fail him.

  Not again.

  Sarah looked at the pickup parked in the driveway to her right. The gold glow of the setting summer sun glistened upon the metal ladders, toolboxes, and plastic-wrapped two by fours vying for space in the truck bed. The sign on the passenger door advertised construction services. Could a carpenter put anything together besides wood?

  She hadn’t met her new neighbor yet, but figured this might be the perfect opportunity. She even had the perfect cache to offer a trade. Her refrigerator held more than five pounds of cookie dough for her son’s party the next day. Who could resist a plate of warm, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookies?

  Five minutes later she placed the baking sheet in her oven and thought about the man who’d recently bought the white Cape Cod next door. A moving van had arrived two weeks ago and a team of professionals carried furniture and an assortment of brown cardboard boxes into the house. The new neighbor’s bright red pickup arrived later that day.

  She’d heard the truck rumble in and out of the driveway a few times, but her only glimpse of the driver had revealed the head of a guy wearing a baseball cap. She couldn’t make out the rest of his features.

  Half an hour later Sarah was on his doorstep with an enticing plate of chocolate chip cookies in hand. Her thoughts teetered back and forth between the skateboard and her son. Would she get the help she needed? Her heart pounded in her ears as she knocked.

  A shuffle sounded from within the house, then footsteps. Finally the door opened. The man she’d spotted in the truck stepped into the frame.

  “Can I help you?” her new neighbor asked.

  Her very good looking new neighbor. Not only did he have a rich shade of hazelnut hair and a handsome face, but his biceps were so large they threatened the sleeves of his T-shirt.

  She met his gaze and heat rushed into her cheeks. Geez, she’d been staring like a deer caught in the headlights. “I’m Sarah,” she sputtered. “I live next door.”

  “I’m Matt.” He glanced down at the cookies in her hands, his expression hopeful. “Are those for me?”

  “It’s a welcome gift.” She handed him the plate. “I noticed the sign on your truck says you’re a builder?”

  “Yes, I am. Do you need work done?”

  “Not exactly. How are you with skateboards?”

  “Well, it’s been a few years since I’ve been on one,” he said, arching a brow. “How about you?”

  “Most of the time I just watch.” She couldn’t help but smile. “My son has done so many kick-flips he broke his board in half. Tomorrow is his thirteenth birthday, and I bought him a new one, except I can’t get the wheels on, and I was wondering…”

  “As a matter of fact,” he said, his tone filled with sympathetic warmth, “I can build skateboards. My son, Kyle, is twelve and he’s also a skater.”

  Sarah tried to look past him into the house. “I didn’t realize you had a family.”

  “I have a son,” he clarified, “but he’s only here on weekends. I pick him up from his mom’s later tonight.”

  Oh. Her breath caught in her chest. He was single.

  “Maybe you could bring your son over to Tommy’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon so he can meet the other boys in the neighborhood?”

  “That would be great.”

  His gaze dipped toward her left hand, and she realized he was checking to see if she wore a wedding ring. She didn’t. Not for several months. And at the moment, she was glad.

  Back in her garage, Sarah pointed to the diagram on the directions. “I got to step five and realized I did something wrong.”

  “I think you just had it backwards.” Matt retrieved the wrench she’d thrown across the floor and readjusted the screws to attach the wheels.

  “Backwards?” She leaned in close to peer over his shoulder.

  “You’re better at this than you think.”

  “No, I’m not. If you only knew how long it took me to put the grip tape on the top of the board-”

  Matt laughed, a deep throaty laugh, the kind that makes you automatically want to join in even if you don’t get the joke.

  “Please don’t tell anyone I said that,” she pleaded. Heat flooded her cheeks once again. “It would ruin my reputation.”

  “Why? Are you expected to be a skateboard specialist?”

  “In a way, yes,” she admitted. “Since my husband passed away, a year and a half ago, I’ve tried to be both mom and dad to Tommy.”

  “Whoever said you had to fill the shoes of both?”

  “I did, I guess.” She shrugged and gave him a slight, nervous nod. “I’m afraid if I ask for help too often people will think I’m needy.”

  “Everyone needs help,” he said with a grin, “even Snow White. Do you think she’d be able to clean up after all those dwarves if her animal friends didn’t help her?”

  Sarah smiled. “Thanks, Matt.”

  “No problem. That’s what neighbors are for, right?”

  Matt felt like he was the one who needed help as his son Kyle stared at the TV and refused to acknowledge him. He tried to initiate conversation once again during a commercial brea
k. “How was school this week?”

  Kyle shrugged. “Boring.”

  Well, at least he’d answered this time.

  Kyle’s reaction to his new house hadn’t been what Matt had expected. His new room didn’t impress him either.

  Matt had stood in the doorway as his son dropped his backpack in the middle of the floor and looked around.

  “I built shelves for your CDs, and installed surround sound for your iPod dock. I screwed in the hooks over there so you can hang your skateboards on the wall.” He waited for Kyle’s reaction. “What do you think?”

  “It’s okay.”

  “If you want I can move your bed over against the far side of the room to give you more space.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Matt struggled to hide his disappointment. He’d hoped Kyle would be excited. Or at the very least, show some interest. Instead, his son had retreated to the living room and stationed himself in front of the TV.

  Matt never thought he’d want to be a homeowner again, but he didn’t like to see his hard-earned money being sucked up in rent, either. Then when he was installing a deck for a family up the street, he’d seen this house for sale and it was love at first sight. “Don’t you want to see the rest of the house?”

  “Later.”

  Matt nodded and the silence stretched between them.

  “So what would you like to do tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I met the woman next door today-“

  “And?” Kyle snapped his head around, the TV forgotten.

  “She invited us over to her son’s birthday party tomorrow.”

  Kyle’s brows drew together in a tight vee. “Is she single?”

  “I think so.”

  “Are you planning on dating her?”

  Matt’s thoughts returned to the adorable expression on Sarah’s face when she handed him the plate of…

  “Cookies!” he said, jumping up. “She brought us cookies. Chocolate chip are your favorite, right? Want one?”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “It’s been six months since the divorce, Kyle. You know I’ve been on a few dates here and there.”

  Kyle reached out and took a cookie off the plate. “Mom’s started dating someone.”

  “Is that why you’re so upset?”

  Kyle didn’t answer. He didn’t eat the cookie either. Once again, he stared straight ahead at the TV.

  “Look Kyle, I know the divorce has been hard on you, but I thought you understood. Your mom and I are not going to get back together.”

  The only indication Kyle heard what he was saying was the fact he didn’t move, not even an inch, and his son had always been a boy in motion.

  Matt drew in a ragged breath. “Your mom and I married young, before we knew who we were or who we wanted to be. We tried to make each other happy, but over the years we became different people with different values. We can sacrifice many things, Kyle, but we can’t sacrifice who we are.”

  Kyle’s expression remained infuriatingly blank and Matt slouched back against the cushions.

  Would his son ever forgive him?

  Sarah arose early, wrapped the skateboard, and sealed the paper with a piece of tape. Excitement bubbled inside her. She wasn’t sure if it was from imagining the joy on her son’s face when he opened his gift, or from her encounter with Matt the night before.

  After they’d put the skateboard together, Matt had asked, “Why don’t you test it out?”

  “I – I can’t ride. I’ll fall and get hurt.”

  “No, you won’t. I’ve got you.”

  He’d taken her hand and drawn her toward the board.

  If it had been anyone else, she would have refused. Nine months ago she’d been trying to be a ‘cool mom,’ and Tommy’s skateboard had slipped out from under her feet leaving her with a bruised tailbone. But Matt’s hand was warm and secure, and she liked the feel of his fingers wrapped around her own.

  Who knew? Maybe she could skateboard after all. Her heart was already doing a kick-flip.

  She stepped on the board, careful to balance her weight. “The wheels seem solid. You did a good job.”

  “We did a good job,” he amended. His arm circled around her waist to give her support.

  She liked the sound of ‘we.’ Dating hadn’t entered her mind since her husband passed away. Maybe she hadn’t been ready. Or maybe she hadn’t met anyone who sparked her interest.

  Sarah smiled. She was definitely thinking about it now.

  Tommy emerged from his room, his dark blond hair tousled in odd-angled directions. He wiped the sleep out of his eyes and spotted the bright package in her lap.

  “Happy Birthday, Tommy.”

  Her son tore into the green and yellow gift wrap and pulled out the skateboard. “Wow! This is exactly the one I wanted. Thanks, mom.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The light in his eyes and the big smile on his face tugged at her heart. How she wished every moment could be as happy as this. Maybe if she got the event-planning job she’d applied for, their life would be easier and they could have more happy moments.

  “This board will ace the rails at the next community center competition.” Tommy ran his hand over the blue-streaked graphic design painted on the skateboard’s underside. “Hey, do you think we could have a competition here today, in the driveway?”

  Sarah bit her lip and then shook her head. “I don’t know, Tommy. Remember I told you Chris’s mom is coming? She’s the one who interviewed me for the event-planning job at the country club and I’d like everything at the party to be perfect.”

  “A skateboard competition would make it perfect.”

  “We’ll see,” Sarah promised. “I love you, Tommy, and if I get this job I’ll be able to pay all the entrance fees to competitions in the future.”

  “I know.” Tommy looked down and spun the wheels on the board with his fingers. “Love you, too.”

  Sarah hugged him tight, glad at age thirteen he could still say the ‘L’ word without embarrassment.

  And allow her to decorate the backyard patio with balloons and streamers.

  “I can come over early and help you set up,” Sarah’s friend Joanne offered over the phone.

  “No, no, I’ve got everything under control.”

  Sarah placed the phone in the crook between her chin and her shoulder and tried to tie the end of the Happy Birthday banner to the clothesline. A moment later the whole thing fell to the ground.

  “Are you sure, Sarah? You know I’m there for you any time you need it.”

  “I’m sure,” she said, and gathered the banner up in her hand again. “I’m almost done. I’ll see you at noon?”

  “Maybe a little before. Frank can’t wait to get there. He’s giving Tommy a homemade grinding rail so they can do more skateboard tricks.”

  Sarah hadn’t realized Matt had walked over until he lifted the other end of the banner and tied it to a branch of a tree.

  “Okay, Joanne, I have to go.”

  Clicking her cell phone closed, she turned to face him. “Thanks, Matt. I guess I didn’t tie it tight enough.”

  “Putting up a big banner like this is a job for two people.”

  She was about to protest, but Matt’s grin lightened her mood and erased some of the stress of hosting the perfect party.

  “I guess I could use a little help,” she admitted. “Just don’t-“

  “Tell anyone?” His eyes sparked with mischief. “Your secret is safe with me.”

  A boy with brown hair about Tommy’s age sauntered over and Matt introduced his son.

  Tommy set the tray of condiments down and gave the new boy a nod. “Hi.”

  Kyle shrugged, his expression aloof. “Hey.”

  “I hear you like to skateboard, too?” Sarah asked.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Tommy, why don’t you show Kyle your new skateboard?” she suggested.

>   Tommy flushed red and glanced at Kyle who appeared to show no interest. “I’ll bring it out at the party.”

  Matt’s mouth tightened and when he met her gaze, Sarah thought he looked worried. Sarah began to worry, too. How could she get to know Matt better if the boys were at odds?

  Sarah pointed to the far side of the yard. “Kyle, can you please help Tommy carry over the other picnic table?”

  Kyle stared at her a moment, glanced at his dad, and then moved off to help Tommy without a word.

  Sarah stepped closer to Matt. “Maybe if we put them to work, they can at least find common ground in grumbling together.”

  “Kyle hasn’t found common ground with anyone since the divorce,” Matt confided.

  “There will be other boys at the party. Once they all start talking, I’m sure your son will have a good time.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Matt said, and his fingers brushed the top of her hand.

  Another reason to make sure the party was perfect. If Kyle was happy, Matt would be more apt to stay, and Sarah wanted Matt to stay a long, long time.

  Guests arrived and began to fill the backyard. Sarah greeted them, smiling, and aligned the catered dishes on the white linen tablecloth.

  The veggie trays looked especially nice. Carrots and broccoli clustered around the dip, and the red, orange, and yellow peppers swirled around the edges like a giant sunflower.

  Balloons and streamers crisscrossed over the patio in an array of elegance befitting a small garden wedding. Her friend at the florist brought bouquets of wildflowers in tall marbled vases, and her cousin who was a D.J. set up his sound system beneath the shade of the hundred year old Maple tree. The scene was breathtaking.

  “Why don’t you let me help you with something,” her friend Joanne begged.

  “Everything is already done,” Sarah insisted.

  “You have been busy,” Joanne teased, and nodded toward Matt. “Did he come with the party package? If so, you got yourself a real deal.”

  Sarah laughed. “He’s our new neighbor.”

  “If he didn’t already have eyes for you, I’d go after him. Wow. He’s got a great build.”