Second Chance (Cold Springs Series Book 1) by Nancy Henderson

However, I did find a couple of things. I flagged them with sticky notes. I don’t want to touch it until I wash my hands, but you’ll see the one I wrote where my suggestion would be to add mileage to your fee, assuming you’ll be traveling quite some distance for this work since there isn’t much opportunity here.”
    He seemed to think for a moment. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’d be driving just north of Watertown so I would want to be compensated for gas and wear and tear on my vehicle, assuming I’ll have a better truck soon anyway.”
    “Another point I thought worth mentioning was the clause in the third paragraph on the second page.  I marked that as well. It says something about if you don’t answer every maintenance call within thirty minutes you’ll owe them a hundred dollars. That’s something I’d want to negotiate since you likely wouldn’t arrive before thirty minutes.”
    “That one did worry me.”
    She nodded, glad that he had noticed the clause. “You can always try to renegotiate. It can’t hurt to ask.”
    “I will.  Thank you for looking it over.” His expression was sincere. “Not many people would take the time to help a stranger.”
    She smiled. Sam no longer considered him a stranger. Perhaps another strange enigma in this crazy small town and the bizarre turn her life had taken lately, but certainly not a stranger.  What was even more bizarre was that she felt no sense of danger around Ian when all common sense told her that she probably should. Her gut told her she was perfectly fine.
    “Anyway, I’d like to make up for it and thank you for your business.  It hasn’t been easy.  I appreciate you taking a chance on my work.  Do you like pizza?”
    “Yes.” A simple answer.  The truth.  Everyone liked pizza, didn’t they?  It was one of the staples of America, but…
    She had no business going anywhere with him.   She kept silent as she watched him work, tinkering with the little door on the front of the stove. 
    He reached over the grill and fumbled with one of the shutoffs by the wall.  “Here’s the problem.”  He turned the knob and it lit. “The gas has to be turned on.  Each one of the gas cocks has to be on.” 
    He showed her the pipework on the back.  Sam nodded, feeling both relieved and incredibly stupid.  She didn’t even know enough to turn on the gas and she was trying to run a restaurant.
    “So you gonna let me buy you pizza, or what?”

 
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Sam fell into bed sometime after midnight.  She should be used to these long days.  Lord knew she’d spent enough sleepless nights reading manuscripts as a literary agent, but this was different.  Working here was physical, as well as mental, which brought on an entirely new depth of exhaustion.
    She needed sleep.  Without sleep, she’d be crap tomorrow, but she had too much on her mind.  Lately there was always too much on her mind.  Would it ever end?  Or would worry and anxiety become a constant companion in this new life? Aunt Jean had never seemed burdened by worry, but with someone like Burt in her life, how could she? A partnership like that was once in a lifetime and not to everyone’s lifetime it seemed.
     
    Rolling on her side, she pressed her face into the soft flannel pillowcase and closed her eyes. Thoughts drifted to Ian Woods.  She still couldn’t picture him being in prison. He had to have been jailed for something like cheating on his tax forms or something. Not that those things weren’t bad enough. They just seemed…less criminal somehow.
    Sam tried to recall the last time she’d been with a man.  Too long. Not that any man hadn’t given her anything but grief.  John had been a huge mistake, but she hadn’t listened to anyone’s advice or any of the writing on the wall.  Never date a coworker, and certainly, never sleep with one.  It wouldn’t work out because they were both workaholics, and when it went sour, things would be