For the love of Grace

Water heaters and thank you dinners

Water heaters and thank you dinners

Dean POV

I got to Grace’s house at two exactly. She pulled up a minute later. “I’m so sorry I’m late!” she said as she ran up the walkway to meet me at the front door." “Relax darlin you got here just a minute after me." Grace smiled and went to unlock the door. “Come on in,” she said. I followed her into the house. “The hot water heater is down in the basement. Do you need any tools or anything?” she asked. "I think I’m all set," I said as I raised my tool box.

“Oh right,” she said with a laugh. She tucked her hair behind her ear and I noticed she does that when she is being shy or is nervous. "I’m gonna get to work. If you need to head back I’ll be OK here by myself. I will lock up when I’m done." I told her. “Great! I’ll write down my cell number. Could you just text me when you are done? Oh and I almost forgot, do you have a favorite type of food? I could make it for dinner.” she said sweetly." I’ll be happy with whatever you make Grace. Thank you." “OK, I’ll see you here at seven. Thank you again for doing this for me. I really appreciate it.”

Grace made her way to the door and waved goodbye. I found myself staring at the door for an extra few seconds after she’d left. I was lost in thought thinking about how beautiful she was. Grace had an amazing body, long dark hair, big beautiful brown eyes and that ass-I shook my head to clear that thought. I needed to focus.

I headed down to the basement to see what the problem was. As I made my way down the stairs, I noticed a huge puddle of water by the heater. I also noticed a broken window right above it. I wondered if Grace knew it was broken. I walked over to check the heater and saw that the hot and cold service lines were corroded with rust. For a woman that was engaged, these types of things should not have happened. Even though they broke up six months ago, this rust started well over a year ago. I shook my head thinking about what type of man she almost married. Thank God she came to her senses.

I turned off the main water line and removed the service lines. I sanded off the rust and spray painted them with rustoleum. That would do it for now. I’d have to get her permission to completely replace everything. That would cost a few hundred dollars and I didn’t think it was my place to go ahead and do it. Once I was finished I cleaned up and headed out. I made sure to grab her cell number from the paper on the table. I shot her a quick text letting her know I was finished. Then I locked up as promised and headed back to my truck.

I heard my phone ding and looked at the screen. Text from Grace, “Thank you again Dean, I can’t tell you how much it means to me. I can’t wait to see you later.” At the end of the text were two heart emoji. Heart emoji huh? I thought out loud. Maybe tonight was more than just a thank you dinner.

Grace POV

After I hit send I wondered if I should have put the heart emoji at the end of the text. I hope I wasn’t being too forward. I do like Dean. We really connected last night. When I returned to the shop Sarah had finished up the display cabinet and was helping customers. "Hey Sarah I’m back!" “Hey boss! Almost done here! Have a great day Mrs. Kline.” she said as she handed her her receipt.

“So, how did it go?” Sarah asked with a sly smile. "It went fine," I said as I fluffed a bouquet of flowers and took them over to set them on the table at the front of the store. Sarah quickly caught up to me and started pestering me with her questions. “Did he fix your plumbing? Maybe he was able to turn your HOT water on. Oooh oooh oooh, did he fix the leak? Wait no! Did he make it leak?” she asked, smiling.

It was completely obvious that she was insinuating something other than Dean fixing my actual water heater. "Oh my God Sarah!" I said with a laugh. "He was kind enough to fix my HEATER" I said, as I emphasized the word heater. “Ok OK, but you are cooking him dinner tonight are you not?”she asked.

"Yes I am, I decided to cook him steak and fried potatoes with corn on the cob." “Corn on the cob? So that corn can get stuck in your teeth?” she said. "Oh I hadn’t thought about that. What else should I make?" I asked. “You make a killer Chicken and shrimp carbonara.” she said. "Oh yea, I suppose I do. I’ll stop by the store after work and pick up everything I need." I said.

I walked back towards my office when Sarah started following me. “What are you going to wear?”she asked me. "Jeans and a baby blue top."I said as I pointed to the outfit I was currently wearing. “Really?” she said, looking all judgy. “You should go and buy yourself a short little mini skirt and tight blouse, that way when he wants to bend-.” I cut her off mid sentence with a wave of my hand. “I am not trying to give him the wrong impression Sarah! This is a simple dinner."

“Grace, you haven’t had s*x….ever! You are twenty five years old. What are you waiting for?” she asked dramatically, throwing her hands in the air. "Marriage." I said. “Grace that is so old school. No one waits until marriage anymore. You are a grown woman that owns her own home and her own business. Let your guard down and just go for it!” "So just throw caution to the wind, sleep with a guy I just met and hope it all works out?" I said sarcastically.

“Who cares if it doesn’t work out as long as he makes you scream and curls your toes.” she said as she fanned herself with her hand. "Oh God Sarah, you are too much!" I said. I went back to fixing the bouquet I had. What if I stopped worrying about waiting until marriage? What if Sarah was right? I thought to myself.