Free Dirt: A Sexy Small Town Romance (Copperwood Book 1) by Reese Patton Page B

was not entirely true. I didn’t know it until later, but he helped finance school for me. What I thought was a scholarship was actually financial aid provided for by the men who greased my father’s palm to make their entry into Copperwood easier.
    “I was going to knock.”
    Rich moved past me and opened the door. “Well come on in. You can help me work on the water heater.”
    I had a feeling ‘working on the water heater’ was code for talking about my intentions with his daughter, but stepped through the door anyway. I managed to survive Mike’s interrogation the day before and after we talked at the bar we came to an quasi–understanding. He could beat the shit out of me if I hurt Mya.
    “What’s wrong with the water heater?” I followed him down the stairs.
    “It decided it had enough and quit.”
    Mya didn’t have hot water?
    Why hadn’t she told me?
    The better question was why did I think she
would
tell me?
    I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt and crouched down next to Rich. I hadn’t needed to actually fix things on my own in a while, always calling in someone else to repair what was broken, and it felt good to get my hands on something other than a computer keyboard.
    “You aren’t your father.”
    I dropped the wrench and the clattering sound of the heavy metal hitting the cement floor sounded much louder in the silence than it was. Or at least I hoped as much. I picked the wrench back up and resumed tightening the bolts back into place.
    “I never thought I was.” I kept my focus on the tool in my hand.
    “No one would blame you.”
    “For what?” I set the wrench down on the floor — quietly this time — and looked over at Rich. “Why would anyone blame me?”
    “We aren’t stupid. Well, some of us aren’t at least.”
    I blinked at him. Was he telling me he knew what my dad did? Damn, he could have done what I did. Hinting at what he knew, or maybe just suspected, without actually showing his hand.
    “Your dad, he wasn’t a very good man. He was a crappy father and a horrible husband. Hell, he wasn’t even a good friend. But the worst thing he was, was greedy. There are a lot worse men out there.”
    Shit, he did know. I stayed away, torturing myself, and Mya as well. But I didn’t need to. I could have come back sooner and Rich was letting me know that, without coming right out and saying it.
    “Now you? I don’t know what kind of man you are. But from what I remember, you were a good friend and I imagine you might even be a decent husband and father someday.” Richard reached into the tool box and pulled out some plumbers’ tape to seal off the nut he was fixing onto the pipe. “But I also imagine you might think this is just a temporary stop before you get back to your life?”
    Mya might have thought he checked out when her mom died, but her dad was still her dad. And I was still the punk kid who might hurt his little girl.
    The least I could do was be honest with the man. He had every right to hate me. The sins of the father and all that, but he didn’t. Or at least he didn’t act like he did. “I don’t know what this is.”
    “Well, then you need to figure it out.” He looked up at me and smiled. “Mike will kill you if he has to sit through another round of movies where the girl magically fixes the guy.”
    I sat back against the wall and rested my arms on my knees. I already figured it out. I just didn’t want to say it out loud. And I really didn’t want to say it Mya’s father. Rich went back to work, humming quietly while he tightened the nuts and bolts into place.
    When I stood up, he glanced up at me, but didn’t say anything.
    “I need to run a few errands. I’ll be back…” I let my words hang in the air, giving him the chance to kick me out.
    “The door will be open.”

16
    Mya
    I took my time getting out of bed. I probably shouldn’t have. If I had gotten up earlier, I could have raced over to Mike’s and borrowed his shower. Instead, I