Free Treasured Past by Linda Hill

you for your work.”
    I thought I detected a slight blush on her cheeks. “Don’t thank me yet. You may not like what I do.”
    I sighed, completely charmed. “I can’t imagine that, Annie,” I gushed, then blanched as I realized what I was thinking about. No use fighting it or denying it any longer. All I wanted at that moment was to worm my way into Annie Walsh’s heart.
    “We’ll see.” She interrupted my thoughts. “Does that mean we have a deal?”
    I nodded, tongue-tied again.
    “Good.” She reached under the counter and pulled out a tape measure. “Let’s go take some measurements. Then we can check out the auction and see what they have.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    The bookcases were enormous but would have fit perfectly except for the fact that they were in terrible shape. Annie wrinkled her nose when she inspected them, obviously disappointed.
    “We would have to restore them. There’re so many pieces missing, and someone obviously tried to strip this section and never bothered to finish it. We would have to strip the entire thing down.” She was trying to maintain her enthusiasm, but it was clear that her heart wasn’t in it. “It’s your choice. But I think they would be a lot of work.”
    It was an easy decision for me. “I think I’ll have to pass on this one. This thing has regret written all over it.”
    “You mean you’d regret it if you brought it home.”
    “Exactly. It would be a lot of trouble just getting it to the house. Not to mention all the work it needs.” I shook my head. “I think we’ll have to keep looking.”
    Annie nodded, already taking another glance around the crowded room. “I don’t see anything in here that trips my trigger. How about you?”
    I shook my head. Everything felt dirty. No one had taken the time and energy to clean the items before the auction. I glanced around one last time to be sure. “Nothing,” I told her.
    She nodded and began strolling toward the exit. It was early yet, barely five o’clock. We had left my car back at my house, and my mind began to race frantically. I didn’t want my time with Annie to end.
    “Would you like to go to dinner?” I asked her as we stepped outside.
    I expected her to hesitate, but she didn’t. “Sounds good. I’m quite hungry, actually. Where shall we go?”
    “Do you like pizza?”
    “Please.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I can’t get enough of it. Can we?”
    “Of course. There’s a great little place around the corner from my house.” I slid her a sheepish look. “I actually get takeout from there at least twice a week.”
    Annie laughed. “A woman after my own heart.”
    Exactly. I muttered the word under my breath.
    We ate in my living room, curled up on the single forest-green couch while Annie stared longingly into the great room.
    “I have so many ideas that I don’t know where to start,” she sighed, wiping a napkin across her lips.
    “Actually, I’d always thought that I should hire a contractor to build shelving into the wall.” I finished the last slice of pizza and felt completely satisfied. “There’s so much floor space that you could lose a foot or two all the way around the perimeter and you wouldn’t even notice.”
    Annie threw me an indescribable look. I could see her mind was racing as she jumped to her feet. “That’s it.” She covered the few steps to the glass doorway and stepped inside the other room. Walking to the center, she raised her eyes to each corner of the ceiling.
    “You have enough room for an entire library in here.” She turned as I came up from behind to join her. “You could line that entire interior wall with built-in shelving. The molding would have to be duplicated to match the rest of the house, but it could be done.” She wrinkled her nose. “Do you like the white paint?”
    I shook my head. “I’d prefer natural wood. The walls I’m not certain about.”
    Satisfied, she nodded and turned to the outside wall, arms folded