Loose Ends (Magnolia Series Book 1) by Taylor Dawn

is a man’s job,” which frustrated her to no end. In fact, she was still steaming from his comment. He’d been laughing when he said it, but that didn’t really matter. She’d spent the past two years doing everything for herself. There wasn’t a task she couldn’t do.
    “Still pissed?” Luke came over and sat next to her, laying the board on the grass below. 
    “A little,” she huffed. 
    “I was only joking.” Now he seemed genuinely concerned that she was upset. 
    “Why do men think using power tools is only for a guy? I bet I could walk right over there and do the exact same thing you just did,” she threw up a bit of a challenge. 
    “Then by all means,” Luke motioned to the work bench. 
    Ava wasn’t about to back down. She stood from her perch and walked to where he’d been only moments before—putting an extra sway in her hip as she went. Hell, she’d show him she could do this and make him drool at the same time. 
    “Don’t hurt yourself,” Luke called. 
    “Pffft.” Tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear, she grabbed the saw and looked it over. 
    “Need help?” he snickered. 
    “Very funny. No, I don’t need help.” Okay so the damn thing was more complicated than she’d first imagined. But she was going to prove she could do this. 
    “Want me to have 9-1-1 ready?” Ava looked back and Luke had his phone ready in his hand. She shook her head and picked up the tool. 
    “Can’t be that hard,” she mumbled as her hand wrapped around the handle firmly. When it did, the saw powered on, scaring her and causing it to fly out of her hand to the ground. What she didn’t expect was for two muscled arms to grab her from behind and pick her up off the ground.
    “Easy there, Bob Vila, don’t want you losing one of those pretty feet,” Luke said as he kissed her neck.
    “Stupid tools,” she bit out. 
    “Not the tool’s fault. It’s the operator.” Luke chuckled.
    He was still holding her firmly in his arms and Ava felt secure. “Maybe I should go make some tea,” She wriggled out of his hold and planted both feet on the ground.
    “Good idea. Let’s take a break for a while,” Luke suggested. 
    “Be right back.” 
    Once inside she made her way to the kitchen and began searching for the tea bags and sugar. She riffled through cabinets, finally finding the bags but not the sugar. “If I were sugar, where would I be?” she mused aloud. Looking around she spotted a door. Most of these homes had some sort of pantry didn’t they? “Ah, I bet you hold all the grocery secrets don’t you?” Ava laughed as she realized she was talking to herself. 
    Deciding the door was the best option, she pulled it open and found that it wasn’t a pantry, it was the door to the basement. A musty smell wafted up and over the decrepit wooden steps leading down causing her to sneeze a few times. What was the old saying? “Curiosity killed the cat?” She didn’t need to know what was down there—even if there could be some really cool Civil War antiques hidden below those stairs.
    Ava tapped her foot trying to decide whether or not it was a good idea to be nosey. Surely Luke wouldn’t mind. After all, there might be something down there he could use to help restore the place. She looked back to make sure he wasn’t coming in the house. When all was clear she took the first step, descending into the damp and dark basement. The steps below her creaked as she took one at a time. Once she reached the bottom, she looked for a light switch. The only illumination was a bleak amount of sunlight streaming in through weathered windows; not ideal for treasure hunting. But the need to figure out what was down there ate her alive. Walking further her hip bumped into something, pain shooting through her body. She felt around and managed to find some sort of desk lamp to switch on. Her eyes adjusted to the room and she noticed that she’d bumped into a table of sorts. It wasn’t until her