The Hearts We Mend by Kathryn Springer Page B

her and Max and Dan during their summer vacations, was abandoned. One of the windows was cracked, the other two were hollow eyes fixed on the vacant lot across the street. Evie couldn’t remember when the bakery had gone out of business. She’d stopped going there when Marie had opened the bistro.
    The houses that lined the other side of the block weren’t in better shape. Faded siding, blistered paint, and spaced so close together it looked like a strong gust of wind would send the whole row toppling like dominoes.
    Evie slid out of the car, and something crunched under her foot. The jagged remnants of a beer bottle, scattered like confetti along the curb.
    â€œBe careful.” She lifted Ava out of the booster and didn’t set her down until they were safely on the sidewalk.
    Jack was already there, Grace’s diaper bag slung over one broad shoulder. “Grace conked out on me two stop signs ago. I’m going to try and get her inside without waking her up. Can you open the door?”
    â€œOf course . . . which one is it?”
    â€œThat one.” Jack tipped his head at the building behind them. “First door on the left at the top of the stairs.”
    â€œI thought . . .” Evie glanced at the row of houses again.
    Compared to the run-down three-story building, they suddenly appeared downright charming. “I-I’ll need the key.”
    â€œIt’s not locked.”
    Why? was the first word that sprang into Evie’s mind.
    Lily was cradling Bitsy’s cage in her arms, but Evie took the two younger children’s hands, forming a chain as they climbed the covered staircase to the platform on the second floor. The doorknob wobbled, and Evie half expected it to fall off in her hand.
    â€œIt’s this one!” Lily ran over to one of the doors that lined the carpeted hallway.
    It was unlocked too.
    Ava and Luke wiggled free, and Evie followed them inside.
    It was like stepping into the mouth of a cave. The shades on the windows facing the street were pulled down, shrouding the room in darkness. Evie ran one hand along the wall in search of the light switch.
    â€œI’ve got it.” Jack had come up behind her, close enough that his breath whispered against her ear.
    It took a moment for Evie’s eyes to adjust to the light that flooded the cavernous room. Another moment to adjust her heart rate when Jack’s wry smile surfaced.
    â€œIt’s kind of a work in progress.”

    Jack watched Evie’s gaze travel around the room.
    A grown-up, blue-eyed Alice who’d fallen down the rabbit hole.
    He tried to see the apartment through her eyes.
    The sun had scorched the hardwood floor, and tiny fault lines split the plaster walls . The previous tenant had painted one of them a startling shade of tangerine, the rest a dull cherry-cola brown.
    A stack of wooden crates doubled as a bookshelf, and the only thing that separated the living area from the kitchen was a table fashioned from two old doors Jack had found buried underneath a stack of moldy cardboard in the basement.
    He’d sanded through three layers of paint before finding the treasure underneath: the shifting variations of light and shadow that identified the wood as solid hickory.
    Most people preferred steel doors over wood because they didn’t require any maintenance, but Jack never understood that mentality. If you took care of things, they had a tendency to last longer. And if it required a little extra attention now and then, so be it.
    Jack slanted a look at Evie. From the expression on her face, she thought his entire apartment needed attention.
    â€œHarley!” Ava spotted the gigantic black-and-white cat curled up in a nest of tarps beside the paint cans.
    The cat didn’t belong to Jack, but like the rest of the tenants in the building, it somehow managed to find its way into his apartment on a regular basis.
    Ava cut between the ancient plaid couch and the black