Millionaire Woman Hired Poor Dad as Handyman, Not Knowing He’d Fix Her Broken Heart
An Unexpected Repair
The sound of the hammer against wood echoed through Lurai Davis’s $20 million mansion. She paced the marble floors of her home office, barking orders into her phone. She barely registered the rhythmic pounding until it suddenly stopped.
The silence drew her attention to the tall, broad-shouldered man standing in her doorway. A tool belt was slung low on his hips. A look of quiet determination was on his face.
“Miss Davis,” he said, his voice deep and steady. “I’m Wade Lawson. You hired me to fix… well, pretty much everything”.
Lurai hung up the phone without saying goodbye and assessed the man before her. His faded jeans and worn t-shirt were a stark contrast to her pristine surroundings. However, the confidence in his stance commanded respect.
“Right,” she said. “The handyman. I hope you’re better than the last three”.
What she didn’t know was that Wade Lawson needed this job more than she could possibly imagine. What Wade didn’t know was that Lurai Davis needed someone to fix much more than just her crumbling mansion.
“I’ve been working with my hands since I could hold a hammer, Miss Davis,” Wade replied. He met her gaze directly. “Your house is in rough shape, but I can handle it”.
Lurai raised an eyebrow, both irritated and intrigued by his directness. At 35, she’d built her tech empire from nothing. Maintaining relationships had never been her forte.
She’d hired the handyman out of desperation when her historic mansion began falling apart around her. The last thing she expected was to find herself drawn to him.
“The roof is leaking in the west wing,” she said, walking toward him. “The plumbing in the guest bathrooms is shot, and there’s something wrong with the electrical system in the east corridor”. “My assistant left a detailed list. I expect daily progress reports”.
Wade nodded, unfazed by her business-like demeanor. “I’ll need to pick up my daughter from school at 3:00 each day,” he said. “I can come back after work into the evening to make up the time”.
Lurai stopped. “Your daughter?”
“Sophia. She’s eight”. A smile softened his features momentarily. “Her mom passed away three years ago. It’s just the two of us”.
Something in Lurai shifted. A momentary crack appeared in her carefully constructed facade. She quickly recovered, her expression neutral once more.
“Fine,” she said. “Just make sure the work gets done”.
After Wade left, Lurai stood at her office window. She watched as he loaded tools into the bed of his battered pickup truck.
She’d built a billion-dollar tech company and owned homes on three continents. She hadn’t had a real relationship in five years. Romance was inefficient and messy; she had no time for it.
Why couldn’t she stop thinking about the quiet strength in Wade Lawson’s hands?
Wade arrived home that evening to find his daughter sitting on their small apartment’s worn couch. Homework was spread across the coffee table. Mrs. Perez, their neighbor, was knitting in the armchair.
Sophia launched herself into his arms, her dark curls bouncing. “How was the new job? Is the house as big as a castle? Does it have a pool?”
Wade laughed, swinging her around. “Yes to all three,” he said. “And the woman who owns it might be scarier than any dragon a castle could have”.
“Mr. Lawson, you shouldn’t speak that way about your employer,” Mrs. Perez scolded. There was a twinkle in her eye.
Wade made a simple dinner of pasta and sauce while listening to Sophia. The apartment was small and the furniture secondhand. He’d managed to keep a roof over their heads since Anna died.
The medical bills had wiped out their savings. He’d had to sell their house and move to the wrong side of town. His contracting company had folded during the recession.
Now at 37, he was starting over, taking whatever jobs he could find. When Sophia smiled at him, none of that mattered. He was her dad; he would fix this.
