AN: I've been working on this story for what seems like forever, probably not really, but I got stuck two or three times and had to let it sit a week or two and come back to it. This is a lilacmermaid prompt and I loved it and had part of chapter one planned out in my head within a few minutes. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Please let me know what you think.

Madam Secretary Prompt: When Henry and Elizabeth first meet, she has just taken possession of her parent's old house, and is in the middle of renovating it all on her own.

August 1986

Elizabeth pulled up in front of the house and parked. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she walked up the sidewalk toward the her old home. She hadn't physically been on the property since a month after the accident when Aunt Joan helped them pack their belongings. That was a little over three years ago.

The porch step creaked when she walked up the steps and it broke her heart to see everything so worn and unkempt. Elizabeth's Aunt Joan did a fair job taking care of the big things. She hired a guy to mow the law and make sure nothing terrible happened, but for the most part, nothing had been done to the house in three years. She was surprised as she ran her fingernail under the chipping paint and watched it flutter down slipping between the cracks in the wooden porch. Things go downhill quickly when they aren't attended.

That situation was about to change. When Joan came to her and her brother, Will, saying that it was time to consider selling the house, Elizabeth adamantly refused. After quite a bit of back and forth, Elizabeth said she would buy Will's half of the house and live in it during college. Both Joan and her trust lawyer warned her that it was a mighty undertaking, but Elizabeth would hear nothing of it. She wasn't going to lose her family's home, no matter what.

Placing the key in the deadbolt, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. The air was heavy and stale. As she moved, she could see the dust she kicked up dancing in the light shining through the window in the front room. Most of the furniture was gone, except for an odd piece here and there, that no family member laid claim to, but Elizabeth didn't care. It was her home, and though it would never be the same without her parents, she could make it hers and keep those memories alive. She could feel their love here.

After wandering through the main floor, she went into the back yard. Elizabeth took a deep breath and made her way to the two large oak trees in the center of the yard, The trees had been planted by her parents when they moved into this house. A broken swing hung from one and a rotted rope ladder hung from a branch on the other. She placed her hand on the rough bark of the tree, and lightly ran her hand over it. She was home. She shook off the feeling of despair and headed back into the house.

Elizabeth took a walk through the entire house with her dog-eared copy of This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating and Renovating an Older House tucked under her arm and set out looking for leaks, foundation damage and evidence of other problems as the book suggested. Thankful that both the power and water were on, she investigated all areas. Finding nothing big, she returned to her car to fetch several loads of cleaning supplies, a step ladder that had been expertly threaded through the back hatch of her car and between the front seats by Will, a small vacuum, her sleeping bag, and her backpack.

She spent the morning wiping down the walls of the master bedroom where she planned to set up camp during the whole process. Hardwood floors were dusted and oiled. She cleaned the master bath and decided that, while functional, it definitely needed updating. In her mind, she hoped that six weeks would take care of most everything that had to be done to make the place liveable. Then she could take her time on the things that needed updating.

Having things wrapped up in the room, she spread out her sleeping bag and plugged in a small lamp that she found leftover in Will's room. Then she headed out to find food. Using the pay phone at the gas station, she called a contractor to make a visit to ensure she didn't miss any structural issues and she called the phone company to get the phone turned on.

Over the next week, Elizabeth cleaned like no one had cleaned before and she made a list of everything that needed to be done. She was dismayed to discover that there were quite a few things that really needed two people to make the job go more efficiently and in some cases, things were almost impossible to do alone.

Sitting on the back porch, she stared at the oak trees and pondered her predicament. How could she enlist someone to help her, knowing that she couldn't pay them a whole lot? Contractors were out of the question because they would charge too much and wouldn't let her help. What she needed was a college student. But how was she going to find someone in her budget? An idea popped into her head and she dashed through the house, grabbed her purse and headed to the newspaper office, hoping to beat the deadline for placing ads.

MSMSMSMSMSMSMS

The following day, Henry McCord sat in the corner booth of a local diner. His eyes were shut and he let his head rest against the pane of glass heated by the late afternoon sun. "What the hell am I going to do?" he muttered. He'd set everything up. He had made arrangements before the spring semester ended to share an apartment with one of his friends once his roommate moved out. Henry went home to Pittsburgh for the summer to work on a home construction crew, a job his dad landed him in hopes that he'd like it enough to stick with it. Of course that wasn't going to happen and Henry showed up at the apartment an hour ago with his things ready to move in.

"Henry," the guy looked guilty as soon as he saw who it was. Long story short, the roommate never moved out, which meant that Henry had no place to live. He did have some money saved up, but it wasn't enough to float getting his own place, and who needed a roommate only a few weeks before classes started. He groaned. He hated campus housing. It was so much more expensive than living on his own, and the meal plan was a joke. The food wasn't that great, and they were never open when he wanted to eat.

Henry's coffee and sandwich arrived and Henry sighed, resigned to tabling this problem, at least until dinner was over. When the waitress moved, he spied the classified ads on the next table over. When the customers left, he reached over and snagged it. "Maybe someone in town needs a roommate or has a room to rent," he said, peeling pages back, hunting until he found the Apartments for Rent section. Finding nothing appealing, he moved to Rooms for Rent. It wasn't ideal, but neither was living in his car. He'd just about given up when he read the last ad.

Will trade work for rent

Help renovate 4 BR home

In exchange for room

Access to kitchen, private bath,

Garage included.

Call Elizabeth for details.

Henry looked up wearing a wide smile. "Hey Betty?"

The waitress looked up. "Any chance I could use the phone? I have a call I need to make."

It was dusk when Henry parked in front of an older, stately home. It needed the bushes trimmed back and a coat of paint. He wondered what else needed to be done. He walked up the front steps and knocked on the door. He expected the woman to be at least in her forties and perhaps even older, someone whose husband and passed and had let the place go, or maybe a single woman who just didn't have much knowledge of how to do home maintenance. Henry had worked with several of both types over the summer and his general notion was that they were a pain in the ass, frequently changing their minds. But, he needed a place to stay, so he really didn't mind if he needed to move the same wall five times, as long as it allowed him to have a roof over his head.

Elizabeth heard the knock at the door and her shoulders sagged. This would be the tenth interview of the day. At this point, she thought her idea had been crap. Everyone was either sleazy or lazy, and she didn't have time or patience for either. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and went to the door. She'd get rid of this guy and have her ad removed from the paper tomorrow.

She opened the door to a handsome young man and watched as he walked down the front steps and went back up them, bouncing on the squeaking one. He moved from one side to the other as if determining the cause of the squeak.

"Hello," Elizabeth said, suppressing a chuckle as Henry's head popped up, embarrassed at having been caught. He moved across the porch toward her

"Hi. Is the owner of the home available? I have an interview. My name's He-"

"Henry McCord," she finished. "Elizabeth Adams. We spoke on the phone." She extended her hand and noted Henry's surprise. "And yes, this is my house. I just purchased it. If we're going to go through the whole I'm too young to be owning a house and too stupid to be remodeling one, you can just go. I'm not in the mood."

Henry took her hand and shook it firmly. She wasn't someone to be trifled with. He could tell. "No ma'am. That wasn't what I was going to say at all. This step is squeaky." Henry moved to the edge of the porch. "It was originally built with nails. I think they've worked themselves loose. Just crawling underneath the porch here and putting a few deck screws in it should tighten it back up." He met her gaze. He could tell she was appraising him. There was a fair amount of tension in the stillness. She was young and very pretty, but definitely was used to getting her way. She didn't seem like someone who changed her mind often though. It was likely she would be difficult to talk out of bad decisions.

"Don't ma'am me. I'm younger than you are. Come on." She stepped back into the house, letting Henry catch the door.

"Yes-Miss?" Henry offered. She looked over her shoulder and he felt self conscious as her eyes scanned him head to toe.

"Elizabeth will be fine." He followed her to the kitchen and she gestured to the table. "Want anything to drink? Tea or water?" she asked.

"Water, please." Elizabeth turned from him and ran the water in the sink a moment until she deemed it cold enough and proceeded to fill a glass. Then she poured herself a glass of tea.

"So, Mr. McCord-"

"Henry," he interrupted.

"Yes, Mr. McCord, tell me about your qualifications for this job." Henry explained what his summer job entailed as well as a few projects he'd helped his father with, plumbing and electrical. He was no tradesman, but he could do the basics. She nodded. "My expectation is that you do three to four hours of work two different weeknights that will be planned ahead of time and eight hours of work on Saturday and Sunday. In exchange, I let you live here and buy up to $20 a week in groceries specifically for your use."

"Could I see where I would be living?" Henry asked. It wasn't like he had a lot of other options, but he felt like couldn't let this woman dictate all of the terms of this exchange. She raised an eyebrow and stood.

"Of course," she said. "This way." She led him up the steps and to the right, opening the door to the master bedroom. "Pardon my things. They'll be out of here tomorrow." Henry glanced around and saw a sleeping bag on the hardwood floor and several clothing items in piles around the room.

"The bathroom?" he asked, making his way through the door. He heard her stifle a groan behind him, but didn't acknowledge it. Glancing around, he saw undergarments hanging over the shower rod and more clothes tossed on the floor.

Stepping back out, he nodded, and she attempted a joke, "Well, at least you know I wear them."

He cocked his head, giving her a slight grin. "I know that you have them. What you choose to wear, well that could be up for debate." He watched the blush flood her face and then turned. "What's down this way?" Henry trailed off down the hall.

"The other bedrooms," she managed to say, following him. Henry stuck his head in each of the bedrooms. "This one has a bathroom?' he asked, stepping inside.

"It's a Jack and Jill bathroom, shared with the bedroom next door." She felt like she had lost control of this interaction and was now chasing Henry as he moved through the rooms, and she didn't know what to make of it. He stopped suddenly and she almost ran into him.

"How about I just take this bedroom and use this bathroom?" Henry said pointing to the obviously smaller room.

"A private bathroom was advertised," she said, definitely off-kilter, now that he was negotiating terms, although she didn't know what to make of the fact that he wanted less than what had originally been offered.

"I don't need a lot of room, and then you don't have to move." Henry turned and made his way down the stairs. Elizabeth followed.

"Sometimes I'll have guests and they may be uncomfortable sharing the bathroom with someone they don't know."

"I say we cross that bridge when we get to it. Besides, it appears that I'm neater than you anyway." He looked her over. She looked a little flustered. Henry swallowed hard. She was seriously beautiful. "So, since we're to the point that we're talking about room arrangements, is it safe to say I have the job?"

"If you would like the job, it's yours," Elizabeth said. "You can move in tomorrow."

Henry shifted on his feet, suddenly a little more shy, and he spoke softer. "Would it be alright with you if I moved in tonight and start working in the morning?" She looked at him quizzically. "I don't really have a place to stay tonight." Henry looked up and their eyes met. She wasn't sure what it was that she saw in his deep brown eyes, but it caused her stomach to flutter.

"Uh, yeah, sure. The room's all yours." Elizabeth hoped her voice was steady because her stomach was causing the rest of her to be anything but.

"Thanks." Henry's whole face lit up. "I'll just get my things."

Henry disappeared out the door and returned a few minutes later with a large duffle bag and a backpack.

"Don't you have other things?" she asked.

"Don't you?" he asked.

"I'm waiting until the rooms are finished to furnish them," Elizabeth countered.

"The place I was going to stay came fully furnished. I'll have to go bed shopping when I have a day off, I suppose. Goodnight Elizabeth," he said, heading up the stairs.

"Goodnight Henry," she murmured. She locked the door and made her way into the kitchen, shutting lights off as she went along. She put their glasses into the sink and leaned against the counter. Henry was exactly what she'd been hoping for, but now that she had him, she wondered how it would play out. Those eyes were burned into her mind and her stomach fluttered again. What had she gotten herself into? Flipping off the kitchen light, she headed to bed herself.