by Nicole Ellis
“You’re welcome.” Shawn released Zoe, steadying her on the stair above him. He stared at the railing hanging uselessly on one end by a single screw and shook his head. “You could have been hurt. I should have prioritized fixing those railings.”
Zoe forced a small smile. She hated that he blamed himself for her mishap. “It’s okay – I’m fine. You’ve been working on so many other important projects around here. If it hadn’t been this particular railing, it could have just as easily been one on the deck. This place is an accident waiting to happen.” She cringed, thinking of Celia’s recent fall.
Doubt pooled in his eyes. “Still – you could have been hurt. Fixing these stairs needs to move to the top of my list.”
She took a deep breath. “Speaking of that list – we’d better check out the rest of the property.” Although, after what she’d seen upstairs, she wasn’t sure she wanted to see the condition of everything else.
He nodded, briefly caressing her arm before turning away from her, as if confirming she was really okay. Zoe’s legs trembled as she made her way down to the main floor. She’d come close to falling from halfway up a flight of stairs. If Shawn hadn’t caught her … She forced the thought out of her mind. He had been there.
“This is depressing,” Zoe said as they went outside. She took a deep breath of the salty air, hoping it would fortify her as they looked at the exterior of the house. She already knew it was in rough shape.
Shawn scanned the side of the building. “I can already tell you that the siding needs to be repaired, the whole exterior repainted, and the rest of the porch fixed. It could use some newer, more energy-efficient windows too, but that’s further down on the list.”
Zoe slumped into a chair on the front porch, staring out at the bay. “So, for just the roof and the smaller plumbing jobs like the kitchen sink, how much is this going to cost?”
His brow furrowed as he thought. “I’d say at least twenty grand – and that’s if I provide some of the labor. That roof is no small job.”
Her heart sank all the way to the ground. “Celia doesn’t have that kind of money.”
He sighed. “I wish I could help more, but I’m not rolling in dough either.”
“Celia needs to come home to the Inn.” Zoe knew if Celia was forced to live in a retirement home long-term, she’d wither and die there.
“Zoe …” Shawn took a deep breath. “I don’t think Celia’s going to be able to come back to the Inn. It’s just not feasible. She’s got that huge tax bill and all of the necessary repairs on top of it. I know you want to help her, but it’s just not going to work.”
“There has to be a way.” Zoe lifted her chin.
“There’s not,” he said gently. “Unless Celia has some sort of fairy godmother or a stash of cash somewhere that we don’t know about, the best we can do for her is to get this place ready to sell.”
“You don’t understand. This is Celia’s home. She has to come back here.” Why couldn’t Shawn understand how important it was for Celia to be in her own home?
“We’re going to have to tell her that we know about the tax situation and that she needs to sell the property. She’s not going to live here.”
Zoe clenched her jaw so tightly that her teeth ached. “You can’t tell her that.”
He sighed. “We can live in la-la land for now and work on fixing up the property, but you’re going to have to be honest with her eventually.”
“Fine.” She glared at him. “But I’m going to figure out a way to make this work.”
“Okay.” He shrugged resignedly. “But until then, I’m going to operate on the assumption that Celia will be selling this place.” He leaned against one of the porch posts that he’d recently replaced. “Look, I don’t want to fight about this. All I want is for us to be honest with each other and with Celia about the status of the property. I don’t think it will work for her to keep it, but I’ll be happy to have you prove me wrong.”
“I will.” A fire burned in Zoe from head to toe. When she latched on to a project or idea, she was like a dog with a bone. Nothing else in her life was going right, but she could do something about this.
He ran a hand over his hair. “I’ll call the county assessor and see if we can put off the tax sale, but I doubt they’ll drop the matter indefinitely. You’re going to need to figure out how to pay them.”
She nodded. Shawn obviously didn’t believe that they could pull off saving the Inn, but she was going to accept his challenge and prove him wrong.
18
Cassie
Cassie walked into the Lodge at five o’clock in the morning, enjoying the peace and quiet. At this time of day, only one person ran the front desk, and she was engrossed in reading a newspaper. Outside, Cassie had encountered a young couple jogging, but other than that, everyone else was still asleep in their beds.
Sometimes Cassie missed getting to sleep in later, but she also relished the solitude of an early morning. There was nothing more luxurious than pulling a fresh loaf of bread from the oven with no one else around to steal the heel. This morning, however, something was different. She sensed it as soon as she entered the staff hallway leading to the kitchen.
The mixer was running. Its low vibrations would be almost imperceptible to most but were easily identifiable to her. She quickened her pace. Why was the mixer on?
She pushed open the door and stepped onto the tiled kitchen floor. A woman with blonde streaks in her brown hair stood in front of the mixer, shutting it off just as Cassie entered.
The woman looked up at Cassie and frowned. “Oh. It’s you.”
Cassie stopped short. “Lara. What are you doing here?” Cassie’s eyes traveled across the kitchen counters and over to the oven, which had its preheat indicator lit. The place had been trashed since she’d left the day before. What was going on?
Lara rolled her eyes with the disdain of a teenager. “I’m baking a cake. What does it look like?”
Cassie slowly counted to three in her mind, just like when she was in the middle of a “talk” with one of her kids and didn’t want to blow up at them. “Okay. Why are you baking a cake here?” Not to mention, why was she there at five in the morning?
“I’m using the facilities at the Lodge until I can get my own bakery.” Lara grabbed the bowl from the mixer and poured the dark batter into the first of three round cake pans she’d already greased and floured. “What’s your hurry anyway? I should be done in a couple of hours. I didn’t figure anyone would be here until eight or so.”
Counting to three wasn’t cutting it this time. Cassie leaned against the counter, gripping the edges of it until they bit into her hands. “I need the kitchen to prepare the breakfast breads,” she said. “I get here early so I can get everything done before the guests wake up.”
Lara looked around. “Well, you should have plenty of room to work. I’m not taking up that much space.”
Cassie eyed the flour spilled all over the floor, the cartons of eggs lying open on the counter, and the measuring cups strewn about. Lara had somehow managed to spill crimson food dye on the white floor tiles, making it look like someone had been murdered in the middle of the kitchen. If Taylor saw the mess Lara had made, there would be a murder in the kitchen. He thrived on cleanliness and order and wouldn’t be pleased with the current state of his domain.
Cassie’s lips twitched, and she bit back a smile.
“What’s so funny?” Lara snapped. She picked up one of the cake pans and set it in the oven, then returned to the counter for the next.
“Oh, nothing.” Cassie gestured to the powdering of flour and red streaks on the floor. “But you might want to get this taken care of before Taylor comes in for the day.”
Lara scoffed. “I’m sure the kitchen staff will take care of it when they get here. I’m not too worried about what Taylor will think.” She laughed. “Besides, my father owns the place. What can Taylor possibly do to me?”
Cassie stared at her, unused
to seeing this kind of entitlement – even out of her own kids, who definitely had their moments. She spun on her heel and left the kitchen before she could say anything she’d regret later.
An hour later, Cassie returned to the kitchen hoping Lara had wised up and cleaned it. Time was running out to make the breakfast breads, but if Cassie started now, she could accomplish half of what she’d planned to make.
If anything, the kitchen was worse. Lara had taken the cakes out of the oven to cool and had set them on one of the few clean surfaces. Without a word to her, Cassie cleaned and sanitized a workspace and made her famous cinnamon raisin rolls, along with some blueberry scones. When they were in the oven, she cleaned up her own mess, but left the rest of Lara’s alone.
By eight o’clock, the kitchen was heavily scented with a spicy-sweet cinnamon aroma that soothed Cassie’s soul. She’d managed to avoid talking to Lara the whole time – a fairly amazing accomplishment considering they were working within ten feet of each other.
“Cassie,” a woman called out from the door to the staff hallway. “Do you have any more cookies for the front desk?”
Drat. She hadn’t made extra cookies the day before, because she’d been intending to try out a new snickerdoodle recipe in the morning. That had all gone out the window when she found Lara invading her space.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any right now. I’ll get something going and bring them out to you.” Cassie hurried to mix up a batch of peanut butter cookies, an old standby with a recipe she knew by heart.
When they were ready, Lara was frosting the cakes she’d stacked atop each other. With any luck, she’d be out of there soon. On the way back from delivering the cookies to the front desk, Cassie stopped in front of George’s closed office door. She steeled herself with a quick mental pep talk, then rapped on the door.
“Come in.”
She turned the doorknob and stepped inside his office, closing the door behind her. “George, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sure, Cassie, what is it?” He pushed his chair back and peered at her through his thick glasses.
“I need to talk to you about Lara.”
His bushy eyebrows rose a half of an inch. “Lara?”
Cassie took a deep breath. “She was in the kitchen early this morning when I came in to bake.”
He smiled. “Ah, yes. I told her she could use the kitchen in the mornings.”
“But I need it in the mornings – otherwise I can’t get everything done in time for the guests to have freshly baked goods for breakfast.”
“Oh. I see.” He tented his hands and lifted his fingertips up to his chin. “It’s a big kitchen though. There should be plenty of room for both of you, right? I realize this must be a little awkward, but I’m sure the two of you can get along.”
She stared at him. How could she tell him that his daughter had taken over the kitchen and made a huge mess which she refused to clean up? That was a sure-fire way to get fired, and Cassie couldn’t afford to lose her job.
She forced a smile. “Yes. I’m sure we can make it work. I just wanted to check with you first. I’d better get back to work.” She rushed out of the office and closed the door quietly behind her. There wasn’t much of a choice – she’d have to figure out how to work alongside Lara if she wanted to keep her job at the Lodge.
Lara finally left around ten, and Cassie set about cleaning the kitchen before Meg and Taylor arrived for the lunch rush. By the time they got there, everything was sparkling. She didn’t bother telling them that a few hours earlier, the kitchen looked like a toddler had been set loose in it.
As soon as the clock struck two, Cassie threw her apron on the hook and practically ran out to the parking lot. More than anything, she wanted a few moments alone to regroup before her kids came home from school. Unfortunately, Kyle was sitting on her porch when she drove up.
“Hi,” Cassie said, jangling her keys. “I didn’t expect to see you here yet. The kids won’t be home for another hour.” Jace was supposed to build a working volcano for school, and he’d asked for his dad to come over and help with it. Jace was so excited about the science project that Cassie didn’t have the heart to say no to his request.
“I know. I was hoping to talk with you first,” Kyle said.
“Oh?” She unlocked the front door and gestured for him to come inside. “What about?”
“Now that tax season is over, I was hoping to have the kids over at my place more often. Would that be okay with you?” His tone was more considerate than she’d heard from him in a long time.
“That would be fine. I could use the extra time anyway. I need to find a new place for my cake decorating business.” She set her purse and keys on a side table and hung her coat up on a hook on the wall.
Kyle followed her into the kitchen. “I thought your boss at the Lodge was letting you use the kitchen there.”
“He was, until his daughter moved back home to Willa Bay and decided she wanted to be a cake decorator. She needed the space, so I’m out of luck.” Cassie filled a glass with iced tea out of the fridge and sank into a chair at the kitchen table.
“Oh, Cassie, I’m sorry.” Kyle frowned. “Is there anything I can do?”
Cassie started laughing. “Well, can you figure out how to make Lara Camden go back to wherever she was living before she moved home? Because that would solve a lot of my problems.” Cassie laughed uncontrollably until she cried, so overcome with stress that she didn’t know how to feel.
Kyle sat at the end of the table next to her, a stricken expression on his face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She hiccupped and grabbed a Kleenex from the box on the table. “I just feel like everything is falling apart. My life wasn’t supposed to be this way. You and I were supposed to be happily married forever with our two perfect kids, leading the ideal life.” She laughed again, and his face registered alarm.
“Seriously, Cass, is there anything I can do to help?”
She wiped away a stray tear, then looked down at the table. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
He scooted his chair closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Normally, she would have recoiled at his touch, but right now, she welcomed the familiar weight of his arm around her. She leaned into him. “I’m failing, and I don’t know what to do.”
He gave her shoulders a squeeze and released her, lifting her chin tenderly before gazing deeply into her eyes. “I know things between us haven’t gone as planned, but you’re the mother of my children, and I’ll always be here for you, okay?”
She nodded.
“Now, what can we do to make things better for you? I’m going to take the kids more so you can focus on work, but I’m not sure the Lodge is a good place for you anymore.” He searched her face. “Do you even want to work there?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t have much of a choice. The schedule is perfect for me with the kids, and I’ve always enjoyed it in the past. But now that Lara is there, things are just going to get worse.”
“So quit.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “You’re an amazing baker, and I’m sure you’ll find a job in no time. In the meantime, I can help you out with the money part of it.”
It was like she was in the Twilight Zone or something. Who was this kind and understanding man sitting in front of her?
“Thank you,” she said. “I truly appreciate it. I’m going to try to stick it out at the Lodge, but I’ll let you know if things change.”
The front door opened, and the kids walked in from school.
“Dad?” Jace shouted. “I saw your car outside. Are you here?”
Kyle and Cassie exchanged amused glances, and she hurriedly wiped her face.
“In here,” Kyle called back.
Amanda came into the kitchen to let them know she was going to her room to do her homework.
“Can we start on the volcano now?” Jace bounced up and down on the balls of his feet.
“Yep.” Cassie walked over to the kitchen counter and moved all of the necessary items for the project over to the table, then sat down to work on it with Jace and Kyle. An hour later, she left to check on Amanda. When she came back, she stopped in the entrance to the kitchen, memorizing the sight of her son and ex-husband’s heads crowded close together as they read the instructions for the next step in building a model volcano.
Before the divorce, Kyle hadn’t taken much interest in the kids, but now, he was actually trying. Perhaps there was something to the old saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“Hey, guys, what can I help with now?” she asked as she joined them again at the table.
They gave her a task, and the three of them worked together on the project for the rest of the afternoon. It was like they were the happy, normal family she knew didn’t really exist, but yearned for just the same.
19
Meg
When Meg arrived at work early Friday afternoon, the counters in the Lodge’s kitchen were powdered with a layer of flour, and sparkling sugar formed a trail across the ceramic tiles in front of one of the prep tables. Cassie was sweeping up the mess with furious swipes of a nylon broom.
“What happened here?” Meg asked Cassie. “Did you forget to put the lid on the mixer or something?” Meg grinned at her friend, knowing full well that Cassie didn’t usually use a lid on the mixer, but they liked to poke fun of each other’s relative lack of knowledge of their own culinary niche.
Cassie glared at her. “No.”
“Whoa.” Meg stepped back to regard Cassie. “What’s got your knickers in a bunch today?”
Cassie stopped sweeping and leaned on the broom. “My knickers are just fine, thank you. But Lara’s won’t be if she keeps leaving these messes.”
