by Jill Sanders
Conner rolled his eyes. “Don’t start on me,” he warned. His father’s smile grew as he tilted his head slightly. “Mom has already complained that I’m not up helping Jacob. I think she wants me to be the peacekeeper between him and Rose.”
His father’s laughter echoed in the barn.
“Those two have been dancing around one another for years,” his father signed then sighed heavily. “Help me find something. I don’t know why your mom didn’t clean out all the drawers of this old thing before we hauled it out here.”
“What are you looking for?”
“An old family photo book,” he signed before kneeling and digging into a drawer. Conner took another drawer and scoured through the paperwork until he found a black leather-bound photo book underneath.
He tapped his father on the shoulder. “Is this what you wanted?”
He’d expected his father to look relieved, but he just nodded slightly.
“Go on, take a look.” His nodded to the thing. “It was your grandfather’s.” His father leaned against the hutch and waited as Conner opened the book.
He couldn’t remember seeing the thing before today, but some of the pictures inside were as familiar as his own face.
Larger prints of some of the images hung in the upstairs hallway in the house he’d grown up in. The house his great-grandfather had built when he’d moved to Pride with his young family and opened his restaurant, the Golden Oar.
Seeing several generations of men who shared the same features, the same eyes, as Conner had never really affected him. Until now. There were some images here he’d never seen before, and he couldn’t help thinking about who the men in the pictures really were. What had their hopes and dreams been? Did they have the lives they’d wanted? Were they really in as much love as their smiles showed?
“That’s George, my dad,” his father said out loud, tapping the image Conner had been looking down at. “And Karna, my mother. The picture must have been taken just before I was born.”
His father didn’t speak often, but Conner had grown up knowing his voice well enough. He usually refrained from using it in front of anyone other than family.
Conner stared down at the couple. His grandmother was easily half the age of her husband. He knew that George, his grandfather, had been married once before, to his uncle Todd’s mother, who was still alive and living somewhere in California. He’d heard his uncle complaining several years back how the woman kept coming back to him to try and get money, but as far as he knew, the woman had never wanted to step into the role of mother or grandmother.
He knew the stories of Karna Jordan. How she’d met his grandfather on one of his trips to Norway and had fallen head over heels with the man, leaving everything behind to start a family. She’d taken Todd in and had been the first mother figure he’d ever known. She and his grandfather had several years of blissful marriage before she’d died in childbirth, giving her life for that of his father’s. Just like George Jordan had on Iian’s eighteenth birthday when he’d thrown Iian into a dinghy just as lightning had hit him and his boat.
“You look more like him than I do,” his father said with a low sigh. “You know, I could have sworn I saw him once.”
Conner jerked around and looked into his father’s eyes to see if he was joking. His brother, Jacob, took after their father in that area. There wasn’t a time he couldn’t remember the two of them playing practical jokes on one another, or worse, on him.
But this time, Iian Jordan’s eyes were filled with anything but laughter.
“When? Where?” he asked clearly so his father could read his lips, since he was still holding the photo book.
“In the hallway just outside our bedroom. The night I realized I didn’t want to live without your mother.” His father’s lips twitched, then turned into a smile. “Your uncle found me face down, naked on the floor a few hours later.” He chuckled.
Conner grew worried until his father’s laughter registered.
“You know, Matt and Blake swear they’ve seen ghosts too.” He nudged his father’s shoulder.
“We all saw them that Christmas.” His father sighed. “This was different.” His smile slipped again. “All these years I swore I’d been concussed or…” He tapped his head. “It was something surfacing from my accident.”
“Now?” he asked before looking back down at the image.
His father laid a hand on his shoulder and straightened up. “Bring it into the house with you when you come,” he said instead of answering, he and started walking away.
That was one thing about having a deaf man in the house. When his father was done with the conversation, you couldn’t really argue with him when he walked away.
He spent the next few minutes looking through the photo album, then he tucked it into the glove box of his truck. For the next half hour, he sanded down the old cupboard doors and dug through the barn for the buckets of paint he knew were out there.
When he walked into the large house that he’d called home all of his life, with the exception of the two years he’d spent on campus in Portland, his mother was standing in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove that smelled like heaven.
His father was standing behind her, his hands on her hips as he whispered something in her ear, which caused her mother to laugh.
“What are you cooking?” he asked as he set the photo book down on the bar top.
His mother glanced over her shoulder, which of course got his father’s attention. He still didn’t pull away from his mother, though.
“Your father is cooking, I’m stirring,” she corrected and sidestepped away from the stove as his father took over.
“Good,” Conner joked as he sat down. “I thought it smelled too good for your cooking.”
His mother chuckled and walked over to look at him. “Your father tells me you’ve been helping Kara out?”
“I have.” He knew better than try to get out of telling his mother less than everything.
“I helped her carry some plants this morning after breakfast, and she asked me if I knew someone who could help her with a few repairs around the cottage. I figured it was the neighborly thing to do,” he said with a shrug.
His mother had listened to him with a slight smile on her lips. Now, however, he could see the mischief growing behind her eyes.
“That’s good. Your dad tells me you’re using the old cupboards?”
“Just the doors. What’s he making?” he asked, trying to distract her. “Smells like chili?”
“Chicken chili,” she said, “and cornbread. You don’t want to take the whole cabinets over there?”
“No, I figured we’d paint her cabinets and the doors with the paint you didn’t like for your office. We tore up the old carpet and painted the living room a light blue. The way they have it decorated now, I figure it would complete the whole beach vibe they have going.”
His mother was silent for a while. “I’d been meaning to stop by the cottage and see if they needed anything. I have a few pieces in the barn that they may want. I should plan on stopping by later this week.”
“Mom.” He stopped her and placed a hand over hers. “I’m just helping out.”
“Of course, dear, as you said, it’s the neighborly thing to do. Those girls have done such a wonderful job turning that old barn into such a beautiful venue.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, since he knew his mother had other reasons for stopping by Kara’s place. No matter what he did now, his mother was plotting and matchmaking.
Chapter Seven
“What’s going on?” Robin asked as she stepped into the cottage. “Did Conner do all this?”
Kara looked around and smiled. “Yeah. It looks a million times better, and I haven’t even put the furniture back yet.”
“Wow, thank god the yellow walls are gone. This looks amazing.” Her sister glanced around. “And hardwood. I can take my shoes off.” She smiled and did just that, putting her shoes by the front
door. “We’ll need a shoe rack now.”
Robin started towards the kitchen, but Kara stepped in front of her.
“We aren’t done in there,” she warned, trying to block her path.
Her sister’s eyes narrowed slightly, then she easily sidestepped around her and gasped when she noticed the lack of doors on the cupboards.
“He fixed the pantry door.” Kara rushed over and opened the door easily. “See, it won’t fall on us anymore.”
“There are no more cupboard doors.” Robin set the bag of groceries on the countertop.
“Yeah, but he’s going to be back soon with new doors. We’re going to paint them and have them back up today.” She tried to sound excited to sell the idea to Robin.
Her sister surprised her by slowly turning around, then shrugging her shoulders.
“It’s bound to be an improvement when you’re done,” she admitted.
“You aren’t mad?” Kara asked, a little shocked.
“Is it costing us anything?” Robin asked, shoving a container of orange juice into the fridge.
“No,” Kara replied with a slight shrug.
“Then I’m not mad,” Robin said, continuing to put the groceries away. “But don’t expect me to help out. I have a pile of paperwork that I’ve been putting off and have to get done tonight.”
“No.” Kara shook her head quickly. “I think we can handle it.”
“Good, then I’m going to have some lunch, then take my laptop over to the office in the barn and work until things are back to normal around here.”
“Sounds good,” Kara agreed with a smile.
One cold turkey sandwich and a bowl of grapes later, she got to work on mopping and shining the wood floor. The thing was in such great shape that she doubted it needed to be sanded. But she wanted to wait and get Conner’s opinion before returning all the furniture to the room.
Robin gathered her things and disappeared out the front door to head over to the office at the barn ten minutes before Conner knocked on the door.
“We can paint the doors outside. I brought some sawhorses so they can dry while we paint the cupboards,” he greeted her when she answered the door.
“Sounds good.” She motioned to the living room. “Do you think the floor needs anything but a good shine?” she asked him as she waved towards the floor.
“Wow, that cleaned up nicely.” He stepped past her and bent to examine the flooring. “No, a nice coat of floor sealer should do the trick. Of course, you can do that at any time. It will take a full day or so to dry before you can put the furniture or rugs over it.”
She frowned. “I may have to wait on that until next weekend. I doubt Robin will let me keep this place in such a mess for that long. We have the Garrett’s wedding tomorrow, then the Johnson’s anniversary party the following night, followed by…”
Conner held up his hand to stop her. “I got it. You’re busy. So, we get as much done today as we can and return your place to normal.”
“I hope we’ll have it looking better than normal.” She smiled. “I mean, the floor and the paint are a massive improvement. I feel like I can already remove my shoes.” She frowned slightly remembering the carpet in her bedroom. “At least in here.”
His dark eyebrows shot up. “You know, if my memory serves me right, the hardwood floor runs throughout the entire house. Except for the kitchen, dining room, and bathrooms, I mean.”
“Oh, hardwood flooring in my bedroom.” She sighed. “That would be a dream come true. Okay, next weekend we conquer removing the rest of the carpet throughout the house.” She shook her head. “I mean, if you’re free?”
“Something tells me that if I don’t continue to help you out, my mother will skin me alive,” he said as he stepped out the front door.
“Oh?” She noticed that he’d laid the doors on the sawhorses and had the paint sitting on the back gate of his truck along with paint supplies. “Your mother doesn’t seem like the nagging type.”
He chuckled. “She normally isn’t, unless it has to do with meddling in her children’s love lives.”
Kara lost her footing on the last stair of the porch and almost ended up with her face planted in the small flower bed near the foot of the walkway.
Feeling Conner’s strong arms wrapped around her again was intoxicating. Just the way he lifted her up and righted her until her feet were once again solid on the pathway was as sensual as any dance move that she’d ever witnessed.
“Easy,” he said in a low tone as his hands remained wrapped around her waist.
“I’m a klutz,” she heard herself blurting out. His soft chuckle had her slamming her mouth shut to ensure that nothing else stupid came out.
“Believe it or not, Jacob is the klutz in our family.” He dropped his hands from her and took a step back. “Everyone always assumes it’s Riley, not that she doesn’t have her moments, but growing up, Jacob was the most likely to fall in a well or get his head stuck in the fireplace.” He chuckled. “Which he did when he was six.” He held up his fingers. “Twice.”
She relaxed her guard and laughed. “I can totally see that. He tripped at the wedding and, if it hadn’t been for your dad, he would have taken out the wedding cake.”
Conner laughed again and then moved over to the cabinet doors. “These are pretty standard sizes. I compared them with the old ones I removed, and they should fit perfectly. Of course, we’ll want to paint the cabinets as well before we hang these back up.”
She focused on the doors and realized that they were almost brand new. Once they painted them, they would make the entire kitchen seem new.
“They’re perfect,” she told him.
“Let me know if the color is off.” He walked over and motioned to a can of paint. “There’s plenty of it. My mother had me get three cans of it for her office, then decided she wanted soft teal walls instead.” He smiled as if remembering something.
“I’ve heard all about your mother’s workspace from your sister.” She took up a paint brush and wiggled it. “So, where do we start?”
Four hours later, her back hurt, her right shoulder and elbow were sore, she had blue and cream paint in her hair and all over her clothes, and she was starving. Still, working next to Conner made her forget all of those little pains.
“We’ll have to let everything dry for an hour,” Conner said, standing back and setting his paintbrush in the bucket of water. “What do you say we head to the Oar and grab a burger?”
She glanced down at her ruined tank top and jeans.
“Trust me, you’re dressed fine for a Thursday night at the Oar.” He motioned to his own shirt with a few paint splatters on it.
“You’re not half as messed up as I am.” She motioned between their clothes. “Give me a few minutes to change and it’s a deal.” She started walking towards her room.
“I’ll clean up,” he said as she disappeared down the short hallway.
Once locked behind her bedroom door, she quickly assessed the damage and determined she needed a quick rinse in the shower. She piled her hair in a messy bun on top of her head and quickly rinsed off. After reapplying the basics in makeup and pulling on a dark pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt, she let her hair down and realized it looked better up.
When she walked out to the living room, she was happily surprised to see that he’d moved the rest of the furniture back into place.
“You’ll want a few area rugs to protect the flooring after you seal it,” he said before turning around. Then he noticed her, and he smiled. “Now I feel like I’m underdressed.”
She chuckled. “It’s just jeans and a T-shirt.”
He shook his head. “You look beautiful.”
She caught her breath as he closed the step or two that was between them. Then, before she had a moment to prepare, he gathered her in his arms and kissed her.
Since the other night, she’d dreamed of what it would be like to be kissed by him. How his body would feel next to hers. How his lips
would taste.
It wasn’t as if she’d had a lot of experience before now. She’d dated a few boys in school, but Conner was the first man.
Her entire body began to shake and feel slightly uncomfortable, so she pulled back.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the other night when I rescued you,” he admitted.
She held her breath for a moment and before she could think of a reply, she blurted out, “You didn’t rescue me.”
His smile doubled. “Sure.” He reached down and took her hand in his. “Let’s take this argument to the restaurant. I’m starving.”
Chapter Eight
Sitting across from Kara at one of his favorite places in the entire world seemed almost surreal. He was not only surrounded by familiar smells, sights, and sounds but knew everyone in the restaurant, both employees and customers.
He didn’t have to even glance at the menu and, instead, took the time to assess Kara as her eyes moved over the dinner options.
“What’s your favorite?” she asked him after a moment.
“Everything,” he admitted.
She chuckled and set her menu down. “Then order for me. I can’t decide. It all looks amazing.”
He nodded and waved Carrie over.
“Hey, Conner.” Carrie smiled down at him before turning to Kara. “Evening.”
“Carrie, you remember Kara? She and her sister, Robin, run Sunset Weddings.” He introduced the two.
“Right.” Carrie’s smile grew. “Where were you guys when Josh and I got married a few years ago?” she joked. “I hear you guys are booked solid now?”
“Almost.” Kara seemed to relax. Then she shook her head slightly. “You’re married to a cop. Right?”
Carrie chuckled. “No, Aiden’s the only cop in my family now and he’s my brother.”
“Oh, right. We just did his and Suzie’s wedding last week,” Kara said.
“It was an amazing wedding. They’re off on their honeymoon in Europe all this week.” Carrie smiled, then added, “I’m married to Josh. He helps me run Carrie’s Sanctuary. I occasionally help out here when needed.” She shrugged. “I started working here in grade school,” she joked.
