Jenna had a vision of Aunt Edie keeling over with a heart attack after her first tug on the carpet. “The best way you can help is by keeping us supplied with food.”
Aunt Edie gave her a knowing look. “You’re just trying to get me out of the way. But I can still strip a bed.”
“I’d rather have you bake me cookies.”
“I’ll do both,” said her aunt, suddenly energized. She hopped up from the window seat and came over and gave Jenna a hug and a kiss. “Bless you, dear child.”
Jenna hugged her back, told her she loved her, and when Aunt Edie left she’d gained a smile and shed ten years.
“You’d better know what you’re talking about,” she informed the absent Muriel Sterling. “This new beginning needs to work out.”
* * *
The next morning Jenna rented a truck and mobilized the troops. Fortified with omelets and cinnamon rolls, they stripped the bed in the first room and began to move out the furniture. They’d barely gotten the box spring mattress out when Pete announced that he’d pulled something.
Jenna took a small bottle of ibuprofen from the back pocket of her skinny jeans and handed it over. “Here you go. Eat up.”
He glared at her, shook out two pills and downed them with a swig from his water bottle.
“Think how fit you’ll be by the time we’re done,” she told him.
“You’re trying to kill me,” he said, in no mood to consider his future fitness.
She smiled and walked back into the bedroom, passing her daughter, who was coming out with a lamp, on her way to the office where they were going to stack and store everything until the new carpet could be laid. When they ran out of space there they’d have to use Aunt Edie’s garage.
Ellis West left the grill at the Seafood Shack and, along with one of his workers, lent a hand. But even with extra help, moving furniture took all morning.
After lunch (goodies from the Seafood Shack—thank you, Ellis!) Jenna gave Pete and his bad back the afternoon off. She sent Sabrina to the Laundromat with Aunt Edie to wash bedclothes while she started tackling pulling up carpet.
She tugged and grunted, turning the air as blue as some of the carpet remnant she’d bought. She’d just tugged hard enough to send her flying onto her backside and let loose with a word that would have inspired her mom to wash out her mouth with soap when a male voice from the doorway asked, “Having fun?”
She turned to see Brody Green leaning against the doorjamb. She was a sweaty mess with her makeup long gone. He looked like he’d just stepped out of the pages of GQ.
“Yeah, tons of fun. Want to join me?”
“I’d love to.”
“Liar.”
“I’m on my way to meet a client. Thought I’d stop by to see how you’re doing.”
“Good. We’ve got paint and we’ve got carpet.”
“You need a roof,” he said.
“I know. But right now all I can afford is paint and carpet. Anyway, it’s summer.”
“And you know what comes after summer.”
She frowned. “Thanks for the reminder. Say, you wouldn’t like to invest in a nice motel with lots of potential, would you?”
He made a face and shook his head. “Sell the dump, Jenna. The value’s in the land.”
“Money isn’t the only value we’re talking about here,” she said. “We’re going to make a go of this place. You’ll see.”
“I hope you prove me wrong. I really do. But you’ve got a big job ahead of you.”
“Tell me about it.” She went back to uprooting dead carpet. “Would love to chat, but I’ve got work to do.”
“And I’ve got money to make. Try not to kill yourself,” he said cheerfully. “And when you’re ready, Top Dog Roofing is your best bet,” he added, and left.
He probably got a kickback for recommending them, Jenna thought cynically.
Her cynicism left her when, an hour and a half later, Brody returned, this time wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with a pirate flag on it.
“What are you doing back here?”
“Saving you from getting blisters.”
She held up her palm. “Too late.”
He shook his head and got to work.
“I didn’t really mean what I said about you helping,” she told him, feeling suddenly guilty. She barely knew the guy. He didn’t owe her anything.
“I know,” he said. “But I can spare a couple hours. This looked like more fun than going to the gym.”
“Oh, it is,” she said, straight-faced.
“And the company’s prettier.”
Brody Green was a flatterer. But he was also a nice guy.
“Besides,” he added, “your aunt and I are buds.”
“So even though you think she should sell, here you are helping me renovate?”
“If you’re determined to bungee jump over the cliff, someone ought to make sure your cord’s in good working condition. Anyway, I figure this will score me some points with Edie’s pretty niece.”
“Ah, now we come to the true motive,” Jenna teased.
“Seems like it might be worth dinner out on Saturday.”
“Maybe,” she said. “Unless Aunt Edie offers me a hot card game.”
He chuckled and gave the carpet a yank.
They were just carrying it out of the room when a well-worn truck pulled into the parking lot. “Did you hire help?” Brody asked.
“No. That must be our one paying guest,” Jenna said with a grunt as they heaved the carpet into the U-Haul.
“You actually got someone willing to stay here?” Brody sounded incredulous.
“He’s moving into town and needs a place to stay while he starts his new business.”
“Yeah?” Brody gave the truck an assessing stare. “What kind of business?”
“I don’t know.”
“Probably handyman or lawn care,” he said, sounding slightly snobbish. “I might be able to throw some business his way.”
He looked a little less inclined to be helpful once the stranger got out of his truck. He wasn’t quite as tall as Brody, but he had twice the muscles. In fact, he looked like he had muscles growing on his muscles. He had dark hair and brown eyes and swarthy skin and he made Jenna think of pirates. Gorgeous, sexy. He walked with a swagger. Dangerous?
Why, oh, why did he have to show up when she was all sweaty? She pushed a lock of hair out of her face and called a cheerful hello.
He nodded and said nothing until he was standing in front of her. “I’m Seth Waters. Are you the woman I talked to the other day?”
The dumpy-looking woman. “I am. You got here earlier than I expected.” And you’re so gorgeous. Was there drool on her chin?
An eyebrow shot up and he checked his phone. “It’s four. I thought check-in’s at three.”
“It’s four? Already?” Jenna was suddenly aware of Brody standing next to her. His friendly air had evaporated. “I lost track of time. As you can see, we’ve been busy with our renovations.”
The newcomer took it in and nodded. Didn’t say anything else.
“This is Brody Green,” Jenna said. “He’s a real estate broker. He might be able to help you when you’re ready to find a place to live.”
“I don’t deal in rentals,” Brody said rudely, and it was all Jenna could do not to kick him.
“That’s okay. I’m not in a hurry,” said Seth Waters, pirate.
“Jenna says you’re here to start a new business.”
Now it sounded like she’d been gossiping about him. “I did happen to mention we had a guest arriving.” Where was a fire extinguisher when you needed one? Her whole face was burning. Looking at Seth Waters the rest of her was heating up pretty quickly, too.
“I treat houses. Mold removal.”
“There’s sure a need
for that here on the water. Everyone battles it,” Jenna said. Brody didn’t say anything encouraging, and she felt the need to put out the welcome mat. “You probably won’t have trouble finding customers—seniors, house flippers, Realtors.”
“We could probably use you,” Brody deigned to admit.
Seth Waters nodded in Brody’s direction. Then he smiled at Jenna. Call the fire department!
She cleared her throat. “Well, let’s get you checked in.”
“I’ve got to be going, anyway,” Brody said. “See you later,” he said to Jenna, as if they were an item. Were they?
No, no, no. It was too early to be an item. And besides, she didn’t want to be an item with anybody—not Brody Green or pirate Seth Waters.
Brody drove off and she led Seth to the office. Halfway there she realized they’d have to make their way through a mattress canyon. “Sorry,” she muttered as they clambered over furniture. “Like I said on the phone...”
“Renovations. I get it.”
She had to climb over two dressers to get to the cash register, giving him a view of her dusty bottom. She managed to lose her balance and fall behind the desk rather than land gracefully as originally intended, hitting the floor with an “Oomph.” She righted herself and pushed her hair out of her face and apologized again.
He was smiling now, mocking her.
She frowned. “Credit card?”
“I prefer to pay cash.”
Cash? Cash, cash, cash! She forced herself not to jump up and down and pump air. “All right. Cash. In that case, I’ll need you to pay in advance.”
“No problem. How about I pay for the first week?”
Seed money! “That will be fine.” She took his money, wrote out a receipt and handed over a room key. No key cards for the Driftwood Inn. Her aunt preferred to do things the old-fashioned way. She also probably preferred to not have to spend the money updating their security system. “You’re in room number two.”
Pete had the first room on the far end, and had complained mightily about having to make do with an army cot instead of a bed.
Bed. Furniture. Oh, no! Jenna’s right eye began to twitch and her face was on fire again. “There’s just one little problem.”
“Let me guess. You moved the furniture out of it.”
Blink, blink. “I’m afraid so. And the carpet.” Blink, blink, blink. “We have new carpet coming in just a few days.” New carpet. There. Wasn’t that worth sticking around for and sleeping on the bare floor. “I’ll give you a discount.”
“How about a free night?” he countered.
She frowned.
“You don’t have a bed in the room,” he pointed out.
“Fine,” she said grudgingly. “One night free.”
“How about every night I don’t have a bed free?”
When was that carpet coming? She hesitated.
“I was kind of looking forward to having a bed.”
There was that mocking smile again. If he hadn’t been a paying customer she’d have slapped him.
No, no, no. No slapping. No violence.
No income if he went somewhere else. Someplace with a bed.
“Okay, deal,” she said. “And I am sorry we’re not more prepared for you.”
“No worries,” he said. “I don’t need a lot.”
She had to smile in spite of her irritation. “But I guess a bed would be nice.”
“It would,” he agreed, and this time his smile was genuine.
“I’m sorry the room’s not in great condition yet.” What were they thinking, anyway? Letting someone stay in the place when it was such a disaster area.
“It’s okay. I’ve been in worse.”
Jenna wondered what that meant. Had he been in some special forces unit in a Middle Eastern desert?
He didn’t elaborate and she didn’t ask. Instead, she said, “Thanks for being so understanding. The place really is going to be nice when we get done with it.”
“I believe you.” He put out a hand. “Would you like help getting back out?”
Oh, yeah. That. “I can manage,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster.
“Okay.” He turned and started to make his way back through the mattress canyon.
“Do you need me to find a cot or something for you?” she offered.
“No. I’ve got a sleeping bag. I’ll be fine on the floor.”
He’d be fine anywhere.
Oh, no, Jenna scolded herself. Don’t go there. Don’t even think about it. You are so through with men.
Hmm. Maybe she was just through with artists.
Chapter Eight
To Do:
Pull up more carpet
Buy a case of pain reliever cream
“We’re half done,” Jenna announced at breakfast, forcing energy and good cheer into her voice. It wasn’t easy since she felt like she’d been run over by an entire convoy of trucks. Carrying cows. And lumber. Bricks. Manure. And today she got to do it all over again.
But after today the old carpet would, hopefully, be gone, and they’d be ready to start transforming the rooms.
“I don’t know if I can help,” said Pete. “My back’s in pretty bad shape.”
He’d looked fine when he walked in to scrounge coffee and French toast. “Come on, Pete. You can do it. Don’t poop out on me now.”
He frowned. “I can probably manage for a while. But don’t expect me to work as long as I did yesterday.”
Yeah, it would be awful if you had to put in two four-hour days in a row.
“What about your kid?” he asked as Aunt Edie poured him more coffee. “Is she helping?”
“Yes. Once she gets up she and Aunt Edie will be back at the Laundromat, washing the last of the linens.”
“You should have her help us. She’s still got a good back.”
“And I want to keep it that way. Besides, she’s only fourteen.”
“When I was fourteen I was pitching hay on my uncle’s farm,” Pete said.
Good for him. “Which is why you’re so strong now,” Jenna said in response. She downed the last of her coffee and stood. “Okay, let’s go.”
“I was going to have another piece of toast,” he protested.
“You can have an extra sandwich at lunch,” Jenna told him. And boy, was she going to make sure he earned it.
She left Aunt Edie with instructions to haul Sabrina and the rest of the laundry to the Laundromat as soon as her daughter had eaten, and then dragged Pete out the door, with him grumbling all the way.
She caught sight of their new guest as they walked to their first room of the day. Seth Waters had obviously been out running. He was wearing some baggy shorts and a faded T-shirt dotted with sweat. He sure filled out a T-shirt nicely. She gave him a casual wave and he waved back and kept on going to his room.
“That’s who’s staying here, huh?” said Pete. “Reminds me of myself when I was young. I was pretty buff back then.”
“I can imagine,” Jenna lied. Then, to inspire him, stretched the lie a little further. “You’re still pretty buff.”
He looked at her suspiciously. “Not really.”
But he did make it through the morning before he claimed to be on the verge of collapse.
“You should probably rest,” Aunt Edie told him as he inhaled a grilled cheese sandwich and half the bowl of fruit salad she’d made. How was her aunt managing to afford feeding this two-legged locust?
“Yeah, I’m pretty beat,” he said. “Your niece is killing me.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself,” Jenna said.
“You should take it easy, too, dear,” said her aunt, looking at her in concern.
“I’m fine. Anyway, we need to get this done. I don’t want to have to pa
y another day on the rental truck. Did you and Sabrina finish the laundry?”
“Oh, yes. It’s all clean and ready to go.”
“Where’s Sabrina?” She loved grilled cheese sandwiches. She should have been there at the table, chowing down.
“She already ate,” said Aunt Edie.
“So she’s up in her room?”
“No, she went outside.”
“To the beach?”
“I think so.”
She had to be at the beach. She knew to let her mother know where she was going, so surely she would have reported in if she was planning to ride her bike somewhere. She’s fine, Jenna told herself. She was probably taking more pictures to turn into art for the rooms.
And speaking of rooms... “I’d better get back to the motel.”
“Oh, dear, I do worry about you,” Aunt Edie said, looking at her in concern.
“I’ll be fine.”
“She’s young and tough,” put in Pete, not moving from the table.
Jenna shook her head and left. At least he’d put in a morning’s worth of work. In fact, he’d probably done more work in the last two days than he’d done in the last two years. Sheesh.
She could hardly blame Pete for not wanting to do any more. She didn’t want to, either. But there was no one else. She sure couldn’t ask Aunt Edie.
She was crossing the parking lot to room eleven when Seth Waters drove in. He pulled a minicooler out of his truck and started for his room. “How’s it going?” she called.
“Good,” he called back, and kept going to his room, toting his cooler. Poor guy, he didn’t even have a minifridge in the room.
Of course, he wouldn’t have had one even if the rooms were refurbished. Jenna wasn’t sure Aunt Edie even knew what a minifridge was. They’d have to add those in the future. People liked having a place to store their restaurant leftovers.
Room eleven smelled especially musty, and it was one of the ones with the worst water damage on the wall. It was a painful reminder of the looming large expense. Jenna found herself standing in the middle of the room, looking around, wishing everything was already done. What she’d give to be able to take a beach towel and spend an afternoon simply lying on the sand with a good book. Not Muriel Sterling’s.
Welcome to Moonlight Harbor Page 11
