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.”