“I’m just thankful we have more than a few cabinets we can use.” She was sitting on the edge of the countertop, helping him hang the next door. She held it in place while he used his drill to screw the new hinges into place.
“You’re lucky to have granite countertops. Patty sells some granite polish down at the grocery store. I bet you can get it shining like new.”
“I’ll stop by tomorrow and get some before the event.” Kara dropped her hold on the next door as he finished up. “I’m sure we can make it without…” she started.
“It’s no problem. I like to finish a project. Besides, something tells me that my mother will be stopping by later this week to check out my progress.” He rolled his eyes with humor. “You might actually get a visit from all my aunts.”
She chuckled. “The perks of having a big family.”
“Oh? Do you have a large family?” he asked.
She chuckled. “No, not really. My father was an only child and best friends with my mother’s only brother.” She held the next door as he got to work.
“My uncle Todd was best friends with my aunt Megan’s brother, before he died,” he said absently.
Kara sighed. “It’s one of the reasons why we picked Pride to open our business. The fact that this is where our parents fell in love.” She glanced towards the dark kitchen window. “Coming here every summer, we both decided it was one of the most romantic places we knew.”
He stilled. “Pride? Romantic?” He chuckled and shook his head as he got back to work.
“Of course, you won’t think so. You were raised here. You’re too close to the subject.” She nudged his shoulder. Then she sighed and glanced out the window again. “But every wedding we’ve hosted so far says differently. The sunsets on the beach, the way we’ve turned the barn into a venue to make dreams come true.”
Her voice had turned soft, wishful sounding. He stopped working and watched her closely as she spoke. She probably didn’t realize how dreamy she sounded. How wishful.
“I never imagined it would turn out so perfect.” She turned back towards him. When she realized he was watching her, she shook her head quickly and turned back to the task.
He’d never known anyone as committed to her dreams as Kara was. Well, with the exception of his cousin and sister. When they’d gotten it in their mind to open their boutique a few years back, nothing could have stopped them.
By the time he was finished hanging the last door, Kara had hidden a few yawns from him by covering her mouth with her hands.
“I’ve taken enough of your day,” he said, gathering his tools.
“Are you kidding?” She leaned against the countertop. “You’ve saved us. You’ve single-handedly turned this place into a home in one day.” She glanced around. “We were afraid to cook in here, for fear that the cabinets would fall off the walls.”
He nodded. “The new screws I put in place should hold up for years.”
“See.” She motioned towards him. “You saved us.” She quickly stood up. “We owe you.” Then she snapped her fingers. “Dinner.”
His eyebrows shot up. “We’ve already had dinner,” he reminded her.
“No.” She waved her hand. “I mean, I owe you dinner. Properly.” She glanced around. “Here.”
“Okay,” he agreed quickly.
“A week from now. Next Thursday?” she asked after glancing down at her phone.
“Okay,” he agreed again, causing her to smile.
“You’re easy,” she joked, setting down her phone.
“When it comes to a free meal, what guy isn’t?” he said with a chuckle.
She nodded. “Thanks again.” She looked around just as Robin walked into the room.
“Wow.” Robin could have easily been Kara’s twin. They were almost identical except that Kara’s hair was a few shades lighter than Robin’s and Kara’s smile and eyes drew him in and did things to his gut and his loins. “This looks amazing.” She walked over and opened a door. “They all work now.”
He nodded. “I’ll bring the last two for above the fridge when I come on Thursday,” he said to Kara.
“Perfect.” She beamed before turning to Robin. “I’m making Conner dinner to thank him for all of this.” She motioned to the cabinets and then to the hardwood floor and the living room walls.
“I didn’t really do anything to the floor except yank up the carpet,” he said.
“It looks like a different place,” Robin said easily. “Thanks.”
He nodded as he gathered his tool bag under his arm. “I’ll leave you two to fill the cabinets. Night.”
He walked out and put his tool bag in his truck. He tossed his sawhorses in the back and reached for the passenger door, only to stop when Kara called out his name.
Seeing her standing in the soft porch light, he caught his breath at her beauty. Why, oh, why hadn’t he really noticed it before now?
He swallowed the desire that had rushed through him.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“You forgot.” She waved his cell phone, which he’d left on the counter. He walked over and stopped at the foot of the porch steps. From here, they were eye to eye. He couldn’t stop from gazing down at her lips as he took the phone from her, letting his fingers brush over hers slowly.
“Thanks,” he said.
Before he could turn away, she jerked closer and covered his mouth with hers in a quick kiss.
“Night,” she said. Before he could respond, she turned and rushed back into the house.
Smiling, he climbed into his truck and ignored the tiny voice in his head screaming that he was in deep trouble.
Chapter Nine
A bead of sweat trickled down the middle of Kara’s back. How could the evening be so humid? Wasn’t winter supposed to be right around the corner? The leaves on all the trees had already changed colors, yet only a few had hit the ground so far.
It was easily hotter tonight than it had been at their last event. Maybe it was because she had been forced to run around and replace all of the decorations after one of the guest’s children had pulled down most of the ones she’d put up earlier that morning.
The wedding the evening before had been perfect, but this anniversary party seemed to be going less smoothly.
It didn’t help that she’d had a tough time sleeping last night. The night before she’d been so tired after the full day’s work that she had fallen into a deep dreamless sleep. But last night her mind and her dreams had been filled with Conner.
Normally that would be a good thing, but she’d ended up only having five hours of sleep before she had to wake up and get ready for a birthday party lunch then switch the decorations for the evening’s anniversary party.
“We really need to hire a few more employees,” Robin said in passing.
“Yes,” she agreed as she rushed the opposite direction. “Hopefully, before next weekend.” She disappeared into the kitchen for more tape.
When she didn’t find any extra tape rolls in the kitchen, she darted out the back door, knowing there were four new rolls in one of the cottage’s kitchen drawers. She’d put them there herself the other night when returning her kitchen to normal after Conner had left. She and Robin had spent most of the night reorganizing the cabinets and drawers.