“Need any help?” he asked, reaching for the flowers.
Surprise crossed her face, then she slowly smiled before nodding and replying, “Sure, thanks.”
“Where to?” he asked, looking around for her car.
She chuckled. “Down the street.” She motioned half a block up the street where the slight turn-off for Sunset Weddings was.
“You’re going to walk these all the way down there?”
“Are you trying to wiggle out of helping? Remember, you offered to lend a hand,” she pointed out with a chuckle.
“You don’t have a car?” he asked, clarifying.
“Don’t need one when the flower shop is less than a block away.” She started walking.
“A long block. How about we ride?” he said, motioning to his truck.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Sure, if you’re offering. I have a few more loads.” She nodded her head towards the shop.
“Sure. Feel free to load up.” He walked over and set the box of flowers in the back of his truck.
When they were done loading the back of his truck with flowers, there was a slight sheen of sweat on his brow.
“You were going to walk all of these to your place?” he asked, looking at the bed of flowers.
“Yes.” She smiled. “It’s great exercise.”
“Hit the gym instead,” he suggested as he rushed to open the passenger door for her. He enjoyed the sound of her soft laughter as she slid into the truck.
She was right, it was a very short drive to the wedding venue. It seemed the moment he pulled out onto the street, he was turning into the driveway and parking lot that had been cleared for the massive venue.
“What are you going to do when it starts snowing?” he asked her as he parked and shut off the truck.
She glanced over at him and shrugged. “Walk faster.”
“Don’t you have a car?”
“Sure, Robin and I have old yellow.” She motioned to where the old truck normally sat. The thing had more rust on it than the barn had last year before they’d remodeled. The other night there had been large hay bales and pumpkins scattered around the truck, as if it was set up for a photo shoot. He remembered that his cousin had taken pictures in front of the thing for her wedding, which in her words, completed the whole country wedding atmosphere.
“That thing that was sitting there the other night?” He motioned to the empty spot. “I thought it was a prop.”
She laughed. “No, she runs. When we need her.”
“You need a new truck or, better yet, a van to haul all of this stuff,” he said after she climbed out and started unloading the flowers.
“Why? We’re less than a block away from an amazing flower shop that your cousin runs,” she reminded him.
“And I know for a fact that she delivers.” He helped her unload the flowers and walk them inside the barn.
“There’s no need to bother her workers when they have other deliveries.” Kara shrugged. “Besides, I like the walk.” She set the flowers down on one of the large circular tables.
He’d been in the barn several times for events since they’d opened up last year. This, however, was the first time he’d been in it when it was empty.
The sheer size of the place was almost intimidating. As was the massive chandelier that hung overhead.
Most of the large round tables had been moved aside and all the chairs sat upside down on the tables.
Kara walked over and flipped on a switch, flooding the dim barn with light.
“I can unload the rest, if you have someplace that you’re supposed to be,” she offered, looking at him sideways.
“I’m free.” He hoisted another box of flowers out of the bed of his truck. He almost bumped into her since she was standing directly behind him.
“I’ve got these,” he suggested as he picked up another box. “Don’t you have to be setting these up?”
“Not yet. The event isn’t until tomorrow afternoon.” She took another armful and followed him back inside.
“Will these last?” he asked, running a finger over the white petals of a rose.
“Yes, we have a refrigerated room in the back they’ll be stored in until I set out everything tomorrow.”
He frowned. “Then why aren’t we taking them back there?”
“I didn’t want to put you out too much,” she admitted.
He hoisted the box up and motioned. “Lead the way.” As he followed her through the large space, past all the tables and chairs and the massive wood staircase that led to the second floor, he took in everything about the space. When he’d been there before, he’d been so focused on the people who had filled it.
He had no idea that behind the stairs there was a full-sized gourmet kitchen in the back. He hadn’t thought about where all the food he’d enjoyed had come from.
“This is nice.” He looked around the empty space.
“Yeah, Parker did a great job turning this into a kitchen.” She turned to glance over at him. “It used to be stalls for pigs.” She chuckled and turned back to the task of opening a large refrigerator door.
“It did?” He glanced around the space again and realized that the outer walls were newer than everything else in the place.
He wondered just how much the sisters had spent on fixing the place up and if they’d had work done on the cottage they lived in as well. He’d helped Stephan Roger move out of the old place and remembered thinking that whoever moved in to the place would need to put work into it to make it livable.
As he helped her cart the flowers into the back, he asked.
“So, did Parker fix up the cottage too?” He was surprised when she frowned.
“No, Robin and I are trying to do that work ourselves.” She groaned.
“Why?” He remembered everything that he could about the cottage and its last state.
“We spent most of our funds fixing this place up.” She set the last box of flowers into the refrigerator. “We both agreed that the business should come first,” she added with a shrug.
“At least it’s comfortable, right?” he asked.
She shrugged again and walked out of the kitchen. “We spend most of our time here.”
He followed her out to the main area again and thought about spending his day following his brother around versus spending it helping Kara.
“I can help,” he said quickly.
She turned back towards him, her eyebrows lifted slightly.
“With?” she asked after a moment.
He shrugged and felt like a fool.
“Whatever you need,” he answered quickly. “My brother-in-law isn’t the only one good with his hands.”
Chapter Five
For just a split second, Kara’s mind went to a vastly different place than she knew Conner’s had been. Images of him hovering above her, pleasing her, flashed so quickly in her mind that she reached over and grabbed the edge of a table.
“You know, if you have painting or something like that that needs to be done in the cottage?” He shrugged and suddenly looked uncomfortable.
That instantly cleared those sexy thoughts from her mind. Though her body was still vibrating at the thought of him touching her and of her enjoying that sexy body that she’d seen the other night in the moonlight.