Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Elaine strode down the upstairs hallway of The Birchwood House with a stack of neatly folded blankets in her arms. She inhaled, enjoying the way the blankets smelled faintly of roses and lavender.
They kept a stock of extra blankets in a wardrobe at the end of the hallway, in case guests ever became chilly in the old house.
They had it well-heated, but it was still drafty in places.
Guests seemed to love the idea of being able to pick out extra blankets from the wardrobe, and one time she had even gone into a room to tidy up and found that the children staying there had made a blanket fort between the bed and an armchair.
Elaine chuckled at the memory as she tucked the blankets inside the wardrobe.
It’s so fun living here, she thought. I can’t wait until these troubles we’re facing have passed and we can get back to simply enjoying the life we’ve made for ourselves.
At the thought of their troubles, she decided to pay a visit to the tiger lily room.
The handyman was there again that day, and she wanted to check in on his progress.
She sighed as she made her way back down the hallway.
She wished that getting rid of Clark was as easy as hiring someone to take care of a messy problem!
The leaky pipe had felt like a huge deal when it had first happened, but now it seemed simple.
Something that had a clear solution was much better than something that didn’t seem to have a solution at all.
“Knock knock,” she said, stepping into the room. Frank, the repair man who owned the company that Evan had called, looked up from his drywalling work with a smile.
“Hello, Elaine,” he said cheerfully. “How are you this beautiful morning?”
“I’m doing quite well, thank you. How are you?”
“Oh, fine, fine. Those doughnuts at Townsend’s made my day a whole lot better. I had some the last time I was here, so I made sure to stop at the bakery on my way this morning. That cream-filled éclair just hit the spot.”
Elaine laughed. “I’m so glad.” She was thrilled that her hopes that Shep would get even more business because of his partnership with The Birchwood House were proving true. “How’s everything going in here?”
Frank sat back on his heels and surveyed his progress.
“It’s coming along. That leak is definitely fixed, so we sealed up the wall there.
Sanding off the lead paint took a minute, since we had to be so careful about the clean-up, but this new layer of plaster is just about finished.
Once it’s all done and sanded, I think we should be all set.
And I’m happy to paint the closet for you—Michelle said she wanted it orange, so you three would do it yourselves, but I’m not opposed to painting with orange paint. ” He laughed.
“Sure, sounds great.” Elaine smiled. Frank charged very reasonable prices, and she was also happy to pay him for his good work.
She and Audrey and Michelle were still very busy, so having someone else tackle the painting of the closet sounded like a very good idea.
“How soon do you think we’ll be able to rent the room out again? ”
“Oh, I’d say in the next couple of days.
It’s a bit of slow going for me today since my partner has the day off, visiting his sister at her college.
Once he comes back though, we’ll get all this finished in no time.
We’ve started using those new low VOC paints, so the smell won’t be anything to write home about.
I think as soon as it’s dry, you can go ahead and put some people in here. ”
Elaine laughed. “That’s great news, thank you, Frank. We really appreciate all the time you’ve spent on this—and we’re especially thankful for how quickly you stopped up that leak. Evan was right to recommend you so emphatically.”
Frank smiled, looking pleased. “You have Evan to thank for how quickly I got here that day. I’d been planning on going to another job first, one that I already had scheduled, but he told me I needed to reschedule with that client since the matter wasn’t urgent.
‘Come on, Frank,’ he told me. ‘You’ve got to get over there and save the best hotel in Coral Sands. ’”
Elaine laughed, delighted by the colorful way Frank told the story and by the revelation that Evan had come to their rescue even more than she’d originally known.
“We’ve definitely saved the hotel,” Elaine said. “And we couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks, Frank.”
“Of course.” He stood up and picked up his toolbox. “I’ve got to let this dry before I can do any more, so I think I’ll head out for the day. Do you need anything else before I go?”
“Not today, thankfully, but I appreciate the offer, thanks, Frank. If we do have any issues, we’ll be sure to let you know.”
Elaine waited while Frank gathered his things and then she walked him downstairs to the front door.
She offered him a cup of coffee and one of the cookies from Townsend’s that were on a tray in the front hallway, but he said that although the offer was extremely tempting, he was about to get lunch with a friend and he didn’t want to spoil his appetite.
He left through the front door and Elaine waved goodbye to him through the doorway. She was about to shut the door and return to the house when she noticed a white cardboard box resting next to the autumn-themed doormat.
What’s this? she wondered curiously. I wasn’t expecting a package—and there’s no address written on it. It couldn’t have arrived through the mail.
She bent down and picked it up, noticing that there was a note peeking out of the side of the box. It was written on yellow paper, and she could see a few of the words on it. They were handwritten, not printed, and her curiosity was piqued even more.
She sat down on the porch swing and set the box down next to her. Then she carefully pulled the note from the box, squirming with the hope that it was for her. It was. The first word on the paper was her name, followed by a dash.
“Elaine,” she read in a whisper, scrunching her toes with excitement.
The handwriting was a bit messy, but still legible.
It was an unusually rounded hand that she found charming, since it was so unique.
“The repairman stopped in to get a doughnut before heading to The Birchwood House. He said that your guest room is soon to be back in functioning order. Here’s to conquering every task that comes your way just like I know you can. Keeping being a go-getter. Shep.”
Elaine’s mouth popped open into a surprised little “o.” She reread the words again, her heart beating faster.
What’s in the box? she wondered, feeling a thrill go through her that reminded her of the way she’d felt on Christmas morning when she was a child. Shep gave me something?
She pulled back the lid of the cardboard box and sucked in her breath when she saw that the box was filled with pastries.
There were pistachio-chocolate cookies, two bear claws, a lemon poppyseed muffin with lemon glaze, and raspberry-jam-filled powdered doughnuts.
It took her a few seconds to realize that every item in the box was one of her favorite pastries.
For a moment, she was completely flabbergasted, wondering how on earth he could have known.
It was as if he had psychic powers, or the absolute best luck in the world, just happening to pick all of her favorite baked goods.
She realized a few seconds later, however, that she had told him about all of those treats being her favorites.
She’d made casual comments here and there or exclaimed in delight when she was eating them.
He must really have been paying attention, she thought, biting her lip and feeling tears rush into her eyes. I never even stated a list or anything like that.
She felt deeply touched by the gesture. It had been incredibly sweet of Shep to think of her and want to give her the encouraging gift, but the fact that he’d remembered all of her favorite pastries meant far more to her than the gift itself.
It showed that not only did he care about her a great deal, he’d cared about her for a while.
She shook her head, wondering what it meant. Was it a clear sign that Shep was interested in her romantically, or did it simply mean that they were very good friends?
She stared into space for a few moments, and a smile spread across her face.
She felt as though butterflies were dancing through her core.
Although she wasn’t positive what the sweet gesture meant, she was positive that it made her extremely happy.
She never would have believed Shep to be so thoughtful, but clearly life was full of surprises.
What other surprises were in store for her?