Chapter 18
June 7
Lauren waved good-bye to the Swansons as they exited the lodge, taking their lively tribe with them. “Safe travels!”
The smallest girl waved shyly. “Bye, Miss Lauren.”
“Bye, sweetheart. Enjoy the rest of your summer.”
When the door closed Jonah entered from the office. “That’s one big family. How many kids do they have?”
“Seven. They’re so fun though. I think they had a great time. They want to come back next year.”
“I saw you shooting hoops with them the other day.”
Lauren’s face heated. “I’m, uh, not very athletic.”
“Really? I didn’t notice.”
She gave him a mock scowl.
He chuckled, his gaze clinging in a way that made her pulse quicken.
“Did you stop by just to make fun of me?”
“I actually thought we’d go check out the barn before the weekend guests arrive.”
She’d stumbled across the structure last week and had the idea of turning it into a wedding venue. Another income stream would
be very healthy for the family business. But Jonah hadn’t seemed impressed with the idea. “Really? You like my idea after
all?”
“I just said we’d check it out .”
“It kinda sounds as if you like my idea.”
He rolled his eyes. “Are you free or what?”
“For the moment.” Tossing him a cocky smile, she went to let Tammy know where they were going. Then she slipped out the door
while Jonah held it open. He was a gentleman; she’d give him that.
She had a bounce in her step as she walked. She was thrilled he was giving the barn a look. His parents would never get on
board with the idea if Jonah wasn’t, since he would soon manage and someday own the place. She’d only peeked through the dirty
windows because the door was locked in place.
“Hang on,” he said as they passed the toolshed. “Let me grab the bolt cutters.”
She waited outside the building, her thoughts returning to the barn. As ideas and questions filled her head, she dictated
them on her phone. “Check exterior stone base and roof shingles, period. What is flooring situation, question mark. Is structure
sound, question mark.”
“Pushy woman with ambitious goals, period.”
She whipped around.
Jonah muttered into his phone. “Drags others into folly, period. Won’t take no for answer, period.”
Lauren scooped a pine cone off the ground and whipped it his way. It smacked him in the eye. She gasped, then covered her
mouth. “I’m so sorry.”
His gaze locked on her for a long moment, and then he turned away.
“Jonah, seriously, I didn’t mean to hit you in the eye.” She stepped closer. “Are you okay? Are you bleeding?”
He raised his phone. “Woman has strong arm, period. Atrocious aim, however, period.”
***
Jonah tossed a smirk at Lauren even as she palmed her heart. “Very funny. I thought you were mad at me.”
He made a show of squinting from one eye. “I probably would be—if I could see you.”
“Maybe if your hair wasn’t so long,” she teased.
They started toward the far end of the property and were soon enveloped in the shade of the woods.
She gave him a sideways glance. “Seriously, is your eye all right? It looks a little red.”
“It was only a pine cone, not a butcher knife.”
“Well, it’s not every day you bean your boss in the eye with a projectile. I promise it wasn’t on purpose.”
“No kidding. I saw your athletic prowess on the court yesterday.”
“Hey! That’s not nice.”
He liked this new playful side of her. “It is, however, true.”
She pretended to weigh the statement. “Okay, yes, so I’m athletically challenged. I do have other good features though.”
“Such as?”
Her chin notched up. “I have great hair.”
“Wow, that was fast.”
“It’s all in the conditioner, my friend.”
“I’ll take your word for it. But I have great hair and I’m athletic.” He flung his hair aside with dramatic flair.
She laughed as her gaze flickered over his long dark hair and bushy beard. “You may have a lot of hair, Boss, but that doesn’t
make it great.”
“Ouch,” he said through a smile.
“I mean, it’s summer and all that hair must get pretty hot. Are you barbershop-phobic or something?”
“I’ll have you know I’ve been very busy.”
“Too busy to shave?”
“Maybe.” He sent a mock scowl her way. “Some women like the lumberjack look, you know.”
“Is that a fact?”
“That’s what I hear.”
“Well, some women actually like to see a man’s face once in a while.”
“Are you saying you wanna see my face, Wentworth?”
A nervous laugh escaped. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.”
“Okay... just making sure.” If someone had told him a month ago they’d be flirting, he would’ve said they were crazy. But
here they were, trading quips and sly glances. And if he wasn’t mistaken, Lauren was blushing a little.
“So why’d your parents buy this adjacent property if they weren’t planning to do anything with it?”
“Years ago when it came up for sale, they were worried about who might buy it. And they didn’t want some competing resort
or hotel ruining the serenity of the cove.”
“They didn’t want to put up more cabins?”
“Because of the way the property curves around the cove, there’s not a lot of lake frontage. Besides, they figured eight cabins
were plenty to handle. It’s been a buffer more than anything.”
Soon the woods ended at a bunch of brambles. He moved through them, using the bolt cutter and holding branches back for Lauren.
“I didn’t realize it was this overgrown.”
“I can’t wait to see the inside.”
“Hopefully I can get that ancient lock off.”
“Looks pretty rusty,” she said when they reached the big barn door.
Moments later he snapped the lock with no problem.
Lauren was fairly bouncing on the balls of her feet. She helped him untangle some vines from the door, and then he gave it
a push. It opened slowly with a loud creak.
“Needs new hardware.” He stepped inside and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. And oh, jeez. The place was filled with junk.
Lauren swept past him, a rapturous expression on her face. “It’s just perfect!”
He gave the place a second glance. Nope. Wasn’t seeing it. “Um, have you had your eyes checked recently?”
“See the way the sunbeams flood through the windows? And those rafters—the high ceiling. Ooh, there’s a hayloft.”
“Also, there’s a hundred years of junk in this place.”
“Just imagine what we might find.”
He’d never seen this Pollyanna side of her. “Like an extended family of rodents perhaps?”
That swept the joy from her face. For all of five seconds. “It needs a grand fireplace over here. And there should be lots
of twinkle lights overhead and some draped white tulle to soften the space. The floor is awesome—what we can see of it—but
it’s pretty uneven, which would make it a tripping hazard. The walls seem good and sturdy, though, don’t you think? We’d need
a furnace, of course, and air-conditioning. A kitchen and bathrooms.”
“Sounds very expensive.”
“But do you know what this place could rent for—for one night?”
She named a sum that made him rear back. “Really? That much?”
“People pay a fortune for wedding venues. And this place would seat a ton of people.”
“But wouldn’t we need someone to run a venue like this?”
“It could really be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Minimally, you’d just be scheduling the use of it, and the
renter would be in charge of everything else. Or you could actually hire someone to oversee it all: the tables and chairs,
decorating, catering, all the way up to planning weddings.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“If that’s overwhelming, you could just keep it simple. I checked with a local wedding planner. There’s only one other barn venue in a forty-mile radius. She said a lot of people choose to be married outside in the summer, but the winters here are long and there are few options. That’s a slow time of year around here. It would give the resort a nice income during low season.”
Good point. He hadn’t realized she’d already done so much legwork. If the place could rent for as much as she’d suggested,
one night would earn more than all eight cabins during high season.
Lauren’s phone buzzed an incoming text. “It’s your mom. She needs me back at the lodge.”
“All right. I’m gonna stay and sift through some of this stuff.” He walked her over to the barn door.
“So you’ll think about it? The venue?”
“Tell you what. Get a contractor over here to check the structural integrity. If that pans out, you can get some estimates
on what this place needs, and we’ll go from there.”
Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Really? Thank you, Jonah!”
If she kept looking at him like that, he might just sign the whole property over to her. Putting a happy flush on her pretty
cheeks made his day. But he only said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’re just getting bids.”
“I know. But thank you! I’ll get back to you with some answers.” On the other side of the brambles, she turned, her pretty
hair swinging around her shoulders as she beamed at him. “See you, Jonah.”
At the sight of her beautiful smile, his heart stuttered, possibly interrupting blood flow to his brain for he went mute for
a second. “Uh, yeah. See you, Wentworth. Keep up the conditioner.”
With a wave, she was off.
Keep up the conditioner? “Idiot.” He thumped his head on the doorframe.