Chapter Twelve
“Ready for the grand tour?” Eloise welcomed her brother, who had caught a ride to Sadieville with one of the production crew. Practically ready to burst at the seams, she couldn’t contain her excitement at sharing her latest venture with her big brother.
The morning sun streamed through the front windows, highlighting the rich tones of the restored hardwood floors and turning the brass fixtures to gold. Danny’s footsteps echoed in the quiet space as he took it all in.
“This hall is mostly tables, more casual. Eventually, there will be room for dancing if we have live music. The next hall over is a bit more formal, private, and thanks to the carpeting, quiet. Eventually, we hope it will be reservation only.”
“This is incredible, El.” He ran his hand along the paneled wall to one side, then looked up at the ceiling and the crystal fixtures. “When you said historic building, I pictured something…” He gestured vaguely.
“More rundown?” She grinned. “You should have seen it before. The Farradays are miracle workers.”
The cobalt blue drapes she and the designer had agreed on brought a burst of bright to the otherwise classic décor of white table clothes and the carpeting in the next room. One of the tables was already set with gold rimmed white china, and flower vase center table. “No napkins?” Danny teased.
“Depends.” She loved that this restaurant would be casual at lunch, and then, by dinner time, convert to fine dining. “There will be white and black napkins depending on what the customer is wearing.”
“Excuse me?” He blinked. “You’re coordinating napkins with clothing.”
Her head bobbed. “Yes. You don’t want a woman in a black velvet skirt to have flecks of white linen on her lap.”
“Ah,” Danny’s confusion converted to a broad smile, “and if she’s wearing white—”
“Or pastel.”
“Or pastel,” he repeated, “then the white linen so they don’t have residue of black flecks.”
“Exactly.” She loved that he seemed as pleased by the detail as she was.
His gaze scanned each of the old photographs of Sadieville’s glory days, carefully restored and framed, lining the walls, before landing on the two couples seated at two tables in the quieter room of the restaurant. “I thought you said the restaurant isn’t open until Friday?”
“It isn’t.” For the better part of the week, Eloise had been working with the night servers. While she hadn’t been cooking a full menu, Molly had been gracious enough to share her daily leftovers to use for training. The crews had been taking turns being guinea pigs with the servers. “That’s a training meal and, if you’ll excuse me one moment, I need to address something. Be right back.”
She left her brother looking at the photographs while she approached her most recent hire. “Carl, I know you’re not used to it, but it’s very important that you remember, serve from the customers left and remove the plates from the right. You just served Valerie from her right.”
The poor guy looked crest fallen. “Sorry, Chef.”
“I know. This is why we’re practicing.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
There were so many things for waiters to learn about the caliber of restaurant she hoped to create when there were no fine dining restaurants within 100 miles of Sadieville or Tuckers Bluff, but she had faith the crop of help she’d hired were up to the task.
“Trouble in paradise?” Danny turned to face her.
“Not at all. And you’re right. This is the closest thing to paradise I’ve ever seen.” She linked her arm with Danny’s. “Follow me and I’ll show you my favorite part.”
The double doors swung open to reveal her pride and joy—gleaming stainless steel and state-of-the-art equipment arranged exactly to her specifications.
Danny whistled. “Sweet.” Above them, the sound of hammering carried through the ceiling. “What’s that?”
“The crew has begun working on our apartment.” She pointed upward. “Barring any surprises, should be ready in about six weeks.”
“Our apartment?” Danny’s eyebrows rose. “Above the restaurant?”
“Perfect commute, right?” She spread her arms, and lifted her gaze to the ceiling a moment. “Though I have to admit, leaving the ranch is going to be harder than I thought.”
“They’ve been good to you.”
“They have.” Her head tipped slightly as she studied her brother. “Hannah thinks that her equine program could be a good supplement to your other therapy.”
“El…” His tone held a warning.
“No pressure.” She held her hands out. “But the options there if you want it.”
“I’m the big brother, you’re not the big sister.”
“I know, it’s just..” Just what? “If the VA is taking too long to organize your therapy, the equine program could be a good option.” They’d both been disappointed to learn that the VA in Midland had transferred his files to Butler Creek and no one in either location seemed to know which end was up. Not that it mattered much, but the fear that he’d slide back to the man in Chicago who couldn’t handle the pressures of day-to-day living, tugged at her gut.
All Danny did was nod. Not a word. She had no idea if that was good or bad, but hoped she hadn’t taken too much for granted with this move for Danny. She so wanted the best for him.
“So, when do I get to see this easy commuter apartment?” Danny changed the subject.
“Now.” Rubbing her hands together enthusiastically, she almost squealed with excitement. Last time she’d been upstairs, demolition was mostly complete and the place was a mere shell. With all the final touches on the dining rooms and training the staff, she had little time to snoop. Besides, the one time she’d finished before Quinn and tried to peek, they’d shooed her away. Though she shouldn’t have been surprised, wasn’t the final reveal the big event on reality renovation shows? She just hoped they let her in today.
As they headed toward the stairs, Eloise couldn’t help thinking how right everything felt. Her restaurant almost ready, her brother here, Quinn making her and Danny’s apartment perfect for them. Except for the little snag with the delay in therapy, everything was perfect, Quinn was perfect. If she was going to be honest with herself, it wasn’t the ranch, or the views, or the family dinners she was going to miss, it was time with Quinn. And what the heck was she supposed to do about that?
Between the hum of power tools and the thwacking noise of hammers swinging, for a brief moment of synchronized silence, footsteps on the wooden steps alerted Quinn to Danny and Eloise’s arrival. He’d been watching the clock for the last hour, knowing that this was the first time she’d seen the apartment since they’d demolished the awkward footprint of the original dwelling from the last century.
Without sheetrock, it might be difficult for her to imagine what was coming. Not everyone could understand the maze of two-by-fours filling a home in the framing stages. They hadn’t even gotten to installing the plumbing yet, but he was hopeful that she would be pleased nonetheless.
The door eased open and Quinn set his drill down and approached the two guests. “Watch your step. Some of the floor boards are up so we can run the plumbing.”
“Yes, sir.” Danny answered first. Eloise merely nodded, glancing down at the gaps in the floor before stepping over the threshold.
Once they were inside the doorway, Quinn hollered at the crew. “Okay, folks. Take a lunch break.”
His brothers and a few of their crew set their tools to one side and in a single file made their way out the door and down the stairs.
Turning to face Eloise, he gestured at the skeleton of rooms around them. “Welcome to your future home, at least the bones of it.”
Eye’s wide, Eloise inched into the main open space. Scanning from left to right, the corners of her mouth slowly tipped upward as if she were indeed seeing the finished product.
“At this stage it’s hard to imagine, but—”
Shaking her head, she cut Quinn off. “No, I can see.” Her fingers traced at the bottom frame of what would be the new kitchen windows. Not the original one, but three larger, consecutive windows.
“So you’ll have more natural light at the counter,” he offered.
Her brother following more cautiously behind her studied the exposed beams overhead. “Original timber?”
“The ceiling, yes. The idea is to leave some exposed for atmosphere. We tried to reuse as many of the original two-by-fours as possible for the walls as well.”
Danny stopped at an awkward line of angled wooden supports. Without saying a word, he turned to Quinn.
“Since we removed the supporting wall there, we’re waiting on a new beam.”
“Look, Danny.” Eloise crossed into one of the two bedrooms and stared out the window. “You can see all the way to New Jersey from here,” she teased.
Danny nodded, but didn’t speak.
“Hollywood bath will be here.” Quinn pointed to the open space between bedrooms.
“Hollywood?” Eloise’s forehead crinkled in confusion.
“There isn’t really enough room for two full baths, so you’ll have a sink and toilet adjoining one room, a shared tub shower combo and a linen closet in between, then a sink and toilet on the other side next to the second bedroom.”
Head tipped to the side, and one eye closed, she studied the studs and shook her head. “I think I’m going to have to wait for some more work to be done to see that.”
Quinn chuckled. “Trust me. It will be perfect.”
She nodded, murmuring, “Always.” Her cheeks pinkened slightly as her gaze pulled away from him and turned to face the soon-to-be bathroom again.
“All I have to say is you’d better not be taking any hour-long baths.” Danny’s tone was light, but Quinn caught the way his eyes seemed to track the distance from the bedrooms to the front door. A good military man is always prepared, but Quinn couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Danny was a little more uneasy than he was letting on.
“To make things easier to visualize,” Quinn pointed to a kitchen wall, “I took the liberty of taping off where cabinets will be in the kitchen.”
Her hands clasped in front of her, Eloise practically shook with excitement. “It’s so big!”
“We can’t put a professional chef in a kitchen suitable for a mobile home.” Quinn moved to stand beside her in the framed-out space. “I know how important counter space is to all cooks. There will be commercial grade everything, just scaled for home use.”
He’d spent hours with Neil going over the plans, making sure she’d have everything she could possibly need or want. The island would be big enough for prep work but positioned so she wouldn’t feel isolated from the living area. It took a few attempts, but they finally worked the space to include a walk-in pantry.
Frowning, she looked from ceiling to floor at the studs and suddenly her face lit up. “Is this…”
“A pantry.” He bit back a smile and nodded.
Her bright smile and soft squeal did something to his chest that had nothing to do with construction dust. He forced himself to step back, to remember this was about making a home for both siblings and not about his growing feelings for her.
Delighted with her enthusiasm, he leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles, watching her practically sail through the room, showing her brother where they’d put the sofa, two chairs, then change her mind and move them closer to the window. When she teetered on which wall would she put the Hoosier, he had to bite back a smile. Wouldn’t she be surprised when she learned he was refinishing the old piece?
Her enthusiasm was contagious. The more she carried on about the apartment and the furnishing, the moments of hesitancy and reservation he’d seen in Danny seemed to evaporate, until her brother’s smile bloomed in earnest and even grew.
The downside of all this enthusiasm—in just a few weeks, the apartment would be ready, the furniture would be delivered, and they’d leave the ranch. For good. All he could think about was how empty the ranch would feel without her there.