by Jill Sanders
“Wow,” she said, ignoring the rest of the decorations and making her way to the windows. “This is almost a better view than Matt’s place.” She reached for the door handle and swung open the French doors.
The salt air hit her, causing her to smile.
“It’s one of the reasons I bought the place the moment I saw it.” Carter stood beside her again, the tray of food gone from his hands. “The yard still needs work, but I have time this weekend.”
She glanced down at the yard below them. There was a big enough piece of grass to hold several outdoor tables and chairs, which is what she had planned on.
“Blake said the backyard was perfect.” She smiled over at him. “It’s perfect.”
His eyes left hers for a split second and fell on her lips, causing her to lick them nervously. He swayed softly in the evening breeze, his body almost brushing against hers.
“I…” He cleared his throat. “I’ll show you the rest of the place.” He moved away quickly and stepped back inside. She followed him and for the first time, glanced around the room.
The decorations filling the room made the place more modern than she’d imagined a Victorian home this old could ever feel. The freshly painted walls were a soft, warm cream, making everything look refreshed.
“Will this work?” he asked, walking over to the kitchen area. Her eyes tracked his movement, then pulled away as she looked at the kitchen itself. A huge chop block island separated the rooms. The kitchen was bigger than any she’d seen before.
The floor was covered in older white and black checker tile, but it was still in good repair. A few area rugs added color and warmth. A huge stove almost filled the back wall, and she could tell that it was a new addition to the home. One wall of the kitchen had huge windows and small pots hanging from hooks. Green herbs grew in containers on the windowsills. A massive double-wide steel refrigerator sat on the other wall, along with double ovens.
“Yes.” She looked around. “Wow, you could run a restaurant out of this place.” He chuckled.
“I do like to cook.” He leaned a little closer. “It’s why I opened my own place.”
She moved next to him. “So do I.” She turned to him. “I made the lasagna.” She nodded to the pan he’d set on the counter.
His eyebrows slowly rose. “I’m looking forward to having some.”
She stopped him from opening the container. “First, a full tour of the house.”
He nodded. “Let’s stick this in the warmer.” He set the pan inside the oven, then flipped a couple of buttons. “I have some bread we can heat up with this.” He pulled a pan out of the freezer. “It should take about thirty minutes to cook.” He set the frozen homemade bread in the other oven and turned it on, setting a timer. “It messages my phone.” He smiled. “Coolest thing I’ve seen in ages.”
“No way.” She moved closer to him and watched as he opened an app on his phone. “Wicked.”
He chuckled. “Okay, how about the tour then.” He motioned around. “Where to first?”
“Well, since we’re about to lose the light, how about outside first?”
He nodded, then walked over and opened the patio doors again.
She stepped out once more on the balcony and looked down at the yard below. There was a strong wall separating the bottom of the porch area and the flat section of grass, which needed trimming.
“I plan on planting some bushes and flowers along here.” He waved to the section between the two areas. “Maybe I’ll add a small stone pathway.” He shrugged. “I haven’t fully decided yet.”
“It’s perfect. I was thinking of renting one of those white tent things for the party. I think there’s enough room here for it.” She gauged the space. “That way people can enjoy the view.” She turned to the ocean again. Almost twenty yards down, the soft sand of a private beach called to her, but she knew she didn’t have time to explore it. Not this time anyway.
“I have a lot of other plans for the place, too.” Carter’s eyes moved around.
“Do you like outdoor work?” she asked.
His eyes returned to her. “Love it. Corey and I used to work for our dad, doing manual labor.”
“I’d heard.” She sighed, remembering what Lilly had told her about how their father used to exploit them for free labor in his construction business. “Some of the horrors you and Corey went through as kids.” She laid a hand on his arm. “I’m really sorry.”
He was silent for a while. “Yeah.” He turned away and she could tell that he didn’t want to say anything more on the subject.
“Why such a big place?” she asked, changing the subject. He glanced back at her, his dark eyebrows raised. “I mean, it is just you. Corey and Lilly have their own place.” She glanced up at the back of the massive house. “Gosh, you must have close to five thousand square feet, all to yourself.”
He turned back to the beach. “The view is worth all the empty space.”
“I don’t doubt it, but… still, don’t you get lonely up here?”
“I’m hardly ever here for long by myself. I spend most of my time at Baked,” he answered, making his way back to the porch.
She’d initially given up the small apartment she and Lilly were supposed to move in to together so Lilly and Corey could have a place of their own. However, after Carter had purchased this place and moved out of the small home he and Corey had rented when they first moved into town, Lilly and Corey had taken over the lease, allowing Riley to move into the apartment above O’Neil’s Grocery Store just two months ago.
She loved having her own space, but even the small space was lonely sometimes.
“Come on, I’ll show you the rest,” he said, and she followed him back inside.
“I love living on my own, but there are times I miss the craziness of home,” she said as they made their way through the kitchen and living space.
“It’s the first time Corey and I have lived separate,” he admitted.
“Same with Jacob and I,” she added, thinking of her own twin brother.
“Yeah?” He stopped at the base of the stairs. “What does he think of you moving out?”
She shrugged. “He’s okay with it, I guess.” She hadn’t really talked to her brother about moving out, at least not at first. “I guess it’s different.” She started up the stairs, with him by her side. “I mean, Jacob and I are fraternal, you and Corey are…”
“Still twins,” he said, and a smile played on his lips. “Twins are twins.”
“True.” She sighed. “Jacob and I are close, but… I don’t know, he’s a guy and stopped sharing his feelings with me when he grew a foot taller than me.”
Carter chuckled. “Everyone’s a foot taller than you.”
She smiled. “Not everyone.”
“Your nieces and nephews don’t count.”
She laughed as they reached the landing.
“Four bedrooms are up here.” He motioned to the first door. I haven’t done anything with the other three, yet. Blake just finished remodeling mine. I’ll show you that one.”
“I want to see them all,” she told him, following him. “I’ve always wanted to see what this place was like.”
“Sure.” He opened the door to what she assumed was the master bedroom. The room was massive, easily the size of her entire apartment. The walls were a soft taupe. A king-sized bed sat along one wall with a warm blue comforter and pillows. At the end of the bed sat a cream-colored bench. Paintings that Riley had sold Blake from her shop hung above the bed and above the fireplace. The paintings were some of her mother Allison’s best works.
“These go great in here.” She ran her eyes over the one above the marble fireplace.
“Yeah,” he admitted, “they’re by far the best things in the house.”
“What’s through there?” she asked, checking out a door.
“Master bath.” He walked over and swung the door open.
She’d expected a claw-foot tub, but she hadn’t ex
pected the glass shower that took up the whole wall across from it.
“My god, is everything massive in this place?” She glanced around the space.
“They built bigger rooms back then.” He leaned against the countertop, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her move around the space.
“What’s in here?” she asked.
“A closet,” he said as she opened the door and stepped into the room.
“It’s as big as the bedroom,” she said from inside.
“Yeah.” He followed her in. “I was thinking of turning it into a study.”
“Don’t you dare.” She turned on him. “Whatever woman you settle down with will hate you for taking the space away from her.” She narrowed her eyes.
He laughed. “Who says I’m going to settle down?”
She waved his words off. “Every man settles down.” She ran her hand over the marble island in the middle of the room as her mind filled the space with clothes, shoes, purses, and everything else she’d ever dreamed of fitting in a closet this big.
“Not me,” he answered. The tone in his voice made her turn back towards him. Before she could gauge his emotions, however, he turned away.
“We’d better move on if we plan on getting done soon.” He exited the closet.
She took one last look around and realized that his clothes only took up a small section of the built-in closet shelves. His clothes were as lonely as he was in this house.
Following him through the three unfinished rooms, she knew that whatever Blake talked him into doing in the space, it would turn out just as fabulous as the rest of what she had done.
When Carter’s phone chimed, he pulled it out of his pocket. “That will be the bread.” He motioned towards the stairs.
She followed him back down and when she reached the bottom of the landing, the smell of fresh baked bread hit her, causing her stomach to growl.
“Just in time.” She smiled at him. “What can I do to help?” she asked when he pulled the bread out of the oven.
“There’s a salad in the fridge.” He motioned towards it. “I’ll get the rest.”
“Sure.” She let a low whistle escape her when she opened the massive door. “Even your fridge is big.” She found the bowl with a fresh salad in it and pulled it out, along with a bottle of Italian salad dressing.
“We’ll eat in here,” he said, setting the food on the smaller kitchen nook table. “I never really use the formal dining room.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why Blake insisted I needed one.”
“She was right to. You never know when you could have guests over for dinner. More guests, I mean.” She smiled. “This is perfect for just the two of us.” She sat down and watched him finish bringing the food to the table. Then he opened a bottle of wine as he sat across from her. “So,” she said as he poured her some wine, feeling a little nervous, “how’s business?”
He chuckled. “Never better. How are things at your place?”
She relaxed. If there was one thing she could talk about, it was her store.
Chapter Three
Carter relaxed back and listened to Riley talk about her business and how, in the first year, they had saved up enough to buy the building from Josh Williams. Apparently, he was willing to sell the cousins the place for what he’d purchased it for, since the women had made all of the improvements to the building themselves.
He couldn’t believe the man, a businessman he’d known for almost a full year now, would sell the building at such a low price.
“Carrie tried to convince him to sell it to us at the full estimated worth, but…” She pushed her empty plate aside. “He is determined to give us a deal because of the history they have with Carrie.”
“You’d be stupid not to take the deal.” He bit into the lasagna. “I’m impressed,” he said quickly, motioning with his fork to the food.
“Thanks.” She smiled. “If we do take Josh’s deal, it could mean that, at least for a while, we’d be low on funds, including the cushion money.”
“Cushion…?” he asked.
“You know, the coins that you find under the sofa cushions.” Her smile was contagious.
“It won’t set you back will it?” He instantly worried about her and her cousin’s business.
She shook her head quickly. “No, we’ll just have to tighten our belts a little for the next year.”
“I’m sure that at the rate things are going over there it won’t take you long to have enough… cushion money to feel comfortable again,” he said between bites.
“I was thinking that once we pay for the building outright, we’ll be able relax a little more since we won’t need to make monthly rent payments anymore,” she said. She took small bites of her food as if she wasn’t very hungry.
“Paying off the mortgage for Baked was one of the best days of my life.” He remembered the day he and Corey walked into the bank with a check in hand. The money they had gotten as their inheritance from their grandfather had gone to good use. It still shocked him seeing the large amounts of money transferred into their accounts every month.
He’d purchased this house as well as paid off the pizzeria with it. The new car he’d obtained from his grandfather, but of course, he’d purchased a much-needed truck.
“What about this place?” She motioned around her with her fork. “I would have thought that purchasing your first house would have been pretty big deal.”
“True, it was a big deal. But it would have been a lot better had I used my own money.” He finished his first helping and went back for seconds, breaking another chunk of bread off as well.
She was silent for a moment. “I suppose that because you used your inheritance, it’s a little…”
“Tainted…” he finished easily. He’d felt that way from the moment he’d received his first check.
It wasn’t as if Corey and he couldn’t use the funds, but he’d hoped that Baked would provide their future instead of the old man they had barely known and, more important, had hated for most of that time.
“I suppose it’s a lot like your parents buying you your first car versus you saving up your own hard-earned money.” She sighed. “It’s one of the reasons Lilly and I pooled together all of our money to open Classy and Sassy. Not that we wouldn’t have loved to have the store either way, but I understand.”
He relaxed, knowing that she understood him. He filled her wine glass again.
“The restaurant was doing so well before the old man died.” He remembered the day they’d found out that their grandfather had left them everything, instead of leaving it to their father, a decision which had really pissed off their parents.
For the last year, lawyers had danced around in court, battling out who rightfully deserved the money. Still, their lawyer, Earl Triggs, who had been their grandfather’s lawyer, was winning the battle thus far and checks continued to arrive in their accounts on a monthly basis.
“I bet it feels like you never got to run the race before getting the award.” She tilted her head and set her wine glass down. “But you’ve opened Baked up for franchising.”
“Yes, that’s my brother’s endeavor,” he answered truthfully.
“You don’t want to franchise?” she asked, her voice laced with concern.
“I’d be a fool not to want it.”
“But?”
“But my heart is in the original,” he admitted.
“I suppose that if we started opening up Classy and Sassy’s all over the place, I’d always have a tender spot in my heart for the first one.”
“There’s a lot that goes into franchising. More than I ever imagined. Corey’s been working overtime, as well as getting ready for his wedding.”
“Which is where we come in.” She waved her glass, then sipped. “The party…”
“I leave this all in your very capable—”
“Oh no, you don’t.” She shook her head and set her glass down. “I need your help. This is a two-person j
ob.” She leaned forward. “Not one.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “What do you need of me?”
“Well, for starters…” She walked over and pulled a notepad from her purse, and he let out a groan. “I heard that,” she said, sitting back down across from him.
“What?” He shifted in the seat.
“You think I don’t get the same attitude from my brother and father?” She smiled. “It’s not that bad, really. I’ll be doing most of this stuff myself.” She set the notepad down and glanced at the long list. “What I really need from you is just muscle work.” She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, and he felt his heart skip a beat.
Did she know how sexy she was? Was it a practiced look?
Whatever the case was, he again shifted in his seat, this time uncomfortable due to the tightness in his jeans.
“Sure,” he heard himself saying. “Whatever you need.” Hell, that’s all it took with him? A pretty woman bats her eyelashes at him, and he’s whipped like a dog.
She smiled as if she knew exactly what the look that she’d given him had done to him.
“Well, I’ll need some help moving the tables and chairs from the Golden Oar.” She tapped a pen on the notepad. “You have a truck, right?”
He nodded. “Yes,” he added for good measure.
“Good.” She wrote something down. “My father and brother can help you move the tables. Would you be willing to help set up the tent?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
She marked something else down. “I think that’s all I have for you.”
He frowned, seeing the massive list in front of her.
“You don’t need anything else?”
“No.” She smiled and picked up her glass to sip.
“What else is on that list?” He reached for the notepad and spun it around to look at all the items.
“You’re going to do all this yourself?” he asked, frowning down at everything that needed to be done.
“Sure.” She shrugged. “I love throwing parties.”
“Yeah, but…” He zeroed in on one item. “I can pick up the flowers the morning of the party.” He reached for the pen and put his name by the item. “I can also get the supplies.” He noted his name again. “And—”