“Why don’t we price out new faucets? Your sinks are fine, but the faucets are rusty and they drip. And the light over the kitchen sink is atrocious. An updated fixture would be an easy fix. Make a note of all the outlet covers and light switches—we need to update them. These are yellowed and have to go. Pro-tip: sketch the shapes, ’cause you won’t remember exactly what you need if you don’t.”
She continued to make her way through the cabin, Renee following close behind with her clipboard. Tabby pulled out her flipbook of paint samples. Together they picked colors for all the rooms. It was important to coordinate paint throughout since all rooms were visible to each other. Old lamps would be spruced up with spray paint and they decided to tear the stained linen off the shades, leaving the metal exposed for what Tabby claimed was an “eclectic look.”
The cabins needed accessories, too, Tabby explained. New pillows and throws on the old furniture would help give them the look they were after, but they would have to be savvy shoppers. There were no mattresses in either cabin yet. The old ones had been hauled off and her new auction purchases were still in Ethan’s shop. Renee and Tabby positioned two cots in the living room of the first cabin, thinking a fire in the fireplace would help with the May chill. Neither of them knew how to work the fireplace, but how hard could it be? It wasn’t difficult to get the fire started, but they forgot to open the flue, and the cabin quickly filled with smoke. Amidst coughing, sputtering, and giggling at their own stupidity, they figured out the problem and quickly flung open windows and doors to clear the air. This was before they opened a bottle of wine. The giggling continued as they gorged themselves on junk food and vino, having skipped dinner. They talked well into the night.
Matt called earlier that afternoon and Renee had excused herself to go outside and talk. She updated him on the changes they were contemplating to the cabins. Renee didn’t say anything to Tabby after the call. Tabby didn’t ask at the time, but later, when they were curled up in their sleeping bags and the wine was gone, she asked who called earlier.
Renee said nothing at first, considering how much to share. Julie and Robbie had met Matt, but she didn’t think they knew she kept in contact with him since their trip.
“It isn’t a big deal, Tabby. When we were in Fiji, I made a new friend, and we still talk once in a while. “
Renee was purposely vague, but Tabby was no dummy. She caught Renee’s slight hesitation.
“Come on, spill it. Who is this ‘friend’? And why am I just hearing about this now?”
Renee rolled her eyes. Classic Tabby. “Geez, Tabby, it truly isn’t a big deal. We were tired and hungry after our long flight, we rented a car to drive to our resort but stopped at a hamburger stand on the beach, we were excited to take our first steps in the ocean and to finally get food, and I accidently locked my keys in the rental. I wasn’t sure what to do and was on the verge of panic. Just so happened, though, that the local sheriff pulled in the lot and helped us out. After that, I ran into him a few more times on the island.”
“The sheriff,” Tabby teased.
Renee laughed. “His name is Matt. We had a nice visit, and I enjoyed the little bit of time I spent with him, but our trip was short. I didn’t expect to ever talk to him again.”
Tabby sensed Renee shrugging on her cot, even though she couldn’t see her in the dim light from the embers.
“But . . . ? Come on, Renee. Why did he call you today if that’s all there was to it?”
Knowing Tabby wasn’t going to drop it, Renee sighed and continued.
“Shortly after we got home, a bouquet of flowers arrived, along with a nice card from Matt. He suggested we keep in touch and included his contact information. We emailed each other a few times, and I called him about something that came up with Robbie. He helped me out, we talked some more, and now I guess we’re in the habit of talking once a week or so.”
“Did you have sex?”
“Jesus, Tabby, I can’t believe you asked me that!”
“Come on, Renee, you are a grown woman and you were on a beautiful island over New Year’s. You hit it off with some guy. It’s a logical question.”
Renee laughed despite herself. “You never cease to amaze me, Tabby. All right, fine—to answer your rude question, no, we did not have sex.”
Tabby was silent, but it was clear she didn’t believe this.
Renee finally added, “We were interrupted.”
“What?” Tabby yelped, flipping the light on and scrambling for her glasses. “Tell me more, I want details, details!”
Now Renee was laughing wholeheartedly. It had been years since she spilled about her sex life to a girlfriend, and it was somehow . . . a relief.
“The kids and I were eating crab rolls on the beach near the end of our vacation. They finished and wandered off. Matt happened by. He joined me, ate his dinner, and then invited me for a walk. I wanted to give the kids some space, so I agreed—”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s all you wanted,” Tabby said, giggling.
Renee laughed. “Do you want to hear the story or not?”
Tabby put a hand over her mouth to stem the flow of giggles, then waved her hand in the “go on, go on” gesture.
“He showed me his place, we talked some more, then we took a walk down to a fabulous moonlit beach. But before we could do much more than some hot and heavy making out, like a couple of teenagers, duty called. Literally. A girl was missing and Matt had to go into work right away. The case kept him busy, so we didn’t get a chance to see each other again before I left.”
“Oh, man, that is so unfair! Do you think you’ll see him again?”
“I don’t see how,” Renee lamented, her mood shifting. “It isn’t like I can afford to go to Fiji anytime soon, and his work keeps him busy. Maybe, if he would come back here to the States to visit family, we could arrange it, but we haven’t talked about it. We’re enjoying our talks, and maybe it would amount to more if we lived near each other, but we don’t. I don’t know if he’s dating anyone else at all. Like I said, he’s a friend, and we talk. I would be interested in more if it was feasible, but I don’t see how it could be. That’s why I never mentioned him.”
“Remember, my friend, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way,’ ” was Tabby’s response.
I have plenty of will, but no conceivable way, Renee pondered as she lay there in the dark.
Quiet descended after Renee’s confession and both eventually drifted off to sleep. It had been a full day.
***
Morning meant shopping—it simply wouldn’t be a girls’ weekend without it. And so, list in hand, Renee headed into town with Tabby. There was a decent-sized hardware store at the end of Main. After purchasing things off their list, coffee and breakfast were next.
“I saw a little diner in the middle of the street a block down,” Tabby said. “I would kill for a gooey caramel roll and a cup of strong black coffee. It’ll be ten by the time we’re done eating, and a couple of those cute little shops should be open by then.”
The diner had a glass-fronted cabinet under the cash register filled with baked goods, much to Tabby’s delight. Sugar and coffee helped clear the little cobwebs left in their brains from their bottle of wine the night before. A couple ibuprofens each would take care of their sore backs. Sleeping on camp cots had been more comfortable when they were kids.
After breakfast, they got back to their shopping. A bell chimed as they entered the first little boutique through a pale pink door. The air smelled like fresh springtime; pretty knickknacks filled shelves and covered tabletops. As Renee had anticipated, prices were on the high side. In a back corner, a bin full of throw pillows was tucked under a clearance table. At 75 percent off, Renee had to have them. They would liven up the dark green couches in the living rooms.
The second boutique offered more beautiful things. There was a quaint picture of a lone seagull standing on a beach, framed in white, perfect for one of the small bathrooms. Renee could
n’t pass it up, and Tabby wasn’t about to let her either.
Walking back to the truck, Tabby noticed a thrift store down one of the side roads.
“Come on, Renee, you never know what we might find.” Tabby was partway down the block before Renee could stop her.
Entering this shop was a completely different experience. The air smelled musty, and the place was jam-packed, floor to ceiling, with junk. A table of brightly colored plates and bowls caught Renee’s eye. These would look so much better than the chipped, mismatched junk in the cabins now.
The dishes were also cheap. Renee couldn’t pass them up.
“I’ll go get my truck, Renee, while you finish up.”
By the time everything was loaded in the truck and they got back to the resort, it was early afternoon. A pickup and trailer were parked in the lot in front of the lodge. Ethan was lounging against his bumper, smirking at them as they drove in. Their pickup was packed full, and he could tell how they had spent their morning.
“Come on, ladies, help me muscle these damn mattresses out of my trailer and into the cabins. I hope you have some food around here to feed the poor starving help.”
The rest of the day passed quickly. Ethan’s timing was perfect. He helped them unload all of their purchases after they placed the five mattress sets. Even though they hadn’t been expecting him, the soup and fresh bread they picked up from the diner after breakfast fed all three of them. He stayed and helped paint the walls in the first cabin.
“I have the kids tonight, so I have to head out,” Ethan shared as the shadows started to stretch across the grounds. “You’ve made lots of progress out here. I’m almost proud of you, little sis,” he semi-complimented his sister with an easy punch to her shoulder. Catching him in a quick hug, she thanked him again for all of his help and sent him on his way.
Knowing they had to head back the following day, she and Tabby spent another few hours painting in the other cabin, wanting to get as much done as possible. Renee made up new beds in Cabin #1—another night on the cots might have left them both in traction. This time they called it an early night, exhausted from their second full day.
***
Sometime during the night, something woke Renee.
She sat up in bed, startled and disoriented. Had the door just creaked? Maybe Tabby got up to use the bathroom.
But the sound seemed to have come from outside.
Moonlight streamed through the window beside her bed. Old curtains had been ripped down, but new ones still needed to be hung. Slowly she leaned over the side of the bed to look out the bare window. The moon illuminated the area in front of her window, but it wasn’t strong enough to chase all the shadows away.
She was too chicken to get out of bed. Trying to convince herself it was nothing more than her imagination, she lay back down. Everything was dead quiet now, except for the ticking of an old wall clock out in the kitchen and soft snoring coming from Tabby’s room—so maybe she hadn’t just gone to the bathroom.
Throwing the covers up over her head, Renee willed herself back to sleep.
Chapter 44
Gift of New Beginnings
“I think we’re safe to open up our website to accept reservations,” Renee declared when Julie meandered into the kitchen. “We don’t have too much left to do in the first two cabins to get them ready. Tabby helped me take some interior shots we can post. Look at these.”
Julie rubbed her eyes and pushed her hair back as she shuffled up to her mom at the kitchen island. Renee had already fed Robbie a big breakfast before he left for school. His final exams started today. In three days, he would be done with school and the three of them, along with Molly, would pack up and head to the resort for the summer.
“Mom, I had faith in you and Tabby. I already have two tentative reservations lined up for the first two weeks of June.”
Renee jumped off her stool and caught Julie up in her arms, swinging her around the kitchen. Julie laughed.
“It’s happening, honey—we’re doing this! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn’t do this without you.” She let go of her daughter. “Now if only your brother were more excited. He still seemed ticked at me this morning. I thought he would come around by now.”
“Mom, don’t worry about him. He’s just pissed he can’t spend his summer here, playing pickup basketball games and hanging out with his friends. Plus, I think he might like someone. He was texting more than usual, and a group of them went to a movie Saturday night when you were gone. He asked me if the shirt he had on looked all right before he left. Dead giveaway.”
Renee raised her eyebrow at Julie. “How so?”
Julie stared at her mom expectantly. “Mom, he never cares about what he wears. I asked him straight out, but, of course, he didn’t answer.”
Renee groped behind her for her stool, sinking back down on it with a sigh. Robbie hadn’t shown much interest in girls before.
“Wow . . . I hope I’m doing the right thing here. I want all of us to be happy about this.”
Julie brought the coffee pot over to the island and refilled Renee’s cup.
“Give it some time, Mom. Robbie will come around. It’s only for a few months. Besides, we’ll be so busy, the summer will fly by and we’ll all be back here before he knows it.”
“Oh, honey, I hope you’re right. Robbie hasn’t talked much since I made this decision about the resort.”
Julie filled her own coffee cup and pulled leftover pancakes from the fridge, tossing them in the microwave. Her mom’s cell rang and Renee excused herself to take the call. Julie could hear her laughing at whatever the caller said. She figured it must be Tabby. Those two had been talking constantly as they worked on the resort.
Julie plopped down at the island with her warmed-up breakfast. She’d worked hard these past few weeks, learning as much as she could about building websites. She lost herself for hours at a time online, going to other websites to see what seemed to work and what didn’t. She wanted to help her mom make this work. She was no accountant, but she was worried getting their five cabins rented out as soon as possible—and keeping them rented out all summer—still wasn’t going to bring in enough money for her mom to make a living from the place. She wasn’t exactly sure how much money Renee had in savings, or what the arrangements were in Aunt Celia’s will. Either way, she had already resigned herself to the fact there probably wouldn’t be much in the way of income for herself this summer. Renee wouldn’t be able to do this without her, and her mom probably wouldn’t have extra money to pay her, either, which was fine by her. She was determined to trust it would work out and do what she could to help.
Renee came back into the kitchen, smiling about something. “Sorry about that, honey . . . what were we talking about?”
Julie looked at her. “Who was that, Mom?”
“Oh, just a friend, curious about how things are coming along at the resort. So do you think Robbie will be OK with all of this?”
Their conversation continued, but Julie hadn’t missed how her mom sidestepped answering her question about the phone call. Renee was usually an open book with Julie, so this was new.
Maybe it was nothing.
***
Together they started packing for their summer move. Renee made arrangements with the young couple next door to check on the house and keep the lawn mowed. They were expecting their first child, and were excited at the prospect of earning extra money.
Renee hoped the living conditions in the duplex would be tolerable. All they did to this point was clean it. At least there were three small bedrooms—it would have been almost impossible for the kids to share a room at their ages. Renee would have loved nothing more than to start ripping all the old, outdated décor out of the duplex too, but there was neither time nor money for that yet.
By Thursday, Robbie was done with finals and they were almost ready to make their official move. Renee had made two trips over to the lake throughout the week, taking boxes and
food over. There was no way they would have gotten it all in one trip. Renee’s SUV was packed tight. Molly rode on Robbie’s lap in the back seat. Her kennel took up too much room, so they’d disassembled it to make it fit. They would make further trips if needed later, but it would be a while.
Their first guests were scheduled to arrive on Monday afternoon. Renee’s nerves were stretched taut. There was so much to do. Panic was starting to set in.
As the kids made one last check of the house, not wanting to forget anything, Renee took a cup of coffee onto the back patio. She needed to breathe. So much had changed over the past months . . . A year ago today, she would have been sitting in her office, probably on a conference call talking about what they could do to boost sales. She wouldn’t have been able to be outside, enjoying the warm sunshine on her face. She wouldn’t have been scared to death, like she was right now, but she also wouldn’t have been excited or invigorated, either.
I’ll make this work, she thought. I have to. Remember your journal entries, she reminded herself.
When she was packing her room the night before, she came across her journal. Since Christmas, she’d been faithful about journaling, up until she got so busy on the resort. She hadn’t made an entry for a while, but her earlier entries served to remind her why she was doing all this. It would have been easier to go to work for someone else in an office somewhere. She would have earned a regular paycheck—barring another layoff—but she would have been right back to exchanging her time for money on the endless corporate treadmill. She was determined to do everything she could so she would never have to go back to a corporate job.
Chapter 45
Gift of Summer
Despite her previous resolve, when Monday morning arrived Renee would have given anything to be sitting at her old desk with nothing more than a monotonous day of meetings stretching before her. Now she was on the phone with her ornery plumber.
“Please, Burt, I know squeezing me into your already busy schedule is asking a lot, but I would really appreciate it if you could manage to drive out right away. I have a bit of an emergency.” Renee tried to work her charms, desperate to get the old coot to come back out . . . again. He’d already been out and fixed a water heater for her. Guests were arriving mid-afternoon, and having no running water in Cabin #2 wasn’t an option. “I made fresh rolls this morning,” Renee threw in just as Burt was starting to give her his sob-story about already being behind schedule.
Whispering Pines (Celia's Gifts Book 1) Page 23