Lucky Baby (Crescent Cove 11)

I came up behind her and set my hands on her shoulders. She shook me away and twirled around, looking at all the half done things. We were working around all the setbacks, trying to get everything done in between.

“I should have known better. This looks like your place. Everything half done like some ADHD child. Just like you.”

“That’s not fair.” I steered her over to the finished wall. “My crew worked on this wall for three straight days.”

“Wasted time. Could have just painted it.”

“Oh, right. Like you’d do that with one of your cars. It’s like painting it flat white. Don’t give me that, Ruby.”

“There’s pallets of furniture just sitting there.”

“Yeah, because it just came in this afternoon.” I urged her up the stairs to the second floor. “You helped me paint last night. This is almost done. The doors are going on tomorrow after we patch up the roof enough to finish up here.”

Three simple rooms were framed out, and the wet sheetrock was sticking out of the bin we used for trash. The new one was up and taped out, but it needed to be primed and painted.

“What happened? We had this done last night.”

I pointed up at the roof. “Leak got worse. Why we need the roofers.”

“I’m going to have to put my family up at a hotel. Maybe I can talk to Sage.”

I wasn’t touching that one with a ten-foot pole. Sage’s B&B had been full for weeks. Ruby’s family was coming in for Christmas. Not exactly ideal.

“At the very least, we’ll have the room ready for Cohen downstairs. It’s already framed out. We even used the leftover reclaimed wood to make a feature wall in there. Plumbing is finished, and the walk in shower is all tiled. We’re getting there. It’s all set to keep him comfortable.”

“Not fast enough.”

“I’m not a miracle worker, Tish. This kind of job would normally be two to three months minimum. I’m doing the best I can.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Between this and Luna dragging me into the wedding…” She looked ready to scream. “I just can’t.”

“You love Luna.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Sure you did.” I moved to her and took her hand. “You’re just a little overwhelmed.”

She twisted her fingers away and crossed to the pile of furniture all perfectly labeled. “I don’t get overwhelmed.”

“Hate to break it to you, but you’re human. And this has been a lot of changes in a short amount of time. You’re overwhelmed.”

“No, I problem solve.”

I sighed and came up behind her. This time, she leaned back against me. I relaxed as I looped my arms around her middle and tucked my chin on her head. “I had a thought.”

“Oh, great.”

I laughed and turned her around to face me. “The floor is cement, so we can do a treatment on it. Probably better anyway considering foot traffic, sand, and weather. It’s not ideal, but it will cover us.”

She scratched her chin as she thought it over. “Why didn’t you say that before?”

“Before or after you ripped my head off?”

“Sorry. I had to take half a day for the dress fitting. I’ve been pricked a whole lot today.”