Just One Look (Castleton Hearts)

“That’s a good idea. I don’t remember her well enough to know what she’d like. Babe, do you know?” Paige looked at Esme.

“No, she’s never come into the bar. As far as I know, she’s pretty much a recluse, except for when she hangs out with her brother.”

This was going to be a challenge, but I wasn’t one to give up.

I was going to win over Theo Harmon and get a good deal on a dining table in the process.

Chapter Two

I called my mom briefly after my dinner with Paige and Esme. She and I talked nearly every day, and I really did miss her. Having her hours away in Boston was strange for me. Even when I’d had my own apartment, I’d always been over at my parent’s house or meeting her for coffee or going with her to visit Memma.

I had to sit on an air mattress on the floor that served as my bed because I didn’t even have any chairs yet, let alone any other furniture. I tried to think of it like camping. At least I had a working toilet.

“When are you going to invite me up?” she asked.

“Soon. I just want to get the house a little more done.”

Mom sighed. “And when is that going to be?”

“Soon,” I repeated. “These things take time.”

Mom sighed again.

“Do you want me to call the contractor and tell him that my mom says hurry up?”

That made her laugh.

“It might make them hurry up. I don’t like thinking of you in a half-finished house. You should go back to staying at that inn. You know, I’ve read these articles about the dangers of construction dust,” she said, and rambled on doing her mom thing. I let her, and said I’d think about going back to the inn, but I didn’t want to.

We ended our conversation and opened my laptop to pull up the plans for the cottage that I’d gone over with the designer. Drywall was going in next week and then the new electrical and I’d be in business. Well, except for the kitchen, but that was a whole thing. Right now, I would be happy with walls and lights. Not that I didn’t love using battery-operated candles and a battery pack to charge my phone and laptop. I was becoming one with the house. Seeing the process from beginning to end. If the contractor would have let me put on a hard hat and nail things, I would have.

I pulled up the picture of the dining table that I’d seen online and had been absolutely coveting. It was just perfect. I’d measured the space and everything. Plus, then I needed the chairs and side tables for the living room and a bed frame and nightstands, and there was this beautiful rocking chair that I was trying to convince myself I needed, too.

Going from digging through the couch cushions for quarters for the laundry to having a number in your bank account with a lot of zeros still blew my mind every day.

I didn’t actually know how much the furniture was going to cost. The website didn’t have any prices. That had been the main reason for going to the shop yesterday, but then I’d gotten completely derailed by Theo.

“Memma, help me out,” I said to the ceiling. I was met with silence, but then I heard a creak somewhere in the house.

When the shock at the inheritance had worn off, Mom and I had sat down and she’d helped me make a list of what I wanted to do.

“You should quit your job,” she’d said immediately. I’d almost fallen off my chair in shock.

I’d gone to college and gotten a degree in communications but hadn’t been able to find a job that really made me happy, so I’d sort of bounced around and ended up as the manager of a fitness studio. I loved everyone I worked with, but it was barely paying the bills, and I’d been looking for my next position when everything happened with Memma.

“You aren’t happy there, and now you have the freedom to figure out what really lights you on fire. You can do anything, Kendra. Anything.”

It seemed like a huge leap to quit my job, but with my mom’s support, I put in my notice and started making a dream board of what I wanted my life to look like. I’d never dreamed of so many options. It was an overwhelming situation. I could go back to college. My loans were paid off now, thanks to Memma. I could travel the world, I could buy a boat, I could become a recluse and never leave the cottage. Way too many options.

Now, months later, I had moved into the cottage, but I still hadn’t finished that dream board. After chasing so many possibilities, I was ready to sit back and let one come to me.