“I was thinking of adding some nice fixtures,” she began as they stepped into the living room. “Antique ones, ideally.”
“Those may have to be rewired to work now that the wiring here is updated,” Tanner said.
“Oh,” she replied.
“But I can do that,” he said. “No problem at all. Before I go I’ll write down the names of a couple of shops you could check out. Some of them have other things too, not just fixtures.”
“Thank you. That would be great,” she told him, feeling much better about the process already. “I’m trying to go with older items that match the house, or at least some cozy, vintage pieces.”
“Cottagecore, huh?” he asked. “I’ve always liked that style, and it’s great on a budget.”
“Yes,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too surprised. There was no reason he shouldn’t be aware of the popular design trend. “Exactly.”
“Maybe you can look around, send me a few photos and we can go from there,” he offered. “And if you can’t find what you’re looking for out here, you can send me online photos and I can check some of the bigger places next time I’m in Philly. Probably won’t be till after the holidays, though.”
“Thank you,” she told him. “This is so great.”
“I appreciate the business,” he said with a smile.
Hailey was relieved that this whole conversation couldn’t be more opposite from the one she’d had earlier. She had forgotten how the Trinity Falls community took care of each other. It made her feel good all over again about coming home.
“Also,” she said, “I was also hoping to add some things outside—lighting and maybe some heat.”
“I can help with the lighting and we can hook you up with a plumber to run a gas line for heat lamps or even a grill,” Tanner said right away. “No problem at all. Can we take a look?”
“You two go on,” Ransom said. “I’ll keep an eye out for Aidan—he was going to help out with some carpentry and painting.”
“You’re going all local,” Tanner said approvingly. “That’s great, Hailey.”
“It was Ransom’s idea,” she admitted. “He really saved the day.”
“He’s a good man,” Tanner said. There was something about the way he said it. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was almost like he thought she and Ransom were together again.
She glanced over at her helpful ex-boyfriend to see if he was getting the same vibe, but he was already heading out to the porch again to wait for the carpenter.
He dumped me right before senior prom,she reminded herself.
But somehow the memory didn’t hurt as much today as it usually did.
An hour later,both Aidan and Tanner were leaving, and Hailey had a vision of what the house was going to be.
“Thank you for this,” she said to Ransom as they watched the two trucks pull out.
“It’s my pleasure,” he told her softly. “And we’re going to have fun painting, just you wait and see.”
“I could probably afford to have Aidan do a lot of the painting,” she ventured.
It was true, she had budgeted for it, even if it was tight. And she hadn’t planned on asking Ransom or anyone else for help.
“You don’t want to do it ourselves?” Ransom asked, a note of what might be disappointment in his voice.
“I mean, yes, of course I want to,” she told him right away. “It would leave me with more of a buffer before I need to start having a lot of bookings.”
And maybe because it would be an excuse to spend more time with Ransom, but she wasn’t about to say that.
“Sure,” he said lightly.
But when she looked up at him, the hint of a smile was tugging up the corner of his mouth.
