“There were.” Joseph had offered to help set up the cottage, but her friends were already building most of the furniture.
Surprisingly, she was on her own in the cottage. He tapped on the door. “Would you like some visitors?”
Shona turned and smiled. “Of course, I would. Welcome to the almost finished Cozy Quilt Shop.”
“I like the name of your store,” Adele said as she ran her hand along the mahogany table in front of them. “Where are the quilts?”
“They’re sitting in boxes in the kitchen,” Shona replied. “I’ll put them on the shelves tomorrow night.”
Joseph looked around the cottage. It already looked like a store worthy of any boutique business he’d seen. Along one wall, a series of wooden shelves were waiting for the items that would fill them. There was even an old desk that had been converted into a sales counter. Beside the fireplace, a sofa and two colorful chairs provided a space to rest and relax. But it was the display table in front of them that caught his eye. Made from solid wood, it was a work of art.
Shona must have seen him admiring it. “I thought you might like the table. It belongs to Penny and her sisters. They placed it in storage when they remodeled The Lakeside Inn. I couldn't believe it when she offered to lend it to me for the store.”
“It's the type of furniture that needs to be used.” He ran his hand along the tabletop, feeling the silky smoothness of timber worn from many hands doing the same thing.
“Could you make a table like this one?” Adele asked.
“I could, but it would take a long time.”
Shona picked up an empty box. “It belonged to Penny’s grandparents. She thinks it’s more than one hundred years old.”
Adele’s eyes widened. “That’s older than Granddad.”
Shona smiled. “It’s older than most of the people living in Sapphire Bay. What have you been doing tonight?”
“We had pizza for dinner, and then Dad took me for a walk around the lake. Do you want to have ice cream with us?”
“Is that okay?” Shona asked him.
“We’d enjoy your company.”
“In that case, I’d love to join you. All I have to do is quickly sweep the floor and then I’m finished.”
Joseph looked around the store. “Do you have another broom? I could help.”
“That would be great. I’ll be back in a minute.”
While Shona was in the kitchen, Adele looked up at the ceiling. “Look up, Dad. Isn’t that the most amazing ceiling you’ve ever seen?”
He lifted his gaze to the pressed tin ceiling. With the lights turned on, it looked even more impressive than during the day. “It is. When Granddad was a boy, his parents had the same type of ceiling in their house.”
“Why don’t we have one in ours?”
“I don’t think the house is old enough.”
“I’d have one like this.”
Shona joined them and handed Joseph a broom. “I’ve swept most of the floor. We only need to do the front half of this room.”
With a lot of laughter, they swept the floor while Adele practiced singing Christmas carols. Joseph questioned his reluctance to tell Shona the truth, especially with the overwhelming sense of rightness, the ease they all felt around each other.
But then he remembered his ex-wife’s demands, the reason she’d stayed married to him for so long. If anyone wanted to be a special part of his life, it had to be because they liked him—not his bank account. And, no matter how genuine Shona seemed, he couldn’t risk sharing his life with someone like Hillary.
CHAPTER9
Shona held her hand over her mouth and stifled a yawn. She'd left Sapphire Bay with Paris and Andrea at dawn. Usually, she would have been wide awake for the four-hour drive, but working at the cottage each night was more tiring than she’d thought.
She’d been looking forward to this trip all week. As well as finding Paris a dress, she couldn’t wait to see Nate. Talking to him on the phone was okay, but seeing him in person was so much better.
