“It’s a secret recipe I’m working on. I’ve blended some things together, and it’s healthy for us. Yes, before you ask it has some kale in it.”
Now, Whitney knows I hate kale, and it explains the color, but not why it’s sweet. I hand her the glass back and decide I’m done taste testing her concoctions. “No more, test them on Clem.”
“Do you think we could hire the town hall and make a huge thing of Valentine's? Or should we keep it small here at the cottage or house?” Whitney asks.
“Not sure. Let me ask around at work and see how many would be interested if we hire the hall. I can get Annabelle to ask her friends too.”
“Okay, let’s look at different things. Disco or a live band of some kind. Food? A bar? Fancy dress?”
“All these questions, Whitney, I don’t have answers to. Let’s do some digging around the people we know. Ask at the convenience store and see what word comes back like, but we’ll have to get a move on or run out of time.” I rub a finger between my eyes where I feel a stress headache starting. “We could do heart-shaped everything, like balloons. Oh, we could speak to the woman in town who has the bakery. She may be able to do heart-shaped cupcakes or cookies!”
“Or both!” Whitney squeals. Now I know she’s getting into this when she grabs my forearm and energetically shakes it, taking me off balance. I grab the edge of the kitchen counter as I give her a warning look.
“Do you want to take over the main organizing? You know the part where we find out if we can hire the town hall? Get the bakery to help, etc.” I’m hoping Whitney says yes because she is excellent when it comes down to organizing. “If you can’t find the time I’ll enroll Annabelle.” Now I grin because I know Annabelle could organize every grain of rice in a packet.
“No, I’ll do it. I’ll let you know when I get an answer. But instead of the town hall, which is okay, but it’s not welcoming, I’ll speak with Brian at the restaurant. He owns thatplace on the edge of town and has an enormous barn where he holds weddings and the like.”
“Oh, I forgot about that place. Yeah, okay, speak to Brian and then let me know.”
The door opens, and Clem marches into the house. He has a heated look on his face, and I hear Whitney giggle. Shit, it’s time I got out of here.
“See you later, Whitney. Later Clem.” I hightail it out of the cottage and shout to Oren, “Come on, Oren, that’s enough, let’s go eat pizza.”
“Yay, you are the best mom.”
If you could see my aura it would glow every time he called me Mom, or momma that slips out now and again. I grab him around the neck, scrunch the top of his head and then kiss all over his face. Which of course, gets me the Mooommm, groan.
Chapter 11
Myles
It’s nearly lunchtime, and I’m ready for a break. Sliding out from underneath this vehicle, I stand and stretch my back out. “You both ready for lunch?” I shout out.
“Yeah, I’ll run over to the bakery if you like. Grab us something. I didn’t bring lunch this morning,” Dan replies as he wipes his hands.
Clem waves me to follow him to the office where he’ll put a pod in the coffee machine Whitney gave him for Christmas. It’s a fancy thing, if I’m honest. It makes decent coffee. Well, better than the crap that came out of the ancient coffee machine we had before it.
“I’ve looked at how much a mortgage would roughly cost. The business can stand it easily, and the extra work we would pick up would cover that and Dan’s salary,” Clem states as he hands me a mug with steaming coffee inside.
“He’s turning out to be a hell of a good catch for us. He’s easy to work with, and I like the man.” I take a seat near the window and lean back to take a sip of my drink.
“Yeah, I like him, and I agree he fits in well. As soon as we get the place next door and we know what is going on financially, I think we should increase his salary. He’s picking up a lot of the work we would have lost.”
“I agree,” I have no argument with that because we’ve already increased jobs through the business in only this short time. “Let’s get the place next door, get it opened up to this building, and get the frontage painted. Have a word with Whitney about how we can make the place look fresher. Less dated. It’s not been done since we got this place and that’s a long time now, Clem.”
“I’ll speak to her and see what ideas she can come up with. She knows people who do design and stuff if she needs to ask for ideas.”
Dan walks into the office with a decadent smell of pastries. “Oh, boy, that smells good,” Clem says as he rubs his hands together, along with a smile on his face.
Head underneath the hood again, I jump when Clem slaps my ass as he walks past. I rub the back of my head thatcracked on the underside of the hood. “What the fuck, Clem?”
“Lou just pulled up outside. Come on, let’s see what’s going on.”
Dan looks over and then continues walking to the junker we are still trying to get roadworthy for Savannah Sykes. The damn thing needs to go for scrap, but she can’t afford another when she is struggling to pay for her mother’s healthcare. It’s why we don’t charge her for our time. We charge only for the parts that are needed. If we have any spares from old vehicles we work on, and that we know we can fit on her vehicle, we keep them. That way she doesn’t have to find any cash.
I follow Clem outside and give Lou a smile. Maylee and Whitney love this woman, and she was fantastic with Whitney when the cottage sale went through. She’s a keeper I’m sure, and unlike some friends I don’t think Lou would stab anyone in the back.
“I want you to do one more walk-through of the property. List anything that is of concern, and if it is something I can throw at the seller I will. All the checks have been done, and as far as I can see there are no structural issues. But I want to know if you see anything to worry about that we haven’t spoken about before.” Lou hands the keys to Clem as he’s nearest to her and then turns back to her SUV. “I’llcollect the key before you close tonight. I have to rush as I have a client viewing in twenty minutes.”
