Page 20 of New Year's Renovations

I beamed at him. “I’m in.”

Jackson came around the front of the truck, wrapping me up in his strong arms, and dropped a warm kiss on my lips. “Good, I was hoping you’d say that. Now let’s get going; Earl Grey’s getting nervous.” He tilted his head at the cat, curled up on my seat in a tight gray ball, sleeping.

“Yeah, sure,” I said, laughing. “Let’s go.”

Jackson drove slowly and cautiously through town, not even touching the edge of the speed limit. I thought we’d never get there, but eventually we pulled into the drive of Bramblehill House. I let out a huge sigh of relief when I saw the house was standing, all in one piece, with no visible exterior damage.

“Guess you were anxious, huh?” Jackson teased, squeezing my hand.

“Yes, I guess I was. But it’s all good from here.”

“You stay in the truck with Earl Grey. I’m going to make sure there’s no flooding and the electricity came back on.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held a finger against my lips. “I’m not taking no for an answer. Let me make sure it’s safe.”

I nodded, stroking Earl Grey’s soft fur in my lap. “Fine.”

Several minutes later, Jackson was back. “We’re all good. Power’s on and nothing flooded. Tarps worked fine upstairs. You have a ton of snow on the deck, but that’ll probably get torn down and rebuilt anyway. I doubt we can salvage it.”

Jackson grabbed my bag from the back and helped me climb down from the truck.

“Thanks.”

He leaned in, kissing me. “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t gotten my bill.”

He winked and I laughed, feeling better than I had in forever. The year was looking up, even if I still didn’t have a job.

13

Jackson

There comes a time in every reno when things go south. Anything that can go wrong does. Unfortunately, that time had come for the Bramblehill House project. We’d been tracking on-time until the blizzard. Now we were behind schedule, and not just from the lost days of work, but also from delays in shipping materials due to the weather. A double-whammy.

Plus, there were electrical issues that needed repair, some minor water damage in an upstairs bathroom, and one of the bedrooms had been painted the wrong color.

Harper tried to be understanding, but I could see the strain of living in a construction zone was wearing on her. That and the whole job search. She was spending a lot of time sending out resumes, but the selfish part of me wanted her to stay in Starlight Bay. I didn’t know what she could do here, exactly, but I hoped we could find something for her.

“Bro, have you talked to her about it?” Logan asked me over beers atBig Chowder.

We’d just completed the Bennett punch list walk-through and he’d asked me to grab an early dinner with him. Harper was busy with the Bramblehill blog she’d started about the reno, so it was just me and Logan sitting at the empty bar. It wasn’t even five p.m. yet on a Tuesday, so the crowd was mainly Early Bird Special-seekers and us.

I shrugged, my shoulders sagging. “Sort of. I mean, what am I supposed to say? It’s not like I can ask her to give up everything to stay here.”

“Dude. It’s simple.”

“Really?” I asked, taking a drink of my beer. “How d’ya figure?”

“Find her a job.”

“Oh sure, with all my connections in broadcasting,” I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm.

“You played in the NHL, Jackson. I’m sure you have some network connections. Reach out to your old teammates, your coach, anyone, and see what they can do. It’s worth a shot at least. Because I can tell you really like her; you seem happy, man.”

I shifted in my seat, rubbing my palm down my thigh and flexing my fingers. “Yeah, I do like her and I am happy. I could give it a try, I guess.”

“Atta boy,” Logan said, patting me on the back. “Go get ‘em! And I’m assuming dinner’s on you, since you owe me $200 and all.” He shot me a wicked grin.

“Yeah, I got it.”

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