Page 94 of The Candlemaker

I’d long resigned myself to the fact that I’d decided to sell Lou the inn from the moment Frankie had impersonated her on our date…and we’d kissed. I was used to all kinds of bribes and bets and blackmail to make business deals happen, but I’d never had someone fight for something quite the way she had. And it sold me—unknowingly at the time—on them.On her.

I stepped onto the property, noting the clean-cut grass cleared of sunset-soaked leaves that had just started to fall from the trees. The steps didn’t creak when I approached the front door, and I would’ve knocked if the door hadn’t been open. The tool bags on the front porch and the low rumble of conversations from inside suggested there was a crew busy inside working.

The new hardwood floors gleamed even under a coat of dust from the continuing renovations. Gone were the tattered wallpaper and the torn-up walls, and in their place was crisp new drywall ready for paint. Sunlight streamed through clean glass; the windows repaired or replaced, and the frames refurbished.

I ran my finger along the doorframe into the living room, my gaze skimming the fireplace on the far wall. They’d done a phenomenal job on the restoration, and it wasn’t evenfinished yet. Honestly, I didn’t expect anything less. Not from Lou. Not from the Kinkades.

I took a deep breath, and beneath the scent of sawdust and stain, I swore there was a trace of cinnamon. A tiny thread that wrapped around all my memories like a bow. No matter what changed here—the floors, the walls, the layout, the decoration—I’d always see that mattress in the center of the floor, the fire in the fireplace dancing shadows across Frankie’s bare skin, the soft canvas a masterpiece of wax and bite marks.

“Can I help you?”

I turned and boxed up those thoughts as a burly man descended the steps. Salt sprinkled his short beard, and the pencil tucked behind his ear introduced him as a carpenter without him saying a word.

“I’m looking for Lou.”

“Think she’s in the kitchen with Hank. Let me grab her for you. What did you say your name was?”

I let out a breath. “Chandler.”

Hopefully she came and didn’t call the police.

Not even thirty seconds later and her familiar braids and glasses appeared at the end of the hall, stopping for a second as though she didn’t believe it could be me.Like there were so many men named Chandler.

Her shoulders rolled back, and then she came toward me, her steps carrying a kind of commanding weight that hadn’t been there before.

“Mr. Collins. I didn’t expect to see you again. What can I do for you?” The politeness to her tone was thin.

“This place looks incredible, Lou,” I said sincerely; it couldn’t hurt to start this conversation with a well-deserved compliment. “Really, you’ve done an amazing job already. You should be proud.”

Red splotched into her cheeks, and she adjusted her glasses. “Thank you,” she stammered, and then collected herself. “But I don’t think you came all the way back to the middle of nowhere to check on a property you never wanted.”

Touché.

“No.” I gave her a tight smile, shifting my weight. “I came back for your sister.”

She made a sound that fell somewhere between a laugh and a choke—neither of which were particularly hopeful.

“I need to talk to her, Lou,” I went on. “I need to explain…what happened. I know she’s angry, and I understand. I just need her to listen, but she won’t. Even before when she hated me, she didn’t avoid me.”

“Why would I help you?”

My jaw locked. “Because it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

“Like what? Where I offered you more money and you left without a word?” The color in her cheeks deepened. “I thought my offer would fix things before they went too far, but I was too late. I didn’t…I didn’t know about the two of you. If I did, if I knew you were just going to take the money and run?—”

“I didn’t take the money, Lou.”

She jerked, her jaw going slack before it snapped closed, and she collected herself. “What do you mean? Of course, you did. I know you did. I paid you. I borrowed money from my brother to pay you.”

“Yes,” I croaked. “And who do you think donated that exact difference back to you?”

There were a few things I’d managed to do in the hospital once things with Mom settled down, and the very first was to figure out how to give Lou back the difference that she’d paid for the inn. I’d never planned on taking more than her original offer, but I hadn’t had a chance.

The color drained from her face, her eyesgoing wide. “No.” Her head started to shake. “That’s from Ms. Laura Todd.”

“Laura Todd is my mother,” I rasped low. “She stayed at the inn a long time ago and had a lot of good memories there. I donated the money in her name—for her.” I cleared my throat. “And because I doubted you’d take it from me.”

Her eyes batted, and she pressed her hand to her mouth. “I don’t…I don’t understand.”

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