Page 117 of Resting Beach Face
Declan had only pursued this renovation because I’d convinced him to do it. He’d wanted to sell clean and simple to those developers. Now, he’d sunk money into supplies and labor expenses to Gray and me. We were saving him by not hiring a formal contractor, but all this mess would add to the tab.
At what point was I causing him more trouble than it was worth?
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Declan
I steppedinto The Roost to see Katelyn on a stepladder, touching up the last of the trim near the ceiling while Cash did touchups along the edge of the wainscoting.
You could hardly tell vandals had touched the cabin, but the cleanup had set us back three days. And it would have been a lot worse if I’d had to do it on my own.
Between making calls to the police and insurance—three times for the latter— I barely had time to run the B&B, much less board up the broken window, install a new door, replace damaged sheetrock, and repaint.
I bought a new camera and got it installed the first night, though. I checked the video stream so often that Cash asked whether he should feel jealous of the attention I gave it, but if those kids came back, I wanted to know it.
“You got paint on you,” Cash said.
Katelyn craned her neck to look down at her body. “I don’t see any.”
“You don’t?” Cash swiped his paint roller over the back of her knee. “It’s right there.”
“Cash!” she shrieked with a laugh.
Katelyn swung out with her paintbrush, just missing him as he danced away. “I’m going to get you back!”
She scrambled down the ladder and chased him across the room, the two of them laughing like loons.
Good thing the floor was already covered in paint.
I smiled and shook my head. “Seems like this is a good time to call it a day.”
They both froze like a couple of naughty children caught in the act. Cash smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. We were just…”
“Taking a break from working really hard.” I crossed the floor to kiss his cheek, carefully steering clear of the dripping paint roller in his hand. “Thank you.” I looked at Katelyn. “Both of you.”
Cash’s sister looked surprised. “You don’t need to thank me. You let me stay here all week.”
“And it was a pleasure having you,” I said. “You don’t have to paint my walls for that. As long as I own this B&B, you’re welcome here.”
She glanced at Cash uncertainly. “Really?”
I wasn’t sure if she was asking me or him. Cash answered before I could figure out what to say.
“Yeah, Kat. He means it.” Cash smiled at me. “He always means it when he says things like that. He’s pretty great that way.”
She let out a little watery laugh. “I wish I could stay longer.”
“Yeah, it’s a miracle Mom let it go this long,” Cash said with a grimace. “I’ve got three missed calls from her. We’ll have to go home soon.”
Kat wrapped her arms around her stomach, her expression more queasy than awed now. “Yeah. Guess so.”
My heart wrenched—and not just for them. I selfishly couldn’t imagine sleeping in my bed without Cash warming my side. I loved the quiet, intimate talks we shared in the dark. Loved the innocent expression on his face when he was sleeping—one that was definitely never there in the light of day. Loved stroking and caressing his skin, soaking up closeness and cuddles.
Cash’s phone rang. He dragged it out of his pocket.
“Is it her?” Katelyn asked, sounding anxious.
Cash shook his head as he raised the phone to his ear. “Hey, Sawyer. What’s up?” He paused, nodding. “Yeah, we’re packing it in for the day. We’re almost done with the work out at The Roost. We’ll be starting the greenhouse soon, but…”
