Page 41 of Resting Beach Face
“Wow, this place is just going to waste,” I said with a shake of my head. “Why haven’t you opened it up?”
“I’ll show you.” Declan led me to a wooden swinging door. We stepped through into an absolutely gutted kitchen. The floor was torn up. Only a rough frame for the cabinets remained. No sink. No countertops. No appliances.
“Remodel gone wrong?”
“Abandoned, more like,” Declan said. “My aunt had big plans for this building. She started the remodel, but she ran out of funds. When I inherited this place, it was in debt up to its neck. The landscaping was a mess, and the main house had its own issues. There were just so many other priorities…”
“But this is great, because now we can put in a bomb-ass kitchen!” I spun toward the wall separating it from the living area. “In fact, we could knock down this wall and open it up to be an open-floor plan. Really modernize this whole place.”
Declan’s eyes widened. “That’s, uh, a lot to take on. I just wanted to get it functional.”
“Why stop there, though? Your aunt wanted more for this place, didn’t she?”
“Well, yeah.”
“So, let’s do it, then. We’ll make it so gorgeous you’ll never want to leave.”
“Cash…”
Oops. That was not the goal.
“Just kidding! It’ll be so gorgeous that anyone would be thrilled to take over the B&B and preserve what you and your aunt have built here.”
He shifted uncomfortably. “I haven’t built anything.”
“But you will be.” I met his eyes dead-on. “That’s what we’re doing here, right? We’re building—or at least remodeling—your aunt’s dream.”
“That’s a nice way of looking at it.” He sighed. “We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, though. This isn’t the only project we’d have to tackle. There’s still the second-floor deck at the main house and the plumbing at the Tree Hut?—”
“And updating your ancient furniture,” I interjected.
Declan paused. “What? You don’t like the furniture?”
“Dec, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but it looks like a Barbie Dream House mated with an antique store and had mismatched babies.”
Declan shuddered. “That imagery is…”
“Accurate?”
He winced. “Maybe a little.”
“This place is on the lake. I think a beach house vibe would be amazing and more appealing to the guests, don’t you?”
He pursed his lips. “Well, I was trying to adhere to Millie’s vision, but…” He cringed. “Ihavealways hated the interior design.”
I laughed. “Why do you punish yourself like this?”
Declan gave me a considering look. “Old habit. Hard to break, I guess.”
There was something deep and pained in his eyes that made me swallow the tease poised on my tongue. “Well, I guess this is an opportunity in more than one way, then.”
Declan swallowed. “I guess it is. But that means it’ll be an even bigger job than I envisioned.”
“I’ll try to keep the budget as lean as I can. I’ll do the labor for free, but?—”
“Absolutely not,” he said sternly. “I’ll pay you for your work. The land holds more value than the buildings. I’ll recoup the expense and then some when I sell it.”
“I’m not doing this to make a payday,” I protested.
