Page 27 of Taking a Chance on Charlevoix
“Great. Holly seems to like it. So far she hasn't gotten sick or anything.”
Guilt washed over Marlowe when she recalled babysitting for Holly over the holidays. Aunt Cate and Sam thought it would help Izzy out. While in their care, Holly had fallen and hit her head on the coffee table. The incident had been unnerving. What did Marlowe know about babies? They'd been relieved when Izzy came home from work that day. But Izzy had been totally cool about it.
“Back to the topic.” Marlowe was not letting Izzy get away from their mission. “I thought there were two of them. Gabby gave us two names.”
“I came home later and only met the second one.” Aunt Cate glanced over at Izzy.
“Okay, spill,” Sam said. “What did you think, little sister?”
Little sister?Silence fell and Sam looked uncomfortable. They were all trying to get away from thinking of Izzy as the baby of the family. After all the changes Izzy had made to her life recently, she deserved that promotion.
“Sorry, sorry,” Sam playfully smacked her hand against her forehead. “Back to the contractors. You’re doing a great job, Izzy.”
“Let me think. Chase Wilson.” Izzy screwed up her face, as if she was on a game show trying to think of the right answer.
Marlowe wanted to hit the buzzer to tell her that time was up. “Was something wrong with him?” Surely Gabby wouldn't suggest someone inappropriate.
“Not really,” Izzy said. “Chase has done a lot of jobs like ours. And he made that clear. Very busy guy with a full schedule.”
“So what you're saying, Izzy, is that the guy was a know-it-all.” Aunt Cate seemed to be trying to figure this out. “Is that it?”
“Maybe. He threw out suggestions as we walked around. ‘Take out that wall.’ ‘Build in a closet.’ Said this looked like a multi-month project. And he didn't like the fact that we were all, you know, decision makers.”
“Oh, but that's what makes this fun.” Aunt Cate got one of her Cheshire cat grins. “At least for the right person.”
“He suggested using the side porch as part of the kitchen.”
Sam gasped and Marlowe laughed. “Next,” Marlowe said dryly after she’d wiped tears from her eyes. “The poor man unknowingly was going to kill one of our sacred cows.”
“What’s that?” Izzy looked mystified.
“Something that no one should mess with or change.” Marlowe began to explain. “I worked on a house one time and suggested casually to the owners that they board up a fireplace. Seemed like a good idea because they weren't using it and needed wall space. The suggestion went over like a lead balloon because the wife had carved the mantlepiece. The fireplace was special for them.” As Marlowe talked, her sisters nodded and Aunt Cate chuckled.
“We probably should come up with a list of sacred cows,” Aunt Cate said. “And I sure don't want to be one.”
Their laughter felt so good. They could have been back in front of their own fireplace, smelling the pine tree and watching the fire while they reminisced.
But back to business. “Okay, to make things easier,” Sam said, “why don't we all send Izzy our sacred cows? Things that you don't want to have changed.”
“You mean I have to make a list?” Izzy wailed and behind her Holly started to cry. Her mother's tone of voice must have frightened the poor little thing.
Marlowe hated to make her younger sister feel that she was in charge of this project. As they were leaving Sunnycrest, they’d assured Izzy that she would not be left holding the bag. And yet the conversation seemed to be headed in that direction.
“Why don't you let me do that?” Aunt Cate piped up. She must have read Marlowe's mind. “I'll be happy to list the cattle, or whatever.”
“Sacred cows,” Sam corrected her.
“Exactly. Have those to me in the next couple of days, please.”
Thank goodness their aunt had stepped up. Maybe after Marlowe closed on the Donatello cottage with Shari and after her open houses, Marlowe would go back to Charlevoix for a long weekend. She wanted to be in on the planning and she definitely wanted to take some pressure off Izzy.
“Back to the other architect,” Marlowe said. “I will talk to Gabby about these two guys.” She really wanted to get the low down after hearing Izzy’s hesitation and her aunt’s enthusiasm.
“He was hot,” their aunt said again, bringing another roar of laughter from the three sisters.
“Then let's scratch him from the list for sure,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. “We don't want anyone attractive working around the place for months on end.”
“Not if Skipper can help it.” Aunt Cate glanced over at Izzy. “He was definitely not happy to find Seth here with you when he stopped in with Holly.”
