Page 34 of Summer Refresh

“Is everything okay?” Concern rang out in Sara’s voice.

He inwardly groaned. So she’d seen him being an utter klutz. “Um, yes. I’m just trying to get this floor finished.”

Sara moved to stand next to him. “This place is starting to look really good.”

He glanced up. “You sound surprised.”

Color filled her cheeks. “I am. It just seemed like this was all spontaneous, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.”

“Well, it would look a lot better if you’d give me a hand with this floor.”

She arched a brow. “You think so, huh?”

When she smiled at him, it gave him a funny feeling deep within his chest. It was something he’d never experienced before. And something told him it was best not to examine those feelings too closely.

Sara grabbed a piece of flooring and set to work. He had to admit that working with her was preferable to working alone. In fact, if he wasn’t careful, he could get quite used to this arrangement.

What should she do?

It’d been the question Sara had been asking herself ever since she’d finished her conversation with her sister. She wanted so badly to make things up to Kent, but nothing seemed like it would be enough. Maybe she just had to start small and keep showing him that she felt awful for misreading what had gone down between him and her sister.

Even with an apology, she knew it might not change things between them. And that was all on her. Still, she had to do something.

Their refresh project was quickly coming to an end. Although they both lived on this small island, their circle of friends didn’t intersect. They would go back to occasionally bumping into each other on the streets of Bluestar. She wanted something more than that, but she didn’t know what that might look like.

She realized there was no better time to set her plan into motion than right now—this very moment—before she lost her nerve.

She swallowed hard. “Kent, would you like to grab some dinner?” When he sent her a blank stare, as though unsure of what exactly she meant, she said, “You know…together.”

He didn’t say a word for a moment, as though her dinner request had caught him off guard. But it wasn’t like they hadn’t shared a meal before. And then she realized that in those past cases, he’d been the one doing the asking.

“Um…sure.” He cleared his throat. “I guess.”

His hesitation made her stomach knot up. Still she forced a smile to her lips. “How about I cook us something?”

“Oh, okay. What can I bring?”

“Yourself.” Worried that he might back out, she said, “I’ll see you at seven.”

And then she made her way out the door. She didn’t dare glance over her shoulder. She didn’t want to give him a chance to say that he’d changed his mind. Not that she could blame him. She hadn’t been that nice to him in the past. She’d like to think that while they’d been working together, they had given not only the room a refresh but also their relationship. She truly smiled.Hey, not only rooms can use a refresh.

She walked straight home instead of taking the scenic route on the beach. She’d been doing that ever since she found the kitten. Now that the kitten was acclimating to her apartment, she’d been leaving the kitten home alone. So far things appeared to be going well. She still hated leaving the kitten alone all day. Well, not quite all day because she tried to pop in each day at lunchtime to make sure the kitten was all right. And since she was there, she’d feed him some wet food for lunch. A growing kitty needed his nourishment.

Not that she was getting attached. She knew one day soon the kitten would go home. Sara told herself that was fine. She didn’t need another responsibility. She had plenty of them already at the inn.

Still, it was so nice to come home to someone again. It felt like forever since her sister had up and moved away. Sara thought she’d adjusted to living alone, but the kitten was proving that wasn’t quite the case.

Sara bounded up the steps to her second-floor apartment. As soon as she opened the door and stepped inside, the kitty leapt off the couch, yawned, and stretched. And then he ran toward Sara, but with his short little legs, the running looked more like a bunny hop. He wassooocute. It made Sara’s heart swoon every time the kitten greeted her.

Sara scooped up the kitten. His front paws climbed up Sara’s shoulder. The kitten rubbed his fuzzy head along Sara’s jaw.

Sara ran her hand gently down the kitten’s back. The kitty’s purr was so loud for a little kitten. It vibrated throughout his tiny body. Sara’s smile broadened. Someone would be very lucky to call this kitten their own.

Sara kissed the top of the kitten’s head before placing him back on the floor. “Sorry. I have to make dinner.”

As she tried to make her way to the kitchen, the kitten kept rubbing against her ankles. At one point, Sara tripped because the kitten insisted on walking in circles around Sara’s legs. Luckily, Sara was able to reach out for the post at the end of the kitchen’s island and regain her balance.

Once she was standing still, the kitten began to climb her jeans. His needle-like nails pierced her pants and dug into her leg. “Ouch!”

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