Endless Love (Santa’s Secret Helpers #5) - Leeanna Morgan Page 0,10
gone.”
“Patrick and his team will watch out for her.”
“I just hope she isn’t scared away by all the noise.” She leaned against the doorframe. “The bathroom looks a lot bigger, doesn’t it?”
He stood behind Shelley and wrapped his arms around her waist. He guessed she was trying to take her mind off the lost cat, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy.
He looked at what Patrick and the trainees had done. One of the original bathroom walls had been removed and rebuilt four feet into the bedroom beside it. With the drywall in place, it was easy to see just how much difference the extra space made to the room.
“Patrick said the clawfoot bath is looking great.”
John could imagine the bath sitting on the far side of the room with the chrome taps Shelley had chosen. “Once the flooring goes down and the tiles are on the walls, it will look like an expensive hotel bathroom.”
Shelley smiled and turned in his arms. “Are you hinting that you want to live here after it’s finished?”
“I’m happy with our decision to live in my cottage. But, after seeing what you’ve done here, we might have to renovate my bathroom.”
After a quick inspection of the bedrooms and laundry, Shelley locked the front door and placed the key in her pocket. “It feels strange knowing I won’t be moving into this house.”
John held her hand. “If you want to live here after the house is finished, we can.”
“It makes more sense living in your home. It’s bigger and closer to the church and The Welcome Center. There aren’t many people who can say they’ve got a five-minute commute to work.”
“It would only take ten minutes to get to The Welcome Center from here,” John smiled. “Besides, there’s no rush to decide. The remodeling won’t be finished until mid-April at the earliest.”
“By that stage, we would have been married for two months.”
“Practically an old married couple.” He opened the rickety old gate the construction team still had to fix. They wouldn’t be looking in the second house today. Patrick and his team had made good progress but, once the second house was weather-tight and secure, they’d focused their time on this home. With Andrea and her sons desperate to move in, it made sense not to split their resources across two remodeling projects at once.
“And now,” John said, “from one slightly older person to another, I’m hungry. I put a casserole in my slow cooker this morning. How does creamy beef and mushroom Stroganoff with scalloped potatoes, green beans, and carrots sound?”
“Like bliss.” Shelley looked over her shoulder at the two houses. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I see what we’re doing. By the time Patrick and his team are finished, the cottages will look like a million dollars.”
John hoped so. Shelley had put her heart, soul, and all her money into this project. Anything less than amazing would be disappointing.
Shelley sat beside the kittens, rubbing their soft fur as they jumped all over her. Saturday had come around far too quickly. This morning, she was dropping off her temporary housemates to the animal shelter.
One of the kittens snuggled into her lap, purring loudly.
“I know this isn’t what you expected,” she said quietly. “But we need to find a forever family for you.”
The kitten with the multicolored coat jumped on her lap. With a delicate swipe, the second kitten patted the end of its sister’s nose.
“And that includes you, too,” Shelley said as she tickled the second kitten under its chin. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. The animal shelter is really nice and you’ll be looked after by some lovely people. I’ll take plenty of food for you and tell the volunteers you like playing with the orange ball we bought you.”
The plaintive meow that came from one of the kittens made her feel sad. She probably should have taken them to the animal shelter right away, but she wanted to make sure they were okay. She had no idea that within a few days she’d form such an attachment to the two bundles of fluff. Gently, she stroked the kitten’s fur and tried to make it feel better.
“Are you nearly—” Bailey stood in the living room doorway and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to take the kittens to the animal shelter.”
“You called the shelter and said we’d be there and in half an hour.”
“I know, but the kittens are so lovely. What if we find their