A Haven on the Bay - Nicole Ellis Page 0,20

rooms.”

Meg narrowed her eyes at it. “Hmm. I don’t know. It’s pretty beat up, but I bet it’s solid wood. I’ll have to ask Zoe what she thinks about refurbishing it. Let’s leave it and the tables here for now.”

They continued moving things out of the barn into piles until late afternoon, only pausing for a quick lunch. When the dumpster finally arrived, they threw away what couldn’t be salvaged, leaving behind a much smaller pile of furniture and other odds and ends they’d dragged out that day that could potentially be used at the Inn.

Taylor stood back, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “I don’t think I’ve worked this hard in a long time.”

“Me neither.” Meg took a slug of water from the bottle she’d refilled at the Inn when they’d eaten lunch. She’d cancelled her gym membership soon after the purchase of the resort and hadn’t regretted her decision for a moment. There was more than enough physical work to be done on the property, so she had no need for scheduled exercise.

Taylor walked back into the barn, and she followed. What she saw was disheartening. Although they’d half-filled the dumpster and removed a bunch of furniture, they’d barely made a dent.

“This is going to take a while,” Taylor observed.

“No kidding.” She bit her lip, hoping she wouldn’t start crying. After the long day of physical exertion, her emotions were close to the surface. With both of them working all day, they’d only gotten through about ten percent of the junk. How was she going to get the rest of it done by October?

“Hey,” he said, patting her on the shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

He’d spent one of his few days off helping her clean out an old barn that he had no stake in. That was a true friend. His kindness overwhelmed her, and tears slipped down her cheeks. He rubbed her back to comfort her. All she wanted to do was to collapse into his arms, but she couldn’t. While he may no longer be her boss, he wasn’t her boyfriend either.

She wiped her eyes with the cleanest part of her sleeve she could find and unsuccessfully attempted to smile. “Thanks. I'm just a little overwhelmed by how much there is to do.”

He pressed his lips together, gazed up at the rafters, and sighed, then returned his attention to her. “If you’d like, I can come out here to help you again next week.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” she mumbled, trying to keep her emotions at bay. “I’m sure you have a million other things to do.”

He took another look around the barn, sighed again, and ran a hand over his jet-black hair as he gave her a small smile. “There’s nothing I’d rather do than help a friend in need.”

“Thanks.” Although she’d detected hesitation in his offer, she wasn’t in a position to turn him down. Getting the barn ready for renovations by October was a long shot at this point, but it was all she had to hang onto, and she needed all of the help she could get.

6

Tia

“Hey.” Tia moved a chair directly in front of a young bride sitting sideways on the couch in the living room of the Inn, carefully avoiding the skirt of her puffy white bridal gown, which took up most of the couch and spilled out over the floor. “What’s going on?”

Another woman, wearing a long, strapless purple bridesmaid’s dress, paced over to the window, then back to the couch. She sighed loudly. “I think she’s got cold feet about marrying Derek.”

That was fairly evident. Although she was dabbing at her eyes with a soggy Kleenex, the bride’s face resembled a raccoon’s. Jet-black mascara formed blurred rivulets as it streaked down her pink cheeks. The rims of her eyes were red from crying and errant strands of golden hair had plastered themselves to her wet skin.

The mother-of-the-bride stood behind the couch, frantically attempting to fix her daughter’s ornately arranged updo. “Melinda, you’ve got to stop crying. Your makeup is running and your hair’s a mess.”

Melinda didn’t appear to hear her. If she did, her mother’s admonition hadn’t helped, because a new surge of tears and loud weeping followed. “What if I’m making a big mistake?” she wailed. “What if Derek isn’t The One?”

“Oh, honey,” her mother said. “I’m sure you’re not making a mistake. You love Derek.” She gave up on fixing her daughter’s hair, came around the sofa