The Path to Sunshine Cove (Cape Sanctuary #2) - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,66
at home and need to stay somewhere safe. I bet those kids are scared. A dollhouse might help them feel better.”
“Oh. That’s a really great idea.”
She smiled at him. After weeks of tension, his daughter actually smiled at him. “I thought so, too. I was trying to think about what I could do to help and that’s the first thing that came into my head.”
“Maybe we could take it over one night this week.”
“Okay. Not Thursday, though. That’s Jess’s birthday party.”
Jess, who would be leaving soon. “Right. We can’t miss that.”
“After we take the dollhouse out of my room, do you think maybe we could hang a swing in its place?”
“What kind of swing?”
“I was thinking maybe one of those cool hammock-type things. I’ve always wanted one in my bedroom. A place I can read and do my homework and stuff.”
That was the first he had ever heard of that. Still, he would do all he could to encourage her anytime she actually asked for his help and seemed willing to carry on a halfway decent conversation.
“Sure. We can go to the Harper Hill garden store this weekend if you want. They’ve got a good selection of hammocks. Meanwhile, you can start researching what hardware we’ll need for it. You’ll want a swivel hook so it doesn’t tangle and we’ll probably have to find a joist to hang it from.”
“Where would we find a swivel hook?”
“The hardware store can set us up. This will be fun.”
“Yay! Thanks, Dad. I can’t wait! I’m going online to see if I can find the style I want before we go to the garden store.”
To his surprise, she gave him a quick hug and hurried out of the kitchen to her room.
He watched after her, feeling a curious mix of pride and sadness. She was growing up and he wasn’t ready.
Still, the conversation had been cordial and even warm, the first one in weeks that hadn’t been underscored by her moodiness.
He decided to focus on the positive and work a little harder to figure out what he had done to make her mad in the first place.
23
Jess
“Happy birthday, my dear.” Eleanor beamed at her as Jess walked into Whitaker House on Thursday morning.
“Thank you.” She hadn’t given her birthday much thought, though she had treated herself to an early-morning walk down to Sunshine Cove, where she had enjoyed the dawn by herself.
“I think we should take today off so you can do something fun just for yourself.”
She smiled. “What are you talking about? This is fun for me. I love my job. Why would I need to take time off when I’m doing exactly what I love to do?”
She considered herself extraordinarily lucky to have found a job she enjoyed so much.
“But work is still work, no matter how fun it is. You deserve some time off.”
“I’m good. I think we need to finally tackle Jack’s side of the closet today.”
She could tell by Eleanor’s sudden tension that the other woman wasn’t thrilled at that idea.
“But it’s your birthday!”
What did that have to do with taking care of the one thing Eleanor seemed to be avoiding?
Anyway, her thirtieth birthday really wasn’t a huge cause for celebration. It was just another day.
She wasn’t worried about growing older. She saw each year as a time of growth, an opportunity for reassessment and readjustments. Birthdays were fine but she was a grown woman. She didn’t need party hats and piñatas.
“Why don’t we start with the kitchen today instead?” Eleanor suggested. “I was looking at it this morning when I had breakfast and thinking we could clear out all those old plastic containers I’ve saved through the years and never use. Plus, I have so many old cookbooks that are gathering dust now, since Sophie helped me digitize my favorites when she was home from school last summer.”
Jess knew exactly what the other woman was doing. While it made her smile to picture Sophie poring through old cookbooks while helping her grandmother organize her kitchen, she knew they couldn’t continue avoiding the central job she had been hired to tackle.
“We have to start clearing out his clothes at some point, Eleanor,” she said gently.
“I know. And we will. Just not yet. Let’s work on the kitchen today. And we still have to do the bathrooms, right? And we haven’t even started the garage.”
Her time here at Whitaker House would be wrapping up soon as they had already worked their way through most of the house.