Violet looked up, saw him, and grinned as she raced across the sand and threw herself into his arms. “Isn’t it great?”
She finally released him, and he cocked his head to one side. “Great is not the word I would use to describe this.” He swung his gaze around at the broken-down, neglected smattering of cottages. Sagging decking, broken windows, and the blue-tarped roof mocked him.
“Itwillbe great. You’ll see. Don’t be so negative.”
“And that guy?” He nodded toward the repairman.
“Oh, I set up that right after I bought the place. Putting in central air for each cottage.”
“Putting in? You mean they still hadn’t done that in all these years?”
“Nope.”
“That must be costing you a pretty penny.”
She shrugged. “It was in my budget. I knew I’d want to do this going into the purchase.”
“You had a budget?”
She laughed. “Kind of. A rough idea. But things are costing more than I thought. But that’s okay. I still have a little bit of the money left for the repairs.”
“How little?”
“Some,” she answered vaguely.
He let out a long sigh. “Okay, show me around the place so I know what I’m getting into here.”
“Sure, come on.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the nearest cottage—which might possibly have been pink, but he sure couldn’t tell from the minimal paint clinging to it…
She showed him each cottage, and each one needed a little more work than the one before. “And here is the work shed. Mr. Murphy left a lot of his tools, see?” She tugged on the door of the shed to open it. Or tried to. It was stuck. She kicked at the bottom, tugged again, and it opened. “See? Success.” She waved her arm triumphantly.
He peered inside, glad to see some basics like a circular saw, drill, and a selection of random hammers and screwdrivers. If the saw and drill even worked…
He turned to Violet. “Are you sure this is what you want to do? It’s going to take a lot of work.”
“I’m positive.”
Resigned, he pulled the door closed behind them. “Okay, let me get my stuff out of the car. I’ll change and make a list of supplies we might need to get started.”
“Perfect. I made up the guest room in the owner’s cottage. It’s attached to the back of the office.”
“I don’t suppose that cottage has central air…”
“Are you crazy? It was the first one I did. I’m not living with a clunking window unit that doesn’t cool the place down.”
Okay, so his sister had madeonedecision that he totally agreed with.
Chapter 3
By late afternoon, Rob had put together a list of supplies he needed. A very long list. He headed into town and was pleased to see the general store was still in existence. He’d get his supplies and reward himself with ice cream—if they still had it.
Pushing through the door, he entered the store, surprised to see how much it had changed. More organized. Better lighting. Still quaint. But to his chagrin, no ice cream counter adorned the wall where it used to be.
A lady walked up to him and smiled. “Hi, can I help you?”
“Yes, I have a long list of supplies.” He nodded toward the far wall. “But I’m disappointed the ice cream counter is gone.”
She laughed. “Oh, it’s not gone. We expanded to the building next door. It’s over there along with a cafe.”
