Against the Wall (Stoddard Art School Series Book 3) by Lisa A. Olech Read Free Book Online

set down his coffee, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why ya askin’?”
    Bear busied himself with another carton. “Like to know the people who work for me.”
    “Sure you do.” Walter jerked his chin toward the sound of hammers above him. “Brian and Skippy…either of them got a crazy aunt? Raise boas?” At Bear’s silence, he chuckled. “Well, don’t that beat all. You like her.”
    “Knock it off. I was just making conversation.”
    “Glad I’m wearing my boots. Starting to get mighty deep in he-ah.”
    “Forget I asked.”
    “Hey, no skin off my nose.” Walter held up one hand in surrender.
    What possessed him to ask about Kay? Possibly the fact he couldn’t get her out of his mind. She was due this afternoon at four. It was still hours away. How many times was he going to check the damn clock? Walter was playing this for all it was worth. He’d never hear the end of it.
    Time to throw the stick in another direction. “So, what did you find out about the generator you were yammering about the other day?”
    It took Bear hours to lose his overalled friend. He liked Walter, but some days when he was stretched to his limit, the man found great pleasure in jumping up and down on his last nerve. He was one of those guys who claimed to be an expert on whatever subject you were talking about. Always had an opinion even when you didn’t want to hear it. But, damn, he knew his way around a hammer and saw, and he was friends with everyone in town. A real asset when being a newcomer was akin to being invisible.
    Bear lost track of the number of times he was looking for someone to run some electrical wires, hang sheetrock, or replumb a bathroom, and it had been Walter who’d suggested the perfect person for the job. That included the lovely, talented, distracting Kay Winston.
    Kay arrived at four on the dot, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “Shadow and I are becoming an item. If he keeps kissing me in public, he’s going to have to propose.”
    Lucky damn dog. “He likes blondes, what can I say.”
    Kay’s hair was loose again. She wore a soft cambric shirt over a print skirt in a mix of earth tones. A wide, tooled leather belt accentuated her narrow waist. Her sleeves were turned back to her elbows and chunky wooden bracelets circled her wrist. She looked beautifully bohemian.
    “It’s quiet. No saws today?”
    “No such thing as nine to five on Fridays. I’m lucky if I can get anyone to stay past three o’clock.”
    “Beating the weekend rush.”
    “Getting anyone to work weekends? Forget about it. At least we won’t be interrupted.” His cell phone rang, and Bear shook his head. “Spoke too soon. Excuse me.” He checked caller ID. Diane. He’d already talked to her twice today. Hitting the ignore button, he shut off the phone. “Sorry about that.”
    “Not a problem.” Kay set her bag on the floor and unrolled the rubber band off the prints.
    “I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with.”
    “I hope you like it. After I left the other day, I had a bit of a brainstorm.” She pulled a stack of markup boards from her bag. “What do you think of turning the clock back? Celebrate the history of the inn?”
    “I like it so far. Go on.”
    “Well, I went to the library and did some research.” She showed him copies of old photographs. “These are all shots of Bell Harbor at the turn of the last century.” She handed him the sheet on top. “Here’s one of the inn the year it was completed.”
    Taking two steps backward, she held up a finger. “This is what I’m thinking. Why not celebrate the era of when the inn was in its heyday. I could paint the scenes of Bell Harbor the way it used to be. All the key areas.” Kay moved around the lobby indicating placement of the beach scene, Main Street, the church. “Over on this side, the park with the band stand, etc.” She spun and gestured to the area to the right of the door. “Tall ships off the beach, and of