Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) by Vickie McKeehan Read Free Book Online

y in I raq wh i le Sc o t t ’ s had n ot . I t made no s en s e . F or y ea r s, N ick had d i s t anced him s elf f rom commitmen t , f ro m s e r io u s re l a t ionshi p s wh i l e Sc o t t had s ettled do w n, made a life here w ith J or d a n . A nd for what?
    J or d a n ’ s v o ice brought him back f rom qu e stions w ith no an s we r s.
    “T he s ma l le r bedroom s a c r o s s th e ha l l do n ’ t h a v e th i s v ie w , of cou r s e, but they ’ re nice s i z e . H ope f u l ly th e s e l arger rooms w il l be m y bread and but t e r . ”
    N ick ke p t h i s though t s t o him s elf as they went back in s ide, do w n a lo n g ha l l w a y where he n o ticed three of the rooms s t ood em p t y . H e wondered how she in t ended t o h a ve g u e sts w ithout f u r ni t ur e . “ A re n ’t y ou m i ss i n g s omethi n g in here?”
    S he l a ughed ne r vousl y . “ I w an t ed t o paint each o f the bedrooms a dif f erent color s o the y ’ d h a v e their o w n spe c i al them e . ” S he s m i led t en t a tivel y . “ N ow a l l I h a v e t o do i s come up w ith one and f i n i s h pain t i n g before I b r i n g up the f u r ni t ur e . M y aunt ’ s been genero u s enough t o dona t e s ome an t ique p iec e s that w il l g o we l l in her e . M y si s t er and her h u sband are b r i n g i n g the l a st o f the s t uf f do w n fi r st chance they ge t . A s y ou s a w , the r e st o f the f u r ni t ure i s s t ored in the g ar a g e . I t ’ s out there g athe r i n g d u s t . ” B ut loo k i n g at the bare rooms no w , she should h a v e alrea d y f u r n i s hed th e s e rooms. T h ere w a s s o much she should h a v e alread y t aken care of, s een t o . H ow could she exp l ain t o a ny one how diffi c ult the past y ear had been, the g r ief , the depr e ss ion?
    H e w as s t a r i n g at he r .
    S he s ighed. S he might as we l l l e vel w ith him and get the bad ne w s out in the open. “ T h e buildi n g inspe c t or w as here y e s t er d a y . H e said I ’ l l h a ve t o b r i n g the w i r i n g up t o cod e . ”
    “ W hew! I ’ m no ele c t r i c i an. Y ou’ l l h a ve t o hire a prof e s s iona l fo r tha t . ”
    T e r r i f ic . T h e d o -it- y ou r s el f v i b e h e g a v e o f f did n ’t includ e w i r i n g hundre d - y ea r - ol d ho u s e s . “ M u r p hy g a ve m e th e nam e o f s e ve r a l i n S an t a C r uz . I ’ l l s t a r t ma k i n g s om e ca l l s th i s a f t e r n oo n . ”
    B ut suddenl y , N ick thought of an o ther w a y t o hel p . “ I could han d le that pa r t for y ou. I might k now s omeone who could do the jo b . ” H e w as ce r t ain, Ben L a tham, and a fo r mer G uar d budd y woul d h a v e n o qualm s a b ou t hel p i n g ou t . A nd he could a ls o a r ra n ge t o p a y him w ithout J or d an e ver k nowi n g a bout i t .
    H er e y ebro w s r os e . “ Rea l ly? T h at ’ d be g rea t . U mm, a n y idea how much h e ’ d charge?”
    H e shook h i s head. “ N o idea . ”
    W hen they g o t t o the fi r st bathroom off the f ront l andi n g , N ick looked in, came t o a dec i s ion of h i s own. T h e room needed a new t oi le t , a new s in k , a new fauce t , and new f l oori n g . H ad t o be four for fou r , he though t , a n y thi n g l e s s would come off as unfin i shed and t ac k y . “ Y ou were n ’t k iddi n g . W ha t mad e y o u thin k y o u coul d f i x th i s p l ace up?”
    “Sc o tt g rew up her e . The ho u s e belo n ged t o h i s g randparents. B ut they l o st the ho u s e in the early ‘90s and had t o move out af t er h i s g randfather made s ome bad i n v e stmen t s. W hen h i s g randpa died, Sc o t t prom is ed h i s g randm o ther h e ’ d get the ho u s e back for he r . Of cou r s e she died before he could. B ut when we g o t ma r r ied, we bought the p l ace and moved back here t o ra is e our o w n fam i l y . S i x months af t er we moved bac k , h i s unit g o t ca l led u p .