“How do you think Carolina would feel about this?”
Meredith heard the emotion in Cam’s voice and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I think she’d love it.”
They were standing in the middle of the cottage, but it was almost unrecognizable. The renovation had been extensive, right down to the studs, and now the interior was bright and airy, with light hardwood floors and new furnishings.
Movement outside the newly replaced glass sliding door caught her eye and she saw Elinor pacing out on the deck, pausing with each pass to glare at them. During the renovations, they’d removed the cat door and she was highly displeased.
“I don’t think Elinor loves it, though,” she murmured.
Cam laughed. “She’ll get used to it. But we should probably put a note in the rental listing letting people know there will be a bossy cat trying to visit them.”
“The bus will be here soon,” Meredith said after a glance at her watch. “We should finish up.”
“It doesn’t feel like Carolina’s cottage.” Her fiancé clearly wasn’t ready to leave yet.
“It will, when people are staying here, laughing and relaxing and making summer memories together.” She took his hand and tugged him toward the door—not the slider, but the new front door with the electronic keypad. “Come on.”
When they were standing in the front yard, she felt his hand relax in hers. The inside of the cottage might be all new, but outside, it was all Carolina. They’d freshened up the pink paint. The trim and window boxes had a fresh coat of turquoise and, though they’d straightened all the window boxes, they’d left some of the plastic flowers.
Every touch that they could tell had been Carolina’s had been repaired and repainted and touched up, so it had eclectic and adorable curb appeal, while keeping the heart she had poured into it.
And next to the door was a small sign Sophie and Meredith had painted, with Welcome to Carolina’s Cottage in a carefully written childish script.
“You’re right,” Cam said. “She’d love this.”
They heard the bus coming up the road and a few seconds later, Oscar ran toward them from the backyard. He stopped a few feet shy of the road, his little body shaking with excitement, while the bus stopped and Sophie climbed down the big steps.
After waving to her friends on the bus as it pulled away, she hugged her dog and then hugged Meredith before turning to Cam. She put her arms up and he lifted her off her feet for a big hug—he loved hugs—before setting her back on her feet.
“How was school today?” he asked, taking her backpack as they walked down the driveway.
But Meredith saw the way he looked back at the cottage as they walked, his mouth curving into a soft smile that warmed her heart.
Keeping the cottage had been the right decision. They’d talked through all of their options and eventually Cam had been able to say he didn’t care what made financial sense. He wanted to keep it and fix it up without stripping it of everything that made it special.
They’d considered making it his office, since he’d need space for more than his laptop. He needed a proper desk and a printer and a setup for video meetings and all of the other clutter an office needed. But he wanted more separation between his work and his family, so he’d rented a private office space in town and they’d decided to make the cottage a short-term rental so other families could enjoy the lake during the summer.
“There’s only one more month until summer vacation,” she heard Sophie telling Cam as they went in the house to go through the after-school routine of emptying her backpack and doing her homework.
At least one day during the week, he made sure to wrap up at his office and be home in time to meet the bus, and then he’d work on his laptop at the table while Sophie did her homework and Meredith started getting dinner ready. He’d taken today off to do a final walk-through of the cottage with the contractor before cutting the last check.
After dinner came Meredith’s favorite part of the day. It still got chilly as the sun got low in the sky, so they grabbed a blanket and went to the backyard.
She had no idea where Cam had found it, but one day she’d come home from volunteering at the senior center to find a huge, double-wide hammock on a stand in the backyard. It had taken them a few tries to master it, but now Meredith and Cam were able to get in and then steady it while Sophie climbed in between them. Last up was Oscar, while Elinor stretched out on the deck rail and watched them all.
Looking out over the still water of Blackberry Bay, Meredith listened to Sophie and Cam talking about what kind of ice cream they were going to get when their favorite ice-cream parlor opened for the Memorial Day weekend.
Turning her head, she met Cam’s gaze and smiled. He arched one eyebrow, questioning, and she nodded. It was time.
“Mommy and I have some fun news,” he said to Sophie. Then he glanced back at Meredith, leaving it to her.
She kissed the top of her daughter’s head. “How do you feel about having a baby brother or sister?”
Sophie managed to jab each of them several times with her little elbows as she sat up. “A baby? I love babies!”
Meredith laughed because Sophie didn’t actually know many babies, but as long as her daughter was happy, so was she. “Yes, a new baby.”
Sophie flopped back down between them and heaved a very dramatic sigh.
“What’s the sigh for?” Cam asked gently, reaching his hand across his body to ruffle her hair.
“We’re going to need a bigger hammock.”
As Cam’s laughter filled the yard, with Sophie’s high-pitched giggle joining in, Meredith’s heart swelled with love and she closed her eyes. She’d come home to Blackberry Bay looking for happiness.
She’d found love.
Keep reading for an excerpt from In Search of the Long-Lost Maverick by Christine Rimmer.