Too restless to head back to work, Beck turned off the main drag and drove along one of the smaller ones that led toward the river. Spotting the sign for Whiskey Road, he made a quick right. If his pal Cole was home, he’d probably have the inside scoop since Tansy and his fiancée had been best friends from kindergarten on. If Tansy was, indeed, moving home, Jenni Beth would know.
He’d have thought somebody would have given him a heads-up.
Beck pulled into the drive behind Jenni Beth’s ’65 Vette and studied the renovated barn his friend called home. Since Cole owned a huge architectural salvaging company in Savannah, he’d filled the house with some really unique pieces, like the granite-covered trough in the master bath.
Right now, though, Beck didn’t care about that trough. He had an inexplicable—and unwelcome—pain in his chest. Climbing out, he slammed the truck’s door.
Cole rounded the corner. “Hey, Beck, figured you’d be at work.” His eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong? Your family okay?”
“Yeah, everyone’s fine.”
Jenni Beth stepped out of the house, a glass of iced tea in one hand, a ring of fabric swatches in the other. “Hey, Beck, maybe you can help. I’m tryin’ to decide on table covering colors for my New Year’s Eve bride. She can’t make up her mind between blue and purple.” She held up the ring. “What do you think?”
He shrugged. “No clue.”
“Want some tea?”
“Yeah. No. I don’t know.” He jammed his hands in his pockets.
Her face clouded with concern.
Kicking his front tire, he said, “Tansy’s in town.”
His friends shared a look, and it wasn’t one of surprise.
“How long have you known she’s movin’ back, Cole?”
“Jenni Beth told me last night.”
“And you didn’t call?”
“At midnight?”
“How ’bout you, Jenni Beth?”
“She told me a couple weeks ago she was comin’ today.”
“Son of a—”
Not in the least intimidated by his scowl, she walked to him and threaded her arm through one of his. He didn’t move a muscle, hands still tucked in his pockets.
“Sam said you were with him when Lucinda spilled the beans about preschool.”
“Yeah, I was.” He scuffed his booted foot over the pebbles. “But, hell, when nothin’ happened, I assumed she’d come to her senses.” He raised his head and met her gaze. “Why would she move back here?”
“Because she did finally come to her senses. Now that she’s divorced the loser, she wants to start over.”
“Why here?”
Jenni Beth shrugged. “Same reason I came back. Misty Bottoms is home. Did you run into her, Beck?”
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Yep. Stopped at Tommy’s for some gas and she pulled in with Gracie and a jam-packed SUV.”
Cole dropped onto a wooden chair and nodded for Beck to sit. “Thought you’d moved past all this, bud.”
“I have. It’s just—I don’t know. Damn, she looked beat—and would hate that I noticed.”
Jenni Beth sighed. “And I’ve added to her load.”
“What?” Beck looked confused.
“She hadn’t even hit the town limits when I begged her to tackle three cakes. This week.”
Cole took her hand, ran his thumb over the back of it. “Probably best she stays busy, sugar.” Turning to Beck, he changed the subject. “You still gonna be able to help me on that new Savannah project this week?”
“You bet.” He checked his watch and gave Jenni Beth a quick hug. “Gotta run. Take care of Tansy. And don’t you dare tell her I said that.”
“Okay.” She hugged him back. “I know this is hard for you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You seemed pretty fine last week when that hot brunette you’ve been seeing down in Savannah showed up on the job site.” Cole shot a look toward Jenni Beth. “Not that I noticed her.”
Jenni Beth just shook her head.
“I like Rachel,” Beck said.
“But?”
“I’m not sure it’s gonna work. I told her it might be time for us to start seein’ other people.”
Cole tipped his head. “Kind of like Roxy?”
“Yeah.”
“And Cindy?”
Beck rolled his eyes skyward. “You sayin’ there’s a pattern here?”
“Nope.” Cole smiled. “You did.”
“Point taken.”
“You don’t still love her?”
“Who?”
Cole snorted. “Who?”
“No.” Beck shook his head. “That’s long ago over and done with. But I was in love with her. She left, I mourned, and we both moved on.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Something in Cole’s tone warned Beck his pal didn’t believe him. “It’s true.”
Jenni Beth chimed in. “Thou doth protest—”
“Too much,” Beck finished. “Yeah, yeah. I took Mrs. Fitzgibbon’s English lit class, too.” He tapped Jenni Beth on the top of her head. “Don’t you have something to cook or clean?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Once.”
“What?”
“You get a pass on a comment like that once.”
He laughed. “So noted.”
“Seriously, Beck—”
“I’m good. I’ve got this covered. Thanks for listening.” He slapped his thighs. “I’ve got to go. It’s a workday. Jobs to do, people to see.”
With a single wave, Beck hopped in his truck and headed toward the Savannah River. Forcing himself to drive sanely, he acknowledged the fact that specters of days past rode with him. How many times had he and Tansy stolen off to the riverbank to snag a few kisses? Hot kisses. Kisses that ripped him up inside.
Now? Hadn’t his life just turned on its ear! Tansy. So slick and polished, except for that unruly, tousled head of auburn curls. He’d teased her no end that her hair gave her away, hinted at what lay beneath her cool exterior and exposed the wild child locked away.
And that wild side had driven him nuts. Even now, memories of the two of them steaming up the windows in the old truck he drove in high school spiked his blood pressure.
Then Tansy’d given that wild side away. To Emerson Forbes.
He pulled onto the verge, under the shade of a weeping willow. Time he let go of the anger. She’d moved on and so had he.
Still, pinching the bridge of his nose, he tussled with the reality of a newly divorced Tansy who’d returned to Misty Bottoms. And with her? Gracie, Emerson’s daughter.
Every time he saw that beautiful little girl with either Tansy or her grandma, it tore him up. She should have been his, should be little Gracie Elliot, not Gracie Forbes. But she wasn’t, and that was that.
He and Tansy? Past tense. Still, he’d just as soon not run into her when he turned a corner in the grocery store or walked into Dee-Ann’s Diner.
Shit!
* * *
Whew! Tansy’s knees went wobbly when Beck stepped out of Tommy’s. Even after everything that had happened, her fingers itched to run through all that curly blond hair. But his eyes had changed. They used to be full of love—for her. One look and she felt cherished. Not anymore.
“Mama? I’m thirsty.” Gracie, wide awake now and blissfully unaware of her mother’s turmoil, caught Tansy’s eye in the rearview mirror.
They’d already pulled out of the Texaco station, and the drinks in their tiny cooler had gone warm after Gracie’d played around in it and left the top off.
“We’ll stop at Kitty’s, honey. You can get a drink there.”
Since she had three cakes to create this week, she’d take a few minutes to talk to Kitty about them. She’d work up some designs after Gracie fell asleep tonight.
She also needed to pull herself together a bit before she hit her mom’s. Even though she’d run into Beck occasionally when she’d visited, it felt different this time. It was different. She was now a single mother with no home and no job.
Jeez.
“Are we almost there, Mama? I’m hungry, too.”
“Another couple minutes. Pinkie promise.”
Gracie grinned. “’Kay.”
Driving along Main Street, Tansy noticed a change, an air of hope. Yes, the brick sidewalks still buckled in places, but no empty storefronts stared back at her. People she’d never seen before wandered along the street, shopping bags in hand. A new gourmet wine and cheese shop had opened in the old five-and-dime building. The drugstore had a fresh coat of paint.
The town looked good. Vibrant. Darlene, the owner of Quilty Pleasures, walked her pair of Cairn Terriers, dressed today in jaunty green-and-blue-plaid sweaters that matched hers.
Tansy slowed and lowered her driver’s side window. “Hey, Darlene.”
“Hey, yourself, Tansy. Welcome home!” She scooped up first Mint Julep and then Moonshine, waving their paws. Her voice raised three octaves as she slid into baby talk. “Tell Gracie we’re glad to see her. Yes, we are.” She kissed each of the dogs’ noses.
In the backseat, Gracie Bella giggled and waved. “Can I have a doggie, Mama?”
“Maybe someday.” A red Volkswagen beetle came up behind her, so with a promise to stop by Darlene’s shop, she continued down the street, a smile tugging at her lips. Jenni Beth Beaumont, with her dreams and hard work, had put Misty Bottoms back on the map. Magnolia House, her renovated antebellum home, had become the spot for destination weddings, engagement parties, proms, reunions, birthday parties, you name it.
Tansy’s heart fluttered. With this week’s cakes, she’d be part of that.
Live oaks, heavy with Spanish moss, shaded the sidewalks and added an air of gentility to the street. A hint of fall in the air, the little park that separated the two sides of Main Street burst with the golds and russets of autumn flowers. The Ladies’ Garden Club had clustered chrysanthemums, zinnias, and pansies around an old wooden wheelbarrow. Scattered pumpkins added a festive flair.
Autumn. Her favorite season.
As she drove slowly past Dee-Ann’s Diner, the old building all but smiled at her in its red-and-white finery. Geraniums bloomed in planters out front, and Lem Gilmore sat at a table by the window. No doubt he was mooching something off Dee-Ann even though he had nearly as much money as Croesus.
Misty Bottoms. So different from the glitzy shops and malls she’d grown used to. The town felt comfortable, like slipping into a pair of favorite slippers.
The big question? Could she fit into life here again, or had she been gone too long?
Only time would tell if those slippers welcomed her or pinched her feet.
She turned onto Old Church Street, past the pretty little periwinkle railroad car that boasted a florist and gardening center, and slid to the curb in front of Kitty’s Kakes and Bakery with its funky, pink-and-green awning. The shop’s huge front window proudly displayed today’s temptations and looked exactly as it had when she and Beck had stopped in for a treat before Saturday’s football game a lifetime ago.
The bell above Kitty’s door jingled welcomingly when Tansy pushed it open.
Gracie squeezed around her to run inside. “Ms. Kitty, we’re here!” Her soft child’s voice was high-pitched with excitement.
Kitty peeked around the kitchen doorway, her full face breaking into a sunny smile. “Well, you certainly are, Gracie Bella.”
Wiping her hands on the batter-smeared apron that covered her girth, she stepped around the corner of the display case, arms wide to catch the grinning child. “Welcome home.”
Tansy watched as Kitty kissed her child and fussed over her.
“Don’t you look a picture?”
Gracie’s brows drew together, and the older woman laughed.
“You’re as pretty as any picture I’ve ever seen,” she amended.
“Mama bought me a new dress for today.” Twirling, she showed off the pastel-flowered smock. “I gots ribbons to match.” She reached up to her long, dark hair and fingered the silky ties in her ponytail.
“You sure do.” Kitty turned her gaze to Tansy. “You doin’ okay?”
She nodded.
“Been to your mom’s yet?”
“No.” She pointed to the packed vehicle. “That’s our next stop. Gracie and I decided a drink and a snack were in order first.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place.” Kitty studied Tansy. “I know this has been hard for you, sweetie, but it sure is good to have you home.”
Tansy gave her a wobbly smile. “It’s good to be home.”
“One of these days, you’ll be able to say that and mean it,” Kitty said.
Tansy nodded sadly.
“It’ll be okay.” She patted Tansy’s shoulder, then turned to her daughter. “Why don’t you come over here and show me what you want, sweetheart?” Kitty took Gracie by the hand and led her to the rows of baked goodies.
“I think, as much as I’d like one of your maple-iced doughnuts, we should both stick with bagels,” Tansy said. “Neither of us has had much today.” She glanced at her daughter. “A sugar high’s probably not a great idea, so we’ll save the doughnuts for another time.”
“Smart.” Her gaze ran over Tansy. “You’re way too thin, though, honey. I think a few calories might be exactly what the doctor ordered.”
When she opened her mouth to protest, Kitty shook her head.
“But not today. Understood.” Her tongs reached inside the case for a bagel. “Toasted?”
“Yes, please.”
“I have some maple-flavored cream cheese.” She eyed Tansy.
Laughing, Tansy said, “Why not?”
“To drink?”
“A glass of milk and a cup of coffee. Black.”
“Can I have a soda, Mama?”
Tansy shook her head, and the little girl’s lip stuck out in the beginning of a pout.
“Kitty has the best milk in the county,” Tansy said.
“You got that right. Maybe in all the South.”
“You do?” Gracie pressed her face against the display case.
“Yes, ma’am.” As Kitty prepared their order, she spoke over her shoulder. “You still want to do this?”
Nerves sizzled. “Yes, I do, but the location’s crucial.”
“Not much to choose from. The town’s booming!”
“Jenni Beth’s dream has been good for Misty Bottoms, hasn’t it?”
“A blessing. And Cricket? Hard worker, that girl. I liked her right off. Our new deputy’s warmed up to her, too.”
“So I hear.” Tansy pulled a couple napkins from the holder. “I’ll call Quinlyn Deveroux tomorrow. See if she has anything that might fit my needs. I’m really hoping to find something with living quarters above. My budget would be a whole lot happier paying one mortgage.”
“Thought you were livin’ with your mama.” Kitty placed their drinks in front of them and went back for the bagels.
“Only till I find something.” Tansy unwrapped Gracie’s straw. “I need to be on my own.”
“Understood.” Returning with their food, Kitty dropped into a chair beside her, buttered the bagel for Gracie, and cut it into quarters.
“Jenni Beth says you’re swamped.”
“I am. Honey, to be honest, the only reason I’m still open is because I don’t want to let her down. She needs somebody to bake her cakes and such, but I’m too old and too tired.”
“You’re not old!”
“I am. I checked my mirror this mornin’. Above my head, the name Methuselah flashed on and off.” She opened and closed her hand in a flashing gesture.
Tansy laughed. “Quit.”
“That’s exactly what I want to do.” Kitty sipped the coffee she’d poured for herself. “This is a young person’s job. Besides, Harvey’s finished his treatments. He beat the Big C. Got a clean bill of health on his last visit.”
Tansy squeezed her hand. “Mom told me, and I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear that.”
“You and me both. It’s time I retire. Time somebody else takes care of this town’s sweet tooth and caffeine addiction. Harv and I don’t plan to leave Misty Bottoms right away, but eventually we’d like to sell that big old house we’re in and downsize. We’re thinkin’ to move to Charleston to be close to our daughter. She and Joe have two little ones now.” Kitty pulled a phone from her pocket and brought up the latest pictures of her grandchildren.
Tansy looked at them while she picked at her bagel. Gracie demolished hers, and Tansy felt a prick of guilt. She should have realized sooner how hungry Gracie was. But then, she’d been asleep, right?
Ah, the perils of parenthood. Tansy did guilt extremely well.
Beck, stepping out of the gas station, that heated moment when their eyes met, popped into her head. Regret, stepsister to guilt, washed over her. Yep, she was an expert at guilt and all its relatives.
She yanked herself back to Kitty’s conversation.
“If I owned this place, honey, I’d let you have it for a song. But, stupid me, I’ve leased it all these years. Made a small fortune for Howard Greene. Like I said, though, the equipment’s all mine, and you’re welcome to whatever you can use. You can have it dirt cheap.”
“I appreciate that.” Tansy stacked their plates, then stood and carried their trash to the wastebasket. “So we have three cakes to make, huh?”
“You have three cakes,” Kitty said. “Let me get the order forms, and we can go over them. And you.” She pointed at Gracie. “I’ve got a Frozen coloring book and some crayons.”
Gracie clapped her hands. “Is Olaf in it?”
“Yes, he is.” She carried the book and crayons to Gracie, then held up a finger to Tansy. “I have one quick call I need to make.”
“Fine. I’ll get another coffee if you don’t mind?”
“Help yourself. Pour me a refill, too, would you?” Kitty pulled her cell from an apron pocket and punched in a number. She moved behind her bakery case. “Hey, you out and about?” She listened a minute, then said, “I’ve got some of my date-filled cookies here—your mom’s favorite. If you could stop by in the next little bit, I’ll send them home with you.” She nodded. “Wonderful.”
Moving to a filing cabinet, she pulled out three folders. “There you go.” She set them on the table beside Tansy. “I’ve got a hunch you can put some magic in these.”
Tansy flipped open the first. “Betsy and Clem. They want a Vegas-themed wedding?”
“Roulette table and all. Beck managed to find everything Jenni Beth is gonna need to turn the barn into a Vegas gambling hall for the day—minus the actual betting, of course. That would be against the law.”
“I didn’t realize she was using the old barn.”
“You know Cole and old buildings. Nothin’ he likes more than to get his hands on one. He and Beck have worked miracles with Jenni Beth’s. It’s like a blank canvas. She can turn it into anything she—or her brides—want.”
“Hmmm.” She flipped open a second file. “A vintage-style wedding?” She rubbed her hands together. “I know exactly what I want to do with this one.”
Before she could take a peek at the notes for Tanya and Ray Miller’s daughter’s sweet-sixteen party, the door opened.
“Do you know what Coralee’s…up to?” Beck stopped, one foot in, one foot out of the bakery shop as he caught sight of Tansy. He swore all the oxygen in the place had been sucked out.
“Beck.” The page Tansy held fluttered, and she laid it on the table.
“Hey, Gracie, how are you?”
“Hi, Beck. I’m coloring.”
“I see that.”
Tansy studied her daughter. “Gracie, how do you know Beck?”
“He goes to see Grandma.”
Tansy met Beck’s midnight-blue eyes. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “I like your mom. The problem was between you and me, Tanz. Never with me and your mom or dad.”
Beck glanced toward a very innocent-looking Kitty.
Beaming, she hustled behind the counter, then handed him a coffee. “Here you go. On the house. Look who just got into town. Why don’t you two catch up while I box those cookies?”
“Your timing’s off, Kitty.”
The older woman plumped her gray hair. “I don’t think so, honey. Have a seat. This won’t take but a minute.”
He’d rather stand. Hell, he’d rather eat Dee-Ann’s liver and onions or walk barefoot through a fire ant hill. But since neither was an option, he walked stiffly to where Tansy sat, staring with those damn big, blue-green eyes of hers.
Taking a deep breath, coffee in hand, he headed into enemy territory. Nodding at the empty chair beside Gracie, he asked, “You mind?”
“Not at all.” Tansy set down her cup.
He nearly spewed the sip he’d just taken. If her voice had been any chillier, that snowman Gracie was coloring would turn to a chunk of ice.
Tapping the picture, he asked, “Whatcha doin’ there, Gracie?”
“I’m drawin’ a necklace for Olaf, Beck.”
Raising a brow and ignoring the question in Tansy’s incredible Caribbean-blue eyes, he returned his gaze to Gracie. “You do know Olaf’s a guy, right?”
“Yeah, but he wants one.”
“Okay.” He drew out the word, then lifted his gaze to meet her mama’s.
“What were you saying about Coralee?”
“Your crazy aunt’s up to somethin’, Tanz, and knowin’ her?” He shook his head. “Could be anything.”
“Well, you know what they say. Here in the South, we don’t bother to hide crazy. We plop it right down in a rocker on the front porch with a big old glass of sweet tea.”
“If Coralee would stay on the front porch, I’d be good with that,” Beck answered. “Problem is she carries that crazy all over town.”
“Don’t I know it.” Tansy sipped her coffee. “Remember the time she marched down to the old swimming hole where the Sunday school class was splashing around, stripped down to her skivvies, and insisted Pastor Jeremiah baptize her? I about died of embarrassment.”
He laughed. “And if memory serves, you hid behind me so she couldn’t see you. But she waded right over to you and pulled you along beside her, insisting you be witness.”
“I swore I’d disown her.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. Deep down, she’s a wonderful woman.”
Gracie tugged at Beck’s sleeve. “She bought me a BB gun.”
His mouth dropped open. “For a four-year-old?”
“Mama put it away. She said I had to be older to shoot it.” She turned that beautiful smile on him. “I think I should have it now. Don’t you?”
Despite himself, he grinned. “Oh no, you don’t.” He tapped the end of her nose. “I’m not gettin’ into this. What your mama says goes.”
The child’s smile turned to a pout.
“And will the real Gracie Bella please stand up?” Tansy sighed.
“Why do you want me to stand up, Mama?”
Tansy looked toward the ceiling and shook her head. “It’s just a saying.”
“’Kay.” She bent her head to her coloring, tongue slipping out between her lips as she concentrated.
He nodded toward the papers Tansy had spread over the table. “What have you got there?”
“Cake orders. Jenni Beth called on my way into town. It seems our unflappable Ms. B. is quite flapped.”
Beck threw her a lopsided grin. “Yeah, it’s that old ‘be careful what you wish for.’ She said she’d thrown herself on your mercy.”
Kitty swiped at some powdered sugar on the counter. “Afraid that’s my fault. I can’t keep up with both the bakery and all the fancies for Magnolia House’s events.”
“Nonsense. You can still run circles around all of us,” Tansy said.
“Harv’s cancer took a lot out of me.”
“But he’s good now,” Beck said.
“He is. And looking forward to my retirement. Says he intends to chase me around the bed mornin’, noon, and night.” She blushed like a schoolgirl.
“You play tag?” Gracie asked.
Everybody chuckled.
“Somethin’ like that,” Beck answered. To Kitty, he said, “Enviable goals, you ask me.” His gaze settled on Tansy. “Chasin’ is fun.” He arched a brow. “Catchin’ is even more fun.”
She choked on her coffee. “Beck, you can’t say things like that.”
“Sure I can. I just did.”
He looked up to see Kitty holding a white baker’s box, a twinkle in her eyes. An uneasy thought slithered through his mind. Had she called him when she did figuring Tansy would be gone by the time he got here, or was the old gal up to something?
Nah. Everybody knew he and Tansy were past tense.
* * *
The bell over the door tinkled as Beck left.
Tansy watched him walk to his truck, admired his fine butt in those worn-nearly-white jeans. The man had a sexy stride. Confident. Easy.
Kitty cleared her throat. “My guess is you two are worn out. Go. Get that child settled. Your mother’s probably pacing the floor. I know for a fact she can’t wait to get her hands on her granddaughter again.”
Tansy laughed. “I wouldn’t argue that.” She held up the files. “Where do you want me to put these?”
“Take them with you. They’re yours now. Magnolia House cakes are in your capable hands as of today, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what you’ll do with them.”
The idea of starting her own business sent a mixture of ecstasy and full-blown panic through Tansy. But she was good, very good, with pastries and cakes. Left alone, day after day, in that cold mausoleum of a house Emerson’s folks had purchased for them as their wedding gift, the one he’d lost in a high-stakes poker game, she’d worked hard on her baking skills. She’d honed them with some daytime classes she’d sneaked in.
This venture was her dream. It would be her salvation and allow her to support her daughter.
Waving good-bye to Kitty, her daughter’s hand in hers, Tansy walked to the loaded-down SUV.
Once she had Gracie buckled in her seat, Tansy decided to drive down Main. She’d take the roundabout way to her childhood home. Somewhere, there had to be an available building.
Nothing caught her eye.
At the end of Main, she spotted the Elliot homestead and fought the wave of nostalgia that swept over her. She’d dreamed of one day living in the two-story home with its cupola and wraparound porch—with Beck.
And that would never happen.
Still, the house called to her. She slowed, then gasped out loud.
“What’s wrong, Mama?”
“Nothin’, sugar. I’m just lookin’ at the pretty house.”
“Are we gonna live in it?” Gracie struggled against her restraining harness to get a better peek.
“No.”
“Why not?”
She gave the parent’s age-old fallback answer. “Because.”
Still, she pulled up in front of the house, beneath the shade of the big live oak that fairly dripped with Spanish moss. A for-sale sign had been planted in the front yard right beside a monstrous azalea bush. In the spring, it would fill the yard with the most incredible shade of pink. Now, as they headed into fall, zinnias and chrysanthemums bloomed, their deeper colors heralding the changing of the season.
Memories assaulted her. How many times had she come here for dinner or to deliver one of her mom’s pies to Pops and NeeNee, Beck’s grandparents? She smiled remembering the time she and Beck had sneaked out the back door after dinner, away from his parents and grandparents, and out of sight of the house. God, Beck could kiss. One touch from those lips and she was a goner.
Beck. Her smile wavered.
Jenni Beth insisted he looked more like Dierks Bentley than Dierks did. Maybe she was right. To Tansy, though, Beck was Beck with his curly, blond hair and eyes the color of a starry night sky.
Motor still running, a window down to let in the somewhat cooler breeze, she concentrated on the present. Struggling to set emotion aside, she studied the house with a more critical eye.
Pops had lived there alone the last few years. After NeeNee died, he must have been lonely. A few months ago, he’d moved in with Beck’s parents, where he’d have life around him again.
Her own mother, living alone now, was suffering the same loneliness. Hopefully, it would be better with her and Gracie back in town.
Idling at the curb, Tansy struggled for details, tried to bring the floor plan into clear focus. If she remembered right, the entire house had hardwood floors. The windows in the back? Perfection. Upstairs, it seemed to her the ceiling slanted a bit and peaked in the center. But she might be wrong. She’d only been on the second story a time or two. No dummies, the adults had kept the two of them away from the bedrooms.
Her heartbeat accelerated. She and Gracie could live upstairs, and she’d turn the bottom floor into her business.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she got. It could work. She knew it could. Amazed that someone hadn’t snatched the place up immediately, she wanted to hop out of the SUV, tear down the for-sale sign, and stow it in the back of her vehicle so no one else would be tempted.
She’d paint it even though either Beck or his dad had given it a fresh coat recently. While the white on white looked good, the place was a grand old lady and needed a style that better suited a Victorian. She’d look so much snazzier with something more colorful, something just this side of garish.
Beck would hate that. Truth? Even though he’d been civil at Kitty’s, he’d no doubt hate anything she did, must hate that she’d come home to Misty Bottoms. Maybe. And maybe he didn’t give a flying fig what she did.
Somehow that would be worse.
Thumbing open the bottle in her center console, she popped a cherry-flavored Tums.