The computer screen glared back at Karla as she scribbled a few notes in the margin of her notebook. There just wasn’t enough money in her account. Not with Maisy and Davin needing new clothes for school. Not with food prices going up. And she couldn’t rely on Sawyer to come to her rescue yet again.
This task, she’d handle on her own.
“I need a car.”
“What do you need it for?” Sawyer rested his hands on her shoulders.
She loved the feeling of warmth he always gave her when he just reached out and touched her. “Who let you in?” she teased.
“Davin. He was on the way out and waved as he swung the door wide. I took that as an invitation. Forgive me for looking over your shoulder, but I think you’ll have trouble buying a car with that and I don’t think a dealership is going to finance you with such a short-term job. Why don’t you use mine?”
“Yours?” He did have a truck and a car. But she hated that he’d solved her problems yet again and in less than the blink of an eye. “I’d like to solve this puzzle on my own. You don’t have to rescue me all the time.”
He looked hurt for just a moment then dropped his hands from her shoulders. “I understand. I was only offering because it didn’t look possible and I know you’re doing a lot for your family.”
She turned in her chair to actually face him and rested her arms on the back. “I overestimated how much money I would have by this time with the rental money from the Tidewater. Food cost me more than I thought, even with Maisy and Davin gone the last few months.
I may have started offering ‘dinner in a dish’ service. You know those tins you can get at the grocery, the one-use baking dishes? I whip something together for the families who stay and they love it. I just asked them to leave a tip on the table for the meals, since I wasn’t sure how to add it to my web page, especially with all the choices I had in mind.”
“And it wasn’t enough,” Sawyer filled in.
She felt like a child admitting to stealing from the cookie jar. Sawyer had helped her so much. She’d been able to pay back his loan as soon as she’d started booking for whole weeks, instead of only weekends. But she still hadn’t planned to run so short. “There are other things too.”
Like Rob calling and telling her that his car broke down and he didn’t have money for groceries for the kids. When she’d been low on cash—his doing—he never would’ve helped her. He would’ve offered to take the kids before he’d offer to send her money.
But she wasn’t Rob and her kids had to eat. So, she’d swallowed her pride and sent him the money. Even though she and Sawyer weren’t in any sort of committed relationship, she still felt bad for not telling him. Sawyer might not understand why, and she didn’t want to talk about Rob with Sawyer anymore.
“What can I do?” Sawyer stood back and leaned against the wall. “You know I’m always willing to help you.”
“I do know that. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you’re a willing safety net. But I got married young and never had to manage anything but the house and bills. And the bills were already done for me, I just had to write out the checks.” Karla sighed.
There were many things she would change if she could go back. One of them would be letting Rob handle their entire lives outside of the children. Another was having everything in his name.
When he’d left, the only thing she’d had with her name on it was a debit card linked to his account. Even though she’d had savings in it from things she’d sold or made, he’d taken the money from the account, then made her look like a thief to the bank. She’d had to switch banks once she had money because her old account was still overdrawn.
She would insist he take care of that in the divorce because it would affect her in the future. At some point, she would need credit and an overdrawn bank account just sitting there would be a red flag.
“I guess you’re right. Borrowing your car until I can get this all managed will be the easiest way.” Why did accepting help feel like defeat sometimes?
“I’ll drive it over tomorrow and you can take me back home. You can see my house for a change.” He laughed.
She’d never had a reason to go to his place until then. Even now, the idea of going there felt oddly taboo, as if it were wrong. “I don’t have to go inside if you don’t want me to.”
He shrugged. “It’s clean and there’s nothing in there I’m hiding. I have a nice back yard, but I’m not there much. I doubt you’ll think much of it.”
Maybe not, but it would be a big step. He’d gotten used to visiting her when he’d helped get the Tidewater Inn ready to open. He’d managed to stay in her life by helping with various other projects. Now, he was expected at least once a week for supper and he helped with the kids when they were around.
“Does Davin want to go shoot some hoops?”
Her son had been moody since returning from Rob’s. She’d expected that behavior from Maisy, not her son. Maisy seemed to have gotten over her anger while she’d been gone for months.
“You could ask him. He went to the beach for a minute to see if his friends were there, then he told me he was headed around the house to sit on the porch. He’s pouting because he can’t play some game on his phone all day long.” Summer wasn’t meant to be wasted playing video games and there were only a few days left.
“I’ll go ask him. And remember that you still have me and your sisters. If there isn’t enough work in the inn, they can find temporary jobs too. Everyone can pitch in. It doesn’t have to just be you. Sometimes I think you have just as much of a tendency to rescue people as I do.”
She hadn’t thought about that, but he was right. When it came to her sisters or her children, she would do about anything to make sure they not only didn’t have to work if it weren’t needed, but that they didn’t know about any struggles. Maybe it was time to accept some help.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.” Sonica came in and sat on the couch next to the computer desk.
Even in a house with five bedrooms and plenty of space, there still was nowhere to have a conversation that couldn’t be overheard.
“Sorry,” Karla said. “I had tried to keep the mess to myself.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of the problem. I don’t know about Channyon, but I know that Aryn and I have talked about wanting a real stake in the Tidewater. We’ve never owned anything in our lives and this seems like something we could all get behind…because we already are. Aryn especially needs something she can hang onto.”
How would that work? She already owned the house. “What do you mean by buying a stake in it?” She turned her computer chair to face Sonica.
“We would help invest money in the things needed to supply the house. When there are renovations needed or anything—with the exception of the addition, since that’s paid for—we would help just as much as you. But we would also be part owners.”
Let some of the stress go? Could she do that? The Tidewater had been like a baby once she’d planned it. She’d nurtured the idea and made the plan. Her sisters had arrived to help, and she was so thankful they were there, but they weren’t part of her original plan. Could she adjust?
“Are you sure? That would mean you’d have to stay, wouldn’t it?”
“I am, and so is Aryn. We’ve already talked about working while the construction is going on so we can help pay the bills while there’s no income. You’ll have to be helping Sawyer manage the construction, so you can’t work.” Sonica chuckled. “I’m pretty sure Aryn has already promised Tim that she’d help him. Not sure if that’s for pay though.”
Karla laughed, remembering the day they’d met. Tim had been hired by Sawyer to come cut the grass and Aryn had followed him around most of the day. “Well, I can’t stop her from adoring everything green.”
They both chuckled and Karla turned to the computer and shut it off.
“In all seriousness, we’ve talked about this and it’s not something you should worry about. You’ve got bigger things going on. Like, what in the world Channyon is going to do. What will we all do when Becker comes back? What if Rob decides to rear his ugly head again… Yeah, see, you’ve got enough to worry about.”
Rob. She held her breath even at the sound of his name. She hadn’t told her sisters about the money either. Even though they’d always lived with the ‘what’s mine is yours’ financial philosophy, she knew they would’ve had lots of questions. Ones she didn’t want to answer. As long as the checking account was only in her name, then she could send money.
Sawyer came back through the patio door followed by Davin. Both waved as they went by. Karla wanted to wish them a good time, but Davin already looked defeated before he’d even started. Hopefully Sawyer knew what he was getting into.
Channyon rushed down the stairs and headed for the front door dressed in her pizza uniform.
“Channyon?” Karla called. She’d quit that job two months ago. Why would she wear her old uniform and rush out of the house like she was trying to hide?
Channyon skidded to a halt and glanced over her shoulder. “Sorry, I’m in a hurry. A little late for work.”
“But—”
“I took back my old job. Figured we’d need it with no bookings. See you later.” And Channyon dashed out the door.
Even though Karla had kept her struggle a secret, they’d all figured it out. She should’ve known. Channyon was dealing with some of the worst pain of her life so far and they all knew it, even though she didn’t talk about it. The stress right then wasn’t near what it had been just a few months before when Rob was trying to steal their inn and turn the kids against her, but her sisters could still see it.
She reached under the desk where she’d left the rolled plans for the inn. Sawyer had brought them the night before, but he hadn’t made a big deal of them to anyone but her. He’d rolled them out on the table and showed her how each room would have its own bathroom and how they would add bathrooms to the rooms already there.
He showed her the new laundry room that was needed to have a working hotel and how the old kitchen would be torn out to make a larger dining room. The new kitchen was huge. And she’d have to cook, but at least she’d have an industrial dishwasher.
That meant coming up with menus, buying food, making sure there was as little waste as possible, budgeting… She reached over to the cup of pens on her desk and shifted it until the mug handle was just so.
She couldn’t help it. Her surroundings could be manipulated to alleviate some of her stress. She just had to be careful that she wasn’t doing it with the people in her life anymore. Somehow, Rob had managed to be the leader of the household most of the time, but when she’d felt him pull away, even a little, she’d taken over.
What she could control didn’t scare her.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, people could only be controlled for so long and then they got tired of it and left. Like Rob. Instead of telling her what she was doing wrong and working on it, he’d moved in with a woman who supposedly looked just like her only younger, according to Sawyer.
At least it wasn’t her looks that were lacking. She took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on the plans. This would be her life for the next few months, barring anything going wrong. Except it was construction so things were going to go wrong. Even she knew that.
Sawyer came back inside following a smiling Davin. “Thanks.” Her son waved slightly as he headed back up the stairs.
“That didn’t take long.” She hoped she didn’t sound as skeptical as she felt.
“He’s just going through some things and needed a place to vent where there was no chance of hurting anyone. He’s a good kid.”
Despite giving him every reason not to, Sawyer had always liked her children and tried to get along with them and even include them when he invited her out to do things.
“I’ve been looking at the plans for the Tidewater. I’m concerned about bookings. When is it safe to open up the website again?” She’d get her last payment for at least two months in just a few days.
Sawyer scrubbed his hand across his mouth and took in a breath. “Well, you never know when materials or men will be held up. Figure at least a ten percent increase in the number of days. If it gets done early, you can always open your site and take last minute reservations.”
“Except we’ll be heading into the winter season. Rents are down by half going into the new year.”
His eyebrow rose. “Except this will be done sometime between Halloween and mid-November. Plenty of time to still book lots of people during the holidays.”
Why did planning ahead always make her feel like she was looking for the negative? “I’m just trying to make sure there are no surprises.”
He smiled at her with one of those melty smiles, dimple and all. “You’ll never catch them all. But at least if you’re prepared you won’t have more than you can handle.”
Her heart did funny, racy things when he looked at her like that and she could see a future with a happy ending with him. If she ever managed to live through her divorce from Rob. If he could weather that storm with her, see her at her absolute worst, and still want to come around, they could explore a future.
Until next spring, when the one year plus one day waiting period would elapse, those thoughts had even less substance than the building plans under her hands. “There’s one thing on these prints that I don’t understand. What are these?” She pointed to some boxes between the walls.
“Well, for one, you want a sound barrier between rooms. The more comfortable people are, the more loyal they will be and I’m sure you know that with the lighthouses and other attractions, families naturally come back here year after year.”
“Yes, but…” That didn’t explain the boxes. She could understand thick walls, but this looked like tiny laundry chutes between the rooms.
“Those spaces are for central air units and for water lines, electrical and co-ax cable. You want enough space that if there’s a problem, they don’t have to tear into your wall to get to it.”
“So space means less stress.” She laughed.
“Exactly. Which is why I’m taking you to dinner. You need some space away from the stress.”
Even Sawyer got her. Rob never had. He never understood that she would tamp down all her hurt and tension until it came out by controlling everything around her. “Thanks. You’re absolutely right.”
“I know. And I’ll remember you said that.”