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“That’ll work. I wasn’t sure what I should do for color, and I probably would have gone with white everything so I didn’t screw up.”
“We can do better than that,” Pixie told him, then wanted to slap a hand over her mouth. “We”, she’d said, when she really had nothing to do with his house except to visit as a friend.
If Doug noticed her slip, he didn’t say anything. Maybe he was still too much in his head over theotherconversation they’d be having later. She knew it had to be praying on his mind.
Pixie chose to honor the silence that once again dropped, gazing out the window as Doug turned off the main road, passed two small houses, then took a left onto his long dirt drive. The last time Pixie had been here, it had been dark, but now she understood how difficult it would be for anything larger than his truck to navigate the bumpy terrain. Add a little rain, and it would be a muddy nightmare.
She gritted her teeth against the pain the truck’s bouncy movements sent through her bruised hip, doing her best to hide it from Doug. But—
“I’m sorry about how rough it is,” he apologized, clearly clueing into her distress. “There’s nothing I can do to make it easier, but just in case you have doubts about driving down here in the future, I’ll be renting a grader over the summer. Next winter I’ll buy a plow for the truck so the driveway stays passible,” he informed her.
Was he saying that because he hoped she’d visit? A girl could dream.
“What I need,” he huffed after a moment, “is a month off to accomplish everything.”
“And you don’t have any vacation time coming?”
Knowing that she had months accrued, Pixie would take some of it off if Doug would allow her to help.
“I actually have a lot of hours accumulated because I rarely take a vacation,” Doug told her. “But I was just on mandatory, unpaid leave for…a, uh, minor infraction, so I don’t want to take any more time off if I don’t have to.”
Pixie didn’t ask what the infraction was. She didn’t have to. She’d caught some talk between Talia and Mason about Doug not acting as a team player, and knew he’d had his wings clipped a bit. She also knew that the problem had been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
It was time to let him knowshehad availability.
“If you need an extra hand,” Pixie offered tentatively. “And I do meanonehand.” She lifted her incapacitated arm with her working digits. “I’m game to help out. I’m really good at painting, and I know how to tile. I did my shower at my parents’ house.”
Doug sent an actual grin her way. “Wow. A woman of many talents. I might just take you up on that because I’ve never done tile work before.”
For the distance of the long driveway, she regaled him with the pros and cons of the two tile saws she’d used, telling him she preferred the smaller of the pair, but that she’d bring both over and let him decide which suited his purposes.
By the time they pulled up to the door, Pixie was sure she’d be a part of the ongoing renovations, and became enchanted with the cottage all over again. At night, she’d only been able to catch a glimpse of white, newly patched shingles, but now she could take in the whole, charming picture. The exterior was, indeed, white, but the shutters and front door were a deep, forest green, with accents of a warm gold on the mullions. Everything needed a fresh coat of paint, but Pixie could easily envision what it would look like spiffed up.
Several hundred yards behind the house, down a gentle, treed slope, she spotted a small lake. She couldn’t wait to explore. Enthusiastically opening the door of the truck, the smell of fresh pine struck her nose the minute she gingerly stepped to the ground; the trees overhead creating a patchwork of dancing shadows on the needle-covered earth. Even the nasty spasms in her hip couldn’t distract from the wonderous scene.
“This is so beautiful, Doug,” she gushed.
“Thanks. I knew the minute I saw it that it was the perfect place for me.”
Doug grabbed their bag of food off the seat, then indicated that she should go ahead of him into the cottage.
“You have the key?”
He chuckled. “I haven’t been locking up. This town is very safe, despite what you might think from seeing that guy at the diner the other night. Everybody around here looks out for everyone else, and will call the police if they see trespassers. You can bet the two elderly couples who live in the houses we just passed know we’re here. Also,” he shrugged, “there’s not much inside to steal yet, even if someone wanted to.”
Pixie saw the veracity in that.
When Doug lagged behind, she took it as her cue to keep moving and open the front door. Walking inside, she loved the place even more than the first time she’d seen it. Sunlight streamed in through oversized windows, making the space bright and cheery…despite the lifeless gray paint on the walls.
Maybe she made a moue of distaste because Doug immediately picked up on her displeasure.
“If you’re game, you can help me with colors for the rest of the house, too,” he suggested with a grin. Without waiting for an answer, he strode into the kitchen then came back with napkins and a spoon for her soup. But just as quickly as his face had lightened, it fell.
“What is it, Doug?” she asked, not deterred by his quick mood change. She was getting used to them.
“I, uh…just thought. You may not want to hang out with me here once I tell you about my past.”
“Nonsense,” she said, using her best schoolteacher voice. “There isn’t a thing you can say that will send me running.”
