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I’d seen endless pictures of this all, of course, but it didn’t compare to seeing it in person. It was easy to see why Black Ink Corp had wanted to buy this, especially since they’d also been able to get hold of the land.
This was exactly the kind of place people would pay a premium to escape to.
Everything made so much sense now.
We walked up to the second to last cottage, the one dubbed ‘Cottage One’ on the map I had, and my eyes widened. It had slightly more privacy than the others with some trees providing a natural barrier from the gravel road, and where this section of the lake curved around a bit, it was also set out of view of the others.
This was the one I’d stay at, for sure.
“You look as though you like this one.”
I blinked, yanking myself out of my head, and smiled at Ryan. “Ah, I was just thinking it was the kind of place I’d stay in myself.”
“It’s the best of the lot, if you ask me,” he agreed, putting his hands in his pockets. “You can see the other cottages from most of the others, but this one is almost entirely secluded.”
“Indeed. It looks like you’d have to be right out on the lake to even glimpse it.” I glanced around. “It’s peaceful.”
He smiled. “It’s one of the first that’ll be finished. It’s in pretty good nick aside from some minor rewiring in the kitchen.”
“Is this the one that’ll be used as the show home?”
“That depends on what Mr Black says, but given that it’s the easiest to renovate, I think so.”
I checked the plan. “This is a three-bedroom, right?”
“You know a lot about it.”
“It’s my job.” I fought back a light laugh. “I wouldn’t be much of an assistant if I didn’t know what was going on here.”
“True.” His gaze lingered on me. “They’re going in. Should we follow?”
“Ah, yes.” Damn it. I was getting distracted.
I turned and headed towards the cottage, stepping up onto the deck. It was solid but in need of staining, and that was pretty much the only way to describe the flooring inside the cottage, too.
Otherwise, what Ryan had said seemed to be the truth. All this place needed was some tender loving care once the rewiring was done, and that was already underway. The electrician in the kitchen greeted us, and as Theodore engaged him in conversation, I peered around the space.
It was bigger than it looked outside, perhaps due to the open-plan nature of the living space. The kitchen was near the entrance, and the living room area overlooked the lake courtesy of giant windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling.
“They’re new,” Ryan said. “They were just installed on Friday, actually. There was a damp issue with the previous sliding glass doors, so they were changed out as a priority.”
“Oh, really?” I opened the document for this cottage and tapped that in. “Have there been any issues since?”
“No, and there shouldn’t be. The last set of doors were old, and the seals had gone.”
That made sense. “I’m sure the view from here when they’re clean is incredible.”
“It is. You’ll be able to see it before you go back, I’m sure.”
“I hope so. It’d be nice to see one completed before we’re done here.” I smiled up at him.
Ryan held my gaze for a moment, then opened his mouth. Before he could speak, there was a sharp, “Miss St. James?” from the other side of the room, and I quickly turned towards the kitchen.
“Yes, sir?” I walked over to where he was standing.
“You appear to be daydreaming,” Theodore said coolly, looking down at me.
“Not at all, sir. Ryan was telling me about the damp issue with the doors and how it’s been resolved, so I was making a note to check off against the survey when I’m in the office.”
