“So am I,” Shannon said, her face white.
“I’m overseeing most of the repairs in town,” Jacob assured the Fishers. “I’ll make sure my guys and I restore your house to its best state, and as quickly as possible. We should have you back home in no time at all.”
Weston said nothing, but he swallowed hard and shook Jacob’s hand again firmly. Shannon got misty-eyed.
“We’re so incredibly grateful for your help,” she told them warmly. “I don’t know what we would do without you. This has all been very difficult for all three of us, but especially for Camille. I think you’re about to turn what would have been a very bad experience for her into a good one.”
Hazel felt again a peculiar achy feeling in her chest that was almost like relief. She felt overjoyed that she was able to help these people during their time of crisis. “It’s no trouble at all,” she assured her. “We’re only too happy to help.”
Hazel, Samantha, and Jacob left the Fishers upstairs on their own for a while so that they had some time to get settled. Together they went into the kitchen, where Jacob busied himself with getting out mugs and creamer for coffee and Hazel started to make a giant pan of scrambled eggs.
“I’ll be on bacon duty,” Samantha said, opening the refrigerator. “Let’s bake the pieces of bacon. That way it’s easier to make more.”
“Sure.” Hazel smiled at her daughter. She usually cooked bacon in a frying pan, but Vivian had mastered the art of cooking bacon in the oven, and she’d taught Samantha how. “Thanks, honey. I’m so proud of you for helping out like this.”
Samantha shrugged. “It’s kind of exciting, you know? And they seem like they need some food.” She laughed. “Did you hear the way Camille said, ‘Bacon?’ like she was all excited about it?”
“Oh, definitely.” Hazel chuckled as she started to wash her hands after cracking open almost an entire carton of eggs. “There’s nothing like good warm food to help people feel more comfortable.”
Jacob smiled at her. “You sound like your mom.”
“Do I?” Hazel glowed. “Good. I’ve always aspired to be like my mom.”
She felt a surge of happiness as she worked alongside her husband and daughter. She knew that having a family of strangers in their home was likely to involve some hiccups and inconveniences, but she didn’t mind the prospect of those things. Instead, she simply felt thrilled to be able to help out and immensely proud of her loved ones.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Dean took Noelle’s hand as they started to walk toward the barn on the end of the Turners’ lawn. Cedric was busy with his store that day, as was his wife Janet, but he’d called to let them know that they were free to explore the place to their hearts content. “I hope you love it,” he’d told them warmly. “It would be great if we could offer you two what you need. You don’t deserve to run into more trouble because of that storm.”
“It’s cute,” Noelle said as they neared the big red building. “It’s so well painted, and I love the way it’s surrounded by the gardens. It looks like something out of a storybook.”
He could tell that she still felt doubtful about making it their official wedding venue, though, and he crossed the fingers of his free hand, praying that she would end up loving it just as much if not more than their other venue.
I just don’t want to have to wait anymore, he thought.But I also don’t want her to have to compromise on her vision. She put so much work into planning our wedding, and I know she planned a lot of it around our other venue.
They reached the big barn doors and pulled them open slowly. Both doors creaked in a way that Dean found delightful. The sound made him think of sneaking into public buildingswhen he was a kid, something he and his friends had done often. Vivian hadn’t been thrilled about it when she’d found out, but Dean knew that there were worse things they could have gotten themselves into, especially considering they never damaged or stole anything.
The inside of the barn was dark, and it smelled of wood and citrus cleaning supplies. Noelle flipped on the switch next to the door, and the room became illuminated with warm light.
“No fluorescents,” she remarked, clearly pleased. “I like the way they’ve got can lights underneath the balconies and those rustic chandeliers over the main area.”
“Me too,” Dean said, gazing up at one of the chandeliers, which had been made using wooden wagon wheels and a variety of metal lanterns. “Those things are really cool.”
“They are. I bet we could hang white fabric from them to the balconies. That would look absolutely incredible.”
Dean turned to her with a grin. “Yes, it would. I remember you were saying it would be hard to center that kind of decoration in our last space because of how the rafters lined up on the ceiling. This would make it all perfectly centered.”
Noelle nodded, resting her hands on her hips as she gazed around the room. “And our color scheme would go beautifully in here, with all this light wood. The burnt orange and the moss green would make it feel like a cottage in here, I think.”
“Cottages are good, right?” he teased.
“Um, yes, like the best thing in the world.”
“That’s because you’re a princess.”
“Aww.”
They paused for a kiss, and Dean suddenly found himself imagining dancing there with her on their wedding night. His heart skipped a beat, and the whole thing suddenly felt so real that for a moment he could hardly breathe.
