“Or not. Rover, stay.” Jess shook his head and grinned. “See, he’s smitten.”
* * *
“About time you showed up,”Jesse teased, hearing Hailey entering the new portion behind him. “I hauled in all the shelves and built a corner unit while you lollygagged in the old portion of the store.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
Her soft tread came closer until he smelled her familiar vanilla scent, and… was that coffee? A steaming mug of fresh, black coffee appeared in front of him.
“I brought coffee and muffins,” she sing-songed.
“Forgiven. Can you hold the other end of this? Balancing it on a ladder isn’t working.” The coffee disappeared, but the heady scent of vanilla remained. He’d always think of her when he smelled vanilla. Going to the bakery was going to kill him. Thank heavens his mother had given up baking years ago, at least he’d be safe at home.
“Where do you want it?” Her touch lifted the pressure off his hand, easing the struggle to hold the shelf.
“Edge is this way. Tap the end with your hand, then align the bottom edge with the pencil mark.” The shelf lifted and clicked against the corner cabinet.
“There?” she asked sweetly.
“Perfect.” Holding his end with one hand, he drilled the shelf to the wall with one screw through the lip on the underside of it. He worked quickly, putting a screw through at each pre-marked spot, then aligning them with the studs behind the drywall. He stepped back. “Done. How does that look?”
She skipped back to the center of the room. “Step aside, please.” She waved him to the right. “It’s perfect.” She raced to the quarter-round corner shelves and ran her hands across the surface. “They’re so smooth! And shiny. Oh, Jesse, they’re perfect.”
It had taken a bit of work to meld the wood and glass shelves to create a balanced look, but after a few tries, he’d managed it.
She raced back to him and flung her arms around his neck. She wiggled in his arms like an excited puppy and kissed his cheek.
“Thank you. Thank you, so much.” She returned to the shelving and stroked her hand lovingly over one, glass shelf. “So smooth,” she repeated blissfully.
Her gratitude and enthusiasm made every long hour at the planer and sander worth the effort. “I knew you’d need to dust them frequently. I didn’t want lint and bits of duster sticking to the shelving. Plus, if you use powdered artificial snow, it’ll vacuum right up.”
“That’s brilliant. I can’t wait to see the shelves lining the wall.”
“Can I sip my coffee first?”
“It’s beginning to feel a lot like a Christmas store,” she said, giggling, the sound like tiny sleighbells in the snow. His heart warmed. His attraction to Hailey and the season was growing on him. “I’ll let you drink all of it, and even eat your muffin. Cranberry banana. Beth says you love them.”
“My seasonal favorite. Lots of folks love pumpkin, but me, not so much.”
“What can I do while you eat?” She spun in a circle, taking everything in. “That’s a huge pile of shelves.”
“Somebody requested every single one of them. The shelves on this wall are fixed.” He pointed to the shelf he’d put up. “Those will have mounting brackets and be adjustable. I brought color samples. White, silver and black. You’ll have to choose the ones you prefer.” He opened the bakery bag and peeled the paper off his muffin.
“You can erase any pencil marks showing under the shelves that are finished. I’ll need the others to line up as I go.”
“You pre-marked the entire wall?”
“I had to make sure I knew where all the supports were. Every length has to end at a stud.” He set down his muffin and picked up a shorter end of shelving. “Like this.” He passed her the shelf and reaching around her, helped her hold it against the wall. He closed his eyes, savoring her closeness.
“I cut this off, it’s only fourteen inches. It wouldn’t reach the next stud. See? If we hung it, it would droop or the screws would pull out.”
“Is it wasted?” She pivoted in his arms to look up at him, a frown between her brows.
“A small bit will be. I planned the cuts to minimize waste where I could. I’ll use the scraps to make wooden toys for charity drives.”
“That’s wonderful.” She stayed in his arms, smiling up at him until he stepped back.
“I’ll just finish my muffin and we’ll get back at it. Thanks for the snack.” He couldn’t stay this close to her; having her in his arms was too distracting.
