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“I’ll take it,” she said, entranced by the magical place.
“That was fast,” the agent replied, stunned.
She’d expected, when she saw the car Katrina drove and then saw Katrina, that the Creole Cottage would not be fine enough for her. But the dwelling transcended all of that.
“I know what I want, and this is it.”
After Katrina signed at closing and the house was hers, she invited best friend Maggie Angel to visit. No-nonsense Maggie was more difficult to win over.
“What are the plans for this bathroom?” she said, grimacing. “It’s a gut job. I don’t see you ever using that toilet.”
“Yeah, there’s nothing to keep in here. Actually, what I might do is tear it down to the studs and use the space to enlarge the kitchen. Then I can add on two more bathrooms on the first floor, one off the main bedroom down here, and a guest bathroom. There can be a Jack and Jill bedroom joined by a bathroom.”
“You’ve got it all planned,” Maggie said, smiling. “For looking like such a small place from the outside, it feels a lot bigger than it is.”
Originally, there were only those four rooms. But over the centuries, numerous former owners had added additions and dormers and wings, and it was a rambling place with rooms to hide in and rooms to spare.
Katrina led Maggie up a steep staircase to a vast room. “This is going to be like a bunkhouse for future kids. Right now, Alphé’s kids and Annie’s little boy will come here and someday you’ll have a baby…”
“Back up, girlfriend. I’m not getting married, let alone having a kid. You’ll need to fill your room with someone else’s spawn.” They burst out laughing. “See, I don’t have a maternal bone in my body.”
“Yeah, me either, but I still want kids. When we were kids, we always said we’d raise our children together.”
“Those were the dreams of two crazy kids, though.”
“Look at you, Maggie, living with Justin, and you swore you never would. So that means anything is possible.”
“Bite your tongue, please. I know I have some unlikable characteristics, but I have to be my own person.”
Katrina laughed out loud.
“Aw, I didn’t mean anything. How is it going with Justin being there around the clock now?”
“Well, the man does work, so it’s not exactly around the clock. And he’s been bringing home dinner every night. That was the concern for me having him move in. You see how big Justin is; I didn’t want to starve the man to death, but I wasn’t cooking dinner for him every night either.”
“I take it back. Youarea real bitch,” Katrina said, and they high-fived.
“I never claimed to be anything else. Okay, so this is the bunkhouse,” Maggie said, looking around. She just didn’t have the same imagination Katrina did to see it transformed. “And that eyesore across the back of the house is the kitchen and bathroom. What else?”
“I’ll put a bathroom up here, too. Come downstairs and I’ll show you my ideas for the master suite.”
Maggie gasped when she saw the size of the room. “This is wonderful. It’s gigantic, compared to my place.”
“I love it!”
Katrina joyfully twirled around, a totally foreign move for her, conjuring a confused frown from Maggie.
“When do you start working on it?”
“Well, that’s a touchy subject. Alphé wants to be involved, but he fishes seven days a week. I don’t want him working on the place because then I’ll feel obligated if the relationship doesn’t go anywhere.”
“What you’re saying is you need a contractor,” Maggie said, thinking. “You know that barn I’m building on my property for Justin’s horse? The contractor who is doing the planning is the contractor everyone uses in Cypress Cove. If you want it, I’ll get his name.”
“Yes! I want to get as much done as fast as possible. My room above Café Delphine is getting a little claustrophobic.”
Maggie got out her phone and sent Justin a text asking for the contractor’s phone number.
“I must warn you, the guy is single, and he’s hot.”
