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He sighed. “You aren’t even going to give me a little hint of how it’s going?”
“Not a chance.”
“I guess I’ll have to wait until Saturday to see what you’ve done.”
She smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry. It’ll be worth the wait. Besides, you don’t want to see how badly I’m crushing you, or you won’t want to finish your room.”
His brows lifted high on his forehead. “You sound pretty confident.”
Her smile broadened. “I am.”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “So what are you doing now?”
She checked the time on her smart watch. “I have a little more to do on the room, and then I have a stack of work awaiting me. Why?”
He waved her off. “Never mind.”
“No. What do you need?”
He hesitated. “I was just wondering if you could help me go through some of Sandy’s things.”
She honestly didn’t have the time to spare, but when she opened her mouth, something totally different came out. “Sure. Can you give me a couple of hours?”
He nodded. “It’ll give me time to clean up a little.”
Just to give him a hard time, she said, “Are you sure a couple of hours will be enough?”
“Hey. I’m not that bad.”
She let out a little laugh as she picked up her boxes and entered the room. The boxes couldn’t stay because of the flooring going in, but she’d wanted to make sure she’d picked out the right colored linens to complement the room.
As she closed the door behind her, she realized she wasn’t in such a hurry for this contest to be over. She knew not long after a winner was declared, Lane would be leaving. Now that they’d gotten past all his grumpiness, she was finding he was a marshmallow in the center. And she loved marshmallows.
Not that she was letting herself have feelings for him. No way. She knew better. Because there was no way this was going to work out for both of them. None whatsoever.
It was getting late.
Maybe she changed her mind.
Later that evening, Lane found himself continuing to glance at the clock. It was after seven, and there was still no sign of Jo. He’d have thought she’d have messaged him if she’d changed her mind. She was probably just caught up with business and forgot the hour. It happened to him all the time.
He couldn’t deny a certain sense of disappointment, but he refused to acknowledge how much he missed her. He knew what happened when he started to count on people. They would inevitably let him down. That’s why he never let people get close to him. He couldn’t count on anyone but himself. He’d learned that lesson time and again as a kid. And it’d served him well as an adult.
With his thoughts about Jo pushed to the side, he looked around the bungalow. It was definitely a bit of a mess. There was still too much stuff. It was amazing how many items someone could collect in a lifetime.
He had filled the dining room with large cardboard boxes he’d been able to get in town. On each box he’d used a black marker to note their contents. He’d already had one shipment of boxes sent to the mainland to go to a charity. He really hoped the items made it into the hands of someone who would appreciate them. He just couldn’t be that person.
As he continued to clean out closets and cabinets, he continued to fill boxes. He was starting to suspect that not all of these things had been his aunt’s. Some of the items looked really old, as though they belonged to his grandparents. A sadness filled him that he’d never had a relationship with them. Would they have been warm and loving? Or cold and distant? Would his grandmother have baked him cookies?
He gave himself a mental shake. He’d never know the answers to those questions, and it was a waste of time to wonder about it. Still, as he made his way through the china cabinet, he was curious about the stories behind some of the delicate pieces. He was certain that each little crack or chip had a story associated with it, but without anyone here to tell him what they meant, he felt left out—the way he’d felt all his life.
His thoughts turned to Jo. He wondered if she could shed any light on the dishes, but he knew that would be hoping for too much. She had been a good friend of his aunt’s, but Jo hadn’t been family.
Not that being family had been so great. His aunt had never reached out to them, even in their darkest hours. All the while she was sitting in this beautiful home, surrounded by the finest things. The thought evoked his old feelings of anger. How could someone do that to their own family?
He knew that wasn’t the case for all families. Jo’s family was the complete opposite. He’d never seen a family closer. He wondered if she knew how lucky she was to have them.
Knock-knock.
