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“I already did. All I got was a bunch of grunts, and then he hung up.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. There has to be someone on the island that has time to help you. Ask around. I’ve got to run. I’ll talk to you later.”
The line went dead.
Kent wanted to throw in the towel on his refresh idea. His parents were against it. And his first project wasn’t going well. But he was too far into the project to back out now. The lobby couldn’t be left as it was.
He’d talked to his sister the night before. After hearing about the problem, she was ready to fly home and oversee everything, but between him and Lane, they were able to assure her that Kent would take care of everything.
Once his sister had calmed down, they’d talked over what sort of flooring would be appropriate for the lobby. She’d told him she wanted to move away from the carpeting. It was just too hard to maintain with the sand and in the winter the snow. She would prefer some sort of tile in a lighter shade.
He’d gone to the flooring store in town and was relieved to find that they had a gray vinyl tile with wood grain in it. He sent a photo to his sister, who gave it a thumbs up. While the store didn’t have enough stock on hand, they had enough for him to get started and promised the rest in a day or two.
It would give him time to pull up the old carpeting. After which he was going to prime the walls. It was going to be a busy day and without any help, it was going to be an extremely long day as well. Even with him working round the clock, he wasn’t sure he would get it done in time for the wedding.
He was still on the porch when Sara approached him. He couldn’t make out what she was thinking because her very expressive eyes were hidden behind a dark pair of sunglasses.
She had on a white blouse with a blue vest over it and a gold nametag. A royal blue skirt stopped a few inches above her knees. And on her feet were tennis shoes for walking to work. He had no doubt she’d eventually switch into heels.
She looked good—really good. It wasn’t until he lifted his gaze that he realized he’d been caught checking her out. Suddenly, it became quite warm outside.
He swallowed hard. “Good morning.”
She came to a stop in front of him. “Were you able to find someone to help you with the flooring?”
Of course she would start with the one subject he didn’t want to discuss. “No. I haven’t.”
“And will you be able to finish the project in time for the upcoming wedding?”
He hesitated. He wasn’t used to being put in the position of failure. He always excelled at whatever he did from academics to sports. And so he wasn’t going to fail at this either. “One way or the other.”
“What if I help you?”
Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly. He once more took in her blouse and skirt. They definitely weren’t the sort of clothes to paint in or to lay some flooring.
Still he was curious. “What do you mean by help?”
She sent him a little smile. “I didn’t know it was that hard to understand. I mean I’ll help you with the flooring.” She glanced around. “And whatever else you need.”
She was up to something, but he wasn’t sure about her end game. “Have you ever laid flooring?”
“No. But how hard can it be?”
He’d had the same thought when he’d taken on this project. He was quickly finding out that some things that seemed simple enough were anything but.
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
She pressed her hands to her slightly rounded hips. “May I ask why not?”
His mind raced. He decided to throw her earlier excuse back in her face. “Because you have the inn to run.”
“I can do both.”
He arched a disbelieving brow. Again he said, “I don’t think so.”
“Well, since I’m in charge of the inn while your sister is away, I’m the boss, and I’m telling you that I’m helping.”
He was impressed with her take-charge mode. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having her help. He could find her some easy jobs to do. “Fine. You can help.”
