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“You didn’t need to come by,” Nolan said as he opened the door and moved inside.
I closed the door behind me. “I thought we should talk about it in person.”
There was a girl, maybe nine or ten, in her pajamas on the couch, who looked miserable.
Nolan waved a hand at the girl. “Charlie’s sick.”
She didn’t even look up at me when we passed by.
In the kitchen, Juliana held a baby in her arms and handed him off to Nolan as soon as he got close. “I’m going to grab Charlie a popsicle.” She hustled to the freezer and pulled one out. “Heath, what are you doing here?”
“I handled an estimate for Nolan this morning. Just wanted to discuss it.” It wasn’t mandatory that I immediately talk to him about something like this, but this was personal. When I walked inside the inn, I had this feeling that I was supposed to renovate it. Not anyone else.
“I told him he didn’t need to come,” Nolan said gruffly as he smiled at the baby, then blew raspberries on his cheeks.
It was surprising to see Nolan acting so sweet with his baby when he was so stoic at work.
“This job is different.”
He raised his brow while adjusting the baby onto his shoulder. “How so?”
Juliana left the room presumably to hand Charlie the popsicle, and I heard her soft murmurings in the other room.
“You know it’s the Matthewses’ property.”
“Doesn’t that adjoin Monroe Farm? That’s why I called you. Figured it would be more convenient for you to handle it. Was the owner upset that I couldn’t be there?”
I cleared my throat. “Not at all. We know each other.”
“Oh, good. So, what’s the issue?” The baby fussed, so Nolan rocked him.
“She wants me to handle it.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t mind?”
“It doesn’t make any difference to me. Unless you have a personal relationship that would make working together an issue.”
“She’s going back home to California as soon as she can. She doesn’t want to be involved in the renovation.”
“Those are the best jobs, unless they try to micromanage things from afar.”
“I don’t think she will. I have a feeling she wants to renovate and sell it. Sight unseen.”
“What kind of renovations are we talking about?” Nolan asked as the baby began to fuss again. His whole face screwed up as he turned red and opened his mouth to scream.
Juliana took the baby from Nolan. “Hey, sweet baby. Is Daddy talking business and boring you?”
“He might be hungry.”
Juliana’s gaze flew to the clock over the stove, and she said, “We’re completely off schedule with Charlie home.”
“Go feed him. I’ve got Charlie.”
“I love you,” Juliana said as she kissed him softly on the lips and carried the baby past me with a smile and up the stairs.
“Life changes when you have kids,” Nolan said, but his expression was soft.
