“You mean what in the world possessed me to
buy a rundown, piece-of-crap house?” She said with a crazy grin to
put him back at ease. She realized now that he likely had a speech
impediment, which would account for the practiced, pre-thought out
lilt to his speech.
“You could put it that way.”
She thought about telling him some lame
story about loving old homes and wanting to be near the ocean, but
her therapist had encouraged her to be sincere with her friends.
She didn’t know him well yet, but she already liked Cade Cooper.
And she wanted to start being more honest with people instead of
keeping them at arm’s length like she normally did.
“Actually, it was my mom’s house,” she said
carefully. From the corner of her eye, she saw Cade’s surprised
expression. “My grandparents are Florence and Garlan Aberdeen.
They’ve lived on Canaan their entire life.”
“Oh! Yeah, I know the Aberdeens. Florence
is…well, she is interesting.” He coughed, clearly uncertain about
how to be polite in the situation.
“She’s pretty awful, I know.”
Cade relaxed, raking his hand over the
slight scruff along his jaw. “She is not the nicest lady I have
ever dealt with.” He laughed. “So your mom lived here? Funny, I
never knew the Aberdeens had a daughter. I’ve only seen Thomas
around town.”
Kyra shifted uncomfortably, sweat slicking
across her palms. “Thomas is my uncle. He and his wife raised me.
My, uh, well, my mom died when I was really little.”
“Dang.” He put his hand on her shoulder.
“Kyra, I am sorry. I did not mean to pry.”
“No, it’s okay.” She offered him a shaky
smile.
“Well, how about I finish going through the
house with you? I am sure you want time to settle in and start
unpacking.”
They spent the next hour talking renovations
and room layouts. After the walls came down and everything had been
demoed that needed it, they would redo most of the plumbing and
electrical so everything would be up to code. While they did that,
all the windows, doors, and the slate roof would be replaced. Only
then could they patch the walls and ceilings. Painting and reviving
the ragged wood floors would come last.
Kyra’s head was full, a headache settling in
just from realizing the full extent of the cost. “And you’re sure
you can do all this under my budget?”
They stood in what would be her bedroom and
temporary office during the renovations. A huge window seat filled
the back wall. It was one of the few windows not shattered. The sun
streamed in, flooding across the original wood floors.
Cade nodded. “Pending any unforeseen issues
the home inspection missed, we will stay on target with your
budget.”
“So this can all be done in a month? With no
delays, right?” Kyra pointed her finger at him, a crooked grin on
her lips.
He held up his hands in surrender. “That is
Hale’s job. So you will have to talk to him about that.”
A small tingle filled her stomach at the
mention of the brother’s name. She liked the name Hale. It
sounded…sexy.
“And he’s coming here today?” she asked.
“He will be by first thing in the morning to
start work,” Cade said. He adjusted his papers, readying to
leave.
“Okay, great!” Kyra needed to start
unpacking and settling in, but she mostly just wanted to sink her
toes in some sand. “You’ve done amazing work with these plans. I
know I’m going to love it. It’s like you took everything I wanted
and made it so much more. I can’t wait!”
Cade flushed slightly at her enthusiasm.
“Hale draws up the plans. I just relay them to clients.”
“Oh, well you do a great job!” Kyra said
cheerfully, if not a little awkwardly. She followed him out of the
room and down the stairs, wondering what exactly it was that he did
if he didn’t do construction or draw up the design plans. It
sounded like he was a middleman between clients and his
brother.
Like he heard her thoughts, Cade paused at
the door and said, “Hale is the best contractor on the island. He
is going to make this house into your home. Just prepare yourself.
He is a little different, and he likes to keep to himself. So if
you have any questions, feel free to call my cell.”
He handed her a business card, which Kyra
stuffed in her pocket and promptly forgot. “I’ll do that. Thanks
for meeting me and showing me around.”
She stood in the open door, watching as he
navigated his way down the steps. He stopped at the bottom. “No
problem. Let me know if you need anything. Most of your neighbors
are…” He blushed, the redness making him incredibly adorable.
“Well, they are a little old. Stevie Andrews lives next door.” He
pointed in the general direction of the house next door. “She is
younger and…um…fun.” If it was possible, Cade flushed even more,
and Kyra could tell just by his manner that he had a crush on her
neighbor. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, if you want a tour of the
island, I could take you around, if you want?”
Kyra beamed. “Sure! I’d love that.”
He seemed slightly surprised at her
enthusiasm, and it took him the tiniest bit longer to speak than
normal. “Uh, great. I mean, that is great. Just give me call
whenever, and I can show you around.”
She watched him pull away from the curb with
a smile on her face and a warm feeling in her heart. If she could
meet a couple more people as nice as Cade, she would be well on her
way to making a life here on Canaan. And his brother
sounded…interesting.
Standing outside again, she took the
opportunity to check out her neighbors’ houses. Gardenia Street was
in the more historical area of Canaan, which meant all the houses
around hers were restored to their former glory. She sighed; her
house was the eyesore of the community, which meant she really
needed to start unpacking so she could get ready for the
construction crew arriving tomorrow. Her eyes settled on her Jeep
and trailer.
“You really need to learn how to park,” she
told herself. She’d been too excited to worry about pulling her
Jeep off the curb. And a large dumpster was parked in her narrow
driveway, waiting to be filled with demoed material from the
house.
Just then, her phone rang. Pulling it from
her pocket, she recognized the number on the glowing screen. “Hey,
Aunt Carol,” she answered.
“Kyra! How are you? Did you make it down
there okay? Your car didn’t give you any trouble, did it?”
Her aunt spewed out the questions like any
concerned parent, and technically, she was Kyra’s mom. Her Aunt
Carol and Uncle Tom had taken her in when she was a baby, just like
she’d told Cade. But the rest of the truth was that her mom had
been in prison when she had Kyra, and she’d never made it out to be
a part of Kyra’s life.
But no one talked about her mother. She was
the sore spot in the Aberdeen family.
“I made it fine,” she said patiently. “The
drive was easy. I just talked with the contractor about the house.
It looks…” She glanced up at the house, squinting into the sun.
“…It looks fun.”
“You watch those contractors, now. They will
take advantage of a young girl like you.”
Her aunt and uncle hadn’t approved of her
buying the house. Uncle Tom had grown up here with her mother, but
he had no love for his old home. “He was actually really nice. I
doubt he would do that,” Kyra said, defending Cade instantly.
Aunt Carol sniffed. “Well, just be careful
down there by yourself.” Her tone softened. “Are you sure you’re
okay? I can come down there and help you settle in.”
Kyra nibbled on her fingernail. “I’m fine, I
promise. I feel good about this.”
“Have you talked to Dr. Standifer yet?”
“No,” she sighed. Aunt Carol was already
worried about her, which she really did appreciate. She’d just had
a long drive and her nerves were shot. In truth, Aunt Carol was the
closest she ever had to a real parent. Uncle Tom had hated her
mother too much to really show his love for Kyra.
“You’ll need to get in touch with a new
therapist down there soon,” Aunt Carol reminded her for the
millionth time.
“I will.”
“As soon as possible. You don’t want to have
to go on medication again.”
Kyra cringed. She’d been on medicine once
before for her depression, but that had been a dark time in her
life. Since then, she didn’t need medication if her therapist
believed she was coping with her issues in a healthy way.
Unconsciously, she rubbed at the stack of bracelets on her left
wrist. “Yes, Aunt Carol.”
Her aunt breathed out in relief, the sound
rustling in the phone. “Okay. I won’t take up any more of your
time. Get settled in and rest.”
“Thanks. Tell Uncle Tom I said,
‘hello.’”
“I will. He misses you,” Aunt Carol said,
but Kyra knew it was a lie.
“I miss him too,” she lied back. “Well, I
better go…”
“Right. Right. Call the therapist that Dr.
Standifer recommended tomorrow. I love you, Kyra.”
“Love you too.” She hung up and looked down
her new street. She wondered if her mother had played on the
street, riding her bike or chasing Tom around.
Lila Aberdeen had killed herself in prison
when Kyra was only one year old, but she would feel the darkness of
losing her mother for the rest of her life. The sadness tugged at
her, but she steeled herself. She fought it off and forced a smile
even though there was no one around to convince she was a happy,
carefree girl.
She tried to tell herself to walk down the
porch stairs and start unloading boxes, but instead her feet
carried her away, toward the back of the house and into the
backyard. She picked her way through the overgrowth and out the
back gate. Tugging off her flip-flops, she walked down the path to
the beach.
Her toes hit the sand, and Kyra knew she was
home.
two
S
he’d told herself
she was only going to put her toes in the water, but Kyra couldn’t
resist the temptation. She ran back to her Jeep and pulled off her
assortment of surf boards. On her back porch, she stripped off her
clothes, revealing the lavender bikini she wore underneath. Some
days she wore underwear like a normal person, but they were few and
far between.
She was a Californian at heart after
all.
She jogged to the water, toting her favorite
board. Once she was hip-deep, she began to paddle, savoring the
feeling of the water undulating beneath her. The waves were smaller
than she was used to in California, which is where she had gone to
college, but she loved every moment. Thirty minutes later, she
forced herself to get out of the water.
After she’d put away her boards on her back
porch and pulled her clothes back on, she regarded her Jeep and
trailer. “It won’t unload itself,” she muttered. For the next
couple hours, she hauled boxes up and down the stairs and into the
back bedroom with the ocean view.
When that was done, she pulled out her
cleaning supplies and started working her way around the musty
bedroom. Opening the closet, she sprayed for bugs and worked on
sweeping down the cobwebs. She even soaked a rag in glass cleaner
and scrubbed the window before she started on the small bathroom
attached to the bedroom. It had a beautiful old claw-foot bathtub
and porcelain vanity sink with a medicine cabinet above it.
Thankfully, the commode had been updated. She tested the water from
the sink, relieved to see it had been turned on for her. As she
worked, she kept a list of all the things she needed to pick up in
town.
When the rooms were as clean as possibly,
she started unpacking. Her wardrobe consisted primarily of shorts
and tank tops. There wasn’t any furniture in the bedroom for her
clothes, so she hung them up in a narrow closet and lined the floor
with her shoes.
The remaining boxes were easy to unpack. She
filled the bathroom with her toiletries and cute, pink towels. She
hung her silk robe on the back of the door before she turned and
looked at the bedroom’s floor, which was covered with the stuff she
needed on a day to day basis. More boxes were stacked against the
empty side wall next to the bathroom. A pile of bed sheets lay on a
little side table she’d brought with her.
Settling herself on the floor, Kyra picked
up her laptop and turned on the wireless from her phone. Working
from her phone and computer, she caught up on her social media
sites, posting the pictures she’d taken throughout the day. She
watched the latest video she’d finished editing one last time
before she posted it. She posted videos twice weekly, and Kyra
stuck to her schedule. The video she uploaded now was a fun, easy
morning stretching routine her fans had been asking for. Even
though she had a few more videos that needed editing, she closed
her laptop.
It was time to go shopping.
Outside town, she dropped off the U-Haul and
bought a mattress set at a large outlet mall. Back inside her Jeep
and without the burden of the large trailer, Kyra took her time as
she cruised into the town of Canaan, which, like Cade had said, was
the prettiest, quaintest seaside town she had seen. The actual town
center was mainly one long stretch of brightly colored buildings
that advertised anything from art galleries to candle stores to
bars. There weren’t many cars on the road, but lots of people
strolled down the sidewalks in their flip-flops and sunglasses.
Even though it was a tourist island, Kyra felt as though she fit
right in.
She parked her Jeep in front of the local
grocery store. The front of the store was one large, opened garage
door that let in the fresh, ocean air. Bins of organic fruit and
vegetables had been rolled out onto the sidewalk and emitted a
sweet fragrance in the warm sun. Kyra grabbed a basket and started
filling it up with all the foods she could eat without having to
prepare or keep refrigerated.