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“Dad, Caden needs to work on some things for my Magnolia Day booth,” I say. “Can we borrow the truck and take a few pieces of old furniture downstairs and bring it to Reggie’s?”
“Sure, sure,” Dad says.
“Can I help?” Grace asks eagerly, getting to her feet.
“Of course,” Caden says. “I can teach you some carpentry if you’d like. If that’s all right with you, sir,” he says, quickly deferring to Dad.
Grace’s eyes widen and she turns on our father. “Please can I learn about carpentry, Dad? Please?”
My little sister’s curiosity knows no bounds. I feel torn—I love the idea of her learning new skills, but I wish Caden weren’t the one doing the teaching. The less I see of him the better.
“All right,” Dad says. “But no saws or power tools.”
“No, of course not,” Caden agrees. “I’ll show her how to measure and sand and follow blueprints, things like that.”
“Okay then,” Dad says. The door opens, heralding the arrival of some new guests. Dad hurries off to check them in.
We head down to the basement. Grace wanders over to an ancient dresser covered in dust while I brush cobwebs off a rocking chair.
“Wow,” Caden says, picking up a lamp with a broken shade. “This is cool. I bet I could find a new shade for it on Etsy. Something Art Deco.”
“You shop on Etsy?” I say.
Caden grins. “Hey, don’t knock it, there’s some great stuff on there.”
“Oh, I know,” I say. “But why not check out the local thrift stores first?”
He cocks his head. “Good idea.”
“Isla look,” Grace says. “You could use this dresser and make it like Aunt Charlotte’s, with jewelry boxes open but with treats inside them instead of bracelets and stuff. And then you could put wood over the open drawers and use them as platforms for other pastries.”
I stare at my sister—even though I’m used to how her brain works by now, sometimes I’m still dumbfounded by the way she can put things together.
“That’s a really smart idea,” I tell her.
“I know,” she says.
Caden walks over to examine the dresser. “Let’s take the drawers out first. Might make it easier to carry upstairs.”
An hour later, we’ve loaded the dresser, the rocking chair, and the lamp, along with an old wooden stepladder and a dusty mirror, into the back of my dad’s pickup. We all squeeze into the front together—me behind the wheel, Caden in the passenger seat, and Grace tucked between us. Caden seems even larger in the truck’s small cab. His broad shoulders fill the space and his legs press against the glove compartment. I catch the scent of him again, that leather-and-soap mixture, and I squeeze my thighs tight as we start the truck. I don’t ever remember him smelling so…masculine. He was always a cologne guy.
I can’t stop glancing down at his legs again, at the way his T-shirt falls over his flat stomach, then up to the wide expanse of his chest. I’m still not used to how much of him there is now. He catches me looking and I rip my gaze away.
When we get to the garage, Cody comes hurrying over to help Caden unload the truck.
“Wow, look at all this stuff,” he says. “Hey, Caden, I hope you don’t mind, but I was talking about how you were helping out with Magnolia Day when I was grabbing coffee at Perks and now Eric Kim wants to know if you’d make his booth too. He still has the one from last year but he says he got permission to expand it. And Sara Summers was hoping you could take a look at hers—and maybe Franco’s booth for Osteria Fortuna too?”
Caden raises his eyebrows then chuckles. “Sure,” he says.
“Looks like you’re Magnolia Day’s official booth maker,” I say.
“I don’t mind,” he says. “Besides, I’ve got help.” He turns to Grace. “You think you can handle a little extra work?”
“Yes,” Grace says with determination. She looks at Cody. “Caden is going to teach me how to read blueprints!”
Cody takes it in stride. “Cool. Hey, Caden, Noah says you’re coming to the beach with us next weekend. Isla you’re coming too, right? Bring Luke. We can show him us townies don’t bite.”
Caden’s shoulders tense as Cody flashes me his toothy grin.