Page 16 of Second Chance in Charlevoix (Charlevoix Dreams #3)

Isabel

H olly was acting grumpy after dinner, and Izzy knew the feeling.

Sitting in front of the TV in the living room and watching Sesame Street sounded like a good plan .

But of course Mrs. Malone wanted to watch Jeopardy .

Izzy didn’t want to sit in the kitchen in the evening.

Trying to shake off her fatigue, she was glad they were headed to Sunnycrest for that meeting.

What were they going to talk about? As she dressed Holly in her pink corduroy overalls with the soft ruffled shirt that Aunt Cate had given her, Izzy felt so tired.

Messing around in Sam’s life had been exhausting.

“Can I help with anything before you leave?” Skipper poked his head in the doorway of the master bedroom.

“No, I’ve got it.” Now if this was one of her sisters, Izzy would ask her to make sure the diaper bag was ready. Why not try it? “Could you check the diaper bag? Make sure I’ve got everything?” He probably didn’t know what “everything” was.

“Already have.” Skipper gave her a quick wink.

Maybe it was her exhaustion but Izzy’s eyes filled and she looked away.

Coming closer, Skipper put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Hey, what’s this? You okay?”

“Just a little tired.” Izzy turned from the blue eyes that always reminded her of summer days on Lake Michigan. Sometimes this single mom thing left her stretched way too thin. But she could do it. She had to.

“Want me to drive you over?”

“Absolutely not.” Her words came out so sharp. Poor Skipper dropped his hand and backed away. After everything the man was doing for her, she felt embarrassed and mad at herself.

“Sorry, Skipper. I didn’t mean that.” Had she hurt his feelings? Maybe she should let Skipper come too. But what would her family think? They’d assume she couldn’t handle being a mother by herself. No way was Izzy having that.

“Want to go bye-bye?” she asked Holly.

“You bet.” The little head nodded. “Bye-bye.”

Although Izzy hated to depend on a pacifier too much, she ended up plugging it in before she buckled Holly into the pumpkin seat.

Without it, Holly could get restless and tonight Izzy was in no mood.

The baby settled back, sucking with deep concentration that sometimes made Izzy laugh.

If her teeth ended up crooked because of the darned thing, Izzy could always get braces for Holly, couldn’t she?

Izzy had worn them and so had Marlowe and Sam.

Her parents had made their teeth a priority and Aunt Cate had continued that for Izzy.

Skipper and his mother were watching Jeopardy when she emerged from her new bedroom. “Skipper can you carry the bag or the baby to the car?” Asking twisted her heart but no way could she handle both.

“Of course.” Skipper shot up and gave her a careful look, as if he was expecting tears.

“Don’t stay out too late with that little baby,” Mrs. Malone said, turning from the TV.

“The meeting should be short.” But the question made Izzy smile.

Was Skipper’s mom worrying about Holly? So far, Irene and Izzy were getting along even though they’d never had a good relationship.

Not during the short marriage and definitely not later.

What was different now? Turning that over in her mind, she carried Holly out to her car.

Skipper put the diaper bag up front and hooked Holly into the pumpkin seat in the back.

She’d be glad when the baby could face forward so Izzy could see her.

“Drive carefully,” Skipper said as he closed her car door .

“I always do.” When she backed down the drive, Skipper stood there, a figure outlined by the porch lights.

She knew that he’d leave them on until she made it home.

His hands were in his pockets until he lifted one to wave.

Why did she give him such a hard time? He was invaluable to her.

Thank goodness since the visit from Camille, he’d never mentioned that French woman again.

Why should she care about Camille, the beautiful woman with great clothes and a sexy accent?

Izzy told herself that she didn’t want Skipper to be recruited by another hotel.

Was it more than that? Wondering could make her crazy.

And once again she’d missed the turn to Sunnycrest. Pulling into the first driveway she came to, Izzy turned around.

By the time she reached Sunnycrest, cars were lined up on the street below the house, along with Seth’s pickup. So far he'd been great to work with and his workers were equally pleasant. But what hitch had come up now? Izzy didn’t need any more bad news.

Hauling the pumpkin seat up the front steps wasn't easy, but the bright yellow daffodils and pink tulips along the stairway made it easier. Spring was officially here and she breathed in the cool, clear Michigan air. Summer couldn’t be far away.

The air felt soft against her face and she pictured herself outside, catching fireflies with Holly.

Even in the summer, the nights up there usually got chilly enough to be refreshing.

She loved to open her windows at night to let in the air.

Almost always worked, except for the August heat, which seemed to get worse every year.

When she reached the top of the stairs, Izzy stopped to catch her breath. Holly bumped her heels against the pumpkin seat with impatience. No need to use the doorbell. Her sisters were waiting and the door flew open, light spilling into the early dusk.

“How’s my favorite niece?” Marlowe called out.

Holly broke into a smile and Izzy had to catch the pacifier before it hit the ground.

Marlowe always made a big fuss about the baby although Sam had been the person Holly had called Mama last winter.

Marlowe took Holly and Izzy followed them into the dining room.

Sitting in the glow of the antique crystal chandelier, Seth and Aunt Cate were waiting for them. Heads together, they studied the detailed architectural drawings. The light caught the gray in Seth’s hair and cast a glow onto her aunt’s strawberry blonde cap.

A barrel chested, easy-going guy, Seth did have a certain appeal. When he smiled, laugh lines flared out from his eyes. Not being very subtle about it, Aunt Cate seemed to have her eye on Seth for Marlowe. Izzy wondered how Marlowe felt about that.

Since all of her rider toys were now at Skipper's place, Izzy wasn't sure what she could do with Holly.

Why hadn't she planned ahead? However, Sam appeared in the doorway with a darling green plastic horse that looked just about Holly’s size.

Her little girl was beside herself when Sam presented the toy and helped her onto it. “You are a miracle worker,” Izzy said.

Not needing much instruction, Holly was off.

Her little legs pumped as she grasped the hand grips next to the horse’s eyes.

Everyone laughed as the toddler circled the table, bumping into a leg here or there.

Izzy missed her sisters, missed their doting over Holly.

But the house still smelled like a construction project.

The windows were closed and the place felt hermetically sealed.

“Why don’t we all sit down.” Aunt Cate motioned to the empty chairs.

“Thank you all for coming.” Seth wasted no time and got started.

“I'm going to make this short but I thought you should all be in on this decision. Cate thinks you’ll be open to this.” When had her aunt become Cate?

But their aunt didn’t look insulted. She had become the point person for the project since she was here during the day.

The two had a good working relationship.

“Living in a house when it's being renovated isn't easy,” Seth began, tapping a ballpoint pen against his palm. “I appreciate your patience. This is your dream house and we all get that. ”

“You're doing a great job.” Aunt Cate leaned forward while they all nodded. “We appreciate the care you've taken to not interfere with our lives.”

“Thank you.” Seth gave Aunt Cate a nod. “But I want you to consider something that could make this more comfortable for everyone. Working around three people in the house when we have multiple renovations going on is not easy on either you or the men. For example, we can finish a bedroom in two weeks, which would equate to six weeks for the upstairs bedrooms alone. But if we brought in another crew and worked on them together, we could do the bedrooms in three or four weeks.”

“Sounds wonderful. Summer is coming,” Sam said with a dreamy look on her face.

“That’s on my mind too,” Seth said. “I’d like to have most of the big work done before the end of June.

” At that point Seth went into some of the details of the project, including the kitchen and dining room.

Where was he going with this? Izzy was hungry.

Mrs. Malone had made pork chops, which weren’t her favorite.

Besides that, she'd been in a hurry to get over here. Now she was starving.

“I want to propose something to you.”

The air seemed to go out of the room. Did Seth mean the renovation would be more expensive?

Izzy had heard of that happening a lot with building projects.

“Recently we finished work on a new home with three bedrooms,” Seth continued.

“It’s pretty spacious. I've had a talk with the guys and we think if we brought in the crew that had been involved in that other home, we could finish the Sunnycrest a lot sooner. What do you think? Would you consider living in that new home for a while?”

“But what about the owners?” Marlowe asked. “Aren’t they anxious to get into their house, especially with summer coming?”

Pursing his lips, Seth looked at Aunt Cate. Did her aunt already know about this? “Okay, it's my house. Some time ago I decided to build my dream house. But I can live with my dad a little longer.” His grin indicated the two got along.

“Sounds wonderful but that doesn't seem very fair to you.” Sam looked as if she couldn't believe it.

“The timing is what makes this possible. It's not a big deal, really. At this point, I know you. I know how careful you are. I’d be fine with having you in the house. The pets too.”

Aunt Cate looked as if she was positively bursting with excitement. Obviously she thought this was a great idea.

“But I would still stay at Skipper's, right?” Right now Izzy was feeling left out.

“That's what I was figuring on with the three bedrooms.” Seth hesitated. “Is that all right?”

She eased out a breath. “Actually, I think that would be fine.” She'd settled in at the Malone house, which was a total surprise. Uprooting Holly again might only confuse her.

“So we'd all have our own room?” Marlowe asked, glancing around the table. “Two of us need an office.”

“Make that three, dear,” Aunt Cate said. Sometimes they forgot that their aunt was still active with her New York law firm.

“Sorry, Aunt Cate. It's been a long day.” Marlowe threw Aunt Cate a smile.

“These are not your average bedrooms,” Seth said. “They’re each large enough to hold a desk, and each has a private bathroom. The house is up in Horton Bay, which is part of Lake Charlevoix.”

“I’ve been in Horton Bay. That would be convenient for me,” Marlowe said. “My office is north of that area.”

The discussion went back and forth. Holly was busy smashing into the old antique table with her new toy, which was making Izzy nervous. Her stomach growling, she slipped away to explore the kitchen.

The idea of updating this old kitchen made her sort of sad.

The knotty pine cabinets and the cracked linoleum floor held a lot of memories.

But the cabinets, sink and fixtures all needed to be replaced.

With the renovation they were moving into a new life.

Izzy could appreciate that. Seeing the bakery box in the center of the kitchen table, she grabbed a fork.

She smelled apple tarts. Why was the top caved in?

Certainly there would be at least one apple tart left for her.

She could easily replace it in the morning.

But when she finally got the box opened, she couldn't believe it. What a mess.

Holding the dented box together, she took it to the dining room. “What happened to Skipper's apple tarts?”

Aunt Cate and Sam began laughing hysterically. Wiping her eyes, her aunt said, “Wait until you hear that story.”