Page 19 of The Lake House (Southern Charm #2)

Chapter Nineteen

The morning started off cool, and Matilda felt autumn on the strong breeze that blew in from the north as she trudged from the car to her new veterinary clinic in the dark.

She carried buckets and tools, boxes of supplies and more from the car to the clinic over and over until she was finally done.

Ryan would meet her there later. He first had to check in at his construction site and make sure everything was going according to plan there.

He had a lot on his plate, and she felt a little guilty adding to it with this renovation.

They had so many renovations going on, she’d begun strip paint and sand back surfaces all night long in her dreams.

The walls were a dirty cream colour, with stains and marks all over them. Paint peeled and was chipped on corners and doorways. The crown moulding had fallen off in places. The carpet was in ruins, even worn through in a few places. And the entire place stank of old socks.

She donned a mask and got to work. The first thing she wanted to do was tear up the carpet. She’d rented a big dumpster, what she call a rubbish skip, and it sat out in the parking lot ready for the reams of carpet and whatever else she found that needed to be thrown out.

For the next three hours, she tore out carpet tacks, and then rolled up strips of carpet one at a time.

Then she removed the padding. After what seemed a never-ending series of trips to the dumpster, she’d made her way through half of the waiting room.

One piece of carpet was particularly stubborn, and she tugged at it so hard that she flew backwards and landed on her rear end on the concrete floor she’d just cleared.

She cried out in pain just as Ryan walked through the door. He hurried to her, set down the tools he was carrying, and helped her to her feet.

“What happened, darlin’?”

She grimaced. “I fell backwards and landed on my tailbone. I think I might’ve broken it.” She rubbed it gingerly as tears filled her eyes. She blinked them away.

“Aw…” He kissed her cheeks, then wiped the hair from her eyes. “I should’ve been here.”

“You’re here now. That’s what matters.” She nestled into his chest. “It really hurts.”

“Maybe you should go to the doctor.”

“Let’s see if I can walk.” She shuffled forwards. There was a sharp pain with each step, but it was bearable. “Ouch. I think I’m okay.”

“What do you want to do, then?”

“Let’s keep working. We have a lot to finish today if we’re going to stay on track with our renovations.”

She hesitated, looking around at the trashed room. With a sigh, she reached for his hand. “Am I making a big mistake here?”

He smiled at her. “It’s going to be fine. Things always look worse before they get better. Trust me.”