Harlequin Special Edition: September 2022 Box Set 1 of 2 by Melissa Senate

Author:Melissa Senate
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Bastian stretched a section of blue painter’s tape above the baseboard in the guest cottage living room.

Void of furniture and with every window blind pulled up, the beige-tiled, white-walled space was filled with light.

The impressive sunny view of the surrounding lawn, the trees and the neighbors’ fields had caused him to pause and look more than once throughout the morning and afternoon. Instead of flooding the room with music from his phone, he’d opened a window, letting in the sound of the birds and the gentle breeze.

Since he’d arrived in town ten days ago, he’d made good progress on painting the rooms and making repairs.

His phone buzzed and chimed on the black granite counter separating the living room from the kitchen. Recognizing the ringtone, he barely glanced at the screen before answering the call. “Hi, Gran.”

“Hello—can you come to the house?”

Bastian turned and rushed out the door. Had she fallen again? “I’m on my way. What’s wrong?”

“One of the mirror panels in my sewing room isn’t working right.”

Urgency faded and he slowed down. His heart rate did the same. “I’ll be over in a minute to take a look.”

After doubling back for the toolbox, Bastian headed to the house.

He shouldn’t have assumed something was wrong. But after his grandmother’s second fall in the kitchen, it was hard not to feel concerned about her. He’d worry less when she healed up from her injuries.

Remaining busy kept him from hovering over her. If he had started doing that, his gran would probably whack him with the crutch that she found a million and one reasons not to use.

But at least she wasn’t trying to work at Buttons & Lace.

Between shortening the store’s operating hours and Layla volunteering to help, along with Darby working part-time, he’d been able to cobble together a work schedule.

On the weekdays, Layla opened the shop at ten, but she usually went in earlier to use the sewing machine in the office.

Darby started her shift around one and left when he got there at four. He closed at six, handled the cleanup and made the night deposit.

The one task he hadn’t been able to pry from his grandma’s hands was the bookkeeping. Layla had volunteered to pitch in with that, too. She was familiar with the apps being used to organize the store’s finances, but his gran had insisted on doing it.

Where was Layla? After her shift at Buttons & Lace ended, she usually came there to work with his grandma. But her car wasn’t in the driveway.

Inside the house as he walked up the stairs, he listened for the sounds of his grandma and Layla.

The other day, when he’d come in to make a sandwich for a late lunch, they’d been so quiet, he’d peeked in on them to make sure they were okay.

His gran had been inspecting the bodice of the cotton test garment on the mannequin.

Layla had stood at the worktable cutting fabric.

They’d both been so engrossed in what they were doing, they hadn’t noticed him.

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