Eleanor glanced at me, took off her own cardigan, and put it on Alice, buttoning it up to the neck.
“I’m fine.” I blew out a breath, patting Sarah’s arm. “Now, how was your day?”
Peter smiled at me. “Well, not as eventful as yours, obviously. Although I thought I was useless with home repair, but Joe’s a good teacher.”
“Joe’s good at a lot of things.” I slanted a glance at my husband, who grinned at me.
“Now, Daisy, no flirting in front of the kids.”
Peter looked around. “This store is incredible, too. I love all the antiques. What a fantastic atmosphere.”
Sarah made a mock scornful face. “He’s just trying to suck up to you.”
*
“The first thing I noticed when Joe and I walked into our house was that the plastic was gone from the end of the hallway, and I caught a glimpse of a real kitchen floor.
I hurried to the doorway and then walked slowly into the room, lost in wonder.
“I installed a couple of the base cabinets so you can see what it’ll look like when it’s all finished,” Joe said.
The Brazilian cherry hardwood floor gleamed under the glow from the new light fixtures hanging overhead. The warm tones in the floor and the cabinets were a perfect complement to the rustic charm of the brick wall, one of my favorite features.
“Oh, Joe, it’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
The lighter wood I’d had in mind would have been much too modern.
Joe opened the dog crate and Jasper bounded out to greet me. As I bent and ruffled his ears, I glanced up at Joe. “You think we can trust this guy in the new kitchen?”
“Oh, Jasper and I had a long talk. He assured me he won’t do it again.”
I must have looked doubtful, as Joe paused for a moment and then burst out laughing. “I picked up some stuff at the hardware store that’s supposed to taste bitter to puppies. It’s all over the bottom corners of the cabinets.”
“I love the schoolhouse light fixtures, too.” The domed lights hanging down over the butcher block table were another welcoming touch.
Typical of Joe’s thoughtfulness that he’d chosen something to honor my past career.
“Did you see the sink?” Joe asked, almost hopping from one foot to another like a kid on Christmas morning. “I found it at Cyril’s salvage yard.”
“It’s amazing.” I admired the burnished copper apron front sink propped up against one wall, waiting to be installed.
“Sarah cleaned it while Peter and I hung the lights. She did a real good job.” He rubbed a hand across one of the cabinets. “See this raw cherry wood? It’ll deepen in color over time. The cabinets will only get more beautiful as they age. Kind of like you.”
“Aw, jeez. Flattery will get you everywhere, mister.”
We laughed.
Joe pulled me into his arms and I willingly leaned into him. As his mouth met mine, my eyes closed, and the years spun away. I was back in the arms of that hot young guy with the hard body I’d fallen for so long ago. The kiss deepened and my pulse raced, my hands sliding up his back, touching him eagerly.
“I’m sorry I’ve been such a brat lately,” I murmured against his mouth. “I wanted to do the kitchen together, I suppose, like we’ve done everything else around here.”
I remembered the countless hours of scraping paint, steaming off wallpaper, refinishing woodwork with me acting as Joe’s assistant. I’d missed the whole process this time.
“Well, I still need to pick out some knobs for the cabinets. Maybe we could do that together?”
“That would be great.” I smiled at him.
“And here’s a sample of the granite countertop. But you can pick out something else if you don’t like it.” He held out a piece of the black and beige speckled stone.
“No, I love it. Really. And I’m sorry about the dinner, too.”
“I don’t care about dinner, but I do care about you.” He pulled back a fraction and looked deep into my eyes. “Now, Daisy . . .”
Uh-oh, here it comes.
“I held back from giving you a hard time at the store, but tonight was a warning. It might not even be from the guys who were gambling. It might be from whoever was involved in Jimmy’s murder who feels like you’re becoming a threat with your snooping around. You need to let the police handle things from now on.”
I sucked in a breath. I wasn’t sure I liked being referred to as a snoop.
“Daisy! I’m serious.” Joe gave my shoulders a tiny shake. “You need to let this go. Angus was a good friend to us, I know, but there’s nothing more you can do for him now.”