Tessa
I turned and there was Sue Ellen Rogers and her dog Trixie smiling and grinning at me. Sue Ellen was doing the smiling and grinning, not Trixie. Trixie was slobbering on my window. I rolled the window down.
“Hey, Sue Ellen. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m fine. I really am. I know I promised I’d make it to your house for Trixie’s party. I just didn’t get it to work today.”
“Honey, that’s why we came to you.” She smiled, gesturing with her arm over toward my front lawn. Sure enough, it was like a P.D. Eastman dog party on the grass. “You’re only one neighborhood over, and we needed the exercise. Now, our puppies are hungry. Gosh, if only there was a place nearby where we could get some homemade, organic dog treats…”
“I believe I know of a place just like that.” If I didn’t have so many hungry puppies standing waiting, I probably would’ve cried. How lucky am I to have such sweet, supportive friends? Instead, I jumped up, moved into the aisle and to the back of the van, and propped opened my service window. “Welcome to Bow Wow Meow, Tessa’s Mobile Pet Treats. I’m open for business. What can I get you?”
The next hour was pure fun. The dogs ran around the yard, Sully joining in with the wild play. We ended up setting up a few communal water bowls for the panting dogs. The treats were gobbled up and even though I refused to charge for them today, Sue Ellen stuck a cup up on the counter for “tips” and people found a way to pay anyway.
The party was wrapping up when I saw Gray leaning up against the van chatting with Sue Ellen. When had he arrived? I hadn’t spoken to him in three weeks and those last words had been heated, so yes, I was surprised to see him here.
When Sue Ellen and her friends headed down the sidewalk with a wave, I plopped myself sideways onto the driver’s seat to rest. Gray opened the passenger door and sat inside with a very happy to see him Sully in his arms.
“That looked successful.” He looked at my face, then turned to survey the inside of the van. “When did you officially open?”
“Two hours ago.”
His gaze found mine again. “Today was your first day? Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” I was tired, sore, and hungry. But generous friends had helped me turn a sharp disappointment into something special. I’d be forever grateful to them.
Gray leaned toward me, peering at the van’s dash, then settled back. “I thought the point of a mobile treat truck is that it’s mobile. You can drive it around to different places.”
“I guess some people use that technique.” I shrugged. Yes, I felt a small clutch in my chest, but he didn’t know about my accident. About my mother. Or my anxiety issues about getting behind the wheel again. And I didn’t tell him. I didn’t tell many people. It still hurt too much. My throat went tight with guilt, which made it hard to talk whenever the subject came up.
He watched me with sharp eyes, and I was sure he saw too much. But he let it go.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. He looked gorgeous. His dark blond hair a bit longer than he usually kept it, but it only looked sexier. His eyes looked bluer than I’d remembered but that might have more to do with the tired smudges under his eyes.
“I brought you plans for your kitchen,” he said, his gaze moving away from me.
“I thought we put the proposal for the reno on hold. In fact, I’m sure we did.”
“We did.” He nodded as he scratched Sully behind his right ear. “But I kept seeing you trying to bake your dog biscuits in your small, outdated kitchen, and…it’s not a big deal. I just threw them together. You don’t even have to do anything with them. I was just—”
“Gray Thorne, are you embarrassed?” I leaned into his space to look at his face more closely.
“No.” He shrugged and huffed out a breath. “No. Would you like to look or not? I have other things I could be doing rather than have you bust my chops.”
Bust his chops? My lips wiggled, but I straightened them when his eyes whipped over accusingly. “Sure. I’d love to look. Let’s go in the kitchen and look.”
We walked into the house and straight back to the kitchen. I was moving a bit slower after being on my feet for hours. I could feel myself limp and slowed down even more to control it. I would need to soak in the tub tonight and have some quality time with my heating pad.
I made myself a cup of tea and served us each a piece of cake before sitting at the table where Gray had opened his laptop.
“You baked this?” he asked, already chewing a bite.
“Hmm mm,” I responded, taking a sip of my peppermint tea, my eyes already moving over Gray’s plans.
“Damn, Tessa, why don’t you open a bakery? I mean for people.” He pointed his fork at the slice of carrot zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting. “This is good. Really good.”
“Thanks, but there are lots of bakeries around.” And as much as I loved baking cakes, the treat truck was also a way for me to help homebound people—people dealing with medical emergencies or debilitating conditions—keep their pets. Getting Sully when I’d left the rehab facility had been an emotional life-saver. Selling the treats would, hopefully, be my livelihood, but it would also be much more.
“True. But not with cakes this good.”
I glanced over and saw his cake was finished. I pushed my own untouched piece across to him. “Knock yourself out. How about I sit here and sip my tea while you tell me about the plans?”
“Sure. First, I’ve taken out this wall on the west side of the kitchen. That pushes it back to increase the footprint, giving you a lot more square footage, making it a nice working space. That extends both of the counter runs, allowing for more appliances.”
“Space is definitely my biggest issue.”
“I noticed that you’re one of those people who really loves the sun—”
“How can you tell I love the sun?”
“Every time we’ve gone outside to look at the van, you tilt your face up to the sun when you first step outside. So I extended the window over the sink to nine feet long. And I brought it all the way down to just above the counter. I added a wide six-inch windowsill for plants. You have room for a double sink if you want. I figured if you’re going to do a lot of baking that might be a good idea as far as washing pans goes.”
I absolutely loved sunlit spaces. I always had, even before my extended time stuck in buildings with cold, sterile florescent lighting.
“I’ve included separate industrial refrigerator and freezer columns, full width, which gives plenty of room. Your baking trays will fit in there for quick chilling.”
“Oooh, that’s perfect.” Not only could I chill dough, but I could also flash freeze fresh fruits and vegetables.
“On the other counter run, I kept your marble baking counter, because that seemed to work well, but also you seem emotionally connected to it.”
“Yes. It was both my mother’s and my grandmother’s. It means a lot to me.”
“The double oven stack is on the end of the run. Next to the ovens, I’ve included a double upper cabinet. It will have stacked gliders for you to slide your baking pans onto as soon as they come out of the oven for cooling. I remember you were juggling pans in and out of the oven baking your treats with barely enough room on the counters. This cabinet will solve that problem. And having the baking pans stacked in an upper cabinet will keep them from tempting Sully.”
I blinked up at him, amazed at all the little details that he was coming up with that I wouldn’t have even thought of.
“But wait… There’s more.” He grinned over at me and threw me a sexy wink. “There’s a cabinet to store your stand mixer. All you have to do is open it and it raises up so you don’t have to lift the mixer. It stores just as easily. Next to your baking center, I’ve got a pull out cabinet so you have your high-use bakery supplies easily at hand: flour, oatmeal, sugar. That type of thing. It’s right where you need it and saves you making lots of trips back and forth to your pantry.”
“That’s efficient. Especially since I’ll be baking almost daily.”
“A large center island which gives you lots of work space. I’ve placed a built-in bed for Sully at the far end. At the other end, there’s a toe-kick drawer for Sully’s bowl of snacks or treats. Easily accessible and easy to hide out of the way.”
“I like it.” Was my heart melting a little with all the thought he’d put into Sully? Yes. Sure it was probably the same thoughtful care any good designer gave to a client, but I was touched.
“I did put brand new kitchen cabinets in here, but I would move these original ones to this space over here and create a butler’s pantry. I remember when we first talked, you said the one thing you wanted to do was keep your kitchen the same, only you couldn’t. And the six coats of paint probably have a lot of memories, so I figured if we utilize them in your butler’s pantry it would let you keep the memory, yet still get you the new kitchen you need.”
Gray’s attention to detail was impressive.
“The last highlights are a six-burner cooktop with a built-in grill and a hood vent with your choice of material. I’d suggest a hammered copper to keep the old-world feel of the space.” He sat back, looked at the plans then back at me. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re amazing at what you do. I can’t believe you picked up on all these things I didn’t even notice myself. I love everything about this kitchen.”
“I didn’t do this to pressure you, Tessa. If you’re still getting quotes from other companies that’s not a problem. I just put it together because it was on my mind after watching you bake in here.”
Our eyes locked. We were saying something to each other but I wasn’t sure either one of us knew what it was. I just knew for a few seconds I couldn’t look away.
I failed with driving today. So, maybe this was my chance to take the next step forward. After paying for medical expenses and the purchase of Gigi’s house, I had enough of the settlement money from the trucking company left for the renovation. This was the next step toward my new life. I needed to do this. I nodded, looking back at Gray.
“I love it. And if you guys can put me on your schedule, I would love it if Six Brothers Construction would handle my kitchen remodel. Probably the sooner the better before I lose my nerve.”
Gray’s lips slid into a slow smile. “Okay. We can absolutely get you on the books and get going with this.”
“If I’m trusting you with my kitchen, I’ll certainly trust you with the rest of the house.” I shook my head with frustration. “It’s just when it comes to that, Gray, honestly, I’m still clueless about what I want. And I’m not being stubborn. I’m not. In fact, I’ll have you know during the last three weeks, whenever I sat down on my couch, I was watching the home channel. I thought it might help me figure out what I wanted in my house. But it was too much. Too much all at once. Too much to see. Too much to figure out. I got frustrated. So I’m at a loss.”
“Tessa, you’ve come to the right man. Here’s what I suggest we do. Why don’t you meet me at the SBC offices tomorrow? Together we’ll help you narrow down your style, color, and architecture choices.”
“It’s worth a shot. Okay, we’ve got a date. I mean an appointment.”