Dress Me in Wildflowers (20 page)

Being Friday, she knew Janie wouldn’t be at the inn and that she’d have some alone time to check out the progress. And there was quite a lot of it. She roamed from room to room, amazed at how alive it seemed now with the furniture uncovered, the windows gleaming and new paint gracing the areas that had been scuffed and worn.

Someone had adorned the dining room table with a wooden bowl of pinecones, tree nuts and brightly colored leaves. She smiled, thinking of Dara holding her mouth just so as she arranged and rearranged the display. She’d seen her do it more than once with the wildflowers Farrin had brought back from the Cane Ridge trailhead.

Above the table in the entryway hung a new panoramic photograph of the valley, the tree leaves so bright with color Farrin could almost see them wave in the breeze. She noticed a signature in gold ink in the bottom right corner. Janie Carlisle.

She remembered Janie’s brief mention of enjoying nature photography. Farrin stepped back into the middle of the hall and stared at the picture. Janie was good, really good. The composition, the lighting, the angle — they were all perfect. She wondered if Janie had others because here was a way she could bring in some more income, particularly after the inn restoration was complete.

Farrin climbed the stairs and found the area where Janie was currently working, the bedrooms along the eastern side. She wandered through the rooms, ideas whirling. The space could use a bit of color.

She descended the stairs while dialing her phone. “Faye, are you and the other Homemakers still looking for projects to help out the fire department?”

“Yes.”

“How would you all feel about making some quilts for the inn?”

“How many?”

“Twenty for the rooms and perhaps a few to sell.” She stopped in the entryway and stared at Janie’s photograph. “I’m thinking about starting a little gift shop with locally made crafts. Should make the inn more attractive to a buyer if it’s already producing some income.”

“That’s a great idea. I’ll make some calls and let you know, but I think the gals will be excited.”

Farrin was too. The gift shop idea blossomed from there as she examined the small room at the front of the inn that seemed made for the purpose. Some of the wares could be showcased in the window, attracting any tourists that might happen through town as well as locals searching for a special gift. She imagined bright patchwork quilts, Janie’s photos of the area, homemade soaps and candies. She’d have Janie scour the area for craftsmen and see if they were interested in participating.

With her brain buzzing, she walked out into the garden and saw that Drew had been hard at work removing debris and weeds. The benches sported a new coat of bright white paint, and a few of the same wire and glass ornaments she’d seen in his gardens now graced hers. She couldn’t wait to see what the gardens looked like come spring.

Farrin stopped in the middle of the path. Would she even still own the inn then? For a moment, she couldn’t bear the thought of giving it up. But she had to. There was no life for her here, there never had been. She just had to ensure the inn’s preservation.

After examining the quality workmanship of the construction crews, she was satisfied that zoning and codes would have no reason to object to the property. It was like life had been breathed into the inn again, and it made her heart swell that she’d taken the leap of faith to make it happen. The thought that even now this site could have been paved over made her grit her teeth.

She chose a sunny spot at the dining room table to spread out the work she’d brought with her. Before she could dive in, her phone rang. She looked at the display. Justine. “Yes?”

“Someone else had your hunch about Tayla Begard getting an Oscar nod.”

Farrin sighed. “And they’ve already agreed to outfit her.”

“You guessed it.”

“Who?”

“Still working on that. And just so I can totally ruin your day, we got word the rent is going up again.”

Farrin pressed her fingers against her forehead. “Don’t these people know that their rent is more than the GNP of some countries?”

“I’m fairly certain they don’t care.”

“Do me a favor. If you get any more of this stellar news today, don’t call me.”

When she ended the call, Farrin looked around the room, wondering if sinking so much money into this inn was the worst decision of her life.

After a couple of hours of work, she stood to stretch and heard the front door open. Had Janie decided to come in today after all? But the footfalls were too heavy for Janie. Farrin stepped out into the hall to see Drew peeking into one of the front rooms. He glanced up and saw her.

“Hey, thought I’d bring you some lunch,” he said as he held up two white paper bags. “It’s chicken casserole day at Thelma’s.”

“I thought you were busy today.”

“Even the judge lets us eat lunch.”

He’d brought her lunch without even asking. Something about that made her twitchy.

“So, do we get to sit down to eat or are we going to stand here and eat out of the bags?” he asked.

She motioned him toward the dining room, then slid all her work to one end of the long table.

Drew sat the bags on the table, then moved around to the end where he could look at her drawings. He lifted one of a particularly detailed wedding gown for an aristocrat in England. “I’m guessing this dress costs more than some of the people around here make in a month.”

She’d heard that type of comment before, but his held no trace of the unfairness that dripped from other people’s accusatory remarks.

“Probably so.”

Farrin pulled the food from the bags. Thelma’s wonderful chicken casserole, steamed broccoli, corn and fresh yeast rolls. “You didn’t have to bring me lunch.” Though her stomach was glad he had.

“I saw Faye at the bank, and she said you were down here working and that you’d probably forget to eat.”

She realized Faye the matchmaker wasn’t going to give up quite so easily.

“So, did you have any damage at your house?”

“No, just a few smaller limbs down. Though I think if it had rained longer, Angel Creek would have covered the road.”

They slid into chairs opposite each other.

“The garden here looks great. Thanks for all the work you’ve done.”

“It wasn’t so much. The bigger part will come in the spring.” He scanned the room. “Janie and the kids are doing a good job in here too.”

“Yeah. Did you know she did nature photography?”

“No.”

Farrin laughed. “My God, there is one smidgen of detail in this town everyone doesn’t know.”

He smiled at that. “I bet there are a few other secrets lingering about.”

Now what had he meant by that? Was he talking about his own secrets? What were they? No, she didn’t want to know.

A different possibility struck her. But he couldn’t know about her family. No one here had known other than her mother and herself.

“Is something wrong?” Drew asked.

“Uh, no. Thinking of something I forgot to do.” She really was the most inept liar. She took a bite of casserole, chewed it slowly, then swallowed.

“So Janie does nature photography?”

“Yeah. There’s a beautiful photograph in the hallway that she evidently took. It gave me the idea of starting a little gift shop in the front of the inn with locally produced crafts. Bring in some money for the artists and the inn.”

“A start to making it self-sustaining.”

She nodded. “Exactly. More attractive to potential buyers.”

Drew looked down at his food. “Makes sense.”

What was that hint of hesitance? If he suggested she keep the inn too, she would give up trying to make people here see reason. She had an office, employees, a business, a home, responsibilities — all in New York.

“So, those ornaments that are in your gardens and the ones you put out here, are they locally made?”

“Yes. A lady who lives up by Catawba Park makes them.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “There are actually a lot of artists and craftsmen around. I can get you some names and numbers.”

“That would be great.”

As Drew gathered his takeout containers and returned them to the bag, he seemed as if something bothered him.

“Did I say something wrong?”

He looked up, hid whatever truth might have been near the surface. “No, sorry. Just thinking about the cases on the docket this afternoon. It’s district court day, so it’s pretty full.”

While that might all be true, she’d bet Manhattan it hadn’t been what was pulling at his mind. She hoped he was more convincing in the courtroom than sitting across the inn’s dining room table.

After Drew left, Farrin found it hard to concentrate on her work and started calling people on the list he’d left her of local artisans. He’d promised to get her more, but the off-the-top-of-his-head list got her started. And so far, everyone had been enthusiastic about the idea, which served to get her even more excited. This was how she’d felt during the early days of planning her dressmaking business, when everything was new and an adventure and it was difficult to eat or sleep because she couldn’t stop or even slow the surge of ideas.

Within three hours, she had commitments from the lawn ornament maker, a metalworker who’d made Drew’s garden gate, a soapmaker, a woodcarver known for his carvings of the area’s native birds and flowers, a watercolorist and a maker of homemade jams and jellies. Faye stopped by with her friend Opal to check out the space allotted to the gift shop and to tell Farrin how excited they and the other homemakers were about the quilt project. Farrin took them upstairs to show them the different rooms so they could take notes about colors and patterns they thought would complement the décor of each.

“So, are you going to open back up as a hotel?” Opal asked.

“That’s probably too big of an undertaking with me not living here. But if the rooms look inviting and a potential buyer has that in mind, it might tip the scales in favor of them making the purchase.”

“Well, then, I do hope we get someone who loves this building as much as you obviously do,” Opal said.

The front door opened, allowing the sound of a school bus out on Main Street to filter up the stairs.

“You all look around all you like. I’ll be back up in a few minutes.”

Farrin descended the stairs halfway before she noticed Dara and Jason standing in the entryway taking off their coats. “What are you two doing here?”

The twins looked up, a little startled. “Mom is running a little late today,” Dara said. “She said for us to wait for her here.”

“Oh. Would you all like some hot chocolate?”

“Sure,” said Jason. When Dara nudged him, he added, “Thank you.”

Farrin led the way to the kitchen and put on some water to heat. The kids dropped their backpacks in the corner and sat at two of the four spots at the much smaller kitchen table.

“How was school?”

“Fine,” the twins said in unison.

For some reason, these normally sunny, eager-to-please kids appeared reserved and on edge.

“Do you come here often after school?”

“Every day,” Dara said. “But we never stay more than an hour. Mom gets us home in plenty of time to do our homework.”

Sometimes Dara sounded like a responsible little adult. Farrin wondered why.

“That’s good.” Farrin paused only long enough to pour the hot water into the chocolate mixes and set the steaming mugs in front of the kids. “So, is your Mom late very often?” Farrin didn’t like the idea of these two being left alone in the afternoons, even in a quiet town like Oak Valley. Crimes against children knew no boundaries now.

“No, only today.” Dara seemed hesitant to say any more, so Farrin didn’t push her.

When Faye and Opal came downstairs, Farrin went out into the hall to talk about their ideas and to say goodbye. When she returned to the kitchen, she found the twins with their homework spread out in front of them. What nine-year-olds voluntarily started their homework on a Friday afternoon?

“You’re getting started early,” she said as she leaned against the doorway.

“We’re supposed to go trick-or-treating tonight, and we’ll be here tomorrow.”

“So, what are you dressing up as?”

“Firefighter,” Jason said without looking up. No surprise there since all things firefighter were Jason’s latest passion.

“A princess,” Dara said with a giant smile. “A forest princess. Mom helped me make a wreath of leaves, acorns and pinecones to wear on my head.”

“I bet you’ll be lovely.”

At that moment, she remembered the gifts she’d brought for the kids. She retrieved them from the tote bag in the dining room.

“Awesome!” Jason said as he spotted the replica of a New York City fire engine.

To Dara, she handed maps of New York City, Ellis Island and Liberty Island and a book of New York’s wildflowers.

“Oh, thank you.” Her homework forgotten, Dara flipped through the eye-catching photos of bluecurls and jewelweed.

Farrin smiled at their enthusiasm and wondered at how different they were from their mother at the same age.