Josh risked taking his eyes off the road to glance over at her, but she was looking out the side window and he couldn’t see her face. “What about the shop?”
“It’s Whitford. I’ll cut back on the hours and put a sign up. If I’m open just in the morning or even just three mornings a week for a month or so, they’ll adjust. Especially if it’s for my mom.”
He wondered about income, but she probably wouldn’t have offered if she couldn’t afford it. Her dad had owned the building, so there was no rent for either her apartment or the barbershop, and it wasn’t as though she was paying utility bills for fancy tanning beds or anything.
“That would be great,” he told her. “You can take Liz’s room, since it’s right next to hers. And right across from mine, so we’ll both be able to hear her.”
“You don’t think it’s stupid?”
“In the waiting room I was wondering how the hell I was supposed to do everything that needs to get done in the next two weeks and keep her from doing any of it at the same time. You staying at the lodge is a perfect solution. And, hell, it’s almost as much your home as it is ours.”
He saw her nod through the corner of his eye. “I’ll put up a sign at the shop today about the temporary shop hours. And when we find out when she’s coming home, I’ll bring over some of my stuff.”
“It’s a plan, then.” Plans were good and helped him sleep at night.
Having Katie live under the same roof, even temporarily, was the perfect solution to his problems.
*
The way Rose saw it, this was her best—and maybe final—shot at interfering in Josh and Katie’s lives without getting caught, and that meant it was her best shot at raising grandbabies at the Northern Star Lodge. But she had to play it smart, no matter how bad she felt or how fuzzy her head was.
When Katie had called to say good-night and see if there was anything she needed and had forgotten to bring, she also said she’d be moving into the lodge to help Josh and make sure Rose did nothing but recover. It was a perfect opportunity.
Having Josh and Katie living under the same roof might not be enough, though, because it was a big place and they were used to being around each other after years of being practically best friends. Rose would have to come up with ways to throw them together. If she could keep them tripping over each other, eventually the boy was going to get a clue and realize his feelings for Katie were a little less platonic than he’d always thought.
Getting the place ready for guests would mean working together occasionally, but it wouldn’t be enough. Rose needed to come up with something that would require them to talk to each other and spend time in each other’s company.
Something like planning the Christmas Eve party for the family. A lot of lodging establishments put on Christmas for their guests, because some families would take the holiday to go on that snowmobiling trip together. But Frank and Sarah Kowalski had made the decision when she was pregnant with Mitch that, for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Northern Star would be closed.
The family had decided over Thanksgiving they wanted to have a special get-together and, since Nick was spending Christmas Day with his dad, stepmom and younger brother and sister, the Kowalskis would celebrate the night before. And Rose wanted it to be special. It would be Paige’s first Christmas as Mitch’s wife and, though Ryan and Lauren wouldn’t marry until summer, she and Nick were family, too.
If she knew the kids, they’d try remove the so-called burden of the party from Rose. No doubt Paige would offer to host it, or they’d try to make it low-key. She didn’t want that. She wanted something special.
And because Josh and Katie had no clue how to plan a holiday party—since Rose had always done it—they’d have to work together. Closely. And that kind of proximity, without sports or something else to focus on, would make the chemistry everybody else saw between them pop.
Even Josh wouldn’t be able to miss it.
Her brilliant plan was pushed to the back of her mind when another coughing fit ruined the moment. She was so tired of coughing. Tired of feeling exhausted and weak and on-and-off feverish.
Once it had passed, she tried to make a comfortable nest out of the extra pillows they’d given her and fished around for the television control. She couldn’t find Criminal Minds, but at any given moment one could always find a rerun from one of the Law & Order franchises, so she settled for that. She should probably knit, since she had several projects to finish before Christmas, but her arms felt as heavy as her eyelids and she closed her eyes instead.
Tomorrow she’d call Andy and let him in on the plan so he didn’t accidentally work against her. If he made life easier for Josh, Josh might not turn to Katie for help.