Shocked by the sight of ten a.m. flashing on the clock beside the bed, Tessa dragged herself to vertical. She lingered in the shower for thirty minutes in an attempt to wake up. When she did find her way downstairs, it was to discover building materials stacked in neat rows on the main floor, the old timbers already removed and piled high in the dumpster outside.
A note fluttered on the back of the door, and she strolled over to read it.
Taking Gramps home. Call me if you need me.
Her nose twitched, and her cat complained that he was gone. She had her phone in her hand and the call going through before she’d thought about it.
“Morning, sleeping beauty.”
“I’m so embarrassed. I feel as if I’ve gone narcoleptic, or something. Did you even go to bed last night?” Tessa poked her head into what would be the far storage rooms. “How did you get everything cleared out so fast? I never heard a thing.”
“I told you, guys from the pack came over to help.”
She’d slept through it all, and that strange fact made her pause. Although on the good side? There was something positive to be said for the pack. “I hope you passed on my thanks.”
“Of course.” He shot back the words so quickly she wondered what was up, but only for a moment. Her cat was too busy examining the cleared-out spaces to be curious about a conversation.
“How is your grandfather?” she asked.
“He’s great. Decided that the salmon run was more important than the paddle wheeler. He and his buddies are going out for a few days.”
Which meant they’d be alone in the house. Tessa’s mind raced with the naughty possibilities. “Are you coming home?”
“As soon as I get Gramps settled. You go ahead and take it easy. We’ll swing a hammer this afternoon.”
Taking it easy sounded like a great idea. Except before she did, there was one thing she simply had to do. He’d worked like a dog—ha!—to get things ready for building, the least she could do was provide an edible meal. Emphasis on the edible part.
Between the computer, foodnetwork.com and a couple burnt fingers, she managed. Sheer determination forced her to keep muddling through as her cat, of all creatures, insisted she provide for…Mark.
Although she wasn’t exactly sure what her cat was trying to tell her. The feline was all focused on images of sunshine and warm cozy pillows and lazy days by the fire.
Tessa shook her head. Whoa. That was weird. Maybe she’d been working too hard before she came to Haines, or something. Her cat obviously wanted a holiday.
Once the multiple pots and pans she’d used were washed up and hidden back where they belonged, she pulled a blanket off the couch and slipped onto the deck. Tessa wiggled one of the lounge chairs into a position where she could curl up in the sunshine to wait until Mark returned. For some reason, it was far more important to see him drive up than to work on anything else.
Well, at least with the fast-tracking, it wasn’t like taking a lazy day would put the entire project in jeopardy.
Somehow it happened again. She fell asleep, only waking when Mark laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey.”
He smiled. “Hey, yourself. You want to come inside for some supper?”
Supper? “How did it get to be so late?”
Mark wiggled his arms under her and lifted, blanket and all. “Well, there’s this big ball that we live on called the earth, and it slowly turns in outer space…”
Tessa poked him in the shoulder. “Silly.”
He nudged their noses together before lowering her feet to the ground, supporting her until she found her balance.
Tessa giggled. “That was kind of cute.”
Mark paused. “What?”
“The careful and tender bit. I’m a cat. You could drop me and I’ll still land on my feet.” She straightened up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, anyway.”
He stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and changing the topic. “Something smells incredible in here.”
“Oh, that’s dinner. Just a minute.” She bounced over to the Crock-Pot and popped open the lid. When a rush of amazing scents hit her, she wanted to shout for joy.
Mark stepped behind her. “I thought you couldn’t cook.”
“I can’t. I bet it smells better than it tastes. Something’s bound to leap out of nowhere and kill us both.” She dipped the spoon into the stew to brave a try.
Mark caught her wrist and guided the scoop toward his own mouth.
Oh dear. “Don’t. What if I poison you?”
He blew on the steaming concoction. “I think we’ll be okay.”
She was tempted to cover her eyes as he closed his lips around the serving.
Mark stood and chewed carefully. Tessa held her breath, waiting for something terrible to happen. He seemed fine so far, a happy hum emitting from his direction.
Then he opened his eyes wide and blinked, right before he fell to the floor.
“Oh, my goodness, Mark.” Tessa dropped to her knees at his side, reaching to check if he was choking. If she had killed him, she’d never forgive herself.
Only he rolled, and she was trapped, that teasing smile back in place as he pressed her under him. “Hmm, delicious.”
“You scared me.” She smacked her fist against his chest. She was going to kill him for real this time.