Page 27 of Quinn

Turning to face Eloise, he gestured at the skeleton of rooms around them. “Welcome to your future home, at least the bones of it.”

Eye’s wide, Eloise inched into the main open space. Scanning from left to right, the corners of her mouth slowly tipped upward as if she were indeed seeing the finished product.

“At this stage it’s hard to imagine, but—”

Shaking her head, she cut Quinn off. “No, I can see.” Her fingers traced at the bottom frame of what would be the new kitchen windows. Not the original one, but three larger, consecutive windows.

“So you’ll have more natural light at the counter,” he offered.

Her brother following more cautiously behind her studied the exposed beams overhead. “Original timber?”

“The ceiling, yes. The idea is to leave some exposed for atmosphere. We tried to reuse as many of the original two-by-fours as possible for the walls as well.”

Danny stopped at an awkward line of angled wooden supports. Without saying a word, he turned to Quinn.

“Since we removed the supporting wall there, we’re waiting on a new beam.”

“Look, Danny.” Eloise crossed into one of the two bedrooms and stared out the window. “You can see all the way to New Jersey from here,” she teased.

Danny nodded, but didn’t speak.

“Hollywood bath will be here.” Quinn pointed to the open space between bedrooms.

“Hollywood?” Eloise’s forehead crinkled in confusion.

“There isn’t really enough room for two full baths, so you’ll have a sink and toilet adjoining one room, a shared tub shower combo and a linen closet in between, then a sink and toilet on the other side next to the second bedroom.”

Head tipped to the side, and one eye closed, she studied the studs and shook her head. “I think I’m going to have to wait for some more work to be done to see that.”

Quinn chuckled. “Trust me. It will be perfect.”

She nodded, murmuring, “Always.” Her cheeks pinkened slightly as her gaze pulled away from him and turned to face the soon-to-be bathroom again.

“All I have to say is you’d better not be taking any hour-long baths.” Danny’s tone was light, but Quinn caught the way his eyes seemed to track the distance from the bedrooms to the front door. A good military man is always prepared, but Quinn couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Danny was a little more uneasy than he was letting on.

“To make things easier to visualize,” Quinn pointed to a kitchen wall, “I took the liberty of taping off where cabinets will be in the kitchen.”

Her hands clasped in front of her, Eloise practically shook with excitement. “It’s so big!”

“We can’t put a professional chef in a kitchen suitable for a mobile home.” Quinn moved to stand beside her in the framed-out space. “I know how important counter space is to all cooks. There will be commercial grade everything, just scaled for home use.”

He’d spent hours with Neil going over the plans, making sure she’d have everything she could possibly need or want. The island would be big enough for prep work but positioned so she wouldn’t feel isolated from the living area. It took a few attempts, but they finally worked the space to include a walk-in pantry.

Frowning, she looked from ceiling to floor at the studs and suddenly her face lit up. “Is this…”

“A pantry.” He bit back a smile and nodded.

Her bright smile and soft squeal did something to his chest that had nothing to do with construction dust. He forced himself to step back, to remember this was about making a home for both siblings and not about his growing feelings for her.

Delighted with her enthusiasm, he leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles, watching her practically sail through the room, showing her brother where they’d put the sofa, two chairs, then change her mind and move them closer to the window. When she teetered on which wall would she put the Hoosier, he had to bite back a smile. Wouldn’t she be surprised when she learned he was refinishing the old piece?

Her enthusiasm was contagious. The more she carried on about the apartment and the furnishing, the moments of hesitancy and reservation he’d seen in Danny seemed to evaporate, until her brother’s smile bloomed in earnest and even grew.

The downside of all this enthusiasm—in just a few weeks, the apartment would be ready, the furniture would be delivered, and they’d leave the ranch. For good. All he could think about was how empty the ranch would feel without her there.

Chapter Thirteen

Sundays were Eloise’s favorite day of the week. Today, while the rest of the family went to church, she stayed home to fix a special treat for Sunday supper. Danny seemed on edge for the first time since arriving a few days ago at the idea of going into town for church. Bless Aunt Eileen, she seemed to sense that was too much for him and suggested Danny might want a little more time to acclimate before going into town and he should stay home. He’d stayed in his room for a bit, but then, with his trusty new friend at his heels, went outside for a bit of fresh air.

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