Page 10 of Starfish Cottage
“At least it’s only on weeknights.” Dex drained his beer. It was time he got home anyway. He had a big day of work tomorrow at Shell Cottage, and he wanted to get an early start.
Chapter Six
The next morning, Maddie sat on the back deck, her hand wrapped around a coffee mug as she gazed out at the ocean. The deck was one of the few things about Starfish Cottage that wasn’t falling apart. It wasn’t as old as the original cottage, and Maddie figured it had been added by the last owner, so it was probably about ten years old and in good condition.
With its spot right on the sand, it was the best space in the cottage and the only one with furniture other than an old bed she’d bought at a yard sale. Jules and Gina had helped her decorate the deck, and it boasted a cushioned wicker sectional, round outdoor rug, and cute shutters with starfish accents to match those on the cottage. Maddie had sprung for some flowering potted plants to add a pop of color. Jules had insisted on billowy sheer curtains. Maddie hadn’t been sure about those at first, but it made the space seem like a private oasis on the beach where one could just relax and listen to the waves all day.
Maddie didn’t have the luxury of listening to waves all day, though. She had her day planner out on the cushion next to her and a notebook handy so she could jot down ideas. She’d just crossed off the tenth idea in a row when she heard Dex’s truck pull in.
Anxiety coiled in her chest. She found his mess distracting and his lack of schedule alarming. But she’d have to deal with it. She needed the cottage finished so she could focus, and since no good ideas were coming, she figured she should do what her grandmother had always advised her to do when she ran out of ideas—work with her hands and let her subconscious figure it out.
“I brought coffee!” Dex yelled from the kitchen.
At least he was thoughtful. She set her notebook aside and went inside.
“Thanks.” Maddie took the coffee and looked around. Best to continue the sanding on the cabinets. That might occupy her mind so it could work on the event idea in the background.
“I’m waiting on some lumber to come in for the exterior. Do you want me to start on the walls today?” Dex asked.
The old wallpaper was peeling, and there were water stains down the walls. Frank had told her it all had to be ripped down and skim coated (whatever that was) before it could be painted. But she had been thinking about taking some of the walls out to open the small cottage up. She’d love to get a view of the ocean in back from the living room that was in the front, but it would entail taking out the kitchen wall, and she was afraid it was holding up the top of the house.
“Sure. I might move things around, so maybe start at the outer walls.”
“You got it.”
Maddie picked through the sandpaper which she’d piled next to the electric sander.
“Are you sanding by hand?” Dex asked. “That’s going to take forever. You have a sander right there.”
“I know, but I like doing it by hand.” Ugh… she sounded like a petulant child. Shedidn’tlike doing it by hand, but was embarrassed to admit that she couldn’t figure out how to work the sander. Electronics and gadgets were not her strong suit. Gina had even had to help her with the old coffee machine when they’d first arrived at the motel.
Dex squatted down to look at the sander, his rumpled hair falling across his face.
Here it comes, Maddie thought, a condescending mansplain of how to use power tools.
But Dex wasn’t condescending. “This model is a tough one. I used to have the same one and had a hard time figuring out how to put the sheets of sandpaper in. Let me show you a trick.”
He brought the sander over, standing close while showing her how to place the front side in first then the back. “See how I doubled it up in the front? It seems to stay on better that way. Kept slipping off for me. What are you using it on?”
“The cabinets and drawers.” They stepped into the kitchen, and she pointed where she’d already sanded the front of the drawer she’d found the recipe in by hand. “It will save me a lot of money to refinish them instead of getting new ones. I can do the work myself and paint them, and they’ll be in keeping with the cottage style.”
“Smart thinking.” Dex’s gaze fell on the picture she’d gotten from Deena. “What’s this?”
“It’s this cottage. Deena’s grandmother lived here, I guess.”
“Oh, right. The recipe.” Dex’s gaze skipped from the photograph to the wall. “That’s weird.”
“What?” She followed him around to the other side of the wall, which was in the living room.
“See how it’s open in this picture? Looks like maybe 1930s or ’40s when it was taken. They built the wall after that.”
“Maybe they wanted the kitchen to be separate?” Maddie said.
“Maybe, but that’s odd because the trend was starting toward opening things up. Not closing them in. Pass-throughs were popular, but they didn’t even do that with this wall.”
Maddie glanced from the photo to the wall. It looked a lot better when it was open. “I wish they hadn’t done it. I was thinking I wanted to take the wall down and open it up but was afraid it was there for a structural reason.”
Dex glanced up at the ceiling. “Nope, it’s not structural.”
