Christmas Angels Read online

  She clapped her gloved hands together. “I’m more interested in an in-depth look at what I’ve got to work with than a fast one.”

  “Of course. So, I guess I need to let you know…”

  “What?” Concern danced in her eyes.

  “I’ve already done a lot of this inspection.”

  “I don’t understand.” She looked around. “The electricity isn’t on, so you couldn’t have come last night.”

  “Right. No. I worked it up over the past few weeks.” He could tell she wasn’t tracking to what he was saying. “I was bidding on this place too.”

  “Oh!” Her eyebrows shot up, and a slight smile played on her lips. “You were?”

  “Mm-hmm. You were just willing to pay more than I was.” He noticed her lips tug to the left, as if that piece of information pained her. He hoped she hadn’t paid much more than his threshold had been.

  “Yeah, well you clearly had more current information than I had.” She scanned the room, shaking her head. “I only stumbled upon it being up for sale on Thursday night. I had no time to check things out. I bid solely on emotion and great memories from my childhood.” She raised her hand in the air. “I know that’s not a popular methodology. I personally wouldn’t recommend it either.”

  He laughed. He liked her moxie. “Well, it’s yours now.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So, I’ve already done the in-depth look at the bones of this place and there are a few problems, for instance…” He took her arm and moved her about four steps to the right. “The folks from the art gallery didn’t get professional input when they started removing walls, else they wouldn’t have removed that one.” He pointed above where she’d just been standing. “That used to be a weight-bearing wall. If it’s left open it needs a structural beam there.”

  She took another giant step back. “That’s important.”

  “Yeah, and as you can see there was some significant water damage. Nice that they’d repaired the roof. Too bad they left the huge mess. Rumor has it they took the insurance money and fixed the roof, but decided the building was too much work for the limited foot traffic they got up here. They closed the gallery instead.”

  “I can see where that could be the case.” She walked around the room, then turned and looked his way with her head cocked. “If I’m understanding you correctly, you already have some idea of the extent of the necessary fixes and renovation involved.”

  “I do, and I’m happy to send it to you.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Couldn’t you have just told me that when I talked to you about doing the inspection?”

  She was right. He could have. “That’s fair. You’re right, but you know part of the assessment depends on what it is you plan to do with the place. So, let’s talk about what your plans are. That will impact the list of what really needs to be done, and the cost to do it.”

  “I probably should have asked what this inspection was going to cost me.”

  “I’m not going to charge you a dime for what I’ve already done as my own due diligence to bid on the place.”

  “Really? Why would you do that?” She seemed skeptical. “I mean, you have the information. I need it. Simple supply and demand.”

  That made him chuckle. “Maybe in the city. Around here, we call it the good neighbor policy.” Right now was the perfect time to tell her he remembered her from those fishing trips in the stream with her grandfather, but for some reason the thought of saying that as they stood here in the freezing cold in the dark seemed creepy.

  “So far all the neighbors seem pretty nice.”

  “Folks up here are the real deal. It’s a good place to be.”

  “My best childhood memories are from here.” She sucked in a breath, smiling as if she was seeing things the way they used to be. “I always dreamed of running the inn like my grandparents had. When they sold it and took off in that RV, I was devastated. I didn’t understand it.” She looked away. “Honestly, I still don’t understand how they could leave this behind.”

  “I guess they wanted to travel?”

  “Bucket list.” She nodded. “Only none of us knew what was really going on until it was too late. Pop had been diagnosed with cancer, so they decided to throw caution to the wind. Go for broke, literally, and travel and see the nation until they couldn’t.”

  “Not a bad way to go.” Only he knew better. Cancer was a terrible way to go. He’d seen it attack and age his father in fast-forward time right before his eyes. It had been hard to watch. Finally, he’d just pretended he was helping some other person’s grandfather. That had been easier than admitting to himself what was happening to Dad, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

  “Somehow I don’t think it was as fun as they thought it would be. How could it be, knowing that any day could be your last together?”

  He shook his head. The lump in his throat kept him from offering up any response at all.

  “I feel like now I’m getting the chance to do what I was always meant to do.” Her eyes glistened. These were clearly the words of her heart. “I want to bring Angel’s Rest back to its original beauty.”

  He shook his head. He admired her dream, but this was a big task. “This place is a long ways off from that.”

  “You should’ve seen it back in the day.”

  He had. Well, not every room, but he’d been inside the living room at Christmas. It wasn’t like this. Tell her.

  “Where do we start?” she said with a smile.

  Rain started pummeling the roof.

  They both looked up. “Those metal roofs are great, but they can be noisy.”

  “I love the sound.” She closed her eyes and tilted her chin toward the ceiling.

  Her unjaded view intrigued him. When was the last time he’d really just pushed every tiny ounce of negativity away to enjoy something at its very core? He closed his eyes and looked up too. “Great sleeping.”

  Her eyes sprung open. “Yes!”

  The gusto of her response jerked him back. He chuckled at how he’d gotten caught up in her moment. Like an otherwise reluctant trout striking a hand-tied dry fly skittering across the stream. “I’m glad to hear you want to turn this place back into the lodge—or an inn as you called it.”

  “I’m not even sure I know the difference between a lodge and an inn or a bed-and-breakfast, but I’m going to have one,” she said with a laugh. “At least sort of.”

  “I believe a lodge indicates there’s recreation as well as a place to rest your head. Whatever you decide to call it, there isn’t any other place to stay here in Antler Creek, and people still have fond memories of Angel’s Rest.” He walked to the back right corner of the space. “The kitchen used to be over here. Do you know what you have in mind for that?” He walked over to where a blue “W” was spray-painted. “The pipes are still behind this faux wall. It would have to be stubbed back out, but at least the plumbing wouldn’t be a complete redo unless you want to move the water to another part of the room.”

  “It makes sense to keep the kitchen sink under this window. It’s such a nice view. I brought a few sketches of what I had in mind.” She crossed the room and picked up a leather folio from next to her purse and carried it back over to him. Flipping through a stack of papers, she pulled one out that had the word “kitchen” in bold letters down the left side. “Here you go.”

  He took it, then looked at her. “You did this?”

  She nodded.

  “Impressive.”

  “Thanks. I would have been fine with the kitchen the way it was if it had still been here, but since it’s not, I may as well take advantage of a few newer layouts and conveniences.” She handed the whole folder over to him. “I put together the original layout the best I could remember using some software I found online. It’s not to scale or perfectly formatted, but it might help us assess my needs.”

  “Not bad.” That was putting it mildly. He worked with guys who’d been educated in drawing plans
who handed him less professional stuff than this. “You did good here. Really good, and it’s reasonable.”

  Modestly, she shrugged. “You can Google how to do just about anything these days.”

  “That doesn’t always end well, you know. Can’t believe everything you see on the internet.”

  “Don’t I know it,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve had a few Pinterest fails. That site sucks me in every time. Especially with recipes, and I’m no cook.”

  “Then you probably can mark the bed-and-breakfast off of your list. Stick to the lodge or inn.”

  “True. I’ll stick to what I know. At least when it comes to software and planning, I’m in good shape, and I’m no quitter.”

  “Good, because a project the size of this isn’t for quitters.” But he didn’t for a second think she would quit this project.

  The rain spattering along the roof became louder. “That sounds like hail.” She raced to the front door, and flung it open. “It is.”

  “I was hoping that weather system would skirt us. As cold as it’s been, it’s going to get slick up here in a hurry.” Matt motioned her back over. “We better make this fast.”

  She closed the door, and jogged back over to his side. Her eyes sparkled. “I’m with you on that.”

  Okay, so maybe I’m more than a little interested.

  Chapter Eight

  Matt had spent the better part of the week wishing this bad weather wouldn’t hit town, but right now he was thanking God for unanswered prayers, because he couldn’t think of a better way to spend his Thanksgiving than with Liz talking about the possibilities of the lodge. Or inn. Or whatever she decided to call the place. As long as she called it home she had his vote.

  “On a bright note,” he said, “most of the tear-out is already done. The only things you’ll need to remove are all of these faux walls.”

  “Yeah. That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. They even block most of the windows.”

  “There’s lighting run everywhere. I never came here when it was a gallery, so I don’t know what it looked like when it was in business, but it looks weird to me too. The faux walls will come down quick and easy.” He shook one of them. “Demolition won’t even take a day, and you might even be able to reuse some of the wood and Sheetrock for something.”

  “I like someone who can see the positive in a difficult situation. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. We can store any possible salvage in the old barn. It’s not pretty, but it’s a good sturdy pole barn and it stays dry in there. Unless you’re planning to stable horses anytime soon I’d say you can put the barn on the good-enough-for-now list.”

  “No horses.” She shrugged. “Not to begin with. If I had children that would be a different story.”

  “Do you want children someday?” None of my business.

  “Yes. Definitely.”

  She looked a little sad when she said that. He knew how she felt. He thought he’d have a couple of kids by this time in his life. Focus. “Here’s just a high-level list of the major things that will need to be addressed first.”

  He could think of a lot worse ways of spending his holiday time off than with the adult version of the cutest freckle-faced girl he’d ever met. He still in all his years coming here hadn’t met another woman who could cast a fly rod as well, and she’d only been about thirteen back then.

  “First on my list would be to address these load-bearing walls that have been ripped out. They put the integrity of the entire building at risk. You have a couple of options. Either replace the wall that was once here.…” He walked the length of the room where the wall had been. “… or put in a structural beam.”

  “We need to put that wall back up,” Liz said without hesitation. “Open-concept is nice, but this is a huge space and it loses the cozy feel this place used to have. I liked that there were so many different rooms and nooks to tuck away for privacy. Even when the place was full of guests I never felt like I didn’t have my own space.”

  “Good. The water damage needs to be taken care of. I did get up in the attic, and the new roof was done well. You don’t need to worry about any problem with that, but until the rest of the water damage is addressed the upstairs isn’t safe to access.”

  “At all?”

  “No. The whole staircase needs to be addressed and there are two spots that need to be ripped out and totally replaced. You might find other damage below once those boards are ripped up, but there’s no way to tell that just by looking.”

  “It’ll be impossible to match the floor. Old, worn, lived-in floors are so gorgeous.”

  “I know a guy.” Matt winked.

  Her eyes grew openly amused. “You know a guy, huh?”

  “Yeah. He has tons of this reclaimed flooring available. You won’t need all that much, but it’ll look warm and inviting. No one will ever know that it’s been repaired.”

  She nodded. “I like your guy already.”

  I’d rather you liked me! The guy who knows the guy. He pushed the playful thought aside. “Repairing the water damage is a priority before you can do anything upstairs.”

  “I understand that.” She rubbed her hands together. “So I can’t go up there?”

  “You can do whatever you like. The place is yours, but it’s not safe. Especially with so little light. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  She exaggerated a pout, then nodded matter-of-factly. “I don’t want to get hurt, but I’m dying to know if they destroyed everything up there too. Each of the named suites had a private bathroom, and the prettiest crown moldings. I always felt like a princess sleeping up there.”

  “I hate to tell you, but it’s worse than this. Sorry.”

  Liz swatted the air. “I don’t even want to see it then. That’s such a shame.” She ran her gloved fingers under her eye.

  He wasn’t sure if she was brushing away a tear or not, but he’d never been good with tears. Pretending not to notice, he forged along. “A lot of the wiring has already been upgraded, and there’s a new panel box.”

  “Great.”

  “But … the wiring in the kitchen has been stripped out. You’ll need to take a look at all of the electrical and make sure you’ve got what you need where you need it quickly. On the bright side again, since so much of the place is gutted right now it won’t be too hard to get those wires pulled.”

  “I can make those decisions now. That won’t be a problem.”

  “It’ll be cheaper than adding it later.” Matt flipped through the drawings she’d given him and walked around comparing what she had to the existing structure. “You’ll have some plumbing changes required to add the bathroom you have here.”

  “Okay.”

  “The HVAC is practically new. You’re lucky this was abandoned here in Antler Creek. Somewhere else someone may have stolen it. If not to have the unit itself then for the value of the copper. The trade-in value of the copper could be a fifth of the value of the whole unit. That’s not chump change.”

  “So, there is some good news.”

  “Plenty of it. There’s a lot to do to get this place up and running again, but the really big-ticket items are in pretty good shape.”

  She looked relieved. “Did you inspect the cabins out back?”

  “I did. One is still filled with stuff from when your grandparents owned the place. I don’t think it’s been opened or used in years. The other appears to have been used as an artist-in-residency rental. Art supplies and modest furnishings, but it’s all intact.”

  “I’d love to see it, but that rain isn’t letting up.”

  “And it’s a sloppy mess out there. Not to mention about a football-field sprint through overgrowth in the rain. That’s another thing on the to-do list. They have some trenches dug from the house to the cabins. I’d thought at first someone had stripped copper pipe from the house, but when I looked closer it looks more like they were trying to run new water and quit mid-project. From what I can tell that cabin was on i
ts own well but the pump is burnt up. The well could’ve gone dry. I’m guessing they were just going to run water off the building up here. Who knows?”

  “I like the idea of having a separate well on the property. I’d love to grow my own vegetables and herbs back there somewhere.”

  “Then add a fence to your plan. The deer around here will call your garden their buffet. I’m dealing with that on the new row of trees I planted.”

  “Good suggestion.” She tugged her phone out of her pocket and typed in a note. “How difficult will it be to get power turned back on so we can see what the situation is there?”

  “Easy. We’re on Valley Electric Co-operative power up here. They can get to you fast. They’ll even do a safety walk-through with you, which will be good, because it appears to be the original wiring out there, and it’s on its own meter box.”

  “So I might be able to actually stay there while work is under way if I need to.” She rolled her eyes. “Once I get the water problem handled, of course.”

  “With a little elbow grease, I don’t see why not. Be sure to get those trenches covered up. Those can be dangerous, especially once the ground gets covered with snow.”

  “Right.” She let out a deep breath. “Talking through it with you it feels like an expensive and daunting task.”

  “It might not be as bad as you think, and if you use local workers, they’re fair priced. You might have to be a little flexible. Some of these guys take off in the winter to hunt, but if you’re patient they’ll get it done. I’ll get this worked up and get some estimates pulled together for you.”

  “This is way more than just an inspection. Thank you, Matt.”

  “I’m glad Maizey sent you my way. She didn’t even know I was bidding on this place, but she definitely saved you some time and money by connecting us.”

  “It worked out great.” Her smile was sweet.

  “Are you in a hurry for these numbers?”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Technically, no, but I’m dying to know if I’m living the dream, or recovering from a rash decision.”

  “I’m working over at the church all day tomorrow and Saturday morning, but I’ll work on it Sunday. Where can I contact you?”