certainly would not have approved of the sauna that was nestled in the small room that opened onto the back deck. She was pleased with the owner’s sense of style in combining the old and new without compromising the integrity of the house.
“That wasn’t in any of the pictures,” Jessie commented dryly, already selecting decorative plants and considering a stained-glass skylight in the ceiling. Then she opened the sliding glass door that led out onto the wooden deck and stepped outside.
From the front of the house there had been no sign of recent construction. The owner had complemented the earlier period here as well. A planked deck ran along the back of the house from the end of the original porch, then jutted out to the left, leaving two thirds of the rectangular yard to frame the gingerbread carvings of the gazebo in the back. Only a two-story garage remained. At one time there had undoubtedly been other outbuildings. From the smell of new wood, the deck and fence that encircled the yard for privacy had been the most recent additions.
“I think I’m in love.” Jessie let out an ecstatic sigh, sinking down onto the top step that led down from the deck to the yard, which was in the process of being landscaped. “This is going to be a fantastic job. Can I stop doing everything else and just move in here for the duration?”
“Fat chance.”
“Somehow I knew you’d say that,” Jessie returned good-naturedly. They had taken on two more clients in the past few days, one who had been recommended by a member of Planchet Enterprises’ board. With the recent upsurge in business, they finally were planning to hire a part-time employee to handle their mounting paperwork.
“I might be open to a bribe, however.” Her partner sounded just a little too eager to have her palm crossed with silver. Jessie didn’t trust her one bit.
“So what is your price, my avaristic friend?”
“Ah, you can afford me. All you have to do is talk to Trevor the next time he calls,” Gina stated, giving her friend a stern look. “He’s been chalking up a lot of long-distance charges by calling you in the middle of the day from Washington, and with no result. Why not cut him some slack?”
“Why?” Jessie didn’t think she needed any further defense of her actions. Trevor had called twice. Both times she had refused point blank to take the calls, though Gina had been very chatty. There wasn’t any point for Jessie to encourage him. He did not fit into her plans. Her dinner two nights ago with Wes Lendall had been very pleasant, proving to her, if not Gina, that her plan of finding a husband had potential.
“Well, your thirty-ninth birthday isn’t that far away, ya know,” Gina commented, as if she had telepathy. “So you really shouldn’t eliminate too many candidates. That little clock is steadily going tick-tock, tick-tock .”Her sound effect was closer to a time bomb than a clock, to Jessie’s ears. “This Wes person may seem nice now, but maybe he’s a latent ax murderer.”
“You have a very strange mind. I think your Trevor would be a better possibility for that job.” Of course, he does kiss better than Wes, a wicked voice from her subconscious taunted. Jessie shook her head to dispel the idea. Wes had been a perfect gentleman, giving her a mild, proper good-night kiss—highly appropriate for a first date. She really had no right to make a comparison.
“I think you need to exorcise your ghosts before you commit yourself to a serious relationship.” The solemn tone of Gina’s words took Jessie by surprise. “You’re punishing Trevor for something that he hasn’t done. He isn’t the scoundrel that hurt you and, your family, Jessie. And you’re not your mother, either.”
“Pardon?” She was stunned by the turn in the conversation.
“Just something I picked up from one of your dreadful how-to books the other day while you were at lunch. You’ve been concentrating on the qualities of your
“That wasn’t in any of the pictures,” Jessie commented dryly, already selecting decorative plants and considering a stained-glass skylight in the ceiling. Then she opened the sliding glass door that led out onto the wooden deck and stepped outside.
From the front of the house there had been no sign of recent construction. The owner had complemented the earlier period here as well. A planked deck ran along the back of the house from the end of the original porch, then jutted out to the left, leaving two thirds of the rectangular yard to frame the gingerbread carvings of the gazebo in the back. Only a two-story garage remained. At one time there had undoubtedly been other outbuildings. From the smell of new wood, the deck and fence that encircled the yard for privacy had been the most recent additions.
“I think I’m in love.” Jessie let out an ecstatic sigh, sinking down onto the top step that led down from the deck to the yard, which was in the process of being landscaped. “This is going to be a fantastic job. Can I stop doing everything else and just move in here for the duration?”
“Fat chance.”
“Somehow I knew you’d say that,” Jessie returned good-naturedly. They had taken on two more clients in the past few days, one who had been recommended by a member of Planchet Enterprises’ board. With the recent upsurge in business, they finally were planning to hire a part-time employee to handle their mounting paperwork.
“I might be open to a bribe, however.” Her partner sounded just a little too eager to have her palm crossed with silver. Jessie didn’t trust her one bit.
“So what is your price, my avaristic friend?”
“Ah, you can afford me. All you have to do is talk to Trevor the next time he calls,” Gina stated, giving her friend a stern look. “He’s been chalking up a lot of long-distance charges by calling you in the middle of the day from Washington, and with no result. Why not cut him some slack?”
“Why?” Jessie didn’t think she needed any further defense of her actions. Trevor had called twice. Both times she had refused point blank to take the calls, though Gina had been very chatty. There wasn’t any point for Jessie to encourage him. He did not fit into her plans. Her dinner two nights ago with Wes Lendall had been very pleasant, proving to her, if not Gina, that her plan of finding a husband had potential.
“Well, your thirty-ninth birthday isn’t that far away, ya know,” Gina commented, as if she had telepathy. “So you really shouldn’t eliminate too many candidates. That little clock is steadily going tick-tock, tick-tock .”Her sound effect was closer to a time bomb than a clock, to Jessie’s ears. “This Wes person may seem nice now, but maybe he’s a latent ax murderer.”
“You have a very strange mind. I think your Trevor would be a better possibility for that job.” Of course, he does kiss better than Wes, a wicked voice from her subconscious taunted. Jessie shook her head to dispel the idea. Wes had been a perfect gentleman, giving her a mild, proper good-night kiss—highly appropriate for a first date. She really had no right to make a comparison.
“I think you need to exorcise your ghosts before you commit yourself to a serious relationship.” The solemn tone of Gina’s words took Jessie by surprise. “You’re punishing Trevor for something that he hasn’t done. He isn’t the scoundrel that hurt you and, your family, Jessie. And you’re not your mother, either.”
“Pardon?” She was stunned by the turn in the conversation.
“Just something I picked up from one of your dreadful how-to books the other day while you were at lunch. You’ve been concentrating on the qualities of your
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