Read Online Love Inspired November 2014 #2 by Allie Pleiter, Lorraine Beatty - Free Book Online

positive. The rust isn’t that bad and my guy is an artist.”
    She ran her hands along the top again. “You know, now I’m glad we’re saving her. It’d be a shame to ditch such a beautiful old thing just for a few hotshot Jacuzzi jets, don’t you think?”
    He shot her a look. “You realize you’re talking about a bathtub, right? You’re not gonna give it a name or anything. Are you?” Boats, pets and people got names—not bathtubs—but the way Charlotte was looking, he couldn’t be sure.
    The corner of her mouth turned up. “I’m not the crazy lady who names her plants and has a dozen cats. Not yet, at least. I do plan to own a cat in the near future, though, so you never know.”
    Jesse chose not to hide his grimace. “A cat?” Maybe he could talk her into holding off until the renovation was complete. Surely he could scour the internet for home construction cat dangers and tell a few horror stories to warn her off.
    Charlotte sat back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, if I didn’t already guess you to be a dog person, I now have conclusive proof.”
    â€œI always heard cats and yarn were a bad combination.” He began dismantling the hot and cold faucets from the end of the tub. “You know, jigsaw puzzle photos of kittens tangled up in yarn balls and all.”
    â€œI’ll take my chances. I’m too enamored of my shoe collection to risk the damage a puppy could do.” As if it had suddenly occurred to her, she asked, “How on earth are you going to get this thing down the stairs?”
    Jesse checked his watch. “A few of the guys from the firehouse will be here in twenty minutes. I should have all these fixtures removed in ten minutes, and then we can start on the sink. That we can just whack apart with a sledgehammer.”
    Her eyes popped. “You’re not really—”
    â€œNo.” She really was too much fun to mess with. “Unless you want to?”
    It was the most amusing thing to watch. She was frightened of taking a hammer to her bathroom walls, but there was this corner of her eyes that lit up with the idea. The way that woman could run away with his practicality was going to be very dangerous, indeed.
Keep your distance, Sykes—the last thing you need to do is mess this up.
    * * *
    â€œAnd then he took the sink out onto the driveway. I took that great big hammer, hoisted it over my head and split that sink into two pieces right there.” Charlotte felt the ear-to-ear grin return, just as it had every time she remembered the sensation of cracking that sink right down the middle. “I didn’t know I had it in me.”
    â€œI didn’t know you had it in you, either.” Melba laughed. “Honestly, I can’t picture it. Sounds rather unsafe.”
    â€œNo, Jesse brought me safety glasses and gloves and everything.” She leaned closer to the circle of wide-eyed women at the Gordon Falls Community Church knitting group. “But I think even he was a little shocked that I broke it in half on my first try. The firehouse guys, when they came to help drag the tub down the stairs and into Jesse’s truck? They were impressed. Guess all that upper-body work at the gym paid off. I’m telling you, it’s satisfying. Demolition therapy is seriously underutilized.”
    The women all looked shocked—all except for Violet Sharpton, an elderly woman with a sweet expression and a quirky personality. She looked almost envious. “What fun!”
    â€œIt made me feel a little bit powerful.” In fact, it had made her feel like a momentary superhero, a great memory to pull out when the surges of panic came. “For a woman in a job search, a little confidence boost goes a long way.”
    â€œSpeaking of a confidence boost,” said Melba, “show them your shawl, Charlotte. I want the ladies to see how