Spitfire (Puffin Cove) (12 page)

"
She's lucky to have ye, Laura. Not too many people could love a rodent like that."

"
Alright, buster." She gripped her hands into his shirt front, and laughing, he wrapped his long fingers around her wrists, then slid them up until his fingers were linked with hers, palm to palm. He pushed her back against the fence with a wicked gleam in his eyes, and his hands came up with hers to curl into the chain links over her head, trapping her.

He dipped his head and rubbed his nose over hers
. "I've a mind t' kiss ye again, Spitfire. What would you do if I did?"

She answered
by tipping her head back. "You mean like this?" she teased through smiling lips, then peeped her tongue out to softly rim his with its moist tip. Then she retraced her tongue's path with little nips of her teeth.

His laughter died
, his lips parted, and his eyes drifted closed. He stood stock still, fingers gripping tighter on her hands and the fence, feeding on her ministrations. She felt a ripple of tension run through his big body, and she smiled against his lips. Her breath fanned with his as she slipped her tongue into his mouth and laved the inside of his lips, running the tip over his teeth, lingering on his crooked one. She teased the tip of his tongue with hers and she felt his whole body tense and vibrate like a taut wire.

He
groaned and his hands snapped off hers and the fence to fist into her hair. His tongue slid into her mouth to duel feverishly with hers. She wrapped her arms around his big body as it slammed into her, pushing her tight into the fence, and his hips ground against her in small, undulating circles. Her hands spasmed on his back when his sex pushed into her belly, her breath coming now in rapid pants.

God
. How was it that they could converse like perfectly normal adults, tease and joke like friends, then tear into each other like rabid wolves…all in the same hour, the same minute? She didn't know, didn't care. Just wanted more.

He tore his mouth from hers
, and peppered her flushed face, her neck, her hair with kisses as he murmured hoarsely, "Laura.
Jaysus
, I want ye, Spitfire. We go to Twillingate, it's one room, yeah? Jaysus, ye're all I can think of. I love spendin' time with ye, anywhere. Everywhere. Doin' anythin'. But darlin', I want ye in me bed." He pulled his head back then, and his eyes searched hers, hot and...God, was he worried?

She panted and nuzzled her face into his neck, breathing in his scent,
her lips moving against his warm skin. "Kane. You're...I...God. I'm going crazy. Today, when I found out about your art, all I could think of was that I'd misread things, I mean, what could you possibly want with me? I'm just a nut from Ontario in a mid-life crisis with no direction, nothing but a ditzy dog to anchor me to this world. But now...God. All of those feelings from the other day are back. I want you, and I'm getting that you want me. Since the other day when I didn't hear from you, I...I'm talking too much, aren't I?"

His lips moved in her hair
, then he pulled his head back and tipped her face up with his thumbs to meet his twinkling eyes. "Aye, Laura. Ye are. I'm kinda hopin' ye'll maybe shut up except t' say ye'll be me lover in Twillingate."

She smiled
. Then grinned. "Oh, my God. How am I going to wait?"

He
tipped his head back and laughed. "Jaysus, woman. I know exactly what ye're meanin'."

Chapter Ten

When she woke up the next morn
ing, she stretched languorously and tucked her hands under head, watching the sun dance on the waves through the window. She was almost not sure if the events of the day before were real or a dream. She looked at her nuthatch. His nuthatch. Oh, my ever-loving God. Kane Downey. The world renowned artist. Her friend. Her soon to be lover.

What the hell was she doing
? She was probably already in love with him. No, she
knew
that she was in love with him. She was pretty sure she fell in love with him while he was chewing her ass out over the moose.

And her inner voice warned,
Laura, your heart is going to get broken
.

I don
't care, dammit. I want this!

The fury she
had felt over Joel's infidelities and eventual defection from her marriage had admittedly dimmed over time, but the memory of those bereft feelings paled in comparison to the thought of never seeing Kane again, never spending time with him, such was the power of her feelings. And she hadn't even made love with him yet. But she was going to. Oh,
hell
yes. In spite of the probability of heartbreak, she was going to spend as much time with this sexy, wonderful man that she could, until he grew tired of her and moved on. She felt as a moth must, drawn to a flame, helpless to avoid singeing her wings, doing anything to be near that glorious heat and light.

She wondered whether the romance of the land, the freedom of her new life, had leant an air of unreality and come-what-may to what she was feeling
. She tried to picture another scenario, of having met Kane back home instead of here, he a plumber or banker instead of an artist and farmer. It wouldn't fit, but she knew without question that had she met him in another time and place she would have felt this same connection. This same desire to just be with him. If she could only have him for a short time, she was going to seize what she could. She needed this. Needed him to share even a small sliver of her life.
This
was the spark in her existence that she had been looking for. She would just have to shore up every experience in her memory to take out and treasure after it was over.

She closed her eyes, recalling that heady feeling of being in his arms, of his body, her body, both so responsive, so explosive
. Oh, when would it be? They had parted last night without a definite date, he having to check his gallery and arrange for the care of his livestock, she having to ensure that Jill wouldn't mind keeping Lola yet again. A favour she was sure Jill would be freakin' thrilled to bestow once she knew the reason.

The anticipation was quietly exhilarat
ing, a sweet, delicious flutter in her heart and belly.

She stretched again, and climbed out of bed
. She had a monumental chore to perform today, and it had to be today. She shook away her sensuous ruminations, giving herself an all over physical shake that Stanley and Tess would have been proud of.

She had to find a place to live
. George and Moira had her room booked to tourists one week from today.

Time to get down to brass tacks, girl
. Vacation's over for the time being.

She showered and dressed
. She had known pretty much from the time she sat down at Sweeney's bar that she wouldn't be leaving this town except to sight-see. This was home. And so, she planned to scour the town, the local paper, the internet, looking for a place to live. She thought she would stop in at Landon's. He lived in the apartment over his garage, so that was out. But he knew just about everyone, so maybe he knew of someone who had some kind of vacancy.

Moira was busy in the kitchen when
Laura came downstairs. "Good morning, deary. You look lovely today. Any plans?" Moira steamed a pot of milk and completed the building of Laura's cappuccino.

"
Moira, you've spoiled me rotten while I've been here. I can't ever thank you enough for opening your home to me. Oh, I know it's your business, but you've been especially kind to me, and I love you for it. I'm really going to miss you and George when I go."

"
Oh, Laura. This just rots my socks to have to put you out. If we hadn't had these reservations since last year we'd just cancel them and keep you on. But…" she wrung her hands, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "If you move on because you have nowhere to stay, I'll just
die!
"

Laura
giggled. "Moira, please. Don't worry. It's been a wonderful month. I'm off to find something today, and as soon as I find a place and get settled in I'll have you and George over for dinner. We'll see lots of each other, I promise. You're like my surrogate parents."

"
Moira, I have some…oh, Laura, wonderful. I can tell you both." George came out of his office with his glasses perched endearingly on the end of his nose, a fax in his hand. "Moira, you know Ted Archer's old place north of town? Seems the son he left it to has no interest in it after all. He was going to come back and renovate it for a rental, but he's decided not to and is staying in Calgary. He wants to sell and just faxed me the particulars to forward to Emery at the real estate office. It's not very big, and it's in pretty rough shape, but you might be interested in looking at it, Laura."

"
Oh, George, you're kidding! I was just off to look for something today. I've been dragging my heels, and hoping something would pop up. What's it like? Do you know the place? Do you think I could renovate it? I flipped eight houses back home, so I know my way around a renovation, but it would have to have a solid foundation and all that."

Her mind was spinning
in a thousand different directions, her words tripping over each other. She craned her neck over George's shoulder to read the fax. The giddy thrill of a house purchase came back to her in a rush.

George
chuckled at Laura's excitement. "Now, don't be gettin' your hopes up, young lady. I don't know what kind of shape the place is in. It's been vacant for a couple of years. How about we go up this afternoon and have a look? I can recommend the inspector we used when we converted the B and B. He'll let you know if it's sound. And if you've done eight of them already you can probably tell
him
a thing or two."

"
Oh, George, could we really? That would be awesome!"

"
Well, so happens I've got the key. Art left it with me when he was dying. Didn't stand for any of them high fallutin' lawyers." George mimicked his old friend with a fond smile. "Said his son could come get it from me when he was ready."

Oh, she couldn
't wait! She was vibrating with excitement. She already had the place bought, renovated, and decorated in her fevered brain. And she hadn't even seen it yet. She couldn't wait to tell her boys and her parents, couldn't wait to tell Jill. And couldn't wait to tell Kane.

Oh
. Kane.

Laura
had so much to look forward to, she hugged herself to keep all her happiness from busting out. The spark. Life had a
spark
again!

Lucky, lucky, lucky
! Oh, how did I get so lucky?

Hold on, there speed freak
. It might be a dump, unfixable. Don't get your hopes up.

Psht
. Been there, done that. Piece of cake! Oh, I'm going to have a home in Newfoundland! Whoohoo!!

They drove north from town. Same way to get to Jill and Kane's. Nice. But instead of heading inland to farm country they veered right, taking a cart-path drive in to the property. They had to get out of the car to move an old iron gate from the path, with no fence attached to it. She thought that was odd, and kind of charming. Her first impression wasn't total dismay.

The house was in pretty bad shape aesthetically, but the roof looked straight and true
. Probably needed new shingles, though. The yard and gardens were overgrown and scrubby. Windows were possibly okay, would have to check for rot. The front door looked solid but was peeling and needed stripped and refinished. No problem. The porch was rotted and listing and would have to be totally replaced. Easy peasy.

Laura
was used to looking at properties and seeing in her mind's eye their potential, not their present state. Someone else might look at this shack and think
no way
, and that's what Laura had always capitalized on. She had bought houses for fractions of their worth because they weren't readily liveable, near to condemned. Of course she had sunk piles of money, not to mention time, blood, sweat and tears into the houses. But what she got in return was a tidy profit, a nicely toned body, and the satisfaction of saving the life of a derelict and bringing it back to its original splendour, reclaiming its usefulness and purpose. In a way, it was nursing for houses. It fed her soul to do this. To bring back function and beauty to something that had been left to die.

She
had found, after her first and second houses, that the more she did herself instead of contracting out, the more satisfaction, and money, was returned to her. And so, she had studied basic plumbing and structure, electrical and landscaping. There were many times she had gotten in over her head and had to call in a professional, who invariably was a man ready to criticize and condescend, pat her on the head and charge her through the nose. She had eventually developed good relationships with good tradesmen, and learned her limitations.

Some properties she
had had to turn down, knowing that they were beyond her saving. And that had made her sad. But the ones she had resurrected were a source of pride to her. She had left her book of 'saves' with Kyle back home, a record of photographs, before, during and after, along with descriptions and general accountings. Kyle was always interested in her projects and frequently helped on site. He was on his third ticket now, learning first about carpentry, then electrical, and now masonry. Maybe one day he would take on her second chosen vocation and become a renovator like she had. He would be excited to know that she was at it again.

"
I want to go around back and see the whole outside before we go in," Laura told George.

Moira piped
. "No way am I gonna ruin my new Easy Spirits in that mess. I'll just stay here 'til you're ready to go in. Or maybe I'll just wait in the car." On the short ride up to the property from town, Moira had clucked and fussed in the back seat. She wasn't an adventurous person, and told Laura that she must be crazy. The thought of poking around an abandoned house gave her the willies. Laura snorted softly. But no way was the loveable old gal going to miss the action, either. So she had come along to share Laura's excitement or disappointment, whatever the outcome.

George
and Laura picked their way through the weeds and rocks around to the back of the house and Laura caught her breath.

Ocean
! It was on the ocean! "George! Why didn't you tell me?"

"
Forgot, actually. Haven't been out here for years, and one oceanfront's same as the next."

Laura
was dumbfounded at George's lack of awe for the sea. She supposed that one did take for granted something one saw everyday of one's life. But she wouldn't. Oh, no. And unless the inside of the house was a total write-off, this place was hers! Holy shit!

She made a mental note to get
Kyle to scan and email her her tick sheet from her saves book. She had honed it down to an exact science, a list of must-haves and what's-too-costly-to-make-the-job-worthwhile. In this case, Laura figured that the list would need tweaking. She wasn't going to flip this one, so any extra money she was going to have to sink into it would be for her and her alone.

Her wheels were turning a mile a minute
again as George unlocked the front door. Their boots left footprints on the dusty floor boards and the wood creaked its irritation. Cobwebs and motes of dust greeted them eerily. What meagre sunlight the filthy windows let in showed them furnishings draped in dusty sheets, wood panelling everywhere, a soot-blackened stone fireplace, and water damage. The mustiness had both of them sniffing and sneezing.

A
n iron spiral staircase led up to a second floor, its integrity questionable, but Laura was determined to test it anyway.

"
Child, you can't possibly be thinking that you're interested in this place! It's a disaster!"

Moira
had poked her head in the door, but no further. She sounded more like Laura's mother every day, and Laura just smiled the same tolerant smile she had given to her mom on countless occasions when she did something that Iris didn't wholly approve of.

"
We'll see, Moira. There's lots to check out before I decide if I'll take it. And I've renovated worse. Don't you worry. I know what I'm doing."

Laura
winced. She shouldn't have said that. Bad juju.

That evening she phoned Jill, filled her in on the house, and got Kane's number. She called him to share her excitement. She babbled on about the ocean, the reno's she would need to do, the people she would need to contact, the old stone fireplace, the antiques under the dust covers, the ocean, the perennials she had found among the squelching weeds, and the ocean.