Winter Awakening by Elizabeth Lennox
Chapter 8
Over the next two weeks, Kate worked hard, packing up her mother’s house. She also worked with a remodeling company to update and repair the house, without going too crazy on the cost. The kitchen cabinets were painted white and new knobs installed. They took down some of the cabinets that blocked the view of the eating area, dramatically opening up the space. Kate took down all of the chintzy, flowered curtains that her mother had bought decades ago and painted the pink bedroom a nice, calm dove grey.
Mack helped when he could, but there were a surprising number of cases he had to investigate.
But that was okay. She wasn’t sure how he would react to her other project, so she kept quiet about it, working on it in quiet moments when he was busy.
The ideas for her secret project were growing by the day! She even had permission from the mayor. No, she wasn’t getting paid. Yet! But, she’d made a deal with the mayor that, if she developed the ideas and organized the events, she’d get a percentage of the profits. If she could bring in enough crafters, train enthusiasts, book lovers, and various other festival participants, then this could actually be a living! It could be a career and, even better, her own business. No more working with bridezillas and emotionally volatile mothers!
But she didn’t want Mack to know about her ideas just yet. If she failed…! Well, she didn’t want him to laugh at her. He was so down to earth, so centered and sure of himself. She absolutely couldn’t let him know how badly she wanted this.
So she worked on organizing everything while he was working. Thankfully, she was making huge progress! After the first week, she had more than fifty people interested in securing a table for the craft festival! She was so excited, she almost blurted out the news several times over dinner. She’d caught herself, although Mack’s eyes had narrowed suspiciously, clearly aware she was holding something back.
He didn’t ask though. And Kate was hugely relieved by his restraint. Once everything was in place and she went back to the mayor with the details, a date, and the number of vendors, as well as a marketing plan, then she’d tell him.
Would he be angry that she was trying to make a life for herself here in Cheyenne? Although he took her into his arms every night and made love to her, he was always gone by the morning. He always started a fresh pot of coffee before he left, but never woke her with a kiss.
Was she setting herself up for pain and heartache?
Possibly. But she knew this was where she wanted to be. And even more, she wanted to be with Mack!
