Flipped Out (6 page)

Melissa smiled, pleased. This must be exactly what she’d wanted: a chance to get her face on camera and the opportunity to hawk the benefits of living in Waterfield. Melissa won’t be happy until she has turned our pretty, picturesque little town into a big city with lots of people who need the help of a Realtor.

“We just have a few more minutes here,” Nina added. “You ready to do this, Adam?”

Adam nodded, determination in the line of his jaw. And whether it was because he didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of Melissa, or maybe in front of Tony, or whether the walk in the garden had flipped some switch in his head, he got every word right on the first try.

“That’s a wrap,” Nina said, pleased, while Wilson wandered off to pan the remaining rooms with his camera, collecting “before” footage, and Ted started rolling up cables. She turned to Derek and me. “We’re done here for now. We’ll spend the rest of the afternoon shooting around town. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be back here to film the two of you in action. Make sure you’ve demoed whatever you need to, and you’re ready to work.”

Derek and I spent the rest of the afternoon tearing things down and out. The Dumpster we’d ordered for the job had been dropped off last week, and we’d long ago started putting things into it. Derek hauled out the toilet and bathroom cabinet, and between us we removed the old kitchen counter and sink. Then Derek went at the floor tile in the bathroom with a hammer and chisel while I started removing all the kitchen cabinet doors for painting. It’s one of those tedious chores that is so tempting to skip, since it’s possible to paint the cabinets without removing the doors first, but the result is much better when the job is done right, so I made myself do it.

Midafternoon, Kate and Shannon stopped by to see how things were progressing and to firm up plans for the next day. Kate had limited time to give us, as she had a house full of guests, but Shannon was fully available, since she wasn’t in school over the summer and her only job was helping out at the bed and breakfast.

“We saw the TV crew filming on Main Street,” Kate greeted me when they walked into the kitchen at around three o’clock.

I looked up from where I sat cross-legged on the kitchen floor wielding Derek’s battery-driven screwdriver. “They were here earlier. Shot some interior footage of the house and had Adam introduce Derek and me for the camera. And then Melissa and Tony Micelli showed up.”

“We saw them.” Kate nodded. “Outside one of the antique stores on Main Street. Did you notice that rock on her finger? Wasn’t that the biggest diamond you’ve ever seen in your life?”

“If it’s real,” Shannon said.

“I’m sure it’s real,” her mother answered. “Melissa wouldn’t stand for anything less.”

“I got a good look at it last night,” I said. “Tony popped the question at the Waymouth Tavern, I think.”

“Quick work. It’s just over six months since they started dating.”

I nodded. Derek and I had been together for more than a year, and he hadn’t proposed yet. And it had taken Wayne something like five or six years to get himself engaged to Kate.

“Anyway,” Kate said, “Melissa was on camera, talking to Adam Ramsey about why everyone should want to live in Waterfield, and waving that ring around. The glare almost blinded me.”

Kate had moved here from Boston seven years ago, with then-thirteen-year-old Shannon, and she was no more excited than I was about Melissa’s attempts to turn Waterfield into the same thing we’d both left behind.

“I figured she’d find a way to get her face on camera.” I went back to unscrewing the hinges on one of the kitchen cabinet doors. “What about Tony? Was he there?”

“He was talking to Nina and to that young woman with the long, black hair and all the holes in her face,” Kate said. Shannon looked at her mom and rolled her eyes.

“They’re piercings, Mom. Everyone has them.”

“You don’t,” Kate said. She didn’t add, “Thank God,” but I could see the words clearly in the thought bubble above her head.

Shannon shrugged. “I’m not much into body mutilation. And I don’t want to be seventy years old and have to explain to my grandchildren why grandma has tattoos and piercings all over her body.”

Me, either. I have pierced ears, but that’s the extent of the body art so far. I prefer to make my statement with what I’m wearing instead.

Not that that aspect of my personality has had a whole lot of play lately. While I was working for Philippe, making copies of staid, boring, authentic fabrics for his reproduction furniture, I had gotten into the habit of making some slightly wilder stuff for myself, just to keep my hand in. These days, working with Derek and spending so much time in jeans and T-shirts—stuff that’s easily replaced when it gets torn up or stained—it had been a long time since I’d made anything fun. Maybe I could create something funky for the cottage.

Although with only a week to do it, and all the other work we had to do, it’d have to be something simple. Simple isn’t as much fun as complicated, although making something very simple look fabulous comes with some inherent challenges of its own. Roller shades for the windows, perhaps? Curtains? A long cushion and a bunch of pillows for the window seat in the dining room were already part of the plan, and as Derek had told Nina, I could whip up some pillows for the porch swing we planned to hang, as well, while I was at it. And—here was an idea—how about some gauzy curtains for the porch? Almost like mosquito netting in tropical climes; light and airy fabric suspended from a rail or rod running under the porch ceiling, pulled aside during the day—maybe even fastened with ribbons or tiebacks—but ready to be lowered when people wanted to sit on the porch at night. Mosquitoes can be bothersome in Maine in the summer, and something like that would keep them out. I don’t spend a lot of time sitting on Aunt Inga’s porch, since the mosquitoes like me too much for me to make my tempting self too available to the bloodsuckers. But I could imagine hanging something similar there, too, making an evening on the porch more appealing.

A shuffling noise brought me back to the present. Kate and Shannon were still standing in the doorway. Well, Kate was; Shannon was moving away to see what Derek was up to. I smiled apologetically up at Kate. “Sorry. I got distracted.”

“No problem.” She grinned back. “You know Shannon. She’s always adored Derek. She was just waiting for an excuse to go find him.”

Derek has that effect on most women, from toddlers to dignified old ladies. If it had been anyone else, I might have worried. Shannon is gorgeous, with her mother’s height and centerfold figure; the kind that can stop traffic. But for all that she clearly adores Derek, I don’t think she’s ever harbored any fantasies in his direction. She enjoys talking and even flirting mildly with him, but he’s just practice for whenever she gets serious about someone her own age.

“The crew is staying at the B and B with you,” I said to Kate, and got a nod in return. “I know it’s none of my business, but how are the sleeping arrangements? With five people and only four rooms . . .”

Kate grinned. “You trying to figure out who’s got a relationship on the side?”

I shrugged. So sue me. The way Adam was flirting with all and sundry, surely he had to be sleeping with someone.

“As far as I know,” Kate continued, “nobody does. Or if they do, they’re being discreet. Nina’s in the suite and Fae’s in my old room. The men are on the second floor.”

“That’s what I thought,” I said. “That you might have put your own room into service. How is everything going?”

She shrugged. “Fine, so far. No problems. They arrived late last night. They’d stopped for dinner on the way from the airport, so they just went to their rooms and to bed. Nobody sleepwalked or had nightmares. I fed them blueberry pancakes this morning. Nina picked at her food. Worried about gaining weight, I guess. Adam flirted with everyone, including me. Ted had his nose buried in a book, and Wilson was friendly.”

“They seem like a nice bunch of people, for the most part.”

Kate nodded. “What happened to the guy who used to host the show? Stu somebody? I hope they didn’t fire him; he was great.”

“Good-looking, too. And no, he didn’t get fired.” I told her what Nina had told me, that Stuart had had an accident a couple of weeks ago and was in the hospital. “That’s why we’re stuck with Adam.”

Kate grinned. “Not a good experience?”

“It took an hour to film a few minutes of dialogue because Adam couldn’t get the names right. He kept calling Waterfield ‘Waterford,’ and he called Derek ‘Erik’ and me ‘Ivory’ . . .”

“That must be a handicap if you want to be a television star,” Kate said.

“Worse if you want to do theater, I’d think. That’s what he told me he used to do. Hard to imagine he would have been able to memorize whole scripts and perform them every day when he can’t keep a few words straight. At the rate he’s going, we’ll finish the renovations next December.”

“Or you’ll have to work twice as fast to make up for it.”

“I’m working as fast as I can,” I said, laying another cabinet door down on top of the stack. “You want something to do? Grab another screwdriver and start taking the hardware off those doors while I finish taking the doors off the cabinets. We have to remove the hinges and handles before we can start painting.”

“Do you want me to keep the hardware?” Kate asked as she palmed a manual screwdriver off the counter and sat down next to the stack of doors.

“Stick it in a Ziploc baggie. We won’t be putting it back on—updated hardware is one of those things that can really make a big difference without breaking the bank—but Derek can give it to Ian Burns, and maybe someone will want to buy it. It’s classic 1930s stuff.”

Ian Burns is a friend of Derek’s who owns and operates an architectural salvage store in Boothbay Harbor, some forty-five minutes north of Waterfield. Derek has bought a lot of vintage fixtures and replacement parts from Ian over the years, and whenever we tore out anything we thought might interest him, we saved it.

“You got it,” Kate said, and suited action to words.

4

The television crew came back to the house for a few minutes after their jaunt through town, sans Tony and Melissa. Tony had to go to work, Nina told me when I asked. “He’s asked me to go to dinner later.”

“Really?” I glanced at Kate, involuntarily. She arched a brow at me, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. This wouldn’t make Melissa happy.

“He wants to catch up. A lot of water under the bridge since the last time we saw each other.”

“Are you going?” Ted asked. He didn’t look happy, either. Nor did Adam, although he hid it by carrying on a silent but patently obvious flirtation with Shannon. Her cheeks were flushed, although I couldn’t tell whether it was from embarrassment or because she liked the attention.

“I told him I’d think about it and let him know,” Nina said.

“What about Melissa?” Derek asked.

Nina turned to him. “She got a phone call. Someone wanted information about a house on an island somewhere.”

“Oh.” He looked at me. “I’ll give her a call. See if anything’s going on.” He headed out the door, grabbing for his cell phone.

“You have a house on an island?” Fae asked, drifting in the direction of the outside as well. Everyone else followed, slowly.

I nodded. “It was the project we did before this one. A big 1783 center-chimney Colonial. It’s on the market now. We’re filling in with small projects until we can get it sold and our money out. If you get a half day off while you’re here, you should take the ferry out to one of the islands and have a look around. It’s nice out there.”

Fae shook her head. “I’m not that big on water. Grew up in Kansas. Landlocked.” She smiled sheepishly. She and Shannon looked a little like each other, I realized, both tall and pretty, with the same pale skin and dark eyes and hair, although Fae’s clearly wasn’t real. It was a sort of dull jet-black, not like Shannon’s shiny mane of deep black cherry. And then, of course, there was the raccoon makeup and the piercings. Without all of it, her face was sweetly pretty, not as stunningly gorgeous as Shannon’s.