July's Jubilant Christmas Jumble Read online

  Danni Roan

  July’s Jubilant Christmas Jumble

  Ornamental Matchmakers

  Danni Roan

  5/10/2019

  Copyright © 2019 by Danni Roan

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  FIRST EDITION

  https://authordanniroan.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Jamie Walton scrolled through her planner highlighting the next items on her list. She had no idea that when she had agreed to come home and help her grandmother out with the old bed and breakfast how her life was about to change. Studying hospitality in college and her love for the Old Inn on the lake had prepared her for the work, but not all of the details, headaches, and vagaries of the job.

  It was already April, and the tourist season for the Great Lakes area was almost upon them, but the place wasn’t ready just yet.

  Looking up at the elegant old Victorian house, the rival of any on the island, Jamie sighed. She had been researching the original colors of the place and desperately wanted to repaint, but for now the house would have to remain stark white at least until things picked up financially.

  Thank heavens her general contractor seemed to be on the ball. Mr. Wissen had been working non-stop on adding front porches to the little cottages that lined the lake shore, and updating the tiny kitchenettes and other homey comforts of the rental cabins.

  Turning back to her phone, she ticked off another aspect of her journey into the hospitality industry.

  Behind her she heard a power saw kick on and looked down the line of one of the twelve cottages that would be available to rent this summer. Each one had a different theme, and she couldn’t wait to see them finished in different colors and accents. She wondered if Mr. Wissen was somewhere nearby as she ticked off another to-do item on her list and added a meeting for later that day.

  Making her way toward the cottages, Jamie breathed in the smell of fresh milled wood, caulking, and roofing tar. It was a familiar smell from her childhood when her parents would come to the inn and work to get things ready for the summer season. This time was different though because not only was Jamie in charge, she was changing the way the Inn would operate.

  Jamie passed the first cottage noting the weathered white paint, and miss matched patched boards. Most of the places looked about the same at the moment, but Mr. Wissen insisted that a fresh coat of paint and a bit of spit and polish would have people clambering to rent them. She had talked to him for ages about her new ideas for the cabins, and he’d worked wonders already.

  Stepping up on the board walk that linked the little houses, keeping guests out of any inconvenient mud on damp days, Jamie looked down at her phone once more as it vibrated in her hand.

  The sudden collision and resulting clink, clatter, and crash dropped her to the hard wooden floor as paints in red, white, and blue hues splattered over her head, shoulders and outstretched legs resounded all the way to the bright waves lapping at the shore.

  Blinking and sputtering, Jamie looked around her bewildered. Apparently she had walked directly into a painter’s ladder toppling everything, including the painter who was untangling his long legs from his aluminum ladder as she tried to catch her breath.

  “Are you alright lady,” a warm baritone asked as the man crawled toward her, his coveralls dripping in paint. “I didn’t hear you coming or I would have called out.”

  Jamie looked up into the most beautiful face she had ever seen, could you call a man beautiful? The thought flitted across her brain as she studied his sculpted features, stark hazel green eyes, and sun bronzed skin. He looked like a work of art, or a painted image of manliness.

  “I think I’m alright,” Jamie said. “How stupid of me not looking where I was going.”

  “Let me help you up,” the man said reaching out and taking her paint covered hand in his.

  Jamie tried to get her feet under her, but every time she braced herself to stand, her fingers slipped out of the man’s hand and paint dribbled down her face from her hair as her backside plunked back on the hard floor.

  “Wait one moment,” the man said his rich voice lilting softly at the end of each sentence. “Here, wipe your hands and face first then we’ll try again,” he said handing her a thick cloth.

  Jamie couldn’t help but smile. The man was being so kind she couldn’t help but feel like a complete dingbat for walking into his ladder. Taking the cloth from his hand, she wiped at her face then cleaned her hands. This time when he grasped her fingers and pulled, she was able to gain her feet but looked down at herself with chagrin.

  “Now what?” she asked. “I can’t go traipsing into the house dripping paint everywhere, even if the majority of it is white.”

  “I think you’re going to have to hose off,” the man’s voice said. “Are you sure you aren’t hurt, I wouldn’t want to get in trouble with the boss lady here. This job will keep me busy for months.”

  Jamie grinned. Apparently, he didn’t know who she was, and why would he when he had been contracted by Mr. Wissen. “I’m not hurt,” she said, “and I promise not to get you in trouble with the boss lady. Who are you by the way?”

  “I’m sorry,” the painter spoke quietly. Now that they were standing, Jamie could see he was only an inch or two taller than she was, and she smiled at the dark hair peeking out from under his painters cap. “I’m Carlos Jimenez.” He smiled brightly, still holding her hand as he led her toward a hose bib. “I’m afraid it will be cold, but I’ll get you my coat as soon as you’re clean.”

  Jamie smiled back and nodded as she stepped up to the hose. The water would be as frigid as Lake Michigan itself, but she needed to get this paint off of her as soon as possible. “Let ‘er rip,” she said repressing a giggle as she closed her eyes only to gasp when the icy water hit her.

  Shivering non-stop Jamie pivoted on the spot as the man named Carlos hosed her down with the sprayer as she starred at her ruined sneakers covered in rivulets of red, white, and blue paint.

  “Jamie, Jamie Walton! What on earth are you doing? You’ll catch your death,” Old Mrs. Walton shouted hurrying toward Jamie and her companion with an armload of clean towels. “You get in the house and get cleaned up this minute.”

  Carlos turned off the hose and swallowed hard. Was he going to lose his job over this incident? He needed this job. His little sister and brother were counting on him. “Miss. Walton?” he croaked, his windpipe almost closing in fear.

  “Yes,” Jamie replied her teeth chattering. “Don’t worry,” she said, “this wasn’t your fault.”

  “Jamilynn Astoria Walton, are you out of your mind?” Mrs. Walton growled offering Carlos a hard glare. “You’ll catch pneumonia. Now get in the house, but take those shoes off first.”

  “Yes Gram,” Jamie said wrapping a warm towel around her shoulders. “Thank you for your help,” she shot back over her shoulder at the stunning painter, as her grandmother took her arm tugging her toward the back door.

  Chapter 2

  “You go get a shower while I make some cocoa,” Jamie’s grandmother grumbled. “Crazy young folks playing
in water on an icy day like this. You’d think they wanted to catch their death.”

  Jamie giggled but hurried to the back of the house where the family quarters were and shimmied out of her wet clothes. The hot water from the shower was pure bliss, and she was thankful that they had installed the tank-less hot water heater that insured she and her guests at the bed-and-breakfast would never run out of hot water.

  The hot water upgrade had been one of the upgrades she had fought to get, as well as the outside furnace and heating upgrades for the cottages.

  Using a heavy loofah Jamie was able to scrub the paint from her skin, but as she stepped from the steamy stall, streaks of it still marred her dark gold hair. There was just nothing she could do about the pigment, but let it fade away, and she finally gave up trying. She really needed to watch where she was going from now on.

  Drying off with a warm thick towel that she used to wind her long hair into, Jamie dressed in clean clothes and dug out a fresh pair of shoes. She had a meeting with the bank in two hours and needed to look as presentable as possible. “Cocoa is ready,” her grandmother called, “so don’t dawdle.”

  “Coming Gram,” Jamie said as she spritzed her hair with a good dose of detangler, combing it out as best she could and heading for the kitchen.

  “You look a sight,” Lavinia Walton said nodding to a seat where a large mug of hot chocolate sat waiting for her. “It’ll be weeks before that color is out of your hair.”

  Jamie grinned. “I’m sure it will wash out in time,” she said.

  Lavinia smiled at her granddaughter. “You always were the most practical one of my grandchildren,” she said. “Besides, you don’t look any worse than these people going around coloring their hair every shade of the rainbow and then some.”

  “Thanks Gram,” Jamie said lifting her mug and taking a sip. Her grandmother still made real hot chocolate with milk and cream and it tasted like Christmas every time.

  “You want me to fire that man for dumping paint all over you?” Lavinia asked. “Someone taking on a job like this should be more careful.” She lifted her dark blue eyes over her mug questioningly.

  “It wasn’t his fault Gram,” Jamie admitted. I walked right into his ladder. “We’re both lucky that it wasn’t worse. A little extra color in my hair I can deal with, but no one has time for broken bones or delays.”

  Lavinia grinned up at her granddaughter. “Well I guess he can stay then. Besides he’s not bad to look at either.”

  Jamie choked and spluttered on her cocoa starring at her grandmother in disbelief. “Gram, I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “Why?” the old woman said. “It’s true isn’t it? Now I know there’s not a man in the world that could hold a candle to your grandfather. He was the best looking man I ever did lay eyes on, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes in my head. Tell me you didn’t think he was a nice looking man,” she goaded.

  Jamie drank more of her cocoa hoping that her grandmother would believe the heat in her cheeks was caused by the steam from the mug, but it was not use.

  The laugh that burst from her grandmother made Jamie shake her head, but she still refused to reply.

  “I’ve got a meeting in about an hour,” Jamie finally said. “Will you be alright until I get back?”

  “Heavens yes,” Lavinia said waving Jamie’s worries away. “I may not be up to what I once was, but I can still look after myself just fine. Besides if I need anything, I’ll just holler for that handsome painter out there,” she finished with a giggle.

  Jamie shook her head draining her mug and carrying it to the large soapstone sink and wash board. No matter how many updates the old house had gone though over the years her grandmother was never willing to change out the sink that took up a good quarter of the west wall. The huge double insulated windows above the sink looked out over the azure beauty of the lake at a subtle angle that let the viewer see all the way along the shore where the little cottages stood.

  “I’d better go,” Jamie said placing a kiss on her grandmother’s withered cheek. “I’ll bring us a pizza on my way home.”

  “With extra olives,” her grandmother shouted after her, “and onions. I like onions.”

  ***

  Jamie stepped out the back door and almost directly into the arms of Mr. Carlos Jimenez.

  “Oh, excuse me,” she said taking a step back. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “I was just coming to the house to see if you were alright after your fall,” the man said his deep hazel green eyes full of concern.

  “I’m fine,” Jamie said. “I should be checking up on you. After all you’re the one that fell from the ladder.”

  The man waved a hand negligently. “I learned long ago how to jump from a ladder,” he said a mischievous smile on his face. “It was not very far to fall anyway.”

  “I’m glad you’re alright then,” Jamie said. She liked looking at the man who had apparently been hired to transform her summer cottages into something spectacular.

  “Next time,” Carlos said carefully, “I will put a tape around where I am working. There will be a next time, yes?”

  Jamie looked into the man’s warm eyes realizing he was worried about losing his job. “Of course!” she said laying a hand on his arm. “Please don’t worry; I would never blame you for my own foolish mistake.”

  Carlos looked down at the young woman’s hand on his arm and nodded, as a warm fuzzy feeling seemed to engulf him. “Thank you,” he finally said letting out a breath. “I’ll get back to work then.”

  Jamie nodded, but didn’t release him as her mind seemed to tumble over a million thoughts at once. She wondered if the man had a full grasp of her goals for the cottages, and she wondered if she should set up a meeting to go over them with him personally.

  “I like your plans for the cottages,” Carlos said. “The themes are fun and interesting and will give people options for their stay. It’s just a shame that the house will not be restored to its former glory,” he added looking up at the gingerbread trim, peaked turrets, and a wraparound porch covered in a variety of shake details in the siding.

  Jamie turned releasing the man’s arm and gazed at the house with him. “I was just thinking the same thing this morning,” she said. “I’d love to find out what the original paint pallet was and bring it back. Unfortunately there is just too much to do to get ready for this season,” she finished with a disappointed sigh.

  “If I finish the cottages to your liking,” Carlos said turning back to study the pretty woman before him. “Will you let me try to find out what the original colors were and look at some plans with you?”

  “That would be wonderful,” Jamie agreed. “All the old pictures are just black and white and Gram says the house was different when she was a child but she can’t remember exactly what color it was.”

  “I will help,” Carlos said. “I enjoy seeing he beauty in things. It is one of the reasons I like my job. You take something that is looking tired and old, and make it look new again. If I have time this weekend, I’ll do some testing. My kid brother and sister help with the work on the weekends, and it will give me some time.”

  Jamie turned looking at Carlos with concern. She wasn’t sure under aged workers were something she should be dealing with.

  “Don’t worry,” Carlos said. “Both Pablo, and Anita, have papers. They are fifteen and seventeen and are allowed to work with me. I am a very careful employer.”

  Jamie smiled, at Carlos’s words. “You read my mind,” she said.

  “No,” the man said. “I just understand about these things. Pablo and Anita have been in my care for a long time, and I needed to be sure they could work with me without any trouble.”

  Again, Jamie smiled. There was something about the man that made her happy. Perhaps it was his warm voice, or his infectious smile, but whatever it was it set her at ease.

  “I’m afraid I have to run,” she said regret in her voice. “I look forw
ard to hearing what you find out though. Let me know when you hear something and we’ll talk,” she added nodding toward the sprawling inn. “This is turning into quite the summer.”

  Carlos waved as Jamie headed for the old Subaru station wagon she drove. If all went well, he would have an even bigger job to complete this season than the cottages. He might even be able to hire another full time painter and give himself a weekend off now and then.

  Chapter 3

  Jamie fairly bounced out of her meeting at the bank that afternoon. Everything was in order for a great season, and the money for the renovations was well in hand. Her father’s smart investments over the years, coupled with the earning potential of the property had given her everything she needed to bring new life to the Old Inn and out buildings. She even had enough in the budget to think about painting the house if there was time before old man winter blew in.

  Mr. Bridges, the bank manager, had been impressed with her idea of giving each cottage a theme and felt that she might even have an opportunity to rent some of the buildings throughout the winter holidays. The Christmas cottage was sure to draw people if she marketed it just right.

  Heading to the post office Jamie checked her mail box, pulling a little yellow slip out with a smile. Another package had arrived, and she hoped it was what she had ordered from the goat farmers out west.

  “I have a package,” Jamie said stepping to the window and handing over her slip.

  “Looks like ya got two,” the chirpy female clerk said handing over one large box and one smaller one. “Kinda’ early to be gettin’ things from the North Pole don’t ya think though?” she said with a grin.

  Jamie looked at the two boxes. One bore the label of the 4L Loom and Lotions Co where she had ordered a variety of different soaps and lotions for each cottage and for the guest rooms in the house. The other one however, looked like a Christmas gift gone a miss.