“I am. He’s an FBI Agent. you know.”
“He seems to be a no-nonsense kind of man, and rather skeptical, just like our Ariella. I have a feeling they’ll be perfect for each other. I wish I could be there when they finally meet,” Gwen said.
Ariella?
Birch would need to check and see if the paintings were signed.
“I’m so scared that they’ll start beating around the bush with each other. After all, there’s a time constraint involved,” Serena admitted.
“Frankly, I’m a little worried about that myself,” Gramps replied. “Birch is a little gun shy when it comes to relationships.”
“Well, so is my Ariella,” Gwen replied. “But we’re not allowed to interfere. It’s going to be difficult.”
Serena sounded reassuring when she said, “It looks like they’re being drawn to each other completely on their own. I guess we’re going to have to hope for the best so that their instincts take over.”
Birch wasn’t learning much of anything except that possibly the woman whom he was being drawn to appeared to be named Ariella, which seemed slightly familiar.
Birch sighed, opening the door and walking into the kitchen to join them for dinner.
Chapter Six
Ariella couldn’t get over how charming the cabin was inside. The quilts and furnishings would be worth a fortune today, as everything inside was at least a few hundred years old.
Just as she suspected, nothing was powered electrically, although there was a generous stash of firewood stacked outside of the cabin as well as near the hearth inside.
The kitchen was totally utilitarian with not a single convenience in sight and an outhouse was positioned beside the graveled driveway that led up to the house.
Since the island was not likely to be much better, she might as well make her way over there. She would decide how to handle the electrical problem this evening but meanwhile, she would have to find a way to install some modern locks here at the cabin and on the boathouse, which she decided to walk outside and survey right now.
There would no trouble using the boathouse and pier, which had been kept in good repair. She would have to have doors installed, but meanwhile, there was no reason that her snowmobile couldn’t be stored in the shed beside it temporarily after it arrived next week.
Just as she was walking down the staircase toward the pier down below, Ariella saw someone steering her pontoon toward the dock.
After waving and grabbing Matt Renfrow’s attention, she decided to climb back up the stairs and unpack her jeep. It would get dark in a few hours. Although she could do something to remedy that while she was alone on the island, it wouldn’t be something she could get away with here at the cabin.
When Matt walked up the staircase, he handed over her keys. “Here you are Ariella. I still can’t recall noticing this place before. It’s funny, because I do a lot of fishing around here.”
“Maybe you didn’t notice it because it was just brought back to life,” she answered.
“A big restoration?” He nodded. “I suppose that could be it. It reminds me of the place my grandfather used to have near one of the other lakes nearby.”
“There’s one thing that I really need to have done as soon as possible. You don’t happen to know of any handyman that might be willing to add some modern locks for me. I’m afraid we’ve gotten a little too carried away by authenticity.”
“I have a teenage son who’s pretty good with things like that.”
“Perfect.”
“It might take him a day or two to do it right. What you might want to do it get a couple of latches and padlocks so you can lock it up from the outside.”
“That’s a great idea. And I do know my way around power tools,” Ariella admitted.
“I kind of figured that. Anyone who’s into boating and snowmobiling usually isn’t afraid of a little hard work.”
“Can I help you with your luggage and groceries?”
“That would be nice. Our family owns another older home across the lake. The grounds are a little run down, so for now it would be easier to travel back and forth by pontoon.”
“Here comes my son,” Matt said as a teenager drove into the driveway, looking around with obvious curiosity.
Matt introduced them. “This is Ms. Cappella, Vin, and she’s looking for someone to do a little work for her. Ariella, meet Vincent.”
Teenagers seemed to be unusually sensitive to the pheromones, and Vincent was definitely staring at Ariella with adoring eyes, even though he was a good-looking teenager and probably had a girl he was dating.
“Nice to you Vin. I wanted to have some doorknobs installed along with some locks, but I don’t want them to appear out of place with the house.”
Vin became thoughtful, staring at the cabin. “I might be able to dig something up from one of the reclaimed hardware stores.
Matt added, “I thought she could add some latches and padlocks on all the doors in the meantime.”
“How about I do that right now?” Vin suggested. “It wouldn’t take me more than an hour. I’ve got my tools in the truck, so I’d just need to go in town to the hardware before they close.”
“Are you sure it wouldn’t be an inconvenience?”
“Not at all,” Vince answered. “I’ll be right back.”
Matt watched his son start up the truck and drive off without him as if he wasn’t there.
“Strange. I’ve never seen him that enthusiastic before,” he admitted. “He didn’t even ask for the money to purchase the locks. I think he has a crush on you.”
Ariella laughed.
Finally, she answered, “Tell you what, Matt. Since you’ve been so kind with helping me load up my groceries and belongings, why don’t I drive you back to the Marina? I’ll come back and unload a few things from my jeep that I’m planning on leaving here at the cabin temporarily while Matt is attaching the padlocks for me. That way I’ll have the keys when I return.”
He grinned. “That works for me. Let me know if my son becomes a pest.”
Ariella laughed again.
* * *
Vin did have a crush on her, but it was kind of sweet. Once, she’d had a boyfriend like that when she’d been about sixteen years old, and it was funny how he reminded her so much of Michael, when he’d still been young, sweet and kind.
She unloaded the majority of her artwork into the cabin when she returned after dropping att back at the Marina, but had decided to hold to a few of the portraits for now, since she felt that there was some significance behind her inspiration at the time.
Most particularly the painting of the man who Mother and Aunt Serena believed to be her mate.
She was beginning to hate that word. It had no significance whatsoever in terms of the qualities she was looking for in a man.
Finally, she was exchanging phone numbers with Vin and he handed over the keys.
She pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “Will this be enough?”
“Thank you, Ms. Cappella,” he answered, looking a little stunned. “I’ll be sure to give you a call as soon as I find some usable hardware.”
“You can call me Ariella, Vin. And I might be calling you if there’s anything I need help with at the house. No one in the family’s been there for a while, so I’m not quite sure what to expect.”