Chapter 15

"Yes, just like that. Good job, sweetheart!"

Caitlin leaned over Michael's shoulder as he bent over the sewing machine, frowning in concentration. He had just sewn a mostly-straight line along the hem of Pearl's dog costume.

"I'm all thumbs." He laughed. "I don't have your knack for detail work."

"Sure you do! That's great work for a beginner. I mean it."

He turned to look up at her, smiling affectionately. "I think you're a very good teacher, but I feel like I'm working in a whole new world."

"What do you mean?" She sat on the edge of the sewing table, holding his hand and stroking it with her thumb. She was engaged in their conversation, but most of her energy was directed at looking into his eyes.

I'm so lucky,she thought. He's spent all day at work, and now here he is, letting me teach him how to sew.

"I'm working in miniature." He laughed. "All these little stitches. It's like work for mice. I have to learn to focus on a much smaller area than I'm used to."

"Hmm, that's a good point." She squeezed his hand.

"Just pretend you're a mouse, Michael!" Pearl called from the other side of the room, where she was busy practicing being a dog by crawling around on all fours and pretending to smell everything.

He laughed. "That's a good idea, Pearl! Or do you happen to know a mad scientist who could shrink me while I learn to sew?"

"That wouldn't help," the little girl replied, laughing. "Then the needle would be as big as a sword and you'd get tired after like three stitches."

Michael and Caitlin turned to each other, laughing.

"You're very smart, Pearl!" he called.

"I know," she replied.

Caitlin laughed again, running her fingers through her hair. She looked down at the sewing that Michael had done and touched the fabric along the line that he'd stitched. "It's a little too thick here. Keep your eyes on the fabric and try to maintain the same thickness throughout."

"Keep my eyes on it. Like it's a miniature wave I'm trying to surf." He winked at her.

"Yes. Exactly." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You keep surfing. You're doing great."

"Mouse surfing."

She laughed and stepped away from the sewing table. She intended to go into the kitchen to make them all some smoothies as a snack, but at that moment her phone started to ring. She pulled it from her pocket and saw that the caller was Hannah Jenkins.

"It's Hannah," she told him. "I wonder what she's calling about! Hey, Hannah!" she answered the phone, deciding to step into the kitchen and start the smoothies while she talked.

"Hey, Caitlin! Do you have a minute?" Hannah sounded excited, and even more energetic than usual.

"I do! What's up?" Caitlin opened the freezer and took out a bag of frozen blueberries.

"Well, I'm not really sure where to begin. I guess the condensed version is that I need a couple of tables for your dinner cruise for Friday night."

"You got 'em, absolutely." She smiled as she grabbed the bunch of bananas that was sitting in a basket on the counter. "What's the occasion? We can combine tables to make one big one, if you want. As long as you need."

"Thanks for offering, but that's actually not what I'm looking for. I want a table for two people, and then a separate table for two other people, somewhere in a totally different place."

Caitlin stopped midway in reaching for the oat milk in the refrigerator. "Okay, now you got me. Please explain the mystery you've just handed to me."

Hannah laughed. "The small table is for my dad and one other person."

"Nope, now it's even more of a mystery." Caitlin leaned against the counter, the smoothies momentarily forgotten.

"Her name is Marsha Dunlap."

"Marsha Dunlap… I'm trying to think if I know her. That name sounds really familiar for some reason. Does she live here in Blueberry Bay?"

"She used to. Now she lives in Whale Harbor."

"Oh my goodness! Wait! Marsha Dunlap is the woman in that article about Willis from years ago. The Summer Smash article? Alissa showed it to me."

"Yes!" Caitlin could hear Hannah grinning through the phone. "Marsha Dunlap is Dad's old flame. And they both said they didn't want to meet each other again, but Marsha's niece, Olivia, came to see me, and we talked it over, and we both got the impression that they're just too nervous to reach out. So we wanted to arrange for them to run into each other without them realizing that it's going to happen."

"Oh my gosh." Caitlin put her hand on her heart. "I love that idea. And you want to bring them to the dinner cruise?"

"Yes! It'll be me and Dad, and Olivia and Marsha, and then hopefully it becomes Marsha and Dad at a table by themselves."

"Fantastic! I'm so on board for this. I'll make it extra special."

"Thank you!"

"Thank you for picking my dinner cruise as the place for this reunion! I hope it goes beautifully. It's such a sweet idea—and such a romantic story."

"I totally agree. Like, they're both single. I mean, what are the chances of that? Dad's single, obviously, and Marsha never married."

"She never married? Wow."

"Doesn't that sound like she never really got over Dad?"

"It absolutely sounds like it could be possible." Caitlin's heart was beating faster with excitement. "Wouldn't it be amazing if they got back together?"

"I know! I'm trying not to think that far ahead. I just want them to meet each other, you know? So they can catch up and feel better about everything. They got separated under kind of tragic circumstances, if you ask me."

The two women chatted for a few more minutes, their enthusiasm growing. Finally, Hannah said she needed to go and they hung up. Caitlin stared into space for a few moments, still smiling. Then, with a pleased sigh, she got back to her business of whipping up three smoothies.

A few minutes later, she returned to the living room, where Michael was very carefully finishing the hem on Pearl's costume and she was standing behind his shoulder, offering encouragements.

"I have smoothies!" Caitlin announced, and her daughter let out a whoop.

"Thank you, Mommy! With peanut butter?"

"No, no peanut butter this time. Oat milk, bananas, blueberries, and spinach. With some ginger and turmeric sprinkled in."

"Spinach?" Pearl cried in dismay.

"You won't be able to taste it." Caitlin leaned over to kiss the little girl's head. "Try it." She handed Pearl the smoothie, and her daughter took a hesitant sip.

"Wow," Pearl said. "You're right. I kind of taste chocolate."

Laughing, Caitlin watched her daughter plop down happily on the couch with her smoothie. She picked Michael's glass off the tray and brought it over to him.

"That looks great," she said, leaning over and looking at his work.

He looked up. "Oh, thank you. And a smoothie! You're amazing."

She beamed at him. "You're amazing. Your sewing is better already. That looks great."

"I just did what Pearl told me to and thought about being a mouse." He winked at the little girl and took a sip of the smoothie. "Oh wow, that's delicious. Thank you. What did Hannah want?"

"It's so exciting." Caitlin leaned against the sewing table, and Michael laughed.

"I can sense it's time for story time. What happened?"

"Well, it hasn't really happened yet, it's just a plan right now. Hannah wants to try to matchmake her father with a woman who he had feelings for a long time ago."

"Really?" His eyebrows rose. "I find it hard to imagine Willis having feelings for anyone. I mean, he's a sweet guy, but—"

"Rough on the outside, tender on the inside." She smiled. "It's clear from how well he's raised Hannah that he's got a good heart. I can absolutely picture him being in love. Besides, Hannah found this woman because she and Alissa came across a photograph of Willis and her winning the Summer Smash costume contest years ago. Alissa showed me the photograph and they both look amazingly happy in it. Very in love."

"Huh." He smiled. "And now the plan is to reunite them, and hope that sparks continue to fly?"

"Yes." She beamed at him as she took a sip of her smoothie. "Oh wow. That is really good."

"You've got an itch to play matchmaker, huh? Won't Cupid get jealous?"

She laughed. "Sometimes matchmakers are necessary. Remember when I first came here? I needed a nudge to take a chance on opening up my heart with you. I'm happy to do the same favor for others who might need the same nudge. Love can be scary. It helps to have people around you who make it easier to fall."

He smiled up at her, his eyes shining tenderly. "I'm glad you got that nudge." His voice was soft.

"So am I." She reached out and took his hand, and he squeezed it warmly.

* * *

Alissa splashed cool water across her face, feeling refreshed. She was washing her face before bed after a good but long and tiring day.

I am ready for sleep,she thought. I love being a reporter, but sometimes sitting and thinking feels like more work than running a marathon. But at least nothing went wrong with the house today.

As if in answer to her thoughts, as she was turning the faucet off, she pushed on the handle a little harder than usual because her hair was dripping water in her eyes and she had them mostly shut. All at once, the handle snapped off in her hand.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she cried, hastily wiping the water out of her eyes and staring down at the handle. It was a porcelain handle attached to a silver base, and the porcelain part—which had been charmingly painted with blue flowers—had broken into three pieces. Worse than that, the silver bottom of the handle had snapped off the faucet, leaving behind a copper base still attached to the sink. Water continued to pour from the faucet in a steady stream.

"I should have noticed it was cracked," she muttered. "Apparently, I'm the Hulk. Ugh, this house! What's next?"

She reached for the handle on the other side of the faucet, and then realized all at once that she wasn't going to be able to turn the water off that way, since that handle—the cold water tap—was already turned off.

"Oh my word." Letting out an exhale of frustration, she dried her face hurriedly with her washcloth, and scurried out of the bathroom. "Dane! Are you in bed already?"

"Yeah, I'm in here!"

My poor husband,she thought. Here he is thinking we get to just turn in for the night. No such luck.

She hurried into their bedroom, and the moment he saw her expression, he seemed to know something was up.

"What happened?" he asked, setting his book down on the bedside table. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she groaned. "But this house is out to get us, I swear."

"Oh no." He pulled the covers off and hurried across the room to her, enveloping her in a hug. "It's okay, sweetheart. What happened?"

"The faucet! In the bathroom. The handle just broke off. I didn't even push it that hard. And now the water won't turn off."

"Oh wow. Okay. Show me?"

She grabbed his hand and tugged him along the hallway to the bathroom. "I'm so glad you're here with me. I don't think I could face this house alone."

He laughed and kissed her cheek as they paused in front of the bathroom. She smiled at him, and then grimaced as the running sink caught her attention again.

"I mean, look at that. The porcelain just snapped off in my hands."

He stepped over to the sink, frowning. "Well, at least this inner base is still attached. I just need a wrench or something to shut this off. Be right back, sweetheart."

"Thank you!"

"Of course!"

He disappeared around the corner, and she sighed and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. "No man should have to fix a sink when he's already wearing pajamas and slippers," she murmured, and then smiled to herself.

It's nice to be married,she thought. He's right here with me. It's frustrating to have these problems, but I'm glad he's here to help me with them. It's really lovely to have him right by my side.

A couple of minutes passed. She bit her lip as she stared at the faucet, watching the water run. She noticed that the metal part of the handle wasn't really broken, just detached. She wondered if there was a way that they could reattach it themselves, without having to call in a plumber again.

She stood up and hurried out into the hallway, where she had left her phone on a small table near the top of the stairs. She hurriedly Googled "sink handle reattach" and smiled when she saw a whole bunch of videos and instructional articles pop up.

Dane appeared a moment later, hurrying up the stairs with a wrench.

"You look happier," he said, surprised, when he reached the landing.

"I think we can fix this ourselves this time!" she said. "I looked it up online, and it doesn't look too hard."

"Oh, good idea! You want to talk me through it and I'll try to fix it now?"

"Yes!"

He went to work turning off the water using the wrench. It took him a few minutes, since it was hard to get a strong enough grip on the copper base to turn it. While he was doing that, she looked up something else online.

"I have another idea!" she told him excitedly. "Tomorrow I'll go to the hardware store and pick up some porcelain glue. Those pieces that fell off were all a clean break. I think the porcelain must have been cracked or something. Eventually, we should get these handles replaced, but for now, I should be able to work some magic with some glue after we've gotten the metal part of the handle reattached."

"Perfect!" He grinned at her. "Way to go, Alissa."

She kissed his shoulder, and then repeated his praise back at him when he got the faucet to turn off.

"Great," he grunted. "Now let's try to get this handle back on so we can use the hot water again."

"Okay! I'll read the instructions to you out loud as you go."

Dane worked quickly. Sometimes she had to show him pictures so he could understand the instructions properly, but he had the faucet handle reattached in what felt like only a few minutes.

"That looks great!" she told him. "Kind of sad, without the porcelain, but I can fix that tomorrow."

"Amazing." He kissed the side of her head. "Look at us, figuring these things out on our own."

"I know," she said, sighing, "but I'm still frustrated. It shouldn't have happened at all, you know? There's just too many things wrong with this house."

"It's okay, sweetheart." He wrapped an arm around her as they started to walk back to their bedroom. "We're going to figure all this out."

"I hope so." She sighed.

"Hey!" He stopped suddenly, staring straight ahead. A grin spread across his face.

"Why are you excited?" She laughed, hugging his arm.

"You just looked up how to solve our problem, and then we fixed it."

"True," she said slowly, wondering what he meant. "And we can fix other things like the tiles in the bathroom closet ourselves, but the big things like the pipes and the leaky roof we have to pay other people to do."

He shook his head, smiling. "That's not what I mean. We should add a column to the magazine for homeowners. Sort of a home improvement column."

"Oh!" She hugged his arm harder. "That's a great idea. We're basically experts now." She laughed.

"Right?" He grinned at her. "I figure that we can turn our bad luck into something good—make lemonade out of lemons, so to speak."

"Brilliant!"

"We can talk about everything we know so far, like our experience with buying the house, and you know, things like how to fix faucet handles that have snapped off."

"Pro tip, go to YouTube."

He laughed. "Yes! But we can talk about other things, like how to find a plumber—"

"– ask Sandy for help—"

"– and how you shouldn't try to patch a leaking roof from underneath, because then the leak will just spread above the patch and damage more of the plaster."

"You know, we haven't actually confirmed that."

"Shh, I'm right."

She laughed. "You are making a lot of good points! All of our struggles so far can fuel the column, and then if something goes wrong yet again, it won't be as frustrating, because then we'll think, ‘Oh, we can use this for the column.'"

"Exactly. Did you know how much of a genius I am before you agreed to marry me?"

"Oh, of course."

He grinned at her. They reached their bedroom and snuggled down under the quilt together. "And this way," he said, turning on his pillow to look at her, still excited, "we can help other people out. Then at least our bad fortune can help other people have less of a struggle."

"That's a sweet thought, Mr. Taylor."

"Thank you, Mrs. Taylor." He smiled at her. "I like the idea of learning how to do DIY projects for our house. And I like the idea even more if it means we can then help other people do those DIY projects themselves by talking about our process in the paper."

"It's a great idea. I love it." She beamed at him. "You always find a way of making the best of things. I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too. You feeling better about everything?"

"Yes, I definitely am. I don't feel as helpless against this house if we're going to try tackling some things ourselves." She winked at him.

"That's right, house," he called toward the ceiling. "You'd better behave!"

Laughing, she kissed his cheek and turned out the lights for them to go to sleep.