Sunrise on Cedar Key by Terri Dulong Page A

back deck at the patio table surrounded by notebooks and assorted papers.
    Annie ran to greet me, and I picked her up to cuddle. “Were you a good girl while I was gone?”
    â€œShe’s delightful. Did you do okay getting your things?”
    I put Annie down and joined my aunt at the table. “Yeah, what little there was. What are you up to here?”
    â€œWell, I’m getting organized. Making notes on things we need to do to remodel the carriage house. I’ve already called a contractor, and he’ll be out tomorrow morning to give me an estimate. Something else I think we should consider is a cleaning girl. I always had one for my house in Brunswick and I’d like a girl here, and she could also do the carriage house for us. What do you think?”
    â€œGreat idea for your apartment and the carriage house, but I rather enjoy cleaning my own place. Gives me time to chill out and think.”
    My aunt laughed. “Okay. I popped by the Bed and Breakfast, and Ali suggested somebody. She’s new to the island and Ali wasn’t able to give her any work, but it sounds like the girl could use more money.”
    â€œGood. Hopefully she’ll be interested. Have you contacted her?”
    â€œAli said she knew how to reach her. So I told her to find out if the girl—her name is Rachel Ellis, by the way—could stop by tomorrow morning so we could meet her.”
    â€œSounds good to me.”
    â€œOkay,” my aunt said, getting up. “Let’s go take a look at the carriage house and see if we can come up with some ideas.”
    I followed my aunt to the tabby structure. French doors ran the entire length, creating a pastoral atmosphere in the middle of the garden.
    â€œI can see a few bottles of Windex are going to be needed to make all that glass shine,” I said, as my aunt unlocked the door.
    We stepped inside to a large, bright, and airy room. The roof above me had two skylights, allowing the sun to stream in. Two large picture windows flanked each side of the room, and at the far end was a staircase leading upstairs to a loft overlooking the area where we stood.
    â€œWow, this is great,” I said, walking toward a galley kitchen along one side of the room.
    My aunt nodded. “I think so too,” she replied, bending over to open the door of the small refrigerator under the counter. She turned the faucet on the stainless steel sink and nodded again. “Yes, I think this will be just perfect for our knitting retreats. Over there,” she said, pointing toward a door on the opposite wall, “is the bathroom, and I think that loft upstairs will be just perfect for your office.”
    I smiled and had to agree with her. “The lighting in here is ideal for knitting, too. Of course we’ll have lots of lamps, but it’s always nice to have natural lighting. And how about furniture? Have you given any thought to the decorating?”
    â€œI have. I thought maybe we’d get a fresh coat of white paint for the walls and a border print at the top with some butterflies and flowers, which is always soothing to the eye. Some sofas and a couple love seats, along with a few cushy chairs with ottomans. That should do it for seating. And then of course some tables and lamps. We’ll need a dinette table with chairs over there near the galley kitchen for our luncheons. We have to decide how many women we’ll have at each retreat. Oh, and have you come up with a name yet?”
    â€œI think we should keep the retreats fairly small, like six women. This will allow it to be more intimate, and women who come alone without a friend or relative won’t feel out of place.”
    â€œGood idea. And with you, Chloe and me, that’ll be nine.”
    â€œAs far as a name for the business, I’m afraid I haven’t come up with anything more creative than Blue Moon Knitting Retreats.”
    â€œI like it,” my aunt said.