Snowbird Season Read online

  Snowbird Season

  By BJ Phillips

  ©2017 BJ Phillips

  ISBN (trade): 9781942976431

  ISBN (epub): 9781942976448

  ISBN (pdf): 9781942976455

  This is a work of fiction - names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Desert Palm Press

  1961 Main St, Suite 220

  Watsonville, CA 95076

  Editor: Mary Hettel

  Cover Design: Michelle Brodeur

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Edition — June 2017

  Blurb

  In this sequel to Hurricane Season, Kelly Bradley is nearly forty and feels destined to always be alone. She meets Andi Wainwright, niece of Snowbird Elise Wainwright, while doing a woodworking job. There is an attraction, but Andi is healing from a failed relationship.

  How can Andi, a woman from New York City and owner of an art gallery in SoHo, and Kelly, a middle-class Florida Girl who has no intention of ever living anywhere else, make it work?

  Acknowledgements

  Once again, I must thank my publisher, Lee Fitzsimmons at Desert Palm Press, for still believing the stories I write are publishable. Mary Hettel, this book would not be quite what it is without your great editing skills (and those wonderful cookies you send me). And Mich Brodeur, thank you for another lovely cover. It’s a blessing to work with each of you again. We make a great team!

  Dedication

  This book, as the last one, is dedicated to my wonderful partner, Debbie Hilliard. Your encouragement makes it possible for me to continue to do what I love doing. Thank you so much for continuing to believe in me.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  About BJ Phillips

  Other Books From Desert Palm Press

  Prologue

  KELLY BRADLEY STOOD ON a secluded beach on Sanibel Island watching her friends, Shawn and Carrie, as they exchanged their wedding vows—promising to love each other forever. A bit of her heart was jealous. Yes, she still had a crush on Carrie. She knew from the start that it was pointless to hope for anything more than friendship. Carrie’s heart belonged to Shawn from the day they met. Kelly knew they belonged together and was very happy for them.

  Still, the romantic in Kelly hoped to find a wonderful, unconditional love of her own. Carrie had called her a knight in shining armor, coming to her rescue. Someday Kelly knew she’d find her own damsel—in distress or not.

  Chapter One

  KELLY BRADLEY’S PHONE BUZZED just as she finally sat down for a breather. It was Friday morning and she’d been working out in the carport on the front hall stair bannister. The lack of air conditioning didn’t bother her much—she was used to being hot and sticky while working. Florida could be like that, sometimes even this far into autumn.

  She took a sip of ice water from her insulated jug, answering the call without looking to see who it was. “Hi, this is Kelly.”

  “Hey, Kelly. It’s Carrie. How busy are you?”

  Good thing she’d already swallowed. The sound of that voice always sent her into a little tizzy before she reminded herself that Carrie was her best friend’s wife. She took a deep breath and ignored it. “A bit busy, but for you, anything. What’s up?”

  “It’s not for me, personally. It’s for Gladstone Construction this time. We have a customer who needs some custom woodworking done. We’re up to our eyeballs here and I thought of you. I know you’re very picky about the jobs you take, but could you look at this one for me? She needs some custom bookcases built and installed.”

  “I don’t know…” Kelly began running her fingers through her short, sun streaked dark blonde hair.

  “I don’t think this would take you a long time to do, but it’d be months before we could even think of getting anyone out there to do it. She’s one of our favorite customers and we usually handle everything for her as a courtesy. This time, though, she needs them done sooner than we could get to them.”

  “Let me guess, a snowbird job.” The snowbirds she referred to were the people from ‘Up North’ who came to Florida in fall to escape the winter weather, and returned to their northern homes in the spring. Kelly laughed, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. “Snowbirds always seem to need things done in a hurry.”

  “How did you guess? Yes, it is.” Carrie laughed. “Listen, she’s a nice woman and she’s always willing to pay well for top quality work. I am hoping you’ll look at it and at least see if it’s something you’d like to do. She’d be very grateful if you took it on.”

  “Right. Well, okay, I’ll run out and look at it. I’m kind of burned out on this staircase right now anyway, and could use a break.” She stood up, stretching her back.

  “I do appreciate this. Thank you so much in advance, even if you don’t take the job. I’ll text you her contact information and you can call her yourself and set it up. How’s that?”

  “You know I can’t say no to you.” Kelly reached for her water jug again. “Send it on over and I promise I’ll go take a look. I’m warning you ahead of time, if it’s someone wanting a bunch of boards put up on a wall, you know that’s not my thing.” She took another cooling swig of ice water.

  “And you know I wouldn’t send you a job like that, right? Besides, she wants some built-in bookcases that look like they’ve always been there. More like furniture. That sounds more like something you’d do, doesn’t it?”

  “True, it does,” Kelly said. “All right. I’ll call her. What’s her name, by the way?”

  “Elise. Her name is Elise Wainwright. I’ll let her know to expect a call from you.” Relief was evident in her voice. “Thanks again. You’re awesome.”

  Kelly laughed. “You’ve said thank you several times now, so you can stop. And you’re welcome, already. I’ll go out there and talk to Ms. Wainwright, I promise. I’ll call her this afternoon.”

  “Great. I’ll let her know. Catch you later? And by later, let’s see you sooner rather than later. We haven’t seen your face in a bit and we miss it. And bring Piper with you. She’s my girl, too.”

  “Sometimes I believe you like that little mutt better than me, but that’s okay.
You can always lure me in with one of those famous pies of yours. Just let me know when you bake the next one and I’ll be there for sure. My mouth waters even thinking of it. I’m sure Piper misses you, too, as well as all those treats you always have for her. Say hi to Shawn. See you guys soon.”

  Kelly hit end on her phone and stuffed it into her cargo shorts pocket. She whistled to the small white and brown dog of indeterminate breed playing with a gecko in the breezeway. Piper came running with her tail wagging and Kelly leaned down as Piper jumped into her outstretched arms. Piper began licking her face all over as Kelly carried her into the house.

  “You’re my girl. Yes, you are.” She laughed. “Looks like we’re going to visit Aunt Shawn and Aunt Carrie again soon and Aunt Carrie will take you off and spoil you with roast beef for dinner. But don’t you forget now, who your mom is. Who lets you sleep on her bed and sit in her chair with her? Me.” Kelly laughed again as Piper decided to give her more kisses while she scratched her ears.

  She didn’t need to check her T-shirt to know she’d better get cleaned up before she called on someone named Elise. Her house was probably spotless, more than likely due to a housekeeper. She sighed. Another rich lady wanting some work done. Well, she could do bookcases if she needed to, since it was for Carrie. How bad could that be? Besides, she could always say no…sure she could.

  Chapter Two

  KELLY DROVE UP TO the security gate at Palm Harbour Isles, and was glad she’d gotten cleaned up and put on a pair of her better shorts and a polo shirt. She gave her name to the security guard, who found her on the admit list. At least the prospective customer remembered to do that.

  The guard asked to see her identification, then wrote her information on a clipboard and handed her a cardboard contractor placard with the date on it for her to put on her dashboard. It was obvious the security officer was used to contractors coming and going all the time for something—lawn service if nothing else. She doubted any of the residents in this upscale neighborhood would dirty their hands to even mow their own lawn. That worked out nicely, since it meant lots of people had jobs.

  Once inside the security gate, she drove past sprawling, pastel colored homes with circular driveways. Perfectly manicured lawns displayed magnolias and palm trees sparkling from a light rain half an hour earlier. She took deep breaths to enjoy the fresh aroma of wet grass and leaves as she scanned the numbers on each unique mailbox for her destination address on Gulf Breeze Way. Turning into her potential customer’s long, U-shaped driveway, she noticed someone dressed in coveralls out on the front lawn removing some of the lower fronds of a palm tree with a pole saw. Assuming it was the gardener, Kelly stepped up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

  She waited for a minute or so, but no one answered. She knew Ms. Wainwright was expecting her, so she rang the bell again. While she waited the second time, she turned around to see the gardener walking toward her, waving.

  “Hello there!” The gardener was a woman, coveralls covering most of her. With short greying hair and sparkling blue eyes, she appeared to be in her sixties. “Are you Kelly?”

  “Hi. That would be me. Is Ms. Wainwright not at home?”

  “Hi Kelly, I’m Elise Wainwright.” She laughed a little as she put down the pole saw and took off her leather gloves, then reached out to shake hands. “You look a bit shocked. I get that a lot.”

  “Hi Ms. Wainwright. I’d say I’m surprised, anyway. I didn’t expect to find the owner out in the yard cutting palm fronds. You look like you know your way around yard equipment.”

  “That I do and please call me Elise. I like working in my own yard whenever I can. I do apologize for not meeting you at the door. Time got away from me.” She stomped some of the wet sand off her brown work boots, opened the door, and motioned for Kelly to follow her in. She bent down to loosen her laces enough to step out of the still sandy boots, leaving them and her socks inside on the tile floor by the door. She unzipped the coveralls, stepping out of them and dropping them on the floor next to the boots, revealing a pair of Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt that said I heart NY. “Can I get you something? Personally, I could use a big glass of ice water right now. Will you join me?”

  “I’d be pleased to, thanks.”

  Kelly followed Elise through the entry way and the living room to the lanai. Elise opened the sliding glass doors etched with a single palm tree apiece and motioned for Kelly to go through. “If you wouldn’t mind, please make yourself comfortable out here and I’ll be right back.”

  Once alone, Kelly took in the large screened and glassed-in lanai, with its big potted birds of paradise, palms, and bromeliads. The natural bamboo furniture with tropical printed cushions completed the look. She walked over to the windows to take in the view of a large yard with the ubiquitous caged pool. Everything was spotless and each item was where it was meant to be, like it dropped down right out of Southern Living magazine into the lanai and yard.

  “Nice view, isn’t it?” Elise’s voice startled Kelly out of her contemplation. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I guess I don’t make much noise barefooted on these tile floors.”

  Elise handed Kelly an already sweating iced tea glass full of water and ice cubes.

  “Thanks. I was admiring your yard, as you guessed. You must have great staff to keep your place this nice.”

  “Actually, my ‘staff’ as you put it, is me. I do have some help come in a couple of times each month to do things I don’t have time for, but it’s mostly me. I like my privacy, but more than that, I love working in the yard.”

  “Don’t blame you for that. So, Carrie at Gladstone Construction says you need some bookcases. What are you looking for? I mean, open shelves, cabinets in part of them, or what?”

  “Tell you what, let’s go to the office and I’ll show you where I want them. I’m sure you’ll have some ideas for designing them. Carrie told me you do a lot of woodworking and that you’re meticulous with the pieces you take on.” She sipped from her water as she led the way down the hall.

  Kelly grinned. “Yes, I am particular when it comes to my work. I don’t do a lot of contract jobs because I remodel houses for a living. The typical job I agree to is something that’s a bit different. I don’t stick up some shelves on L-brackets on the wall. I can see you’re not the ‘stick up some shelves’ kind of woman, though.”

  Elise grinned back. “No, I’m not. I’d like these bookcases to be built-in furniture. They don’t have to be done overnight, obviously, but I’d like them installed before I need to go back to New York in November.” She stopped in front of a set of double doors. “Here we are.” She pushed both doors open at once, one with her free hand and the other with one of her bare feet.

  The doors opened into a substantial room with a wall of windows and French doors opening into a side garden. A large white painted desk took up the center of the room, with a matching credenza behind it. That this was a working office was obvious from the all-in-one printer/fax on the credenza and the paperwork neatly spread on the desk next to the laptop.

  “What an attractive office. Yours, I assume.”

  “Yes, it is. I work here whenever I’m not in New York. I can justify spending more time here if I can get some work done. Besides, it’s much nicer to be here than in New York in winter, at least part of it. I’d miss Christmas without snow, so I always go back for the holiday.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking, what do you do?”

  “I’m an editor, but I write as well. I’m with a publishing house in New York, so it’s easy to bring my work with me.”

  “I have a good friend who’s an author. She says writers can write almost anywhere. This place looks like a perfect place to work as it is. Are you sure you want bookcases in here?”

  “I’m sure. I’d love to spend more time here and sometime soon make this my permanent home. I’ll keep a small place in New York to stay in when I need or want to go back. I own a rather extensive book collection an
d I’d like to move most of it here. What about over there? I’m thinking that would make a great library wall.” She indicated the wall opposite her desk. It currently sported two comfortable-looking chairs with a lamp table between them and a painting hanging behind the lamp.

  Kelly contemplated the scene before her for a minute. “You do want to keep those chairs and the table in here, right?”

  “I’d like to. What do you think?”

  “Well, you have plenty of floor space in here to move the chairs farther into the room. You could put in the bookcases, with doors on the bottom sections. That would make it work better. I’m assuming you want to keep the colors light in here, like your desk and everything else…not cherry or walnut or the like.”

  “Exactly. I was thinking that I’d like them painted or stained white, if we can do that. I still want to use furniture-grade wood, not some cheap stuff, even though the wood itself wouldn’t be the highlight of the pieces.”

  “Hmm…I’m getting a couple of ideas. Tell you what, how about if I…”

  Kelly was interrupted by the appearance of another barefooted woman in the doorway. She seemed to appear out of thin air and just stood there. She looked to be in her late thirties—about the same age as Kelly, but roughly half a head shorter than Kelly’s five foot nine.

  Wow, Kelly thought. That woman is stunning.

  She locked eyes with Kelly for a moment. Without speaking to Kelly, she turned to look at Elise. “Aunt Elise, where would you like me to put the wine for tonight’s dinner? I left it on the counter in the kitchen, but if it’s supposed to be in the wine cooler or the pantry, I can put it away.”

  “You can leave it and I’ll put it away after we’re finished here. Andrea, meet Kelly. Kelly, this is my niece, Andrea. She’s spending a few weeks with me.”