The Magnolia Inn(13)

“Aunt Sugar organized her cabinets. Coffee cups are up there above the pot. Plates are to the left of the sink. Glasses to the right. Mixing bowls under the bar. The big pots and pans, slow cookers, and food are in the pantry,” she said.

He chuckled as he pushed the chair back. “Kind of a smart-ass, ain’t you?”

“I am what I am. You’ve got until Friday to live with it or change your mind and pull that trailer off my property.” She started melting butter for the omelet.

“And if I don’t like working with you and leave, are you going to sell me your half? God knows you ain’t goin’ to do much around here with a hundred bucks.” He poured a mug of coffee, got a plate and a fork, and carried it all to the table.

“You ever go to church?” She stirred flour into the skillet with the sausage and then added milk.

“Few times,” he said.

“Ever hear that story about the widow woman who only had enough for one meal until the prophet came along? He wanted the bread she was about to fix, so she gave it to him, and”—she snapped her fingers—“they had enough food to last for months because the oil and flour never played out.”

“I’m not a prophet,” Tucker chuckled. “You think God is going to keep the pantry full for you?”

“Maybe. I went to church in the summers when I was here with Aunt Sugar. Mama wasn’t nearly as God-fearin’ as her older sister.” She stirred the gravy and set it aside while she made hash browns and started the omelet. When those were done, she made half a dozen pancakes and then carried everything to the table.

“I hope you don’t intend for me to eat all this. I’m hungry, but that’s a lot of food,” he said.

“Hey, you asked for it, so here it is. And besides, I haven’t had supper, either.” She went back to the cabinet for a plate and fork.

He split two biscuits and covered them with gravy. “I’m not much of a morning person. Give me a bowl of cereal and two or three cups of coffee and I’m ready to work. But I do love this kind of food for supper.”

“Comfort food.” She nodded. “That’s the best kind. So where do we start on this job and when?”

“I’d say on the second floor,” he answered quickly. “Finish one room completely and go on to the next. I peeled back a corner of the carpet. Did you know there’s oak hardwood under it?”

“Had no idea, but that would sure be easier to clean than carpet.” She flipped two pancakes onto her plate and poured hot buttered syrup over them.

“I’ll get out my notepad, and we’ll set down a plan after we eat. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a home-cooked meal like this, so I intend to enjoy it first.”

“So exactly how much money are you willing to sink into this project?” she asked.

“Enough to finish it,” he said and changed the subject. “If you do cook like this every morning when we have guests, they’ll be booking for another visit before they ever leave.”

“Thank you.” She nodded. “But this is just a sample of what Aunt Sugar did for breakfast. I’ve got her menus and recipes for fancy muffins, waffles, and all kinds of things to vary it.”

“So she was your mother’s sister?” he asked.

“That’s right. Her older sister by a different mother. Aunt Sugar’s mama died when she was a teenager, and her dad remarried a woman named Victoria that next year. They had my mother about the time that Aunt Sugar and Uncle Jasper got married. There’s a picture of my aunt in her wedding dress holding my mother.”

What was she doing? He didn’t need to know about her personal life. Besides, he could easily change his mind and take his trailer and cat away by Friday. Then she’d be back to square one, needing someone to buy half a bed-and-breakfast.



Usually folks told Tucker what they wanted done, and he gave them two or three options. He’d start at the high end and go down to the bare-bones price that the job would cost. But that evening after they’d had supper, he knew he didn’t have to figure in labor, and that was at least two-thirds of the cost of any job.

“Okay, this is what I’ve got in mind,” he said. “The bedrooms are big enough that we can easily take a few feet off each for private bathrooms. People want more privacy now than just two bathrooms at the end of the hall. If we want to keep the plantation feel to the place, then I’ve got a contact down near Tyler that refurbishes old claw-foot tubs. We could probably get a real good deal on half a dozen.”

“That will take a lot of money. It would involve new plumbing and more than one year to pay back,” she said. “I was thinkin’ new drapes and maybe updating the linens, and hopefully the carpet.”

“You got to spend money to make money,” he said. “It’s a long-term investment. We’ll get repeat customers by giving them privacy, comfort, and good food. Maybe when we get rolling we can think about buying half a dozen canoes for the clients to use. The bayou is right behind us. We could also furnish the equipment for fishing.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought,” Jolene said.

“I see a lot of potential in this place. I can even see offering the huge dining room for small weddings. The bride could have one of the upstairs rooms for dressing and the groom could have another. We could call in a photographer and a caterer and give it to them as a package deal.” Walking through the rooms had fueled him with ideas that he couldn’t wait to share.