The Crossing Trilogy

Chapter 5

Sydney leaned over the blueprints spread across the kitchen counter. “I love your ideas for the kitchen and mud room. You"ve utilized the space well without the rooms appearing much smaller.”

“Here"s the blueprint for upstairs. I"ve added something to the new bathroom up there,” Jax said. “See the storage room at the end of the hall, here.” He placed a finger on the spot. “Once we take the bedroom walls out, there"s a bedroom closet on the other side. I"m thinking we should take it out, move the bathroom door entrance around to that side, widen it in the hallway to a larger bathroom and include a corner shower stall. You never know what future plans you might have for the upstairs down the road and you"ll have a complete bathroom. The rest of that back wall in the hallway can house storage cupboards and shelving from the new bathroom wall to the stairwell. You can store all your yoga gear there.”

“Hmm…so that leaves the solid side-wall for full-length mirrors. I like it. You"ve really captured my vision for the house. Let"s look at the equipment building next.”

“Okay, here I"ve made some changes yet again from what we discussed. I know you wanted six rooms with full private bathrooms for clients on weekend retreats. But the room isn"t there to support that. And the town bylaws won"t allow it. Because of space restrictions, your plan would only give you four rooms with partial bathrooms. My plan shows two shower rooms; one for men, one for women. Each room has two shower stalls with privacy doors and this counter has four sinks for wash-up. It saves a s**t load of money and even leaves room at the end of the hallway for a laundry big enough to house a washer and dryer and a closet for linens. Each of the four bedrooms can house two single beds.”

“I guess wanting private baths was a bit fanciful.” Sydney was a little disappointed. It"s not Jax"s fault that the building didn"t hold up to my wants. “I like the laundry room idea. Originally, I thought I"d bring the laundry into the house but that"s a lot of wear and tear on the house appliances. But four rooms from six and four shower stalls total…I don"t know.”

It"s not Jax"s fault that the building didn"t hold up to my wantsJax pulled another blueprint out from under the first. “I thought you might have concerns about the shower traffic so I drew up another plan. How about this one instead.” The new plan showed five bedrooms without partial bathrooms and added another stall to each shower room and three toilet stalls.

“That could work. Nice.” She paused. “Done.”

“One last thing to cover. We never discussed the barn. I know it"s leased out along with the hay fields beyond the lake. And your grandmother replaced the barn roof three years ago. But the exterior walls could use a paint job and maybe the odd board replacement. Do you want to include that in with the other renos?”

“Absolutely. It would be nice to colour co-ordinate all the buildings,” she mused.

Sydney looked up at Jax and caught him smirking at her. “What?”

“Careful, your girlie-girl is showing.”

“Come on. The barn is faded red, the house is green and brown, and the equipment building is white and grey. Pretty ugly, I"d say.”

Jax threw his arms out. “I"m teasing. That brings us to the paint samples and tiles etc.”

They spent another hour discussing colours for walls, flooring, and trim. The barn roof was a charcoal grey tin. Sydney decided to match the other roofs and paint the exterior walls of all the buildings in a deep rich red called Autumn Maple Leaf with white trim.

“I think we"re done. I"ve got a quote here, which will change a few hundred here or there because of your choices.”

Sydney studied the paper. “That"s fine. Draw up an invoice with the correct amount. I"ll pay you the down payment amount now. When can you get started?”

Jax beamed. “My schedule has opened up. I"m dedicated to your property for the next two months. When I get back to the office, I"ll put a team together and we"ll begin tomorrow. Is that soon enough.”

“Absolutely. I"d like to move in as quickly as I can but I don"t want to be in the way. Is it possible for me to live here at a certain point during remodelling?”

“Well, I"d like to do the roofing first, on both buildings. Then, we"ll shore up any soft spots in the foundations and replace any exterior wall boards. The exterior painting, trim and accessories can wait until last after you"ve moved in. We can do the house interior next. You should be able to move into the house in about four weeks; as long as you can stand the noise once we start converting the equipment building. We"ll sub-contract the plumbing work and water connections.

“That"s awesome. I could start setting up the studio. And don"t worry, I won"t be hanging around anywhere getting in the way.” She wrote Jax a cheque for the down payment and gave him keys to all the buildings.

They walked out the back door and down to the lake. Jax turned his back to the lake and studied the back yard and areas between the home, barn, and equipment building. “There"s lots of room back here to unload materials and still space available to work in. That"s a real plus.” He turned back to the lake.

A soft breeze carried the scent of the magnolia trees in full bloom. Sydney drew a deep breath. “I love the smell of the magnolia flowers. They"ll continue in flushes right into the fall.”

“You certainly have a beautiful spot here.”

“Thank you. I"m happy that I"ll be in around the beginning of June so I can enjoy the three warmest seasons.”

Sydney turned towards Jax and noticed he was staring at her. Their eyes locked. Jax broke the spell. “Uh…well, I better get back to the office and set up my teams and order some supplies. If you want to meet me here tomorrow, I"ll have the invoice updated for you.”

“I can do that and then I"ll leave you to it for a few days. I"m heading to Kelowna to see my Nan and I"ll be in and out of town for the next few weeks shopping for furniture and studio equipment. If you need me at all, you"ve got my cell number. Otherwise, I"ll pop out in a few days to see how it"s going.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

She watched him disappear around the corner of the house.

* * *

Sydney walked towards the magnolia grove and wandered through the trees. They needed a pruning. She made a mental note to look for a gardener to help her plan the maintenance and upgrades she wanted to put in place for the front and back grounds, as well as the beachfront to the lake.

The lone magnolia tree drew her to its base. Sitting out in the open by itself, it was a beautifully formed tree with nothing to interfere with its growth or steal from its nourishment. She walked around to the far side and stared across the hay fields. Soon it would be time for the first harvest. Another scent I love—fresh cut hay. Sydney turned to the tree and noticed a faint impression in the bark. She moved closer and ran her fingers over the imprint. The darkened letters had been carved into the tree many years before. C & C. My mother"s name is Chelsea. Did she make these markings? But who"s the other C?

Another scent I love—fresh cut hay.C & C. My mother"s name is Chelsea. Did she make these markings? But who"s the other C?A ruckus further up the tree caught her attention. She glanced up to see some yellow-breasted chats flying out of the branches amidst a series of caw notes and squawks. Something caught her attention peripherally and she turned her head in that direction.

“Uh…” she gasped, jumping backwards. Her heart pounded and her throat constricted. Her hands clutched at her chest. It all happened in seconds. A girl in her late teens sat on Sydney"s favourite childhood branch. Sydney swallowed hard and snapped her eyes shut and open—the girl was gone.

She couldn"t tear her eyes from the spot for several minutes as her brain processed what her eyes had seen. It makes no sense. Did I really see someone in the tree? She closed her eyes and tried to envision the image. She opened them quickly in case the girl had returned. No one there. How could I make it up? The girl had blue eyes and long hair—pink hair. That"s right. Pink hair? Sydney picked up on the clusters of pink magnolia blooms within the tree and smiled. Perhaps it was only the flower clusters and a vivid imagination. Then, something else struck her. There was more than a face to what she saw.

It makes no sense. Did I really see someone in the tree?No one there. How could I make it up?That"s right. Pink hair?Why did I see a girl in blue jeans, a white t-shirt and bare feet?

Why did I see a girl in blue jeans, a white t-shirt and bare feet?