Love by Design (Crystal Falls Book 1)

by Lee, Lynette

  She circled the living room as she asked questions and he tried his best to be patient and tell her things he’d told her many times before. She was impressed with the kitchen, but concerned at what she thought was the slow pace.

  “The men are working as quickly as they can. We don’t want to rush it and end up with shoddy work, do we?”

  “I just want to make sure we get finished on time. I’ve already sent invitations out for my open house. We have some very important people coming so the remodel mustn’t go over, even by a day.”

  He nodded in agreement. Believe me, lady, he thought, I want this thing over with as badly as you do.

  He followed her into the bedroom, impressed himself at how well everything had come together. Lily had been there sometime since he’d last seen the cabin to make the bed with the new bedding and spread a gorgeous white rug on the ground. A fire crackled softly in the fireplace - Christina or one of the men must have turned it on before he got there. The sky was dark with clouds outside the big French doors leading to the garden area and he moved toward them to look out at the mountainside stretching away from the house. Lily had set up a ceramic table and two chairs in the small yard below the window. It was the perfect touch. Thinking of her made him smile. He was so lost in the thought of her he almost didn’t hear Christina come up behind him.

  “Noah, you’ve done a fantastic job in here,” she said, sliding her hand around his back and giving him a quick hug. The touch made him want to flinch but he stood, solid as a rock, and smiled despite his discomfort. He turned away from the doors and from her.

  “Thanks, I’m glad you like it. Lily did a great job with the decor too,” he said.

  She waved a hand, dismissing his comment. “It was your expert eye that made this cabin what it is. I couldn’t thank you enough. In fact,” she said, sliding around in front of him, pressing up close against his body, her arm wrapping again around his back, “I’ll do anything to repay you. Anything at all.”

  Just as he felt her push against his chest she slipped a foot behind him, making him fall backwards unexpectedly. He braced himself but the bed was right behind him and he fell into the soft layers of the new down comforter.

  Christina was on him before he could think. The woman was like a cat - agile and quick - and before he could stop her she had her legs on either side of him, pinning him to the bed. Her fur coat fell around him, and her scent made him gag. She sat on him and bent down to give him a kiss.

  He turned his head to dodge her lips just in time to see Lily walk in the bedroom door.

  He sat up so fast that Christina slid down his body and only saved herself from falling on the floor by shooting a quick leg out to brace herself.

  “What’s going on in here?” Lily asked, her voice small but hard with anger.

  Noah stood up and straightened his shirt as Christina huffed beside him.

  “It isn’t what it looks like, Lily,” he began, reaching out for her.

  “Ha. I’ve heard that one before.” She turned on her heel and fled the room before he could catch her. He couldn’t believe this was happening to him. After getting so close, after almost having her say she would marry him, something so stupid would have to happen. He rushed out behind her but only got to the front door as her car tore out of the lot.

  “Damn it!” he cried, smashing his fist into the wood beside him and immediately flinching from the pain. Punching a log wall was a lot different than a Sheetrock one, and he instantly decided to never do it again. The crew that was working in the kitchen all stood still, watching him.

  He doubled over, cradling his fist, unsure what hurt more - his hand or his heart as he watched the love of his life run away from him for the second time.

  Christina came out of the bedroom. “What on earth was that about?” she asked, looking out at the driveway where Lily had just pulled away.

  Noah turned on her, and the fury in his eyes made her shrink back.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Assault me.” If he was going to push it, he might as well push it all the way.

  Christina laughed nervously and glanced at the men in the kitchen, all of them blatantly watching her and Noah now.

  “Keep your voice down,” she growled and pulled his arm to follow her into the hallway. “I did not assault you.”

  He shook her off. “You did and you know it. You’ve been trying to get in my pants since the day we met. And what you just did back there, well, it was just going too far.”

  “Please, Noah, be reasonable,” she began but he cut her off.

  “I think I’ve been plenty reasonable.” He kept his voice even but made his face as hard as he could. “Now, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m not going to press charges for the sexual assault.” When she tried to protest he glared at her. “But I want you off the job site until the work is finished. I don’t want to see you or hear from you ever again. Are we understood?”

  She nodded her head, too surprised at being talked to so forcefully to say another word.

  “You can have your woman Lydia do the final walk through. Or you can do it with one of my staff. But I never want to see you again. I mean it, Christina.”

  He began to walk toward the door but turned quickly. “And one more thing. If you’re tempted to complain to your friends about working with me, I’ll remind you that I’ve got a juicy story of my own. You come after me professionally and I won’t hesitate to sue you.”

  It was a bold move to accuse her out in the open, and it might cost him many future contracts with the rich and the well connected. But he was too angry to care. She’d just caused the one thing to happen that he was most afraid of happening - she’d just made Lily walk out on him again. And there was no way he would just let it slide. He was tempted to press charges despite what he’d said just to get back at the woman for doing this to him. He blew out a frustrated breath and turned to go.

  He grabbed his coat and slammed the front door as he left. Now there was only one thing left to do and that was whatever he needed to do to get Lily back.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The only thing Lily could think to do as she drove down the mountain was to call her sister. It would be hard to admit she’d been seeing Noah without telling her, but she couldn’t imagine going through a crisis of this magnitude without Rachel.

  Through her tears she dialed and waited impatiently for her sister to pick up.

  “Hey, you!” Rachel finally responded. “What’s up big sis?”

  “Are you busy right now?” Lily said, trying to hold back more tears but knowing she sounded awful.

  “Lily! Are you okay? What’s going on?”

  “I need to see you. Are you busy?”

  “I was just getting ready to go back in to work. But I’ll call and let them know to cancel my appointments for the next couple of hours. No problem. Come on by.” Lily knew how difficult it would be for Rachel to miss appointments, but she needed her, needed her bad, and she was grateful that she’d been willing to drop everything for her.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled and hung up. Lily wiped a quick hand across her face. She could barely see the road through her tears and she knew she was driving too fast. But all she wanted to do was get as far away from that cabin as she could.

  How was it possible that just that morning she’d considered not only getting back together with Noah, but moving in with him? Marrying him even? She should have known better. She should have remembered how badly it hurt the first time and not opened her heart to more. Now it was too late and she was aching all over again.

  A few raindrops hit her windshield and she turned her wipers on. After a minute the rain turned to sleet and she put her feelings aside to focus on the road. She knew the mountain roads could turn deadly in an instant. And broken heart or no, she didn’t want to get into an accident. She’d be damned if she was going to die on this hateful mountain.

  The nerve of him, she
thought and slammed her palm into the steering wheel. The nerve to so casually propose to her in the morning and then get into bed with the client not a few hours later. She’d never felt so humiliated as she had walking into that bedroom and finding that woman on top of Noah in the bed.

  Despite the weather, she made to her sister’s house in record time.

  “Lily,” Rachel said, as she opened the door, a frown of concern on her face.

  Lily fell into Rachel’s open arms and let her tears fall all over again. She angled Lily into the house before she started talking.

  “Oh, Rachel.”

  “Are you okay? Are you dying or something?”

  Lily shook her head. “It’s even worse.”

  Rachel couldn’t help but give a small laugh as she pushed her sister back and looked at her shining eyes.

  “Let me guess. Noah?”

  Lily nodded.

  “Here, let me have your coat. And go sit down, I’ll get us something to snack on.”

  Rachel went to the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with a plate of cookies, a bottle of Chardonnay and a box of tissues.

  “A little bit of everything,” she said as she put it all in front of Lily on the coffee table. “Looks like we might need plenty of comfort.”

  Lily cradled herself in her arms, rocking lightly back and forth.

  “Oh, Rachel,” she said again. “I’ve been so stupid.”

  “Tell me what happened,” Rachel said, a hand protectively going to Lily’s shoulder.

  Rachel uncorked the wine and poured her sister a glass before she poured a smaller one for herself.

  “I caught him in bed with the client,” the words tumbled out with a sob and Rachel handed her the glass of wine.

  “Oh, boy.” Rachel replied, sipping her own wine slowly. “You’re sure?”

  “She was on top of him, sitting on him. There was no way it was anything but,” Lily stopped with a shrug. The scene replayed over and over in her head but she couldn’t quite get the words out.

  Rachel looked away with a frown. “I thought you two weren’t together any longer,” she said softly.

  Lily shrugged and drank. “We’ve been sort of seeing each other again.”

  “And you didn’t tell me this because?”

  “Because you would just go blab to mom!” Lily looked the other direction. “And because I needed some time to figure out what we were doing before I told you.”

  “Wow, this is pretty heavy.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  Rachel grabbed a cookie and sat back on the couch. “Spill the beans, sis.”

  Lily stood up, her wine in hand, and began to pace.

  “He built me a house.”

  “Okay.”

  “A couple nights ago he invited me to his place, and he had this new house up in the mountains. This absolutely gorgeous house. He finally told me that he’d designed and built it for me back when we were together.”

  “And why didn’t he tell you this back when you were together?”

  “Because he wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “Men. What on earth are they thinking?”

  Lily shrugged.

  “So he built you a house before you guys broke up and didn’t tell you about it?” Rachel asked, brushing crumbs from her pants.

  “He designed the house when we were together. I guess he built it after we broke up. He just moved in a few weeks ago.”

  “And he never told you.”

  “Nope.”

  “So you started seeing him again, he surprised you with a house, and then you caught him in bed with another woman?”

  “There’s a marriage proposal in there too, but yeah. That’s about right.”

  “Wow, that’s a lot to process. I don’t even know where to start.”

  Lily could tell Rachel was hurt that she hadn’t confided in her, but she was too overwhelmed with everything that had just happened to worry much about it now.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you any of this earlier,” Lily said, sitting back down and leaning her head on her sister’s shoulder. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “It’s okay.” Rachel rubbed Lily’s back as Lily guzzled wine and sniffled.

  “When did he propose to you?” she asked a minute later.

  “This morning.” Lily blushed, drank. “I spent the night over there. And he surprised me this morning by asking me to marry him.”

  “With a ring and everything?”

  “Oh, yeah. Beautiful square cut diamond. You should have seen it.”

  Rachel eyed Lily’s empty finger. “And you said?”

  “I told him I needed time to think about it. I mean, God, we just started seeing each other again! I hadn’t even told anyone. What was I supposed to say?”

  Rachel sipped her wine and thought. What Lily was saying just didn’t seem to make sense. She’d never been fully convinced Noah had cheated on Lily in the first place. It just didn’t fit with his character. And now this story seemed even more over the top.

  “Are you sure he wanted it? You’ve told me a dozen times how awful this woman is. You really think Noah would go for someone like her?”

  Lily blew out a breath and stood back up to pace again. “Who knows what that jerk will do. He probably made up the entire story about Rick being the one to sleep with that girl. That’s what he told me, you know. That it was all Rick’s fault at the lake. And now I’ve caught him at it again. I should have known.”

  “That could be the case,” Rachel said and took a sip of her wine, grabbing another cookie off the tray that Lily hadn’t even touched yet. “Although, I’ve known Noah a long time. And so have you. It doesn’t really sound like him. Isn’t it possible that he’s telling the truth?”

  “Who’s side are you on anyway? Jeez.” Lily sat down and gulped the rest of her wine. Rachel eyed her warily as she grabbed the bottle and poured herself a very full second glass.

  “You know I’m on your side,” she replied and gave Lily a pat on the shoulder. “I just know how much he means to you. I don’t want to see you go through this again.”

  Lily sat back against the couch and Rachel continued. “I know you’re angry right now. And it’s hard not to see Noah as the bad guy. But just hear me out a minute. You really think he would try to woo you again after all this time, propose to you, build you a house for crying out loud, just to cheat on you with a client? It doesn’t really add up.”

  “I don’t know, Rachel. Maybe. But, then, what if you’re wrong?”

  “It’s been known to happen.”

  Lily finally reached for a cookie.

  “Did you talk to him after this happened? Or did you just run away.”

  “I ran,” Lily replied through a mouthful of cookie.

  “Well, maybe you should give him a chance to explain himself.”

  “Aargh!” Lily cried out finally, making Rachel flinch beside her. “Why do you have to be so reasonable? I just want to be angry right now! You’re making too much sense.”

  Rachel shrugged. She wasn’t about to give in to Lily’s tantrum. “Maybe some sense is exactly what you need. Maybe if I’d talked more sense when you two first broke up you wouldn’t be in this ridiculous situation you’re in now.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lily asked, her eyes narrowing.

  Rachel sighed and got up from the couch. She didn’t want to be anywhere within hitting distance when she said it. “I thought you were making a mistake breaking up with him in the first place.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that months ago?”

  “Because you seemed like you didn’t want to hear it. Just like you’re acting now.”

  Lily shot up from the couch, a little wobbly now that the wine had begun its work. “I don’t have to take this.” She grabbed her coat and headed for the door. Rachel just shrugged.

  Lily turned before she walked out. “What kind of a sister are
you to be so awful to me when you can see how bad I’m hurting?”

  “A sister who cares about you,” Rachel said simply.

  Lily left, slamming the door as she went. Rachel sighed, glad she hadn’t brought out the second bottle of wine.

  Noah was in a panic as he raced down the mountain. He debated whether he should go to Lily’s place or not. He doubted she would let him in. Just like she isn’t answering my calls, he thought as he hung up the phone yet again.

  He wasn’t going to give up like the last time. More than anything, Noah wanted to find Lily and explain. How could she think that he would be voluntarily involved with Christina? They’d talked many times about how horrible she was. Surely Lily had to know that what she thought she saw at the cabin wasn’t the whole story. It suddenly felt like the lake all over again. Why couldn’t the insufferable woman just trust him?

  He had to go to her, at least try to see her. He decided to take his chances and he headed to her apartment.

  He didn’t see her car in the parking lot when he arrived but that didn’t stop him from hopping out of the car and banging on her door.

  “Lily!” he cried through the door. “Lily, please, open up and talk to me.” He raked a hand through his hair and tried to peer into the window but the shade was closed.

  A couple of heads poked out of neighboring apartments but he ignored them. Pride was overrated when it came to losing the woman he loved.

  He pounded a few more times with no luck and decided to wait in his car. Maybe she hadn’t been home yet. He would wait as long as it took to see her. He wasn’t about to let her go without a fight again.

  He settled in with his cell phone and an eye on the parking lot entrance. He tried to call her again but she still didn’t answer. “Lily, please call me back. I know you’re mad but please, I’m begging you, give me a chance to explain. It wasn’t what you thought. Call me back.”

  Finally after about an hour of obsessively watching the parking lot, he saw her red car pull in and his heart began to thud in his chest.

  He was out of his truck before she’d parked. He wasn’t going to give her the chance to run away from him again.