by Karis Walsh
I let you get too close, and I don’t want to get hurt.
Kassidy smiled at Paige, touching her fingertips to Paige’s cheek. “Don’t be sorry,” she said, wanting to put them both at ease and get back to being friends. “This was a completely professional kiss. You’re constantly telling me to improve my customer service skills, so I was just practicing a new way to greet tourists.”
Paige burst out laughing, and Kassidy smiled in return, relieved to see Paige’s humor replace her obvious concern. Right now Kassidy was more prepared to handle jokes and lightness than to take a serious look at her growing feelings for Paige.
“I’m sure this new approach would increase your lavender sales a thousandfold,” Paige said. “But maybe we can find some middle ground between kissing people and telling them to get the hell off your farm.”
Kassidy shrugged. “If you say so. You’re the fancy consultant, so I suppose you know what’s best.”
“For the general public, at least,” Paige said. She bumped Kassidy with her shoulder as they turned their bikes to face the way they’d come. “Feel free to greet me that way any time you want.”
Kassidy laughed off the suggestion as if it didn’t make her heart beat faster. She got on her bike and readjusted Dante’s leash in her hand. “We’d better get back there before the twins come shouting for us.”
Paige laughed. “They’re probably at the winery already, challenging each other to see who can balance an empty wine bottle on their head the longest.”
Kassidy groaned. “Don’t say things like that around them. They love a good dare.” She paused, studying Paige’s face, unsure of what she wanted to see reflected there. The kiss had been intense, but Paige’s expression was unreadable. Was she relieved that Kassidy had turned their kiss into a playful joke? Disappointed?
Paige had honestly sounded willing to kiss her again, and Kassidy hesitated, tempted to try. But if they kissed once more, she might lose herself in it and never be found again. She stepped out of reach, back to the casual acquaintance zone, and started down the trail.
Chapter Sixteen
Paige sat in a seat by the window of a downtown Portland café on Tuesday, waiting for Kassidy to arrive. She felt strange meeting her out of context since the two aspects of her life had been well-defined until now. Portland Paige wore business clothes and, with one outburst exception, maintained a distance from her clients even as she worked to help their businesses. McMinnville Paige was different. She looked different. She acted differently, too, taking an almost personal role in her client’s life. Well, an overly personal one at times.
Like having dinner with Kassidy and her siblings. Or meandering around a fair together even after the day’s work had been concluded.
Or kissing her in the middle of a meadow, as if nothing else in the world mattered besides the two of them.
Paige sighed and took a drink of her ice water. Aside from the kissing part, she was doing okay. She had made it her life’s work to study businesses and determine how best to transform them. Everything she had learned about the community in which Kassidy’s farm functioned convinced her that a more hands-on role was a requirement. She needed to dig in the dirt and create items in the drying shed until her nails were jagged and the skin of her hands was permanently saturated with lavender if she really wanted to understand how the farm worked and know how to improve it.
The trouble was, in getting involved enough to understand the lavender business, she had gotten too close to Kassidy herself. Her heart was saturated with the smell of Kassidy’s perfume, with the memory of her lips and skin and breath. When she returned to her normal life, her nails would grow back, and the smell of lavender would eventually fade, but those deeper impressions might never heal.
Kassidy had managed to move them past their unexpected—but much anticipated—kiss with her funny comments about greeting tourists, but she had clearly been as affected by the encounter as Paige had been. Paige wasn’t comfortable looking too closely at her feelings for Kassidy, or her growing desire for her, and she had been more than willing to follow Kassidy’s lead and return to their familiar habit of joking together. Once she finished her proposal, though, and her relationship with Kassidy became open for renegotiation, she might be ready to face the deeper current of emotions she felt moving under the professional, friendly surface of their interactions. Maybe.
She looked up and saw Kassidy approaching. She was wearing a loosely knit white sweater and jeans, and she managed to look sophisticated enough to be wandering the streets of Paris, yet still fresh enough to belong to her country farm. Paige wanted nothing more than to kiss her again, but right now they needed to leave that experience behind them in the secluded meadow. Hands-on with the business, Paige thought. Hands-off with Kassidy herself.
Paige repeated her mantra, smiling and waving Kassidy over to the booth as if she was completely unaffected by the sight of her.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” Paige said.
Kassidy smiled. “I had an errand to do in the city, anyway. Otherwise, I might have said no since you were very mysterious about why we’re here.”
Paige knew Kassidy would definitely have said hell, no if Paige had told her the reason ahead of time. She and Kassidy hadn’t had much of a chance to discuss business after Saturday’s dinner with the twins and Sunday’s winery tour, but Paige wasn’t at all sorry to have had more time with Kassidy. She would extend the timeline for this project over the next forty years of weekends if she could, but she had enough information for her proposal now.
Still, the delay of one more week was acceptable, and more than welcome since it had resulted in an amazing kiss. Paige had been hesitant to bring up any controversial issues about the farm with the twins around in case Kassidy got upset, and they slipped back into creepy twin mode. She had set aside her plan to talk about ways Kassidy could open the farm for more public exposure. Now, they were alone again, and Paige could bring up the touchier topics like smiling at people and letting them actually touch the lavender plants.
“What was your errand?” she asked as they looked over the menu. She wasn’t trying to pry, but she was avoiding bringing up the plan for today’s outing. Casual conversation about Kassidy’s shopping trips or lavender deliveries was preferable to confrontation.
“I was, um, well, visiting someone,” Kassidy said, keeping her eyes lowered and sounding awkward and evasive.
Oh. Paige had never asked about Kassidy’s romantic life. No one’s name had been mentioned around Paige, and she had assumed Kassidy was single, especially after sharing the kiss with her. Not that it mattered to her, because that kiss had belonged to a day that had been set apart from reality. She was just surprised. Great, now she was sounding awkward in her own mind.
“My mom,” Kassidy said, watching Paige with an indecipherable expression. Had Paige’s reaction been evident on her face?
“Oh, good. I mean, good that you had a chance to visit.” Paige stared at the menu with determination. “I didn’t know she lived in Portland.”
“In the suburbs. Tigard.” Kassidy paused, as if she was making up her mind about something. “She’s in an assisted living facility there.”
Paige looked at Kassidy in surprise. Her mom shouldn’t be old enough to need professional care, so it was likely related to an illness. She latched on to one of the few things Kassidy had shared about her life. “The depression?” she asked. “Is it still bad?”
Kassidy nodded. “She was diagnosed with severe depression after I was born. She seemed to be managing it okay, until after the twins. She’s never fully recovered, but the staff there takes good care of her and makes sure she gets her meds. Sometimes we can shop, or she’ll want to come see the farm.”
Kassidy shrugged in the silence after she stopped speaking, and Paige figured those good days were few and far between. “The redacted lines in your accounts. Oh, Kassidy, I’m sorry I laughed.”
Kassidy reached across the table a
nd grabbed her hand. “No. I love your laugh and I liked joking about the secret agent plants. You had no idea what the expenses were. I didn’t trust you enough to tell you the truth, and you had no way of guessing what it was.”
Paige smiled and twined her fingers with Kassidy’s, holding her tight and letting go reluctantly when the waiter came over and they ordered sandwiches and Cokes.
“So, you trust me now?”
“I’m still taking it on a case by case basis. I’ll need to hear about today’s plan before I decide.”
Paige laughed. “Fair enough. Here goes. I want us to pick out furniture and paint for the garden shed.”
Kassidy visibly relaxed. “All right. I’m kind of resigned to the idea of using it as a store, so it’ll be fun to redecorate it.”
“Not a store. You’ll need more space for the crafts and plants you’re going to sell, so the drying shed or greenhouse will be better choices. I think you should make a guest cottage that’s available to rent out. There’s plenty of space for one person, a couple, or even a small family. They’ll have their own bathroom, so all you’ll need to provide is a continental breakfast. Muffins, coffee, that sort of thing. Maybe afternoon tea, but I’d charge for that to make it a special occasion meal and not something you’re expected to do every day. Since there isn’t a kitchen, the guests will be responsible for getting their other meals off site.”
Once Paige had started talking, she kept going until their food arrived. Kassidy looked ready to mount a violent protest during the entire speech, but Paige didn’t let her get a word in until she stopped for a breath and a bite of her BLT.
“I am not…no way…” Kassidy sputtered to a halt, as if she didn’t have the vocabulary to express how much she hated the idea.
Paige swallowed a mouthful of sandwich, completely calm because she hadn’t expected anything less than mutiny from Kassidy about this.
“Here’s the plan. We decorate the shed and I’ll be your first customer when I come next weekend. I’ll even pay premium, high season rates. I spoke to a rental broker in McMinnville, and you can select the dates you’ll make the place available. Try it for a few days a month at first and add more if you want. Just know that in order to make a significant income from it, you’ll need to have it fully booked for most of the tourist season, so don’t try it for just one weekend in June and say it wasn’t worth the money you made. If you hate it, worst case is you have a nice place for Kyle or Kayla to stay when they visit.”
Kassidy picked at her grilled cheese, eating it in small angry bites instead of responding to the plan.
“I like orange-cranberry muffins, but I’m sure whatever you make for me next weekend will be fine. Can you make anything breakfast-like with lavender?”
“Really? You want perfume first thing in the morning?”
Paige laughed. A joking Kassidy was much better than the silent one.
Kassidy mumbled something indistinctly, and Paige leaned forward.
“What? I couldn’t hear you.”
“I said I make a really good blueberry lavender bread,” Kassidy enunciated loudly, as if furious with herself for admitting it and abetting the enemy.
“Perfect,” Paige said. “Now finish your potato chips because we have shopping to do.”
* * *
Kassidy lagged behind Paige as she entered a downtown department store. This was definitely not the type of store she would choose for this redecorating project, but she didn’t want it to happen in the first place, so she wasn’t going to worry about doing it the right way.
Paige wandered over to the store directory. “I think we should start by finding some throw pillows. Those are standard in bed and breakfasts, aren’t they? They’re decorations for a house, so I guess we want to go to housewares.”
“It’s not going to work, Paige.”
“Throw pillows won’t work? I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
Kassidy rolled her eyes. She wasn’t sure how Paige was keeping a straight face, but she was certain this was all an act. “No, I meant you pretending to make bad decisions isn’t going to make me jump in and tell you the way I’d do it. You’re just trying to get me involved enough to forget I don’t want to be here, like you did with the crafts for the booth.”
Paige merely gave her a look of wide-eyed innocence and headed toward housewares, where she roamed among stacks of blenders and coffeemakers. “Huh. This isn’t what we need. Oh, look. Bedding. C’mon.”
“If you want to wander aimlessly through the store for the next few hours, it’s fine with me,” Kassidy said, as Paige searched through a bin full of discounted sheet sets. “I’ve got nowhere else to be.”
Paige shrugged. “Fine. I’m sure I can pick out some great stuff. This screams country living, doesn’t it?” She handed Kassidy a plastic sleeve containing a set of beige sheets decorated with crowing roosters and baby chicks. “Your guests will love it. Oh, and you can get some real chickens to wander through the garden. They’ll tie the whole theme together.”
Kassidy tossed the sheets back on the sale pile, and Paige shrugged.
“You don’t like them? How about something daintier, like these?” She held up a set of baby pink sheets, edged in eyelet lace. “These are so cute, like sleeping on a pink cloud. Oh, and we need a fairly small bed, so it doesn’t overwhelm the space. Something from the children’s section ought to do. Over here.”
Kassidy reluctantly went across the aisle with her and stopped next to the child’s green plastic dinosaur bed Paige was admiring. “You’re not giving up, are you?” she asked.
Paige took out a credit card and held it up. Her expression changed from clueless to calculating in a heartbeat. “If you don’t give me other options, I’ll buy this right now and have it delivered to your farm. And I’ll expect to be sleeping in it this weekend.”
“You’re manipulative.”
“Charmingly determined.”
Kassidy sighed. She had a feeling Paige would get this bed to her house even if she had to strap it on top of her Tercel, just to prove her point. Kassidy could give in now, and at the very least come through this ordeal with a beautifully—and tastefully—furnished guest cottage, or she could hold her ground and wait in dread for this green monstrosity, complete with frilly pink sheets and probably a rooster throw pillow, to arrive on her doorstep.
She swatted Paige’s credit card away. “Paint first. Once we pick colors, we can choose the rest to match.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to get these sheets, just in case we don’t find anything better? They’re on clearance.”
* * *
Kassidy placed an afghan over the back of the couch so its tassels draped at an angle. She had to admit—not to Paige, but in her own mind—she was thrilled with the results of their shopping spree. She looked around the cottage and imagined herself sitting in here and having a cup of tea after a busy summer morning spent harvesting lavender. No matter how hard she tried, although she really didn’t put much effort into the exercise, she couldn’t imagine strangers staying here.
Unfortunately, she could easily imagine Paige sleeping in here, with her bare legs uncovered because of the sultry summer heat. Of course, Paige was going to be here this weekend when they were expecting cool, spring rain, and Kassidy didn’t know if she slept in the nude or in a pair of old sweats, but it was her fantasy. She was going to create any setting she wanted, and she wanted sweaty nakedness. She sat on the sofa, hugging one of the throw pillows Paige had insisted on buying to her chest. She seemed to have been fixated on them as a requirement for a bed-and-breakfast room. At least it was a solid blue color and not chicken-themed.
Kassidy had painted the walls blue, too, but in such a soft powdery hue they almost looked white. The couch was a neutral, easy-to-clean tweed, and when the folding bed was extended, it was covered with plain green sheets, similar to the ones Kassidy had hung on the booth at the fair. Paige had been determined to get those, too. Most of the room was in
pale shades of blue, green, and yellow to give the small space an open, airy feel, but the occasional flash of brightness in matching tones kept it from seeming washed out.
She reached over and adjusted the lamp on the nightstand, moving it a little closer to her. The stand was her favorite find, located in the cluttered backyard of a local antiques dealer. It was an old wooden step stool, chipped and worn, that managed to look elegant once it was placed in the room and topped with a vase full of dried lavender. She and Paige had picked out paint colors and the sofa bed together, as well as some of the bedding items, but Kassidy had selected the more decorative finishing pieces on her own at shops near McMinnville, and she was excited for Paige to see them. They had bought the furniture together, but Kassidy had sanded away the dark stain after she got everything home, revealing the light honey-blond oak underneath. Then she had used more saturated versions of green, blue, and yellow paints to give the wood a distressed, well-used look.
Paige had offered to come over this week to help paint and decorate the room, but a last-minute call to interview with a prospective new client had gotten in the way. Kassidy had been secretly glad, because then she had been able to work on her own with the furniture and other unique decorations. The tiny space had been easy enough to paint and decorate once she had cleared out the clutter and hidden it away in the large greenhouse. She couldn’t wait to see Paige’s expression when she saw the finished product.
The beauty of the room would likely get Paige even more excited about the potential of renting it out, though. Kassidy had briefly considered making it uninhabitable by following all of Paige’s original suggestions for décor, but she hadn’t been able to insult the poor, unsuspecting shed in such an awful way. Now it was a pretty space, and tourists would probably love to stay here. That didn’t mean Kassidy had to let them, of course.