by Debby Mayne
“Whenever I see a place that I think has terrific decor—you know, the paint colors, the molding, the wainscoting, that kind of thing—I know I like it. But when it comes to envisioning what to do with my own home, I don’t trust my taste. My home in San Diego was already done when I bought it. But this is starting from scratch. I don’t want to take away from what’s so beautiful about this old place.”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that.” She realized too late that she spoke as if she had something at stake with his choice of decor.
He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re glad. You appreciate old beauty too, then?”
“Absolutely. I like contemporary decor, and I think it’s possible to give an old house a modern feel. But not at the expense of such beautiful enhancements like the crown molding that goes up the main staircase and, as you said, touches like the wainscoting in the dining room—”
“Wow, you really are familiar with the house, aren’t you?”
What was the matter with her? For a moment she wondered if her subconscious was deliberately trying to arouse his curiosity about her history with the house.
She shrugged, with the hope of suggesting nonchalance. “It’s an impressive place, I guess. In my business, I’ve been in my share of expensive restaurants and private homes—Armand catered back in Charlotte—to get a good feel for what I think is classic beauty and what’s just over the top. Gram—” She caught herself. “Your home deserves classic beauty in its decor.”
And with that final verbal misstep, she shut her mouth about the house. It was obviously best that she not offer any more comments about how the house should look. If he ended up making a mess of Grampa and Granny’s home, she’d keep telling herself, It’s just a house…. It’s just a house….
It wasn’t her place to tell Drew what to do, but she was so emotionally attached to the place. It would probably be best if she avoided being there while he had the remodeling and decorating done.
Drew’s eyes took on the spark of a new idea, and he leaned forward, eagerness in his smile.
“You know, my Realtor gave me the website links for a couple of interior decorators, and I checked them out. There were all kinds of those over-the-top things you’re talking about.”
“Oh, gosh. Don’t use them, Drew.” She shook her head and put up her hand to stop her comment. “I mean, use whoever you want. It’s none of my business, and I should keep my nose out of it.”
“On the contrary. Nikki, how about you act as my decorating advisor?”
Chapter Fourteen
Drew couldn’t quite figure out what caused Nikki’s discomfort. It seemed to come and go as they spoke, and right now it was definitely here.
“What? You don’t think you could tell me how to decorate? I’ll bet you could.” He gestured at his sweater, which never looked so good as it did on her. The light-blue made her warm brown eyes look darker and more soulful. And the layers of her long brunette hair waved loosely around her shoulders in a casual yet somehow perfect way. “You have such a cool style about you, Nikki, and you said yourself you’ve been in plenty of fancy restaurants and homes to have a good idea of what works where.”
“Thanks, but I’m too busy working for Harvey.” She glanced at her watch. “As a matter of fact, we should probably wrap up the evening so I can get back.”
“It wouldn’t be a full-time thing, though.” Drew signaled to the server for the check. “Just come by and talk to me about what you envision. I’d be willing to pay for your time.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t charge you.”
“Then you’ll do it?”
She frowned and released an exasperated—and exasperating—sigh. “Let me think about it. Okay?”
“Sure. You just let me know. In the meantime, I’ll start looking for sales on pink flamingos and velvet Elvis paintings.”
After she gave him that smart smile again, she seemed to relax.
When they got outside to his car, he stepped ahead of her to open her door. He didn’t mean to cut her off, but she came close to bumping into him before she realized what he was doing. She righted herself, but he helped by taking hold of her. He couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried, and now the two of them were mere inches from each other. He would have to pull away just to see more than her eyes. He found he had no desire to do so.
“Sorry.” She spoke softly, and he was unable to answer her. Before he could change his mind, he bridged the short distance and kissed her.
He knew she would have soft lips. They had distracted him all evening.
She pulled back just slightly and seemed to think for a half second before she kissed him back.
Until then, he had been unsure whether this attraction was mutual. He smiled at her when she pulled away again, and she suddenly looked embarrassed.
“That was awfully forward of me,” she said. “I don’t usually…”
Now it was his turn to speak softly. “I’m going to take that as a wonderful compliment.”
* * * * *
They talked of everything but romance on the short drive back to Harvey’s.
“Are you going to church tomorrow?” She didn’t look at him, as far as he could tell when he glanced in her direction.
“No, I’m going to have to lean on a simple at-home Bible study, I’m afraid. I have too many things to do at the house, especially since my week promises to be hectic at work.”
“Problems?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. There are just a number of different crews there right now, and I’m usually needed in ten different places at once at this stage of a building project.”
“Who are those people you go to church with? That couple. I’ve noticed them before. He’s kind of hard to miss, and she’s so tiny next to him.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that’s Phillip and Gigi. Phillip and I work together. He’s the one who told me about Cary Community Church.” He refrained from telling her that Gigi had done reconnaissance on Nikki’s relationship status, which proved to be unnecessary, thanks to their meeting again near Harvey’s home. “Maybe next time I could sit with you instead.”
There was a pause before she finally answered.
“I’d like that.”
He looked at her, and in the passing light of the street lamps, he was sure he saw her smile.
But her smile vanished when they drove up Harvey’s driveway. There was a police cruiser at the front entrance.
“Oh no.” Nikki jumped out of the car the moment Drew stopped.
He pulled on the hand brake and jumped out after her. “Nikki, wait. You don’t know what’s happened. Let me check that it’s safe before you—”
A policeman and a man of about fifty walked out the front door.
“Edward!” Nikki ran up the porch steps, and Drew followed.
The policeman said a word or two more to Edward before tipping his hat at Nikki and Drew and heading to his cruiser.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Nikki looked from the departing officer to Edward. “Is everyone all right?”
“Yes, I think so. Don’t worry. Harvey took a fall.”
“Oh no.”
Drew wanted to put a comforting hand on her shoulder or something, but he didn’t want to intrude.
Edward gave him a distracted, polite smile, so he extended his hand. “Drew Cornell.”
“Edward. Edward Shannihan. Mr. Fennicle’s valet.” He looked back at Nikki. “They took him to WakeMed in an ambulance.”
Nikki gasped as Drew asked, “WakeMed? That’s the local hospital?”
“Yes, sir.” Edward did what Drew wanted to do. He rested his hand on Nikki’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Nikki. He seemed to be all right. His doctor just didn’t want to take any chances. Harvey was conscious and didn’t appear to be in much pain.”
“Much pain? He was in pain?” Tears sprang to her eyes. “What happened?”
Edward shrugged. “As far as I can tell, he went down to the kitchen for a
late-night snack. I think he tripped over Riley, because the poor little rascal looked so concerned and guilty. Anyway, that’s what I think Harvey said before Jackie and Laura got involved and started making calls and fussing over him. He was able to get up and sit in a chair with my help. So don’t you worry.”
But Drew could see more than worry in her eyes. Apparently Riley wasn’t the only one struggling with guilt.
“I’ll leave you two now. Nice meeting you, Drew.” Edward walked back into the house.
Nikki wiped away tears. “I should have been here. He doesn’t usually want anything like that at night. I thought… Oh, I should never have gone out. I should have checked back when my top got dirty.”
“Nikki, this wasn’t your fault. From the sound of it, even if you hadn’t gone out, do you think Harvey would have summoned you to—?”
“This is exactly why I’m with the live-in staff! I’m supposed to be here whenever he needs me.” She frowned at Drew. “And he doesn’t summon me. He’s sweet and gracious and—”
“Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that. I just think you need to not take this burden on your own shoulders. You can’t control every—”
“Oh, is that what I need to do, Drew? Thanks for that advice.”
Uh-oh. He had just done exactly what Isabelle always cautioned him against. “I’m—I’m not trying to tell you what to do. How…” He was clueless. “How do you feel?”
She looked at him as if he were crazy. “What? Why are you asking me how I feel? This isn’t about me.”
Women. He needed to leave so he could go home, have Freddie jump up on him, push Freddie down, and flop onto the couch, rather than navigate these eggshells.
“Right. Okay, well, I’ll leave you to it, then, unless there’s something you need.”
She barely seemed to hear him. She nodded and turned away.
He was at a loss. She seemed crestfallen and prickly at the same time. It was almost as if she included him in whatever guilt she had embraced with regard to Harvey. As if they were complicit together in leaving him unattended. Good thing he hadn’t tried to physically comfort her. And as nicely as their drive home had started, clearly, a good-night kiss was out of the question.
Chapter Fifteen
“So I take it Harvey’s all right?” Hannah followed Nikki into the aisle when the church service ended the following morning. She had arrived late, and Nikki had refused to chitchat until the exit music played. “Because I know you wouldn’t have come to church otherwise. You sounded pretty shaken when you called last night.”
“Yeah, he’s got a bruise on his knee, but that’s all. Laura talked with him this morning—”
“Laura?”
“You know, his personal assistant?”
“Ohh, right. The sourpuss.”
“She told me they would have actually sent him back home last night, but they wanted to observe him overnight to play it safe. I was going to stick around this morning to be sure I was there when he got home, but she encouraged me to go ahead to church since Harvey wouldn’t be home until after the lunch hour.”
“You sure old tight-lips wasn’t setting you up? She’s always been kind of anti-you, hasn’t she?”
“No, I think I was wrong about that. Her snippiness isn’t personal toward me.”
“An equal-opportunity snip.”
“Something like that. And she and I just have such different personalities. But she’s lightened up since she started seeing this accountant guy who works for one of Harvey’s companies. I think she’s in love.”
“Hey, that reminds me. What’s the status with Drew?”
“Shh.” Nikki looked around them as the crowd slowly exited the sanctuary. “I don’t know who knows him around here.”
“So what? You have something negative to say?”
“No, but—” She lowered her voice and leaned in toward Hannah. “This isn’t exactly a gossip-free zone.”
Hannah gave her an exaggerated wink. “Gotcha, superstar. We’ll try to avoid the paparazzi in the fellowship hall too.”
“He asked me to help him pick out the decor for Grampa William and Granny Lillian’s house.”
“Awesome! Did you tell him yet that the house—”
“No, I didn’t tell him it’s their house. It’s become too awkward now to say anything.”
“What are you talking about? You’re getting closer to him, aren’t you?”
Nikki shrugged. “It’s kind of like not remembering someone’s name and then getting to know them really well—by then it’s too late to ask them. At this rate it would be really weird that I hadn’t told him about the house by now.”
“Is really weird, Nikki. It is really weird that you haven’t told him.”
“See? So I can’t say anything. Who knows? Maybe we won’t work out. Then I won’t ever have to tell him and there’s no problem.”
“That’s my girl. You go on with your positive self. So are you going to help him decorate?”
“I might.”
“Could be the next best thing to decorating it for yourself, I guess.”
Nikki nodded. “At least the chances would be better for the place to be restored to its old coziness.” She sighed. “Of course, that’s assuming he’s still talking to me.”
They walked into the fellowship hall. Hannah quickly scoped the crowd before responding. “No David yet. He’s as bad as I am.” She opened her massive hobo purse and rummaged around inside. “Okay, Typhoid Mary, what did you do now? Why wouldn’t Drew be talking to you?”
“I snapped at him right before he left. He was telling me Harvey’s falling wasn’t my fault.”
“The cad!”
“I know. I was a jerk. I was just upset about Harvey.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Hannah nodded as she pulled a pair of shorts from her purse. “That is so you.”
Nikki planted her hand on her hip. “Well, thank you very much. You’re so hard on me sometimes.”
“Oh, please. You’re just as hard on me. Come on, I want to stop at the ladies’ room and change before David gets here. We’re picnicking. I’m sorry, sis, but it’s the honest truth. You lash out at people who try to help you when you’re upset.”
Nikki couldn’t argue with that. She already knew it was true, and she knew that’s what she’d done to Drew the night before.
The restroom was quiet, a nice contrast to the noisy between-services crowd in the fellowship hall.
Hannah went into a stall while Nikki combed her hair.
“Yeah, I need to apologize to him. Especially after he was so sweet all night.” Nikki grinned, knowing the reaction her next comment would get. “And really especially after he gave me such a fantastic kiss.”
A loud, long gasp emitted from behind the stall door. “I can’t believe you didn’t mention that first! He kissed you?”
“And then I kissed him.”
“You scarlet woman, you! And?”
Nikki smiled when she remembered how romantic the moment had been.
“And I’m embarrassed at how much I kissed him back.”
“You mean, for a long time?”
“No. Just with such…gusto. Arms around the neck and everything. I have to admit, I surprised myself. I mean, it was like not realizing I had been thirsty for years and then suddenly drinking a long, cool glass of water.”
Hannah laughed. “Sure, you’re thirsty! You’ve had your nose in cookbooks and kitchens for so long that you’ve forgotten there’s more to life than the perfect pâté or the fluffiest soufflé.”
Hannah emerged from the stall wearing shorts and an expression of rapt curiosity. But before Nikki could answer, they heard a flush of water. They both jerked their heads to see a short, petite woman walk out of a stall at the far side of the room, a sweet smile on her face.
Nikki recognized her. She thought she remembered Drew saying her name was Gigi. They all uttered quiet greetings to each other.
Hannah and Nikki exchanged wide-eyed
glances, but Hannah looked ready to laugh. They had briefly discussed Drew’s church buddies in the past, so Hannah knew who Gigi was too.
While the three of them silently washed their hands, Nikki reviewed the conversation she and Hannah had been having. Were they still talking about Grampa and Granny’s house while they were in the restroom? She thought they might have changed the subject before they walked in.
She ventured a quick peek at Gigi, and it seemed Gigi was just waiting for that look. She smiled at Nikki as if she absolutely loved her to death. Or found her highly amusing.
Ugh. The talk about kissing! A long drink of water after her parched years of spinsterhood. Had it really been necessary to wax poetic like that? She sounded like some cheesy film noir dame or something.
Both Nikki and Gigi reached for the paper towels at the same time.
“Oh, sorry. You go ahead.” Nikki smiled and took a towel after Gigi.
“I’m Gigi Nester. You’re Nikki, aren’t you? Drew’s friend?”
They shook damp hands. “Uh, yes. And this is my sister, Hannah.”
“Hey.” Hannah smiled but still had her soapy hands under the water.
Gigi pointed at Hannah. “Yes, I’ve seen you with that nice-looking blond guy. He’s new here, isn’t he?”
“Wow.” Hannah flicked water from her hands and grabbed a paper towel. “You’re observant.”
Nikki would have kicked Hannah if she could do it without Gigi noticing.
Gigi responded with a delightfully honest laugh. “Let’s call a spade a spade, honey. I’m nosy.”
Both Hannah and Nikki laughed.
“But I’m not like that with everyone, girls.” She pointed at Hannah. “I only noticed your business because I was being nosy about your adorable sister here.” Then she pointed at Nikki. “And I’m only being nosy about you because I know what a terrific guy Drew is. And I think he likes you.”
“You and me both.” Hannah tossed her paper towel in the trash. “I’m just happy to see her venturing back into the dating scene. She’s been all work and no play for way too long.”
“Well, you couldn’t have chosen a finer man to venture back with. And…I’m going to just go ahead and say it. I heard what you were talking about when you came in. I guess you didn’t know anyone was in here.”