They had some couches there as well, but most of them looked like they belonged in someone’s grandmother’s basement. That would have to be something he picked up new or maybe on another trip because the back of his truck would be full with the other things he’d already decided to buy. After the thrift store, they went to Walmart and picked up some bedding as well as a bunch of groceries. All of it made a definite dent in his bank account, and some had to go on a credit card, but it was necessary. Especially if he was going to have Sierra around.
By the time they left Walmart, they were both hungry. Ethan didn’t feel up to cooking, so they stopped at a nearby Tim Hortons for some soup and sandwiches. At Sierra’s request, he also bought a dozen doughnuts for them to take back to the apartment.
Once there, the two of them managed to unload the truck and carry the beds up to the apartment. Thankfully, Sierra was stronger than she looked and was a big help in getting the remaining stuff out of the truck. Though Ethan had unloaded most of his things the previous evening, he had still spent the night at the motel again since he hadn’t had a bed.
His TV sat on the floor against the wall in the living room. He needed to make arrangements for cable and internet for the apartment. It had definitely moved up on his priority list now that Sierra was there.
“I can’t believe I get my own bedroom here,” Sierra said as she opened a set of sheets for her bed. “I really wish that I could just live here all the time.”
“I wish you could too,” Ethan murmured as he helped her fit the sheets on her bed.
He knew that she had wanted to move in with him permanently for quite some time. She didn’t voice it often, but he knew it was in her mind. It was in his as well, but he wasn’t sure how to go about making it happen. The legalities of it were a bit scary to consider. Like if he tried to pursue guardianship of her and lost, could his dad make it so he never saw her again? After this latest thing with them leaving Sierra alone in a strange city, however, he realized that maybe he was going to just have to take the chance.
They’d forgotten to get curtains, but Sierra didn’t seem to care. She was still so excited about having her own room with a big bed and lots of space. They still needed to get her a chest of drawers and a desk since she often had homework on the weekends when she was with Ethan.
After getting Sierra’s bed ready, they moved on to Ethan’s. Once that was done, Sierra helped to unpack the kitchen stuff that he’d brought with him from Calgary. He had to admit that he was grateful for her help, and they made a lot of progress before finally calling it a night. There was still no call from his dad which left Ethan frustrated and angry.
As it turned out, it was closer to a week instead of a couple of days like her parents had said. After two days had passed without hearing from them, the two of them had gone to their apartment so Sierra could pick up some more clothes and other things that she needed. Ethan assumed that they had decided to extend their getaway since they knew he was taking care of Sierra now. What he didn’t understand was how they could be taking a week away when supposedly it was a job that had drawn his father and stepmom to Winnipeg from Calgary so urgently that they couldn’t stay for Sierra to finish the school year.
Having Sierra with him for more than their usual weekends gave Ethan a taste of what it would be like to be her full-time guardian. They had fallen into an easy schedule, and he knew that having her around permanently would be a blessing. Each day he had gone to work in the morning, leaving Sierra in the apartment. At lunch, he had returned to eat with her and then he brought her back to the office with him. Bennett had assured him that as long as she didn’t interfere with anything at the office, she was welcome to be there.
She’d even had the opportunity to meet Danica, who would come in a couple of afternoons after school to help Grace with some of the office work. The other girl had been friendly with Sierra even though there was a couple years difference in their age. It was just another thing that seemed to reinforce in Ethan’s mind that this job was the right one for him. Now he just had to do a great job at it and hope that Makayla would come to accept him as part of the company so that when his three months’ probation was up, he’d be able to turn it into a permanent position.
*
On Friday morning, Makayla spent a few minutes chatting with Grace before making her way to her own office. She put her purse in the lower drawer of her desk and took a sip of coffee as she settled into her chair. As she reached out to set her cup down, she paused.
There in the center of the desk sat a pile of Hershey’s kisses with almonds. Makayla stared at them for a moment, trying to figure out if there was any significance to their presence. There was no note or anything else. Just the candy.
She frowned as she reached out to touch them. These were her favorite. Her secret indulgence at the end of a hard day or week. In fact, she kept a bag in the back of one of the drawers in her desk.
Makayla opened the drawer and reached past the files to the spot in the back where she had just put a fresh bag not too long ago. Her fingers closed around the plastic, and she pulled out. A quick look revealed that the bag was still sealed, so the candy on the desk hadn’t come from her stash.
After returning her candy to its hiding place, she pushed to her feet and headed out of her office, unsure exactly what she hoped to accomplish. In the hallway outside her office, Makayla paused, not certain where she should start in trying to determine who had left her the sweets. The fact that there was no note obviously meant the person wanted to remain anonymous, but that wasn’t something that Makayla could live with.
She started with the most likely suspect out of all the people in the office and made her way to the reception area.
“Did you leave some candy on my desk?”
Grace looked up from her monitor and arched a brow. “Why on earth would I leave candy on your desk?”
“I don’t know, but there’s a pile of candy on my desk, and I’m trying to figure out where it came from.”
Grace laughed. “Are you afraid it’s poisoned or something?”
Makayla scowled at her friend. “If I thought it was poisoned, I wouldn’t be asking you if you left it for me.”
“I don’t know, I think I probably still owe you for at least one practical joke.” Grace leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Of course, I wouldn’t actually poison you, but that doesn’t mean I might not have doctored the candy in other ways.”
“Okay, so I’m going to assume that it’s not you,” Makayla said as she moved past Grace’s desk for the hall that ran down the other side of the office.
“That’s not necessarily a safe assumption,” Grace called out as Makayla walked away.
Mitch’s office was empty, but Makayla didn’t really think he would be the type to leave her candy either. Tristan was at his desk, gaze locked on his computer screen. Makayla said his name twice before laying her hand on his shoulder.
9
T ristan jerked around, his eyes wide. “Hey, Kayla. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Makayla sat down in the chair across his desk. “I have never met anyone who can tune out the rest of the world the way you can.”
Tristan grinned, his blue eyes sparkling. “Well, when growing up in a house with so many other people, I had to learn how to do that in order to survive the chaos.”
“I just used to take my books and try to find a corner to hide out in,” Makayla said. “But then it was a bit easier since there were only the two of us girls. Our room was usually a quiet place.”
Tristan nodded. “I think we all had different ways of coping with the madness that surrounded us sometimes.” He tipped his head to the side. “So what brings you to my office so early on a Friday morning?”
Makayla regarded him for a second then said, “I don’t suppose you left anything on my desk today, did you?”
Tristan’s brows drew together. “I haven’t been in your office for a couple of days. Was it a good som
ething or a bad something that was left behind?”
“Oh, if it was a bad something, the whole office would’ve heard about it already. I found a pile of candy on my desk this morning.”
“Candy?” Tristan asked with a smile. “Sorry, it wasn’t me. But if you’re looking for someone to share with, I’m your guy.”
“Actually, I’m not. Whoever left it knew it was my favorite candy.”
“Well, that should narrow the suspect pool significantly.” Tristan shifted forward in his seat. “There’s not too many of us that know that you can’t live without your chocolate covered almonds.”
“True. Or maybe someone just got lucky with their guess.”
Tristan stared at her for a moment. “You know, the person probably left you the candy as a way to brighten your day. You don’t necessarily need to know who it was in order to enjoy it.”
Makayla arched a brow. “Really, Tris? This is me we're talking about here.”
Tristan laughed. “This is true. I stand corrected.”
Makayla hit up Bennett next. He was perplexed by her question and dismissed it quickly. She hadn’t thought it was him. Like Mitch, that really wasn’t the sort of thing that Bennett would do—at least not for her. But that didn’t help her solve the mystery of who had.
She hesitated outside Ethan’s office. He was the last person in the office who would’ve had the opportunity to leave the candy. Something Tristan had said triggered a memory of Ethan giving Sierra candy. But why would he have thought to leave some for her? They were getting along okay. So far, their jobs hadn’t really overlapped although that would change next week when she met to talk to him about payroll.
Did she really want to ask him if he left the candy? Because what if he said he had…then what? What would it mean? She knew that he did it for Sierra to make her day brighter. But how would he have even known what her favorite candy was?
Ethan looked up as soon as Makayla stepped into his office. A wary smile crossed his face as he straightened in his chair. Clearly, he still wasn’t quite sure how to deal with her. He was in good company, though, since a lot of people likely felt that way.
“Good morning, Makayla.” Ethan got to his feet, his hand smoothing his tie. “How can I help you?”
Makayla stood across the desk from him. “I was just wondering if you had left something on my desk this morning.”
“Left something on your desk?” Ethan asked. “You mean like a file?”
She was pretty sure that the confusion on Ethan’s face couldn’t be faked. But if he wasn’t the one who had done it, who was?
“No, not a file. But if you weren’t in my office, it’s not a problem.” Makayla really didn’t want to tell him what was on her desk because then he’d wonder why she thought it might have come from him. “Sorry for the interruption.”
“It’s not a problem. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you out.”
For a moment, Makayla found herself wishing that it had been Ethan who had left the candy on her desk. After seeing him with Sierra earlier in the week, her view of him was changing. Though she still wasn’t completely happy with the changes in the company, she couldn’t deny that as a man, she found him interesting.
He was something of a cross between Mitch and Bennett when it came to personality. She imagined that in his previous job, he’d been a lot more like Mitch. She knew from talking with Bennett and her dad that his previous position had been what Mitch was doing now for their company. Since he’d started there, he’d been learning the part of the job that he didn’t know, and that was the reason for his probationary period.
And it wasn’t just the job he was learning. His whole style was changing as well. Today he wore black slacks and a long sleeve white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The tie he’d paired with the outfit was a mixture of blues and purples, and Makayla wondered if Sierra had had a hand in choosing it. At least it seemed like Ethan was feeling a bit more comfortable in the clothes his job required him to wear. He no longer looked like the collared shirts and ties were strangling him.
Back in her office, Makayla decided to take a chance that Grace hadn’t actually left some sort of tainted candy on her desk and unwrapped one of the chocolate kisses. She popped it in her mouth and took a moment to savor the taste before getting back to work.
A short time later, Ethan appeared in her doorway. Wondering if he had come to make a confession, Makayla motioned him in.
He rolled up the papers in his hand and tapped them on his thigh before sitting down across from her. “I wonder if it would be possible to make changes to some of the information I gave you when I started.”
Makayla switched gears from the candy caper to work. “Sure, but if you mean your address, I already took care of that.”
“Oh. Thanks.” He shifted the rolled papers between his hands. “But I need to change some other information. I know I still need to get you my banking info as well. I’m hoping to go to the bank tomorrow to get things switched over.” Ethan hesitated. “I’d actually like to change my emergency contact information.”
“Sure. We can do that.” Makayla opened the drawer and pulled out a file with the empty forms in it. She slid the change of information form across the desk toward him. “You can just fill that out and get it back to me whenever you’re done.”
Ethan reached out and took the paper, but he still didn’t get up to leave. “Actually, I wonder if I could ask a favor of you. I know you don’t know me very well…at all, but Sierra really likes you.”
“I like her too. She seems like a neat kid,” Makayla said, not at all sure where the conversation was headed.
Ethan nodded. “She is. It’s just too bad that she ended up with the parents she has. Which is the reason I need to ask a favor. I listed my dad as an emergency contact, but after this week, I can’t take the chance of having him be the person contacted if something should happen to me. I need it to be someone who would break the news to Sierra as gently as possible. That is definitely not my dad.”
Things started to fall into place as Ethan spoke. “Are you asking to put me as your emergency contact?”
Ethan lifted a hand and ran a finger along the inside of his collar. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but like I said, Sierra seems to really like you. And I know that you would listen to her. She and I have talked about what I want her to do if something should happen to me.”
Makayla frowned. “You’ve talked to her about what would happen if you are on life-support or something like that?”
“I realize that for you that might seem strange given the size of your family, but Sierra is the only person I can depend on to make sure my wishes are carried out. I know it seems wrong to put that type of responsibility on someone so young, but at the same time, it’s what she would need. If you’re willing to do this for us, I have an envelope that contains everything Sierra and I have discussed. I just want to make sure there’s an adult around that can help her convey what needs to be done.”
Makayla sat for a moment, a bit stunned at the turn their conversation had taken her morning. From trying to solve the mysterious appearance of the candy to now being asked to help Sierra make end-of-life decisions for Ethan. It was a lot to take in.
She realized then that she took her family for granted a lot. She would have never hesitated to put any of them down as an emergency contact for her. To think that a person couldn’t even trust their own father with something like this was a bit disconcerting.
“As long as I don’t have to make any decisions for you myself, I would be willing to do that.”
“I realize that this is very presumptuous of me, and if I were the only one involved in the situation, I wouldn’t have asked. But because Sierra is so important to me, I need to know that someone will be there for her at a time when I’m not able to speak up for myself or for her. And if you should change your mind about this, or if you need some more time to really think it over, just let me know.”
“Thanks again for being willing to do this for Sierra’s sake.”
Makayla just nodded then watched as he made his way out of her office. It seemed like each of their interactions managed to chip away at the reservations she had about him. But still, in the back of her mind, was the thought that he was well aware of the fact that she was not exactly pleased with his presence in the company. She was beginning to see how deep his devotion to his sister went. And it left her wondering just how far he would go to guarantee a permanent position with C&M Builders.
“Hey, Kayla,” Tami called down the hallway to Makayla’s room.
“What’s up?” Makayla asked as her friend appeared in the door of her bedroom. Makayla had been in the process of getting changed out of her church clothes and into something more comfortable.
“I want you to put on something cute and summery,” Tami said as she dropped down onto Makayla’s bed.
Makayla shot a curious look in her direction as she went to hang her clothes up in the walk-in closet. She came back out with a more casual shirt and a denim skirt that stopped just above her knees.
“So just what exactly have you gotten me into this time around?” Makayla asked as she got dressed.
“Well, to be honest, it wasn’t just me.”
“What wasn’t just you?” Makayla asked as she changed.
“Grace suggested it, and I thought it was a good idea and so did your brothers.”
Resolved to be a participant in whatever they had already decided, Makayla found a pair of sandals in the closet and sat down on her bed beside Tami to slip them on. “So what are the details?”
“Well since it’s Ethan’s new here, we invited him and Sierra to come with us down to the Forks. We figured we could hang out there for a bit. You know, show them the touristy stuff.”
A Change of Heart: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 1) Page 7