A Change of Heart: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 1)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  Ethan glanced down at his notepad, hoping he could make sense of everything he’d jotted down as she talked. The best thing was that it didn’t appear that he would have direct responsibility for messing up anyone’s paycheck.

  When he glanced up again, Makayla was watching him. “Do you have any specific questions? Or is there something you don’t understand about the process?”

  Hoping he was right, Ethan shook his head. “I think I have a pretty good grasp of how this works, but when I check over contractor invoices for the first time, I may need to ask you a couple of questions.”

  Makayla nodded. “And that’s fine. Once you’ve done it a few times, it will get easier since it will make more sense to you. But in the meantime, don’t ever hesitate to come and ask for clarification on anything. The good thing is, we can pretty much fix any errors that do occur, but of course, it’s preferable to keep them to a minimum.”

  “Yes, when it comes to dealing with people’s income, the fewer the mistakes, the better,” Ethan agreed. “Was there more that you needed to go over with me?”

  “For now, those are the most important things to cover.” Makayla regarded him for a moment. “Did you enjoy the time at The Forks yesterday?”

  Ethan nodded. “And Sierra had a blast shopping—as she always does.”

  “Yeah. She and Danica seemed to have a lot of fun.”

  “Did they eventually talk you into buying the glass figurine?”

  Makayla smiled, and Ethan felt his previous resolve to keep his distance from her slip a tiny bit. He liked seeing her smile at him without the reserve or wariness she’d had when they first met. Ethan had to remind himself that he needed to be focused on his job and Sierra, not on how pretty Makayla was or how much he wanted to keep making her smile.

  “Yeah.” She laughed. “How could I resist?”

  “I’m sure the girls helped you decide. They seemed quite determined that you buy it.”

  Before Makayla could reply, her phone rang.

  “I’ll let you get that.” As Ethan got to his feet, he picked up his notepad and a now empty cup of coffee and gave her a smile.

  Ethan could feel Makayla’s gaze on his back as he left her office. By the time he got back to his own desk, he needed a few minutes to decompress from everything he’d tried to cram into his brain in the past hour. His brain was definitely in need of a break, and he planned to give it one when he went to pick up Sierra at lunch.

  *

  As Makayla watched Ethan walk out of her office, she hoped that the man really did feel comfortable coming to her with any future questions. He had seemed to focus intently on what she was saying and had spent a good deal of time jotting stuff down on the notepad he’d brought. Only time would tell if he really did feel confident in his understanding of what she’d shared with him.

  After finishing the phone call with one of their contractors, Makayla reached out and pulled her second monitor back into place. Clicking through the email that had come in during their meeting, Makayla found herself having to reread portions of each one when her attention wandered from their content.

  As much as she hated to admit it, Ethan had hit a few of her buttons again during their meeting. And not in a bad way. The cologne that had teased her the previous day when they’d all been together was definitely his. No one else had been in her office that morning, so when she’d recognized it again as she’d walked past him to get her cup of coffee, she’d known it was his.

  Different people enjoyed different senses. Some found rapture in the sound of beautiful music. Others loved the feel of satin or a different type of texture beneath their fingertips. Still others loved to view art or taste the delicate flavors of some fine cuisine. But for Makayla—even though she loved the taste of chocolate—the scent of a nice cologne or perfume was tantalizing for her. And it wasn’t the only thing she enjoyed smelling. Fresh baked bread. Melting chocolate. Cinnamon. Coffee. They were all aromas that brought her joy and comfort.

  And over the years of dating, she’d come to realize that she really liked it when a man smelled good. Whether it was just a fresh, clean smell or a nice cologne, it was a definite attraction for her.

  In addition to smelling good, Ethan had also upped his wardrobe. Makayla wasn’t sure who he’d had to help him, but the gray slacks and dark blue shirt he wore that day were very complimentary to his light gray eyes and hair.

  After reading the same email over twice and still not registering what it was about, Makayla shoved back from her desk and grabbed her empty coffee mug. She left her office and headed towards the foyer where Grace sat behind her desk. The woman glanced up as she walked past and grinned.

  “So how did your meeting go with Ethan?” Grace asked as she leaned back in her chair.

  “It went fine.” Makayla filled her mug with coffee then turned to face her friend. “Don’t you have payroll stuff to be working on?”

  “I do,” Grace said with a vigorous nod of her head. “My manager is really uptight about stuff like this, but I’ll happily risk her wrath for a little bit of gossip.”

  Though she rolled her eyes at her friend, Makayla couldn’t keep from smiling. “Uptight, eh?”

  “Yeah. The worst.” Grace spun her chair from side to side. “Personally, I just think she’s in need of a boyfriend to keep her busy.”

  This time, Makayla accompanied her eye roll with a groan. “I’m not going to argue that point because your manager probably wouldn’t object to having a boyfriend. However, she’s also smart enough to know better than to engage in a relationship with someone she works with.”

  “Well, that was really only a valid argument up until recently since she was pretty much related to everyone she worked with.” Grace grinned. “But now there’s fresh meat.”

  “And I am so done with this conversation,” Makayla said as she shook her head in exasperation at her friend and headed for the hallway that led to her office.

  The rest of the week passed quickly for Makayla. Between the payroll and her other job responsibilities, her days were full. She had noticed that Sierra was also in the office most afternoons that week. At first, she’d wondered if the girl had wanted to do some work, but it seemed that the teen was more than content to spend her afternoons in the lunchroom reading or working on her sketchpad. She did help out when Danica was around but otherwise seemed happy to just be near her brother.

  Ethan had been in and out of the office all week with Bennett. She knew that part of that was him still training for Bennett’s position and had most likely been meeting with the suppliers that Bennett used for the work that the company did. Makayla told herself that she was only aware of his comings and goings for work purposes.

  Even though it was totally ridiculous to even think about getting involved with Ethan, she found herself admiring him in ways that she hadn’t thought she would at their first meeting. She had to admit that one of the biggest things that attracted him to her had to do with Sierra and how he treated her. Not many men would put up with a fourteen-year-old girl hanging around them as much as Sierra was around Ethan. There was never any doubt that he didn’t just tolerate her presence, he enjoyed having her with him. Makayla could tell that it was because he wanted to be able to take care of her. Because at the age of fourteen, no one should have to take care of themselves.

  Friday morning when she got to her office, Makayla spotted another pile of foil covered chocolates in the middle of her desk. She stood there for a moment staring at them, wondering if she should even bother trying once again to track down who had left them there for her.

  “Good morning, Makayla.” The sound of Ethan’s voice from behind her had Makayla swiveling on her heel to face him.

  “Good morning,” she said as she took in his appearance in her office doorway.

  She noticed right away that he had gotten his hair cut. It had less of a shaggy look to it than it had when she’d seen him the day before. And Bennett must’ve let him in on the fact tha
t Fridays were less formal around the office, because instead of a shirt and tie, Ethan wore a light blue polo tucked into a pair of dark jeans.

  Makayla herself was dressed a bit more casually, but she still didn’t completely abandon what she normally wore during the week. She just felt more comfortable in professional attire when she was at the office.

  Setting her laptop bag on the desk, Makayla asked, “What can I do for you?”

  “Bennett gave me some invoices to review and then said to leave them on your desk when I was done.” He held out a small stack of papers. “I was just going to drop them off. I was wondering, however, if we only keep hard copies of invoices or are they digitally saved as well?”

  Makayla took the papers and stepped around her desk to face him. “We keep hard copies of all the invoices, but we keep digital scans of them as well. When we meet to go over the accounts receivable and payable, I’ll show you the directory where all invoices are scanned so you can access them from your computer as well.”

  “Okay, sounds good. I was just wondering about that because with what Bennett has been having me do, being able to access some of those invoices will help when putting together certain bids.”

  Makayla nodded. “Often you can use the information that’s available in our accounting program, but Bennett used to like to look at the invoices directly when he was preparing quotes and bids.”

  A ghost of a smile crossed Ethan’s face as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I think I’m starting to get the hang of all of this. I didn’t use computers a whole lot at my previous job. In fact, what little I do know about computers I’ve learned from Sierra. She’s definitely more adept at that than I am.”

  Makayla smiled, thinking that it explained why he hadn’t had any social media accounts. “I know how you feel. Dalton is a year older than Sierra, but he’s got his own show on YouTube. He does all kinds of stuff with recordings and then editing videos. I wouldn’t have the first idea about the stuff he does.”

  “Sierra mentioned something about that the other day. I think she was watching some of his videos. The music ones that he does with your sister and the other guy that was with us at The Forks.”

  “Yeah, they call themselves 3D, and they’re pretty talented, I have to say. In addition to their YouTube videos, they’ve been able to sing the national anthem at some hockey games, so that’s been exciting for them.”

  Ethan shifted from one foot to the other. “Maybe I’ll have to get Sierra to show me some of their videos on her tablet.”

  With her mind still partly on the chocolates, Makayla said, “Hey, did you want a kiss?”

  She figured that if he’d left the candy, he’d know exactly what she was referring to or…he’d look shocked and a bit alarmed. Realizing that might not have been her best idea, Makayla quickly plucked one of the candies off her desk and held it out to him, hoping it would put his mind at ease.

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  A Hershey’s Kiss,” Makayla assured him. “These ones have almonds in them.”

  Ethan’s brows rose a fraction as his gaze dropped to the candy she held. The shock on his face had passed, but Makayla couldn’t read any other expression.

  “Isn’t it a bit early for chocolate?” Ethan asked, not making any move to take the candy from her.

  Makayla pulled her hand back and began to unwrap the chocolate. “It’s never too early for chocolate. It’s milk chocolate, and the almond has protein, so I figure we’ve got at least two of the food groups covered.”

  She saw a glint of humor in Ethan’s eyes as he said, “In that case, maybe I will have one. Just don’t tell Sierra.”

  Makayla reached down and picked up another candy. She held it out to him, dangling it between her fingers by the little paper tag out the top of it. “Well, Sierra told me that you usually have candy for her.”

  “This is true,” Ethan said as he took the candy from her then he pulled his other hand out of his jeans pocket. He held his hand palm up so that Makayla could see the five strawberry candies there. “I started carrying them around for her when she was really little. Maybe around five or so. It seemed that she was either sad or crying a lot of the time, so I started carrying candies to put a smile on her face whenever I saw her. It’s just kind of become our thing.”

  Makayla felt a tug at her heart as she listened to Ethan explain about the candies he shared with his little sister. She’d heard it from Sierra, but now hearing his side of it sweetened the story even more. “I know it means a lot to Sierra.”

  Ethan cleared his throat as he returned the strawberry candies to his pocket. “Well, I’d better get back to work. Have a good day.”

  And once again, before Makayla could respond, Ethan walked out the door and disappeared from her sight. With a sigh, Makayla sank down into her chair and reached out to pluck another candy from the pile.

  It definitely wasn’t too early for chocolate.

  *

  “Are you almost ready to go?” Sierra asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

  Ethan closed the lid of his laptop and nodded. He wasn’t entirely sure about their plans for the evening, but Sierra had been determined to do something besides sit in their apartment on a Friday night. So now they were on their way upstairs to Makayla and Tami’s place for dinner and a movie. Supposedly it was something they did every few weeks.

  Makayla had extended the invitation to Sierra, and, of course, his sister had said yes. Ethan questioned the intelligence of combining his work and personal life so closely. It wasn’t like he had never socialized with the people he’d worked with in Calgary. Sometimes he’d gone out with them for supper on a Friday night or to Bob’s place for a barbecue during the summer. But it was different here in Winnipeg. Not only was he working with these people, he was living next door to them and also socializing with them on a regular basis. He just didn’t know how smart that was.

  If he was honest with himself—and he tried to be whenever possible—he knew that a good deal of his reluctance came from spending time with Makayla. He had no problem hanging out with Bennett, Mitch, and Tristan, but spending more time with Makayla just didn’t seem to be a smart thing to do.

  He’d always heard that workplace relationships were a bad idea. And there was no doubt that if they did get involved and things went south, he would be the one leaving the company. He found himself drawn to Makayla, but at the same time, he didn’t want to lose this job. It was his dream job. It felt like it was the job he’d been born to do, and he really didn’t want to lose it.

  Somehow, he needed to keep his distance from Makayla. Things had to stay professional between them, or he was at risk of losing his heart to her completely. The only good thing was that it seemed that she no longer objected to his presence at C&M.

  Ethan pushed back from the table and grabbed his keys. He slid them into the pocket of the loose khaki shorts he wore. Sierra was already standing at the door, holding it open with an impatient look on her face. In her free hand, she held a container that Ethan knew contained oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and brownies that she’d spent the afternoon making.

  “All right, sunshine, let’s go.” Ethan followed her out the door and up the stairs to Makayla’s apartment.

  The door opened almost immediately after Sierra knocked. Danica stood there with a smile as she greeted them, pulling Sierra into the apartment. Ethan followed more slowly and let the door close behind him. He heard lots of conversation as his gaze swept the large open area in front of him.

  Since it took up the whole third floor, the apartment was much larger than the one he shared with Sierra. The living room area was spacious with several different large pieces of comfortable looking furniture. To his right, he saw the kitchen and beyond that, a large table in the dining room. To his left was a hallway that he assumed ran to where the bedrooms were.

  “Hey there, Ethan,” Tami said as she approached him. “I’m so glad the two of you could make it.”

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p; Ethan gave her a small smile. “Thank you for the invitation. Sierra was very excited to be able to join you guys tonight.”

  Tami arched a brow and grinned. “Only Sierra?” She slid her arm into his and began to move him in the direction of where the other people were gathered. “You just wait. I think you’ll find that this evening is exactly what you need after a busy week at work.”

  Tami slipped away from him as Bennett came to where he stood. “Glad you could make it, man. How are you finding things with your apartment? Getting settled in?”

  Ethan nodded. “The apartment is great. I’m especially thankful for the second bedroom for Sierra since it looks like she’ll probably be spending the summer with me.”

  Ethan had told Bennett a little bit about the situation with his dad and stepmom. He told him just enough to make it clear that Sierra was better off with him that her parents.

  “Well, it’s a good thing that she has you to turn to.” Bennett shifted to stand next to him, his arms crossed.

  The doorbell went again and this time, when Danica answered it, it was Grace and Franklin. It looked like this was going to be pretty much the same group that had gathered together at the Forks the previous week. However, before they began to eat, a few more people arrived that Ethan didn’t recognize.

  “Ethan, I’d like to introduce you to Erin and James. They are members of our life group at church.” Then Bennett clapped the shoulder of another man who approached them. “And this guy is from our group too, but he also does some work for us at the company. Lee helps take care of our IT and makes sure that the computer system runs smoothly.”

  Ethan greeted each of them in turn. To date, the only people outside of their family group had been Grace and Franklin and Tami, but he could tell from the way that these newcomers greeted the others already there that they were frequent participants in these get-togethers.