A squeal indicated Lily had spied the kittens. “Awwww.”
Eva didn’t know how to contain this exuberant woman-child, so instead she scratched a purring Mama cat under the chin. Cats were easy. A baby would be easy compared to this teenager. Eva and Marcus were supposed to be starting their family now. She had wanted it, had pushed for it. Maybe too hard. He’d backed off, backed out of everything. Never mind. For now what she had were baby kittens and, apparently, a human teenager.
“They’re still too small to handle,” Lily said, when Bob reached out to touch a kitten. Eva wondered if Lily had been raised on a farm, or at least a place big enough for barn cats. She hadn’t seen any vehicle except Bob’s truck in the driveway. So either Lily had walked here or someone had dropped her off. Or, God forbid, she’d been hitch-hiking on the highway.
After the proper amount of admiration for the kittens, Lily walked back out to the kitchen. Bob and Eva followed. Lily picked up her toilet paper, stabbing Bob with a powerful gaze.
“The window. Right,” he said. “Be right there.”
He rummaged in a bag laying on the table, dumping the contents, a dozen mousetraps, onto the table. He snagged one and started after Lily.
“Bob,” Eva said, “Lily looks awfully young.”
“She is, but that’s okay,” Bob said. “Since I’m staying in the cabin next to her, she should be safe. And since you’re giving us room and board, I can fit her into the budget you’ve given me.”
“You’re moving in?” That meant he’d be onsite full time. Probably not a bad idea, but still, Eva was astounded. “You live with Daniel.”
“Yeah, I did. I had to move out. He was giving me grief.”
“Why?” Eva remembered back to her days as an eighteen year old. Grief covered a lot of territory. Like everything. Eva’s head pounded. She couldn’t turn these kids away. Not right now. Not unless she wanted Lily hitchhiking further downstate to her possible death by serial killer who preyed on young female hitch-hikers.
“Didn’t you say the bathrooms in those cabins are still non-functional?” Eva asked.
“They’re okay. I turned the water on and my toilet and sink work. We can just use your bathroom to shower and stuff.”
Eva hoped he didn’t mean her cottage bathroom. Those places were tiny. She had to draw the line somewhere, inexperienced as she was at doing so. “Listen, Bob, you and Lily can use the bungalow bathroom, but not my cottage. I will be working round the clock and cannot be disturbed.”
“That’s cool.”
“How old is Lily?”
“Eighteen,” Bob said. “I checked her I.D.”
If Lily had been on the road, she was probably hungry. And if Bob was actually living here, he’d be hungry by dinnertime, too. Didn’t young men eat their equivalent in body weight on a daily basis? Her cupboard was bare. Eva felt baffled at suddenly finding herself surrounded by kids and cats, not to mention the promise of enormous grocery bills. At least for a little while. Until Eva could discover Lily’s story and figure out how to get her home where she belonged.
“Lily would be a great maid, you know, once you get the cottages renting.” Bob, obviously sensing her reservations about the situation, had followed Eva out to the office.
She had been planning to hire a woman to assist her. It was hard enough keeping her own house clean without doing it six more times every week. The laundry. The vacuuming. With the lake, the towels alone would be a nightmare. And Lily could help her with so many little things, like washing the china and other stuff for the cottages. Eva had what felt like an endless list of stuff that needed doing, stuff that took time away from her working on the marketing campaign, which had to be, for the next several days, her top priority.
What she really needed now, this minute, was to talk to someone who could advise her on how to handle teenagers. She only knew one person in Blue Lake who fit that bill. And he probably wasn’t going to be happy that one of the teenagers she needed help with was his little brother.
Chapter Nine
Eva drove through town, riding up and down streets, looking for Daniel’s house. She wasn’t sure how he was going to take the news that Bob was moving in with her. Or that she had hired a pair of guys to do a job that they, by the look of the staircase they’d started, didn’t seem equipped to handle.
She parked in front of Daniel’s house. Okay, she could do this. She could ask for his advice without crossing any lines. They could be friends. They could work together. They didn’t have to go any further than that. Yes, she was attracted to him, but that was just left-over baby lust from Marcus. Or maybe seeing Mama with her kittens had brought that subliminal desire for a baby roaring back to life, and her cavewoman genes had chosen Daniel for the daddy. That was all this was. But she was smarter than biology. And stronger.
She stared at the huge house. It sat upon a good amount of space on the wide lot. Three-storied. Brick. Large porch with the thick stone piers. She was stalling. How to ask for his help? How to bring up the subject? “Oh by the way, your brother took some beds from your house and moved in with me and a teenage girl he picked up off the highway” seemed inappropriate on so many levels. She wouldn’t mention the roof situation, the attempt at a staircase, or that scary sliver of sky. For all she knew, they’d just roughed something in to get an idea of dimension. They’d probably be fine once they got into it. Okay, she needed to quit stalling and just go ring the doorbell already.
She climbed, trepidation and something else, possibly house envy, in every step. The details of this house were perfect. Mellow warm brick. Wood trim stained a gorgeous mahogany color. Gleaming glass inserts in double front doors. Thanks to Daniel, she now knew that this glass was original, knew how to spot the waviness that gave it away. And she was still stalling. What was he going to do, bite her? And why did that random thought make her heart pound harder?
She took a breath and rang the bell. She heard footsteps and then there was Daniel, at the door. Looking too beautiful to be a bad guy. If it ever happened, if they did have a child together, it would be a beauty. Male or female. Just with his DNA alone. Stop it! she warned herself.
“Hey you, come on in.” He seemed delighted to see her.
“I don’t want to disturb you, but something’s come up.”
“With Blue Heaven?”
She wanted to confide in him about her doubts regarding her building team, but resisted. “No, the project’s fine.”
“Oh. Good.”
Gee, she felt like an idiot. She suddenly blanked on why she was here.
“How’s it going? What do you need?” He took both her hands and pulled her from the porch into an entryway as big as her bedroom.
****
When Eva had shown up at Daniel’s door, it was as if he’d conjured her. He’d just been thinking about her, daydreaming about the way her stomach curved in and how those curves were places you could get lost in. They’d gotten close to something the other day at her place. Maybe today they would get back there, and then some.
“Want a quick tour?” He’d like to start the tour in the bedroom, but that would be too obvious. In some ways, Eva seemed as skittish as her cat.
“Well, okay.” Something was on her mind, but it couldn’t be too important or she’d have said what it was by now. Probably wanted to take him up on his loan offer and didn’t know how to ask.
He would put her at ease with his Bryman chat.
“This is the first house Bryman designed. And a member of his family has lived in it ever since.”
He led her through the dining room and into the kitchen. The three rooms were large, with wide openings. He pointed out features without really paying attention to his words. He couldn’t even hear himself, so focused was he on her standing next to him. He wanted to take her in his arms and do it on the dining room table. Even if she let him, and that was a big IF, it would probably be a mistake. Take it slow, that was the ticket.
“Scullery, laundr
y room, servant’s dining room, which I use as my office. I’ve kept everything authentic.”
In the other wing, he pointed out his billiard room, a library, and a room his mother had always called a morning room, maybe because it got full sun at that time of day.
“My grandmother liked to sew in here,” he said. She walked into every room, touching fabric, looking closely at wallpaper patterns, running her hands over the clean lines of the polished period furniture. She had run her hands over his skin, in just that same slow way.
He led her to his bedroom door. Sure, he’d skipped the four bathrooms and the other bedrooms. There were seven in all, and he didn’t have that kind of patience just now. Even though the stairs were right next to his rooms, he didn’t take her up to the third floor where the servant’s rooms used to be.
They stood rooted to the spot in front of his bedroom door.
“And this is the master suite,” he said, throwing open the door, pulling her inside, showing her how two bedrooms connected through the closet.
“There’s enough room for a bed in this closet,” she said. She’d been strangely silent through the tour. Some people got that way when they saw the house. It really was a grand old place. Daniel was very proud of it. He wasn’t trying to flaunt his wealth. He loved this old pile of stones, not because it was a status symbol, but because it was his heritage.
“I’m overwhelmed.”
“There was something you wanted to tell me,” he said, confident she’d come about the loan. He hoped she wouldn’t think she had to sleep with him to get the money. “If it’s about the loan, my offer still stands.”
“No, it’s not that.” She seemed to be fighting an internal war, trying to figure out what to say or how to say it and saying nothing instead. So he kissed her.
Chapter Ten
Eva wanted, more than anything, to feel Daniel’s mouth on hers. His kiss deepened and her cautious thoughts swam away like little fishes. She didn’t care. The sweetest thing, more than burning, more than desire, was feeling this close, like she knew him down to her soul, or at least his kiss knew the primal spot sweet and low inside her, where she ached to connect with him.
In his arms, she was not unemployed, not in over her head, not a used and discarded thing. There was just now, here, in this bed that felt like it was made of clouds. And him. This man, his hands reaching up under her shirt to feel her skin, resting his hand for a tantalizing moment against her hopeful beating heart before sliding them slowly down her breasts and out of her shirt again. Come back! She wanted to moan, but then he began pulling her blouse buttons open and kissing her neck. She shivered.
He pulled away just a little bit and looked at her. “Cold?”
“No.” She pulled him back to her.
“Good.”
And it was. She needed someone. She’d pretended for a long time that she was done with men, but that was just her getting over Marcus. Time to start again. In every way. And she needed to start clean by telling Daniel what she’d come here to say.
She moved her lips from his, down to his shoulder, putting both hands on either of his hard biceps. He still reached for her when she spoke. “I’m not sure how this started,” she said, feeling embarrassed as he finally realized she wanted to talk instead of kiss. He lay there, his eyes smoldering and sexy, taking in every inch of her all unbuttoned and open. “I came over here to talk to you.”
“I like this better.” He moved closer, closed his eyes.
“No, really. I think I better say this before we go any further. You might get mad at me if I don’t tell you.”
“Nothing could do that.”
He said it, but she could see the gears turning in his mind. He was wondering if she’d blown it with the bungalow somehow. And maybe she did. But that wasn’t what she was here to say. Because really, she didn’t know those guys were bad at their jobs. She’d give them a little more time. And family was more important anyway.
“Tell me.” He took her into his arms and she put her head on his shoulder.
“I wanted to let you know that the roofer brought the builder over today and they made a start on the staircase to the second floor.”
Daniel had been kissing her temple, her eyelid, her cheek, but his lips froze in place at her words. He stopped kissing her, eased away a little bit, and listened.
“I showed them the blueprints, but they did not handle them. Nobody’s handled the originals but us. I told them I’d get them a set to work off of soon. And then I went to Port Huron and got the copies made.”
He took his arms away from her and lay face up on his pillows. She peeked up to see his reaction. His eyes were closed and he was quiet, but he nodded.
“What’s the builder’s name?”
“Sam something. I have his card in my purse.” She had no idea where she’d left her purse. Daniel didn’t move when she said the builder’s name, but she felt a gap widen between them. He was not happy, but neither was he going to put up a fight. He was going to let her do things her way. Now was probably not the perfect time to tell him the other news, but she felt she should. He had to know. “And Bob moved in.”
“What?” His head shot up from the pillows, he frowned at her, then got up from the bed, pacing the floor. She felt stupid on the bed alone so she got up on the other side. He continued pacing as she twisted the buttons of her shirt closed. She could tell from his pacing that he was not happy right now. Not one bit.
“He found this girl hitchhiking on the highway, and he moved her into a cottage and then took another one next to her. They didn’t ask me, they did the whole thing while I was getting the blueprints copied in Port Huron. He said he could oversee the cottage renovations better if he stayed on site.”
“So send him home.”
“I tried that already. I told them the cottages weren’t ready, that I wasn’t set up yet for other people living on the premises, that I didn’t have the cash to pay a maid. They stonewalled me every time. I had no idea teenagers could be so stubborn.”
“Welcome to my world.”
“So what else can I do?”
“Fire him.”
“I can’t! I need him. He’s working wonders on my cottages. They’ll be finished in another week or so.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Those cottages aren’t near ready for occupation yet!”
“I know. That’s what I thought, but Peach is all set; I checked it out before I came here. And Bob claims he’s got two more that’ll do for now. Apparently he outfitted them with beds and things from the rooms here.”
Daniel struggled to get his emotions under control. What they were exactly, she couldn’t say. So she guessed.
“You’ve been a father to Bob all these years. This must be so difficult. Or, maybe, is it the furniture?”
“It’s not the furniture,” he said. “I did the best I could, but apparently, it wasn’t good enough. I mean, he’s leaving in the fall anyway. Maybe I should just let him go.”
Great. Now the problem of what to do with the teenagers was back in her lap. She didn’t see a way out. “I am so not equipped for this.”
“It was the same for me. Not a choice. The situation was forced on me. Parenthood at twenty. I wasn’t ready for it. Maybe you never are.”
But she had been ready to have children with Marcus, who had grown children and had not been interested in starting a second family. Of course he hadn’t told her that. For years he’d let her believe in the possibility, listening to her talk about kids and family with an indulgent, pleasant look on his face. When pressed, he’d even say the word “someday” when she’d ask if he could see them having children together. Liar.
Eva and Daniel looked at each other over opposite sides of the bed. Something had almost happened here. Just minutes ago she would have sworn they had started a relationship. And maybe they still could. Maybe he’d stop pacing and start kissing again soon.
“My parenting days are almost over anywa
y.” He stopped pacing at the door to the bedroom. “So in a way, it’s a relief.” He started walking out of the room. She had no choice but to follow him down the stairs. Kissing over for now.
He stood at the massive front doors. Time for her to leave. “I love Bob,” he said, “and I don’t regret quitting school to raise him, but I’m so done being a dad.”
She sucked her breath in hard. His parenting days were over? As good as Daniel’s kisses felt, as fine and gentle as his hands had been on her skin, she had to stop this thing that had hardly gotten started. For her own sake.
Her mother had told her that life was like school, and if you didn’t learn your lesson the first time something went wrong, the world would just keep sending you the same lesson in a different situation. That felt exactly what was happening here. Same situation, different guise. And she’d learned her lesson well.
“By the way, Sam’s the town drunk.”
“What? Who?”
“Sam. Your builder. He’s the town drunk. He’s okay on a crew, at least until lunch, but he can’t do this himself. And a roofer won’t know how to cope with building your precious addition.”
That stung. She stood at the door, feeling as if he’d just slapped her. He opened one of the wide wood doors, saying get out without using any words. He didn’t know this, but inside, she was having mini-meltdown. First he’d gotten her into bed way too easily, and then shut off the love the minute he learned about the events of the day, as if everything was her fault. Okay, well the builder was her fault. But not Bob. That was in no way her fault or responsibility. She’d tried to tell him to go home. And right now, she was holding on to too many strands, every single one of them pulling at her, making her temples pound.
“I’ll just have to keep an eye on him.” She picked up her purse from where she’d dropped it on a table, doing her best to shake off her restless sadness. “I have to go. There’s still so much to do.”
“I don’t see how you’re going to have things ready by Memorial Day weekend.”
She started to walk away, but his words stopped her.
Blue Heaven (Blue Lake) Page 6