by Anna Jeffrey
“I’m so envious,” Christa said. “This is an amazing home.”
“I know,” Shannon replied. “Sometimes I feel like I’m living in someone else’s house.”
“Didn’t your office have it listed for half a million?”
“Hm. My team tried to sell it for months and months, but there were simply no buyers. When the contract expired, Jim didn’t re-list, so I didn’t even know Drake was negotiating on it. I did know that Jim was facing foreclosure, so I’m sure Drake cut a heck of a deal.”
“He didn’t discuss it with you?”
“Nope. Total surprise.”
“No wonder you think you’re in someone else’s house. It didn’t bother you that he just went out and bought a house without involving you?”
“Why should it? It’s a beautiful home. He knew I liked it.”
Christa gave an evil grin. “I could look up what he paid for it.”
Christa was a closing officer at Camden’s busiest title company, which gave her easy access to most of what went on in the real estate business in Camden County.
“Don’t do that,” Shannon said. “I don’t want to know. I would probably feel guilty about it.”
“No reason for you to feel guilty.”
“I know. But you know how I am.”
“I certainly do. You’re a worry-wart.”
They had reached the great room, its massive rustic furniture accented with elaborate Southwest pieces . Christa ran her fingers along the back of a long sofa upholstered in tan distressed leather. “I didn’t know you were such a talented decorator.”
“Lord, I’m not. So much was going on with getting Drake moved from his condo in Fort Worth and me and Grammy Evelyn moved out of her house, there was no time to plan and decorate. Drake brought his professional decorator down from Fort Worth. She put the place together with almost no input from me or him either. I suppose she’s done enough work for him that she knows what he likes. It’s so perfect, I’m almost afraid to touch anything. So far, you’re the only person I’ve shown it to.”
“Well, it’s gorgeous. Looks like something right out of a magazine. Kind of a cross between western and traditional. But if you had nothing to do with it, is it the real you? ”
Shannon laughed. “I don’t know what the real me is when it comes to a place to live. I’ve never owned a house or even much furniture.”
“Funny. I always thought you looked at home in all of that baroque fussiness in your grandmother’s house.”
“I loved Grammy Evelyn’s house, but that wasn’t the real me, either. Most of what was in it belonged to her.”
Christa shook her head. “I don’t know, Shannon. It seems weird living in a place you didn’t pick out, surrounded by trappings you didn’t choose.”
Shannon laughed. “Christa. You’re fretting over things that aren’t important, at least not to me. The house is beautiful and extremely comfortable. I don’t have to do anything but enjoy it. Not having to worry with it freed me to focus on my business. With the economy improving, housing sales are picking up again and my team is busy. If it keeps up, I’m going to be looking for new agents.”
“How are you going to have time for that with the baby coming?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
“What about Colleen and Gavin? I’ll bet Gavin had an envy orgasm when he saw this place.”
Shannon’s hypercritical sister and brown-nosing brother-in-law were the last people to whom she wanted to show off her new home. She had a long and bitter history of battling them. She laughed. “I haven’t invited them.”
“Gavin is such a jerk. I’m surprised he hasn’t invited himself.”
“Oh, he’s pushing. He calls me every other day and wants to get together for a barbecue. I’m not yet psyched up for Drake to meet them. I don’t know how he’ll take to Gavin. He isn’t fond of lawyers in the first place, especially second-rate ones. And he doesn’t have any in-laws in his family.”
“He has outlaws instead?”
Shannon gave a little huff. “I think his mother is the outlaw.”
“After what she pulled on you, I’d say that description is kinder than called-for.”
Shannon immediately regretted that she had brought up Betty Lockhart. “I shouldn’t have said that. Now that we’re family, I hope to build a cordial relationship with her at some point.”
“Hm. Let me know how that turns out.”
“Meow,” Shannon said, angling a look at her. “You’re really on a tear today.”
“Sorry, girlfriend. It’s been a bad week.”
Shannon smiled. “Let’s change the subject. I’m so glad you were able to come out today. I miss our happy hour get-togethers.”
“I’ve been wanting to before now,” Christa said. “But this is the first time I’ve been free of both boys for a whole weekend since you got married. I miss those little stinkers already. I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself for two days.”
Christa had two sons, one with each of two ex-husbands. Her history with men hadn’t been much better than Shannon’s. That is, until Shannon met Drake.
“You’ll have to bring them out to watch movies on that monster TV set I showed you. It’s almost like being in a theater.”
“They’d be so thrilled. But you’d better be careful. They’d take over that big-screen TV in nothing flat.”
They reached the kitchen where delicious aromas filled the air. Earlier, Grammy Evelyn had put beans and ham in the Crockpot. “Want a glass of wine?” Shannon asked.
“Sure,” Christa answered. “I can afford to let my hair down tonight. But not too far. Dan and Kathy took those boys camping and fishing. I could get a phone call at any time.”
“Dan and Kathy. That’s Pete’s parents?”
“Yeah. They always take both boys. They think it would hurt Dustin’s feelings if they take Danny and not him. And I think they enjoy Dustin as much as they enjoy Danny.”
“See? That’s the importance of grandparents. To do things like that. That’s why I think I should try to get to be friends with Betty Lockhart. Drake and his brother say she’s wanted grandkids forever. And I happen to think kids should have a grandmother if possible.”
“So Drake has patched things up with his mother?”
“Oh, Lord no. But I’m trying to convince him he should. It’s his mother, forchrissake”
“That must be a tall order when you don’t have a relationship with your own mother,” Christa said.
“But my situation is different.” Shannon changed the subject of her own parents by pulling two crystal goblets from a long bank of cabinets. “We’ve got pink Chablis, burgundy, merlot, zinfandel and some others I can’t name. Drake loves wine, but I barely know one from the other. I can’t drink it now anyway.”
Christa chose pink Chablis. Shannon opened it and poured a glass for her friend, then poured golden apple juice for herself. Christa took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, looking around. “I’ve never been in a house that had so many cool features. I mean, this kitchen alone is enough to make a chef drool.”
Indeed Jim had built in every amenity a person could want in a kitchen. “Tell me about it. If only I could cook.” Shannon laughed heartily and gestured around the room. “I should probably learn to use some of these things.”
Christa sat back, and Shannon felt her scrutiny for a few beats.
“What?” Shannon asked.
Finally, a huge smile spread across Christa’s face. “You’re absolutely glowing. I’ve never seen you looking so, so…well, happy.”
“God, Christa, I can’t even describe it. Drake is so good, so easy to be with. He’s just…”
Shannon let her words trail off, lost for how to describe her new life or how she fell more in love every day with her new husband. She shook her head. “I’m still a little awe struck. All I can say is no one person should be as happy as I am. But in the back of my mind, I’m waiting for ever
ything to go to hell. I’m still a cynic where men are concerned.”
“I’m surprised things are going to well, to tell the truth,” Christa said. “From what you hear about Drake in the real estate world, he’s one ruthless sonofagun.”
Shannon gave a little gasp. “Why, Christa Johnson, you’re the one who urged me to pursue a relationship with Drake.”
Christa frowned. “I know, I know. I still remember that conversation at the Red Rover. But honestly, you do hear and read what a control freak he is. And that he has consideration for what anyone else thinks or wants. I’m not saying he’s a bully, but with so many people saying that about him, some part of it must be true. I figured he’d be highhanded as a husband and hard to live with. And you’re so independent. I honestly thought there’d be fireworks.”
Shannon had had every one of those same thoughts at different times, but she had never voiced them. So far, she had no reason to. “I think he might be that way in his business deals. There’s so much money at stake in everything he does and he has a powerful instinct for doing the right thing.
“As for him and me, we get along really well. We have the same views on most things. He gets a little bossy and overprotective sometimes, but not in a mean way. We’re both still learning to share the little things. He’s never been married. Never even lived with anyone, so he was used to making decisions without consulting someone else. He sometimes charges ahead and I have to remind him that we’re a twosome. It’s different for me. I’ve had a lot of practice considering how my decisions might affect someone else. I’ve rarely made a decision of any kind without thinking about how it would affect Grammy Evelyn and her cat.”
Just then, a sailboat with brilliantly colored sails caught her eye. “Oh, look, Christa, a sailboat.”
They sauntered to the window wall and looked out at the lake. The sailboat glided silently over the water, on its way to disappearing around a bend. A slight breeze broke the water’s surface and slashes of bright white light shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight. With the beginning of the weekend and the hot end-of-June-day, boats of all kinds had already gathered on the lake.
Christa turned to Shannon and lifted her glass in a toast. “Well, whatever happens, here’s to you, girlfriend. Amazing home in an incredible location and capturing one of the hottest guys in the whole damn state.”
Shannon touched Christa’s wine glass with her own glass. “That must make me the luckiest girl in the whole damn state, huh?”
They sipped, then Christa shook her head and said, “The way you struggled to make Piper Real Estate Company work and the things you did without. This must feel like a dream. And your grandmother with her own little suite. After spending her whole life in that falling-apart old house on the square, she must be in heaven. It’s almost like she has her own private domain.”
Shannon’s grandmother was now newly installed in her own suite that consisted of a sitting room off her bedroom and a bathroom. “She does seem to be floating on air these days. After I agreed to marry Drake, she feared she was going to end up in an institution of some kind, but Drake knew from the outset that I was a package deal. I would never have left Grammy Evelyn to fend for herself. It means a lot to me that he welcomed her. Even before we moved in, he contracted with Jim to add her space to one end of the house.
“And one of those new walk-in tubs in her bathroom, too,” Christa said. “I’ve been dying to see one of those in person. I want one.”
“He did it without even mentioning it. You know how I always worried about her falling in that old claw-foot bathtub in her house. It’s as if he read my mind. He’s like that. He thinks of things without being asked.”
“It was a nice thing for him to do.”
“I know you don’t trust him, but he’s a nice man, Christa. Honest.”
“I take your word for it. I’m still trying to get over having the money to remodel a brand new house for fun.”
Christa sipped again and they stood in silence for a few beats. “God, Shannon, you know what I thought about driving out here today? I was thinking about that slumber party at Chelsea Goodnight’s house when we were kids and how we played that silly game all about what we wanted out of life when we grew up. Every single one of us except you wanted to marry a rich guy. And now, you’re the only one of us who has actually done it.”
“I remember that, but I haven’t thought of it in years.”
“I was also thinking what if that other Realtor hadn’t given you that ticket to that Realtors’ ball? Have you seen him since that party?”
Shannon’s memory flew back to that fateful December evening at the TCCRA Christmas ball where she had met Drake just seven months ago. “Jordan Palmer?” She shook her head. “No reason to. He isn’t someone I have routine contact with. He thought that after he gave me that ticket I’d sleep with him. He also thought he was going to be able to horn in on my Benbrook Apartments deal.”
“When you think about it, he’s kind of like a fairy godmother. He came along just at the right moment in time and gave you that ticket. Add to that us finding that incredible green dress at Neiman’s and you thought it was too expensive, but you bought it anyway. Wonder what would’ve happened if you hadn’t? Or if you hadn’t gone to the party? Who knew that when you first met Drake Lockhart that you’d end up where you are now.”
Shannon placed her hand on her expanding stomach and laughed. “You mean five months pregnant? Guess that’s what comes from having a fling with a guy based on just sex, huh.”
“If you recall, girlfriend, I told you that wouldn’t work. Somebody always falls for somebody in those deals.”
“I should probably thank Jordan. As you say, fairy godmother and all that.” Shannon’s mood turned sober. “Seriously, sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself and wake up. I’ve really grabbed the brass ring.”
Christa snorted. “Hell, girl, you’ve latched on to the whole damn merry-go-round.”
“I feel guilty. What have I done to deserve so much?”
“Don’t think like that. What have you done not to deserve it? It’s fate.” Christa laughed. “Just think. Now, you could buy a whole store full of fancy dresses.”
Shannon laughed, too. “You won’t believe this. I can’t believe it myself. I now have a personal shopper at Neiman’s.”
Christa huffed. “Get out. And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t want to sound like I was bragging. We went to a formal dinner in Dallas about a month ago and I had nothing to wear except that green dress. I didn’t know it until after we moved into the same house, but Drake has a personal shopper. I always wondered how he always appeared to be so well put together. Anyway, Drake called him and he hauled me off to Neiman’s. He told the sales clerk where we were going and what kind of dress I would need and she picked out the perfect thing. I didn’t even have to think about it. Then, as soon as they found out who he was and who I was, before I knew what happened, I had my own account and a personal shopper.”
“There’s that control thing again. Wonder how long it’s going to be before that starts to get on your nerves.”
“Drake seems to know when I want my own space.”
“Let’s just hope he keeps knowing that.” Christa drained her wine glass.
Shannon took the glass. “Do you want another?”
“I don’t know if I should. I have to drive myself home.”
“You could spend the night. Or I can drive you and take your car in tomorrow. Or Steve can drive you.”
“You mean that scary-looking dude in the black Suburban? What’s up with that anyway? I mean he’s good-looking, but he’s still a little scary. He looks like one of those MMA guys.”
“Private security. His name is Steve Logan. I told you about it. It’s Drake’s Texas Ranger friend’s idea. After we had that wreck in Fort Worth, he thinks we’re in some kind of danger.”
“They haven’t found who hit you, huh?”
“Not yet.�
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“God, what if you had lost the baby?”
“I know. Not so long ago, I couldn’t have imagined the emotions such a possibility would gin up. Drake, too, was beside himself with worry. He was battered and bruised himself, but he spent the night in a chair beside my bed. His concern for the baby surprised me. Up until then, I wasn’t convinced he really wanted it. So I guess one positive thing came from the experience. We’re closer than ever. He tells me that except for his family, he’s never felt as close to anyone as he feels to me. And I now believe he does want the baby as much as I do.”
“I have to say, this is the first time in my life I’ve known somebody personally who has private security.”
“They’re good guys. They’ll do anything for me. I do feel safe when they’re around. Not that I felt unsafe before, but if there’s truly something to fear, I want them on my side. I’m alone out here quite a bit. As you can see, our nearest neighbor is a distance away and Drake puts in long hours when he goes to Fort Worth.”
Christa bobbed her brows. “Any of them single?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to ask?”
“No, of course not. I’m just saying…”
Shannon reached for Christa’s glass. “Let me get you another glass of wine. Don’t worry about getting home. We’ll manage it.” She carried the glass to the kitchen, picked up her cell phone from the counter and pressed in a number. “Steve, I have a friend visiting and she’s having wine. I might want to drive her home later. Or is it possible that you or Mike can take her home? She lives in town.”
“We’ll take care of it, Mrs. Lockhart. Just let me know.”
“Fine. Thank you.” Shannon disconnected, refilled Christa’s glass and returned to her side. “All taken care of. Now you can have another glass of wine without worrying about it.”
“What are y’all gonna do to the backyard?” Christa asked, taking the filled glass from Shannon.