by Natalie Ann
She was making changes in her life, but it was hard and slow coming, even though she was working on it. “I’m trying to fix that.”
“Good. You should; life’s short. Live a little. Have some fun once in a while.”
She was trying. Why else would she have agreed to this, or even to a date with him in the first place? That was a big step forward for her, but she wasn’t about to admit it to him.
Ten minutes later they were pulling into Harper Construction’s offices. “I’ll wait here for you,” she offered.
“No, come on in. It might take a second. You can meet Sean at the very least. You two would probably get along well.”
She was pretty sure there was joke in there but wasn’t sure why. “How’s that?”
“He likes to sit behind a computer all day long too.”
She nodded and climbed out of the truck, not really knowing what to say to that.
Following him in, she took note of the reception area and the photos of all their builds hanging on the walls.
“Hey, Drew.”
“Hi, Mary. Brynn in her office?”
“She is.”
“This is Jordyn Montgomery. She’s going to be taking some pictures and developing the website for Harper’s.”
“Nice to meet you. I can’t wait to see how it all looks when you’re done.”
“Thanks,” Jordyn said and tried to keep a straight face at the neon yellow shirt with blue polka dots on it that Mary was wearing.
Drew started to walk down the hall, so she followed him. He stopped quickly in a doorway, causing her to bump into his back. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
He turned and smiled. “My fault. I didn’t know Phil was here. I’ll introduce you.”
Phil Harper, she assumed, stood up from behind his desk and came forward. “Hi, nice to meet you. Jordyn, right? I heard Drew telling Mary.”
She took a step forward and accepted his handshake, then stepped back next to Drew. Phil looked oddly familiar to her, but she brushed it aside since she’d never met him prior to today. It was probably nothing more than a picture of him or Alec when she had been researching information on Harper’s before she contracted with them. She knew they were twins.
“Thanks for the opportunity.”
“We’re glad you’re able to do this. And Alec and I are even happier that Brynn and Sean are taking the lead on it, too.”
“Not getting much sleep?” Drew asked.
“I look that bad, do I?” Phil asked, slanting his eyes at Drew. “The answer is no. Ian is finally sleeping through the night, but now Sophia is at the uncomfortable stage and is up most of the night tossing and turning.”
Drew turned to Jordyn. “Ian is their son, he’ll be one in a few weeks, and Sophia is due after the first of the year with their daughter.”
“Congratulations,” Jordyn said.
“Thanks,” Phil replied.
Jordyn thought that was the proper response, or maybe it wasn’t. She’d better look up more things on social graces and etiquette. It really was easier to stay home away from everyone.
Talking with others never seemed as hard as it did lately. So many new situations and people around her now, even the environments were foreign to her, so much so it was hard to keep up.
Phil went back to his office and they moved a few feet to see Brynn sitting at her desk. More surprising was the fat bulldog lying in front of the door, not budging. Not even when Drew stepped over him to walk into the office.
“Don’t worry about Droopy; he probably doesn’t even know we’re here.”
She’d take Drew’s word for it since the dog hadn’t moved an inch, nor had the soft snores missed a beat as she stepped over him to join Drew in the office.
“It’s his nap time,” Brynn said.
“It’s always his nap time.”
Jordyn turned to see a man standing in the doorway behind her. He stepped over the dog and approached her. “I’m Sean Callahan. It’s nice to finally meet you. Brynn’s been singing your praises for days and I’ve loved everything she’s shown me.”
“I’m glad. I really enjoy web design and I think the site is going to look wonderful with all the pictures.” A flood of emotions from the praise rushed through her.
“Brynn told me it was your idea to show the pictures in stages. I think potential customers will appreciate seeing more than the before and after photos.”
“I told her she could take pictures of the guys too. Service with a smile,” Drew added with a wink.
“I’m sure plenty of them will be willing to have their picture taken by Jordyn. Don’t you think, Drew?” Brynn asked eying him.
He curled his lip at his sister while Jordyn looked on, confused. “I’m sure.”
Left Behind
Damn his sister for getting her digs in. Now she knew he had an interest in Jordyn.
Not that she would judge or say anything about it, but she would bust on him and ask questions.
In the past if he’d ever tried to tell her to mind her own business she’d always come back with, “What, you can be protective with me, but I can’t be with you?”
She was right: he was that way. And he really didn’t mind if she was that way with him. Only this time, Brynn didn’t know what was going on and he didn’t want anyone making comments or questioning him.
They’d pulled up to the third house. The first two had crew in it working, so Jordyn quickly took a few pictures of the work in progress, and Brynn already had before pictures. They got out of the crew’s way rather quickly.
“The guys were really nice about me coming in and taking the pictures. They didn’t mind having to stop at all.”
“Of course they aren’t going to complain when a pretty woman asks them to stop and take a break,” he said.
“You think I’m pretty?”
“You really need to ask that?” Did she not look in the mirror?
“I wouldn’t have if I thought it was true.”
“Seriously, Jordyn. You’re pretty when you’re in leggings, an oversized sweatshirt, no makeup and your hair pulled up. You were downright stunning when I picked you up for our date the other day.”
She couldn’t be this clueless. She was the wholesome girl that had beauty down to her soul. She didn’t have to try, not one bit.
More than that, there was an allure to her, an innocent nature that brought something out in him. He didn’t think she would agree, so he didn’t mention that part.
She blushed, then mumbled, “Thanks,” before turning her head and climbing out of his truck.
He didn’t know what that was all about. He knew she was shy, but she seemed almost embarrassed by his compliment just now.
He walked over and reached for her arm and turned her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He knew a liar when he saw one, and she wasn’t very good at hiding it. He tilted his head to the side, gave her a long stare, and she finally said, “I’ve never been told I was pretty before. It came as a shock, but a nice one.”
He’d thought she was an introvert, but now he was suspecting she’d been pretty sheltered and it bothered him more than he could express. All those protective instincts of his wanted to leap forward and shake her and tell her to open her eyes and stop doubting everything in her life.
But he wasn’t close enough to her to do that, no matter how much he felt she needed to hear it.
Instead, he lifted his finger and thumb under her chin, looked in her eyes and said, “Everything about you is beautiful. Not just what I see on the outside.”
He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips and tried to quiet his beating heart. He hadn’t meant to say that to her and wasn’t quite sure what to make of how wide her eyes had been before they closed during his kiss.
Stepping back, he said, “Let’s go check out Harper’s newest flip.” He took a few steps away and walked up the front porch to unlock the door.
“This isn’t what I
expected,” she said.
“Why’s that?”
“Brynn sent me a bunch of pictures of Harper’s properties and they all look so modern.” She paused and looked around the older home. “This is in worse shape than mine, and much older.”
He laughed. “That’s why they’re flipping it. It will be all modern inside when they’re done.”
She wrinkled her nose. “True. I should have realized that.”
Jordyn took her camera out, pulled the cap off the lens and started to push some buttons on the back. She held it up and took some random pictures, then eyed the screen.
“What are you doing?”
She looked startled by his question. “Just adjusting my lighting on the camera.”
“I can turn the lights on,” he said grinning at her.
“No, the natural light through the windows is best right now. Some rooms might need the additional light, but this works great. The big windows are awesome.”
He walked around the house with her as she took multiple shots in each room from different angles. He wanted to talk to her, but she seemed so serious, he didn’t want to interrupt. It was almost like she was in another world and he wasn’t even in the house with her.
***
“Are you all done now?”
Jordyn turned at Drew’s question, all embarrassed. She’d totally lost track of time and really zoned out completely, forgetting he was in the house with her. “Can we go to the attic?”
“Why do you want to go up there?”
She shrugged, almost afraid to admit something so foolish and whimsical, but finally let go and said simply, “I love old attics that big houses like this have.”
“Why’s that?”
She’d felt so bad ignoring him while she was taking the pictures she decided it wouldn’t hurt to be more forthcoming, even if she felt it was silly.
“My mother’s house had a big old attic. I used to love going up there as a child to play, getting into old boxes of clothes and creating my own world in my head.”
“Did you play by yourself?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled and followed him up the stairs after he found the light switch at the bottom.
“You didn’t have a lot of friends, did you?”
He didn’t ask it in a mean way, she could tell, but more out of curiosity. “No, not really. The shy, smart, timid girl, remember?”
“Their loss, then.”
She didn’t really believe that, but it was nice he’d said it. “Isn’t this awesome? Look around at all this space. Do you think they will do anything with it?”
“I doubt it. Just reinforce it,” he said, his foot stepping on a loose board. “Clean it up and make it a good storage space.”
“That’s nice. It should be kept as an attic. Let the new owners have their own memories.”
“It’s important to you, isn’t it? To have memories to carry on with.”
“That’s all I’ve got. Oftentimes I had to create my own since I don’t know anything about my mother’s past.”
She could have kicked herself for saying that, especially when his eyes widened. She’d gotten so lost in the mystery and possibilities of the space around her, that she lost the focus she was trying to maintain around him and reverted back to speaking without thought.
“What do you mean? Was your mother hiding?”
She didn’t want to lie to him, but she didn’t want to go into too much depth either. She couldn’t take back what she’d said though.
“No. All I know is that she left home when she was pregnant with me and never had contact with her family again.”
“What about your father’s side of the family?”
“I never knew my father.” She took a deep breath and then took a risk—probably one of her bigger risks—and said, “That’s what I’m here to find out.”
“Here, meaning Saratoga? That’s what you’re looking for?”
He looked stunned, but curious too, not judgmental, so she continued on. “Yes. I know his name. I’ve got a few more facts I’ve pieced together, but I’ve come up empty-handed. Anyway, it brought me here and is giving me a purpose, you could say. So, tell me things you like to do.”
“Big change in the conversation. Guess you don’t want to talk anymore about you,” he said, smirking at her.
It was a pretty weak ploy, she knew. “I don’t have much more to say in that aspect. I’m still getting a grasp on things. So no, let’s talk about the present, not the past.”
“Okay. You can have your way for now.”
Her eyes narrowed when he said that, unsure if he was teasing her or not. She was glad he dropped it though.
She’d been snapping pictures while she casually talked about why she was in Saratoga, but now that she was done, she thought maybe she could find out more about his likes and dislikes in order to figure out a second date.
She cleared her throat and asked again, “So, what things do you like?”
“I like a lot of things. I like all sorts of sports, to watch and to play. I like working with my hands,” he said lifting them and wiggling them around, then grabbing her quickly at her waist and giving her a little squeeze.
Whoa, she hadn’t expected that and though she was shocked, it felt nice. Sweet almost. Carefree. “Did you play any sports as a kid?”
“I did. I played football and track and field.”
“I don’t see you as a runner.”
“What, are you saying I’m too fat to be a runner?”
Oh no, she insulted him. “No, not at all. But you do seem more muscular than most runners. I thought that you didn’t look the type to go running.”
He laughed at her, then grabbed at her waist again, swinging her around playfully.
“I’m joking, Jordyn. Relax. And you’re right: I wasn’t a runner. I was a long jumper and triple jumper.”
She looked down at his legs. They were pretty long and pretty muscular, as she’d originally thought. At least they looked it in his jeans. She better stop looking though. She didn’t want him to catch her.
“I don’t think I would have pictured you doing that either.”
“My mother always said I was a little monkey as a kid, jumping everywhere. She was the one who encouraged me to try that in school. I was pretty good.”
She saw the soft look come across his face and remembered his mother had passed away.
“Brynn told me Grace’s full name is Colleen Grace.”
“She was named after our mother, yes. We both said we’d always do that, whoever had the first daughter.”
“Are you upset they don’t call her Colleen?”
“No. My father still talks about my mother frequently.” He stopped and laughed. “He dreams about her all the time and tells us everything. We have nothing but wonderful memories of her, but my father was right when he said Grace didn’t look like a Colleen. She really looks so much like Alec, it seemed odd to call her Colleen. It still means the same to us in our hearts.”
“Do you mind me asking what happened?”
He talked so openly about his mother, even his father. She’d never been able to talk about family that way and was slightly jealous over it.
“She died in a car accident when I was twenty. Bad roads coming from work one night. Brynn was away at college, and I was at community college. I was a wreck. My father rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. All I thought of was getting to Brynn, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t make myself get in the car and go get her.”
“How far away was she?”
“About ninety minutes. Not far. The roads were bad still, but I needed to get her and bring her home. I just couldn’t. She needed to be with us too. I couldn’t even bring myself to call her, but had to and finally did. My father was devastated. It was a very bad period of time for us.”
She saw the love in his face and heard it in his voice. The anguish over losing his mother, the pain his father went through, and all he talked about was gettin
g his sister, not how devastated he was, though she knew it by his tone just now. He really was protective by nature.
“How did she get home?”
“I called Carly, Brynn’s roommate. She drove Brynn home and stayed with us for several days. She did a lot for our family during that time. Just sort of took care of us while we took the next steps. It’s crazy how in one moment your world can change forever. There was no warning, nothing. She kissed me on the cheek when I left for class like she always did. She probably kissed my dad before he left too, the same as always. Only she never came home that night.”
“Watching a loved one die isn’t any easier than having it happen suddenly like that,” she said absently.
He shook his head and walked over, grabbed her hand, and said, “You’re right. It’s not. Is that how it was for you? You said you took care of your mom. What happened?”
Since he just told her, she felt it was only right to share her story. That bond between them she’d felt before.
“My mother had ALS. It’s a nasty disease and it’s horrible to watch the person you love grow weaker until they can’t even breathe on their own, yet you know looking in their eyes, their mind is working. They know what is going on, but have no control over their body.”
It was more than she’d ever said to anyone before and she was fighting the tears back in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Jordyn. You’re right: it’s not something anyone should have to go through. I guess we both know what it’s like to lose a mother. Different ways, but still the same end result for those left behind.”
She’d never thought of it that way.
First Time
“So this is your house?” Jordyn asked an hour later. They’d finished going through most of the rehabbed houses, and all that was remaining were the two that had residents. They were waiting for those homeowners to come home to let them in.
She’d taken hundreds of pictures between the rehabs, the new flip, and all the houses under construction in the development Drew lived in.
“It is for now.”
He let her in the front door and she looked around, noticing how big and open it was, not to mention clean. Well, he did say he liked things organized, but part of her really expected the house to be a little messy. Two guys did live in it.