“I mean, they’re cute, it’s just … they’re cute. Like high-school cute.”
“Point taken.” I hadn’t upgraded my wardrobe in years. Evidently it showed.
“I think you need to shake things up a bit. Make Chance see you as the woman you are. You said he’s known you since you were a kid?”
I nodded.
“Then he needs to be reminded that you’re not a kid anymore.”
“I can’t exactly wear cocktail dresses to work.”
“Well, not to the diner.”
“Maddie!” I stood up. This was not going to work. “I’m just not a cocktail dress kind of girl! Woman. Whatever.”
She put her hands on my shoulders and sat me back down. “I know that.” Her face softened.
I relaxed a little bit. Maddie had been a good friend, and she’d been through plenty of tough times herself. Even if she couldn’t help me here, I trusted her enough to listen.
“Okay. Fashion show time. Want a drink?” Maddie went to the refrigerator and pulled out two beers, handing me one after she’d opened it.
I didn’t usually drink, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I took the beer and wandered the room a bit, looking around. There was an incredible stone fireplace that dominated one side of the room. It was actually carved into a huge boulder that the house had been built around, and it was stunning as the fire inside the rock glowed and danced. The other side of the room was all glass panes, looking out over a deck outside and a verdant meadow just past the deck. Sadly, with the lack of water in the past couple years, the edges of the meadow were brown and wilted. “I bet this was incredible when the water was here,” I said.
Maddie nodded. “I haven’t seen it like that, but I bet you’re right. Everything up here brightens when there’s enough water.” We looked out the window for a minute and then Maddie turned to me again. “Okay, so can I give you a few things?”
Maddie disappeared upstairs and came back down with an armful of clothes, which she dumped onto the couch. “A lot of this stuff doesn’t fit me anymore. I’ve rounded out a bit since meeting Connor. He keeps feeding me.” She grinned and waved me toward the clothes.
“I can’t,” I said. Maddie’s stuff was super high end. She’d been the society type, living in big cities before she moved up here.
“Of course you can.” Maddie pulled out a blue shirtdress with a tied belt that was adorable. And designer. “This would look great on you! Kind of an upgrade from the denim skirt, but still casual and comfortable. Will you try it on?”
I raised an eyebrow at her. I didn’t like charity—and I didn’t need it. But her clothes were adorable. And much nicer than anything I’d ever choose for myself, and this felt more like girlfriends having a fashion show than like charity. “I’ll try it on,” I said. “But you can’t give all this stuff to me. My mother will freak out.”
“Your mom?”
“She’ll take it as another sign that her failing business is making people around here feel sorry for her and give us stuff.”
Maddie laughed. “That’s kind of dramatic.”
“You have met my mom, right?”
“I guess she is a little dramatic. She was a godsend when I moved in here, though. Once I got all my stuff back from Jack’s, she helped me find ways to fit it all in without making Connor feel like he had to move out.”
“She did mention you had a lot of stuff.”
“So she’ll understand why I’m downsizing!” Maddie pushed the dress into my hands, turning me toward the bathroom beneath the staircase.
In the bathroom I pulled off my skirt and stepped into the dress, cinching the belt around my waist. It was comfortable, that was true. I turned to face the full-length mirror on the back of the door. The dress was cute. I just wasn’t sure it looked right on me. I definitely looked different. I lingered in front of the mirror for a moment, gazing at myself. I didn’t generally care what I looked like, and I hadn’t spent a lot of time worrying about it before. Maddie was right, though—a heavier eyeliner would make my blue eyes pop behind the dark frames of my glasses. And I could probably stand to brighten my lips a bit. The blond ponytail that had become my everyday style was probably not doing me any favors, either. I pulled the elastic from my hair and let it fall down around my face, covering my shoulders and brushing the top of my chest. It had a natural wave, and when I ran my fingers through it a bit, it didn’t look half bad. Maybe I could upgrade my look a bit. It wouldn’t be that difficult.
I stepped out of the bathroom and nearly ran right into Connor as he walked by. That was the kind of timing I’d always been blessed with.
“Woah!” He cried, stepping back. Then he stopped moving and literally stared at me. “Woah,” he said again, his voice softer. “Miranda … you look fantastic.” There was a glimmer of something in his eyes that I had only seen in movies and on television—the glimmer that appears when a man is looking at a woman he finds attractive. It wasn’t predatory, or threatening. But it was heady. Did I do that?
“Holy …” Maddie stepped to Connor’s side.
I don’t know where I found the nerve, but I did a little spin for them.
“You have to keep that dress,” Maddie said. “And you should definitely wear your hair down sometimes. Miranda, you’re gorgeous!”
A smile took over my face. I felt gorgeous as they looked at me. I’d never felt ugly, but I’d never really bothered to try doing anything to enhance my appearance. “I wonder if Chance would even notice,” I said.
“He’ll notice,” Connor said, then turned and got a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Drink?”
“No thanks.” I walked back over to the window and eyed the beer I’d left sitting there. Drinking had never been my thing. I hadn’t had a drink since high school, and that had gone particularly badly. It turns out that mixing me with alcohol—especially in a backyard with a swimming pool—just ends up with me becoming very, very wet. I didn’t think now was a good time to try again.
“Connor,” Maddie said, her voice full of mock-scolding. “Aren’t you supposed to be upstairs writing?”
Connor grinned sheepishly. “I’ve tried to explain to you that the reason it takes a while to write a book is because writers spend half their time looking for reasons not to write.” He shrugged.
Maddie shook her head and turned back to me.
“I’m not sure it really matters what I look like, though,” I said, picking up where my brain had left me. “As soon as I move, I’ll inevitably fall or trip or drop something scalding into his lap …” All of these things had happened to me, and worse.
“Well, there isn’t much we can do about that,” Maddie said, looking thoughtful. “But if you want the truth, all of that is kind of adorable. I mean, maybe not the scalding soup in the lap thing. That wasn’t so good.” Maddie had been there when that one had happened. I’d followed it up by dumping a glass of ice water into the same spot, in hopes of saving Chance’s family jewels. He’d looked at me like I’d lost my mind. The thought of hurting him—of hurting him there, especially—was almost more than I could stomach, and the memory made my eyes water. It had been a very bad day. I could still hear Sam cracking up as he’d watched the whole thing go down.
“Will you try on a few of these other things?” Maddie was holding up a soft shirt with flowers on it. It would go great with a denim skirt, I thought. But then she handed me a pair of khaki capris. “These work together,” she said. She made a few more outfits out of the mountain on the couch, and Connor watched with a smile on his face.
“Okay, so once he notices I look different, what then?” I sat down next to the mountain.
“Then you charm him,” Maddie said.
“By not spilling things.” I said, skeptical.
“That’s a start, but how about asking about him? Do you know what kind of things he does in his spare time? Sports, hobbies?”
Wracking my mind, I came up with nothing. “Not really.”
<
br /> “He doesn’t have much family, so that’s probably not a great topic,” Maddie said, chewing her lip as she thought. “What about work? You can always ask him about work.”
She had a point. “Actually, he mentioned that they’re looking for an administrative person. Someone to answer phones and stuff. He asked if I knew anyone.”
Maddie clapped her hands together in excitement. “You totally know someone!”
“You?” My heart sank. Why would Maddie want to do that? She already had her photography business and the diner. And Connor.
“No, not me. You.”
I nodded. I had wanted Chance to ask me if I was interested in the position when he’d brought it up. “I thought of that.”
“So volunteer yourself. I mean, to be paid, of course.”
“Right.”
“And then you’ll be around him a lot more often. He won’t have a chance once he realizes how sweet and smart and incredible you are. He just needs to see you in a new light, away from the diner. A new, more professional job is perfect.”
“Even if he’s my boss?”
Maddie tilted her head to the side, thinking. “I don’t think that’s a big deal. That’s how small businesses work—friends and family all pitching in.”
I wondered if I could stomach working with Sam. I didn’t mind seeing him at the diner, but having to take direction from him might be too much. Maybe I could give it a try if it meant more time with Chance, though. I’d just ignore his brother. “I’ll ask them about it again.”
“Great! We have a plan! And a wardrobe. What could go wrong?” Maddie said.
I stood, scooping the clothes into my arms. The sleeve of one of the shirts caught the top of my full beer bottle and pulled it off the table, sending the bottle crashing to the floor below, spewing bubbling suds everywhere. “Right. What could go wrong?” I leaned over to pick up the bottle, but Connor was already there.
“I got it,” he said. “No worries.”
I smiled and hugged Maddie goodbye. “Sorry about the rug, Connor.”
“It’s a cabin,” he said, smiling. “Nothing fancy to ruin here.” Every expensive piece of furniture around us begged loudly to differ, but I appreciated his nonchalance. “See you guys later.”
I made my way out to my car with caution, dropping the clothes into the back seat and thanking my stars that my bad luck hadn’t extended to my driving skills.
Chapter 6
Miranda
The Palmer Construction offices were situated just down the main highway from Kings Grove’s small downtown center. And by center, people really meant ‘parking lot.’ The whole of Kings Grove—the diner, the post office, the lodge, the ranger station and visitor center, the hardware store, and the small grocery store—all faced a central parking lot with a road leading in on both sides. One of the entrances came in from the main highway—that’s the direction from which visitors usually arrived. The other road led back toward the village, which was about two miles away, and was where most of the residents lived. There were cabins scattered here and there, but most were clustered around a central meadow in the village proper. A few scattered offices and convenience stores were set just outside the downtown parking lot along the main highway, and Palmer Construction was one of these.
Chance and Sam shared the business, which they had assumed when their father passed away. Sam had always worked for his dad, though he’d gone to college part-time down in Sacramento, too. Chance had never intended to remain in Kings Grove—or at least it didn’t seem so. He’d graduated high school and been the talk of the town when he accepted admission to U.C. Berkeley and then went on to get his MBA at Stanford. The locals had celebrated his success, and were both saddened and pleased when Kings Grove’s big success story returned to the fold to take over for his dad.
My pick-up truck fit nicely in the small lot just in front of the office, next to the huge Palmer Construction truck and near the collection of backhoes and tractors the men used for their business. The beat-up blue truck I called my own already looked at home. Chance’s car was here too, a giant black SUV that walked the line between a work truck and a luxury vehicle, and I tried to push down the nerves bundling in my stomach at the thought of talking to him.
The solid wood door swung out easily when I pulled, and my heart began beating a quicker rhythm as Chance’s distinctive low voice rolled out the open door of an office adjacent to the lobby.
“If it gets any worse, let me know, John. We’ll lend a hand.” I could see Chance’s back as he stood looking out the window behind his desk, the phone to his ear.
“Miranda. What’s up?” There was an office on each side of the small reception space, and Sam appeared from the side opposite Chance’s office, no doubt summoned by the bell above the front door.
“Hey Sam.” My eyes were locked on Chance’s broad back, a dark flannel pulled tightly across the muscles just below the curls that were beginning to form at the top of his tanned neck. I pulled my gaze away to land on Sam instead. His familiar face was hardly a comfort. Chance and Sam’s eyes were almost identical, and the angular cut of their cheekbones and jaws were similar too. Both Palmer brothers could have been carved from stone—they were that good looking.
Despite their similar faces, I swooned when Chance looked at me, and I definitely felt something when my eyes met Sam’s—only I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. He made me nervous. Not in a good way, but in a way that kept me on my toes. And the way he was staring at me now made me uncomfortable. Like he was trying to figure something out. I was suddenly regretting wearing my hair down.
Best get to the point. “I came in to ask about that job. The administrative one?” My fingers found the tassel on my purse and began pulling at it.
Sam stepped out of his office and squinted at me as one side of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. He looked confused, his face crinkling up. “Why?”
Annoyance flooded me. This was the problem with Sam. Nothing was straightforward. I sighed, turning to see if Chance might be done with his call and come out so I could speak to him instead. Of course then I’d be nervous instead of annoyed. “I thought I might be able to help out with that.”
“It’s not a ‘help out’ type of thing. It’s a job. And you already have a job. And you’re in school.” Sam leaned his tall body against the door jam of his office and crossed his big arms over his broad chest. He gave off an air of judgment that put me on edge. And of course he was being difficult about something that could be simple.
“But Chance said it was part time?”
“What part of the time do you see yourself being here?” He was smiling now and I got the distinct impression he was toying with me. I shifted my weight uncomfortably as I stood there, in Maddie’s khaki pants and flowered blouse. The clothes had me feeling a bit unlike myself, and now I was standing here like an idiot in the middle of the room and Sam was being difficult. I had no doubt Chance would have offered me a seat. He was the polite brother. Sam was just watching me, like I was put there to amuse him.
“The part of the time when you guys need me, I guess.” My voice didn’t carry the confident edge I wanted it to, so I cleared my throat and continued. “I can rearrange my diner shifts if I need to, and college is online. I do most of my work at night anyway.”
“Right.” Sam chewed on his bottom lip for a second and then something about his fingernails caught his attention. He brought his hand to his face and rubbed his thumb against his index finger, looking intently at it. Finally he tucked his hand back under the opposite elbow and looked back up at me. “Okay.” He stood upright again and turned around to head back into his office, leaving me standing in the middle of the room.
Okay? What did that mean?
“Hey Miranda,” Chance appeared in the other doorway, having finished his call. My head snapped around as Chance called my name. “Wow,” he said, “you look really nice today.”
Maybe Maddie had been right about the denim skirts
.
“Thanks.” I couldn’t help shaking my head to let my blond curls dance a bit around my shoulders. Chance looked nice too, but I wasn’t about to mention it. His defined cheekbones and dark eyebrows gave him a serious look, and the vague stubble along his chin was the sexiest thing I could imagine. In fact, I did imagine it. A lot. How it would be a little bit rough, but also soft, and how it would rub my chin when he kissed me.
“Can I help you with something?” Chance asked, smiling to reveal those perfect white teeth. He was definitely too good looking for Kings Grove.
My blood was rushing, but I forced myself to remain in one spot—less chance of knocking things over if I didn’t move. As words formed on my lips, Sam’s voice came from his office.
“Just hired her.”
Chance’s eyebrows shot up and the eyes found my face as he moved in to tidy up the desk in front of me. “Hired you?”
“The admin position,” Sam called, still not coming back into the room. Rude.
Chance stuck his head into his brother’s office. “You did? We didn’t even talk about it.”
Oh God, Chance didn’t want me to work here. I was going to be hired and fired in a five-minute span.
Of course I was. That was perfect.
“Didn’t need to. She’s way smarter than we need and she’s flexible. Miranda’s on top of stuff, Chance. She’ll be great.” Sam’s voice had said these words, but I was having a hard time believing it. I was used to Sam laughing at me or making fun of me when I did something clumsy, I was not used to him expressing confidence in me. Not at all.
Chance turned back around and gave me an appraising look, taking in everything with his shrewd cool eyes, his head cocked slightly to the side. “Sounds good to me, then,” he said finally. “When can you start?”
“Um …” That wasn’t a question I’d actually considered in my concern about just coming in and talking to them. “Now?”
A wide smile lit Chance’s face and it nearly toppled me with its beauty. “How about tomorrow? Let me get some stuff ready to show you, okay?”
Love Reimagined Page 3