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She’d made the right decision.
“If you’ll excuse me. I have a few things to unload before it gets dark.” Lily skirted the six-foot-two, blue-eyed obstacle on the sidewalk. She could only hope her and Brendan Kane’s paths wouldn’t cross very often in the next ten days….
“I’ll give you a hand.”
Lily dragged in a breath, ready to decline, but the masculine—and all-too-appealing—scent of fresh air and freshly laundered cotton filled her lungs. And did strange things to her vocal cords. All she could manage was a…squeak.
A squeak Brendan must have taken as consent, because he reached into the trunk of the car and pulled out a box filled with drop cloths.
“You can set the bins in the hallway.” Lily found her voice as she wrestled a folding ladder from the backseat. “I’ll organize everything later.”
“What’s this?”
Peeking over the top of the door, she saw him holding her pink paisley Vera Bradley weekender, a birthday gift from Shelby, at arm’s length. The way a person might hold a plastic bag bound for the curb. Or a package that had suddenly started to tick.
Lily hesitated, wondering if this was a trick question. “My suitcase?”
“Suitcase.” He frowned, clearly suspicious.
They do come in more than colors than black and navy blue, Lily thought. Then promptly asked God’s forgiveness for the uncharitable thought.
“Don’t worry about that one.” Setting the ladder down, she held out her hand, ready to rescue the bag from his grip. “I’ll take it upstairs.”
“Upstairs?” The frown deepened.
And he was still attractive.
Life, Lily thought, just wasn’t fair.
“You’re not staying here.” It came out sounding more like a statement than a question.
“Sonia offered the use of her guest room while she’s on vacation,” Lily explained. “Paint the Town is based in Traverse City, so it would have been too far to drive back and forth.”
“I’m surprised you accepted a job way up here in the middle of nowhere.” A muscle working in that chiseled jaw tightened at the words.
Lily didn’t know why it mattered where she stayed. But if Brendan Kane was Sonia’s manager, as she suspected, he probably resented the fact that his employer hadn’t kept him in the loop.
“I didn’t have the luxury of turning down the job.” She pressed out a smile. “And Sonia assured me that I have all the qualifications she’s been looking for.”
The blue eyes closed briefly, and Lily could only guess what the man was thinking of. Tossing her offensive floral luggage in the river? Ordering her off the property?
She decided not to wait around to find out.
“I appreciate your help, but I can handle the rest of it.” Plucking the suitcase from his hand, Lily headed to the front door. This time—thank You, God—he didn’t follow.
She practically sprinted up the stairs to the second floor and took refuge in the spare room at the end of the hall. Number four on the makeover list. Sonia had requested something lighter than the existing hunter-green walls and burgundy trim, which gave the room a distinctly masculine feel.
Lily unpacked her suitcase and matched each item of clothing to a plastic hanger in the closet. She read through Sonia’s list and matched paint chips to the appropriate rooms.
In other words, she was stalling.
After an hour or so, when she figured the coast was clear, Lily padded downstairs.
Anticipation began to wash away the memory of her encounter with Brendan the Brusque. She sorted through the cans of paint until she came to the words chai tea scribbled on the lid. Rich vanilla, with a subtle vein of gold, would provide the perfect frame for the window overlooking the river.
Lily practically skipped down the hall to Sonia’s office. And bumped into a wall she hadn’t encountered on her first tour of the house. Solid. Warm.
She stumbled backward. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s funny.” One dark eyebrow lifted. “I was about to ask you the same question.”
If it was funny, then why wasn’t he smiling?
“I’m going to do some prep work.”
Her explanation was met with silence. Lily tried again. “Scrub the walls. Tape around the windows and trim—”
“I know what prep work is,” Brendan interrupted. “But why are you in here?”
Lily took a deep breath. Prayed for patience. “Because this is the room I’ll be painting first.”
“No.”
Manager or not, she was getting a little tired of the man’s high-handed ways.
“My employer—” Lily couldn’t help but press down on the word “—gave me a list of the rooms she wanted me to paint and this office happens to be one of them. Is there a problem?”
Yes. There was.
In fact, Brendan had started a list of his own.
Beginning with the fact that Sunni had neglected to mention the person she’d hired for Castle Falls Outfitters: Makeover Edition was a leggy blonde with violet eyes.
Or that she’d be living upstairs.
Maybe his mother hadn’t had an ulterior motive. Maybe a woman—a beautiful woman—in her mid-twenties who lived in a city over half a day’s drive from Castle Falls had been the only painter available.
Yeah. Right.
“This isn’t Sunni’s office.” Brendan speared a hand through his hair. “It’s mine.”
“Who is Sunni?”
“Sunni Mason…my mother.” The words had gotten easier to say over the years. Unlike his brothers, Brendan still remembered the woman who’d given birth to them. Even if those memories weren’t the kind a person was eager to share.
“But—” Lily’s forehead puckered “—I thought you were the manager.”
“I am. I’m also the son. My two younger brothers work here, too, but they’re gone for a few days.” Brendan could only imagine what his siblings’ reactions would be when they returned and discovered what Sunni had done. “We all take care of a different aspect of the business. Liam designs the boats, Aiden tests them and I find people to buy them. From this office,” he couldn’t help but add.
Some unidentifiable emotion flared in Lily’s eyes. “Do you live here—in this house—too?”
Brendan shook his head. “In a cabin behind the shop. I like my privacy.” It had to be said. “So you understand why this won’t work. It’s a small space, and there isn’t room for both of us.”
“Oh, I understand.” The corners of her watercolor-pink lips twitched.
Was she trying not to smile? Okay, maybe that had sounded like something the sheriff in a cheesy old black-and-white Western might say—this town isn’t big enough for the two of us—but it also happened to be the truth.
Lily took two steps forward and paused in the doorway. Tipped her head. “Do you like it?”
“Do I like what?”
“Your office.”
Did he like… What kind of question was that?
Brendan shrugged. “It’s an office.”
“The place where you spend the majority of your day?”
“Yes.” He wondered where she was going with this. “When I’m working, I’m focused on work.” Even if the walls were—Brendan took a quick inventory of the room—dark green with a brownish fleck.
Kind of like the algae that coated the rocks along the riverbank.
“I really don’t care about the color of the walls.” He closed the conversation with a polite smile.
Lily didn’t move. “What are your regular business hours?”
“There’s no such thing when you own your own business.”
Something Brendan had discovered the first time he’d driven through the night to personally deliver an order, and as the owner of a small business, she should have known that, as well. “Why?”
“If you don’t want me in here when you’re working,” Lily said sweetly. “I need to know when you won’t be.”
“I thought we already established that I don’t want you to paint my office.”
“I’m sorry, but it really isn’t a question of what you want, is it? You might be the manager, but Sonia is my boss.” Lily held up a square of flowered stationery that looked as if it had been cut from the same material as her suitcase. “And this office happens to be on the list of rooms she asked me to paint. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with her.”
Brendan would have—if Sunni had taken her cell phone. Or her laptop. But someone had insisted she leave all means of communication behind in order to truly “get away from it all.”
He mentally kicked himself.
“I start work at seven in the morning and stay as long as necessary.” He pushed the words out slowly, one by one, hoping she could take a hint.
“When is your day off? I’ll try and work around that.”
“It…varies.” Brendan tried to remember the last time he’d taken a day off. “A lot.”
“Are you always this difficult?”
“Are you?” he shot back.
Lily had the audacity to grin.
“I guess you’ll find out, won’t you?”
* * *
Things weren’t turning out quite the way Lily had planned.
She rolled onto her back in the twin bed and stared up at the ceiling, mentally sifting through the emails she and Sonia Mason had exchanged over the past few weeks.
The boys are in and out, Lily vaguely remembered the woman saying. What her client had failed to mention, however, was the fact they were her boys. Lily had assumed it was simply an affectionate term for her employees.
Whatever her reason for not sharing that little tidbit of information, Lily didn’t look forward to tip-toeing around Brendan Kane for the next two weeks.
The man had no sense of humor.
She’d tried to tease him. Tried to get him to lighten up a little and make the best out of an uncomfortable situation. But her attempt had been met with silence. Oh, and another frown.
At least they didn’t have to share the same living space, although Lily suspected that working in close proximity would prove to be difficult enough.
From the brief conversation they’d had in the office the day before, she could tell there were no boundaries between Brendan’s professional life and personal life. He was ambitious. Single-minded. Devoted to his career.
Lily recognized the signs. A few weeks ago, she’d been the same way. But watching your best friend battle fatigue and constant pain had a way of changing a person’s perspective. Made her see what was really important.
Thank You, God.
It was a prayer Lily had repeated at least a dozen times every day.
The cell phone on the nightstand chirped, starting a countdown to Brendan’s arrival. He’d claimed he was in the office by seven in the morning, so Lily had set her alarm for six.
She dashed down the hall to shower and then slipped into her uniform—paint-splattered overalls and a clean
T-shirt—before making her way downstairs to the kitchen. Even though Sonia had given her permission to raid the refrigerator, Lily didn’t want to take advantage of her host’s generosity. She planned to drive into Castle Falls later that afternoon and pick up a few things at the grocery store.
She did, however, locate the coffeemaker and brew a fresh pot.
During her brief tour of the house the day before, Lily had discovered a stone patio located off the back of the kitchen. She shouldered open the weathered screen door and stepped outside, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and her Bible in the other.
Proof that her morning routine had changed, too. A few months ago, Lily’s definition of “time with God” had been a muttered prayer, asking God to bless her day, as she sprinted to her car. Never realizing that a continued conversation with God, the privilege of sharing her heart, was the blessing.
She lowered herself into a wicker rocking chair that faced the river and closed her eyes, letting the scents and sounds wash over her as she thanked God for the beauty of His creation.
When she opened them again, she was no longer alone.
A dog with long ears and an even longer body sat next to the chair, staring up at her with liquid brown eyes.
Lily smiled at her unexpected visitor. “Well, good morning. Where did you come from?”
