Читать книгу A Savannah Christmas Wish - Nan Dixon - Страница 13
ОглавлениеThe Earth laughs in flowers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
WHAT THE HELL just happened? Daniel followed his father and Nathan out of Fitzgerald House. Pop had never talked about him taking point on the restoration. The announcement had floored him. He’d tried not to show his shock in front of their clients, even if they were friends. And a woman he’d slept with—twice.
This sucked. He and Bess had to work together. Didn’t the sisters know how reckless Bess was? He could spout example after example. How could they trust her with such a massive project?
He’d have to be extravigilant to keep everything on track. But first he had to find out why Pop had dropped this project on him.
“Why am I managing Carleton House?” Daniel spit out. “What’s going on?”
“I’m wondering the same thing.” Nathan crossed his arms.
Pop leaned against his truck. “Doc’s trying to figure out why I’m so tired.”
“You’re sick?” Nathan’s voice squeaked as if he was going through puberty.
“Your mom made me go in. Doc Kramer drew a couple of gallons of blood and is running tests.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Daniel, you’re great at managing big projects. Better than me.”
Nathan shot Daniel a cutting glance. His brother hated when he received any praise from Mom and Pop.
“I don’t mind managing the project.” Other than the fact he’d have to work with Bess. “It’s learning about it in the meeting.”
“Sorry. I came straight from the doctor’s office. Your mom made me promise to take things easy until we know what’s up.”
“What does Doc Kramer think is wrong?” Daniel asked.
“Nothing yet. Just acting like a bunch of vampires.” Pop clicked his door open. “You keep my girls happy.”
“I will.” Although keeping Bess happy would require jumping in the Wilmington with an anchor chained to his foot.
Nathan left with their father.
Daniel slumped against his truck. Pop was just tired. They’d been busy and Pop had made a big push to get Fitzgerald House done before Mamie’s wedding.
Daniel scrubbed his hand over his face. He had work to do. Then he’d design a system to manage the projects filling his plate.
Pulling out his phone, he checked the day’s tasks. He ran his finger through Meet at Fitzgerald House, striking through the text. Done. He skipped ahead two days and added Contact Bess re: Final Drawings CH.
Time to work on the carriage house. Later he would swing by a couple of projects and check in with the job leads.
With the blueprints and his tool belt in hand, he headed to the gate between Fitzgerald and Carleton Houses. As he entered the carriage house, the calming scent of fresh-cut wood greeted him. A saw screeched as Quint trimmed a stud.
The renovation was coming together. He let out a breath. This was his area of expertise, repurposing old buildings to be useful again.
Quint pushed his safety glasses to the top of his head and shut off the saw. “Meeting done?”
“Yup.”
“When do we start on the main house?”
Daniel moved with Quint, nailing the stud into the framing. “Hopefully, next week.” If Bess got back to him with her changes.
He strapped on his tool belt and began framing in the stairs to the second floor, tricky because Gray and Abby had chosen a curved central stairway. If he’d designed the staircase, everything would have been clean right angles, but he wasn’t the client.
He worked until his phone buzzed. Time to check on the Tybee crew. He stood by his car, unstrapping his tool belt.
The gate between the two properties jangled. The sisters came through, their fiery heads tucked together. Abby elbowed Dolley. Bess tipped back her head and laughed, a clear, sweet sound.
Seeing Bess made his mouth water. He could still taste her kisses—champagne and cake. Her breasts bounced as she walked toward him, and his fingers flexed. He’d had his hands and mouth all over her silky skin.
These thoughts had to stop. They had to work together.
His tool belt clanged as he tossed it in the truck bed.
Bess’s head popped up. Her grin withered on her face.
“Been touring Carleton House?” he asked, hands on his hips.
“Yes.” Bess stopped in the parking area. Abby and Dolley waved and headed into the kitchen. “I’ll get the changes back to you tomorrow.”
He opened his door. “What time?”
“Oh. Um.”
He pulled out his phone. “Ten suit you?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll meet you at the house.”
“Good.”
A couple of B and B guests wandered into the courtyard. By the fountain, the man pulled the woman into an intense kiss. Daniel turned his back on the pair.
Bess cleared her throat. Her cheeks were flushed. “Did you...know your father wanted you to manage Carleton House?”
“Why?” He moved to a table shaded by a palm.
“Your expression. It went...well, let’s say they could have chiseled your face on Mount Rushmore.”
“That obvious, huh?”
She sat. “So you didn’t know.”
What should he tell her? “Apparently, Pop hasn’t been feeling well.”
“Oh, no.” She touched his arm. “What’s wrong?”
He wished he knew. “He’s tired.”
“He’ll be fine.” She chewed on her bottom lip.
Heat shot through his groin. He’d nibbled on that lip. “Yeah.”
She stared at her hand on his arm and snatched it away. “Can we do this?”
He rested his fists on the table. “Work together?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“We’ve got the same goal,” he said.
She nodded, her ponytail bouncing. “Opening Carleton House by the beginning of February.”
“I’ll make it happen. I don’t want Pop worrying.” He took a deep breath. “I need you to—behave. I don’t have time for any of your shenanigans.”
Her head snapped up. “Behave? Shenanigans?”
“You know what I mean.” He waved a hand at her.
“I don’t.” Flashing green eyes glared at him.
“The stupid pranks you pull.”
“I’m not a teen. I’m a professional.” She straightened. “I outgrew pranks years ago.”
He didn’t believe her. “Then how did we end up in bed together?”
Her eyes went wide. “You think that was my fault?”
He shrugged. “If you hadn’t hopped into the fountain, I wouldn’t have carried you home.” And been turned on by all her curves and hair and legs.
“You are delusional.” She started to leave and stopped. Her chest moved up and down in a big sigh. “Let me know if there is anything my sisters and I can do to help your dad.”
“Keeping on top of the Carleton House timelines would be a good start.”
“I’ll do my part.” She grabbed her blueprints and bag. “You do yours and maybe we’ll get through this.”
She headed to Fitzgerald House. Her body was long, muscled and gorgeous. He ripped his gaze away and headed to his truck. Ogling Bess wouldn’t get his work done. Admiring Bess’s strong body wasn’t the problem. It was the out-of-control feelings that went along with her craziness.
A childhood spent waiting for Nathan’s next catastrophe had taught him to stay away from situations he couldn’t control. Bess was one of those situations.
He rubbed his hand on his neck. Only for Pop and Forester Construction would he work the next five months with Bess.
* * *
BESS WHIPPED HER hair into a ponytail, grabbed another binder and wrapped the mass into a bun. She was ten minutes early for her meeting with Daniel. The ass. Thinking she would pull pranks. She wasn’t a lovesick teen anymore. She wasn’t trying to get his attention—at all.
The Carleton House kitchen door slammed. Bess straightened. She could do this. She could work with Daniel. All it would take was a lobotomy. Or maybe Daniel could get a personality transplant.
“Hey.” Daniel nodded. His brown eyes did a hit-and-run with hers.
Right. Hard to believe they’d ever gotten naked with each other.
Bess got down to business. “How do you want me to walk through our changes?”
Daniel blinked. “Show me what you want.”
She led the way to the dining room. “We’d like a pass-through between the butler’s pantry and the dining room.”
Daniel knocked on the wall and checked out the room from the pantry. He came back. “Okay.”
He made notes on his copy of blueprints.
“Here are the notes I worked up.” Bess held out a copy.
“This will help.” He moved closer.
She caught a whiff of his woodsy aftershave. Like Pavlov’s dog, her body flashed with unwelcome heat. Thrusting the paper at him, she hurried to the library.
His footsteps echoed behind hers.
At the exterior wall that looked out on the backyard, she waved her hands at a tall window. “We’d like double French doors here.”
Daniel moved around the room. He shook his head. “That’s a lot of structure work. Why not change this window—” he pointed “—and this into single doors? We’d make the doors as tall as the current windows, and the lines from outside will match.”
She frowned. “Double doors would be elegant.” And it would bring the garden into the room.
“But you’ll change the lines from the outside. You want the height of the windows and doors to stay the same and keep the room’s symmetry inside and out.”
She chewed on her thumbnail. “Could each window be changed into a door?”
He examined all four windows.
“For balance I’d suggest two doors.” He pointed. “One on each side of the room.”
Bess pulled out another set of sketches and set them on a library shelf.
He leaned close. His breath made the hair escaping her bun dance on her neck. “Did someone else do architectural sketches?”
“These are my garden plans.” She’d sketched the combined Fitzgerald and Carleton House courtyards. “You’d recommend the doors be here—” she drew a circle “—and here?”
He took her pencil, his golden head dipping next to hers. “Is this to scale?”
She nodded, clenching her fingers to keep from brushing the silky hair that slipped across his forehead.
He measured the windows and drew in the doors on her layout. His shoulder bumped hers, and another flash of heat zipped through her. “There.”
“Good.” She rolled up her work, planning to escape.
“Can I get copies of those?” he asked.
“Why?” The gardens were her concern.
“I like a complete picture of everything happening on my projects.”
“So you have total control?” she asked. “You really do have a control hang-up, don’t you?”
“I anticipate problems.” A lethal smile broke across his face. “And that requires absolute control.”
“I’ll send you copies, but these are preliminary sketches.” Sometimes the land didn’t conform to her drawings. She pointed at him. “I have absolute control of the patios and gardens.
“Sure.” He laughed. “Anything else in this room?”
She checked her list, avoiding his eyes. “All doors need card readers.”
“That’s the plan.”
“We can head upstairs.”
They moved to the main staircase. Bess stared at his butt. The work of art was right in front of her as they climbed. The two times she’d seen him naked, she hadn’t truly appreciated it. She regretted that almost as much as sleeping with him.
At the top of the stairs, she pointed to the first bedroom. “We’d like to open this bedroom to adjoin with the old music room.”
He flipped between the pages. “You’ve got a furnace run between these rooms.”
“Is it in right now?”
“If the plans are right, it’s already there.”
“Can you work around it?” She chewed on her thumb.
He tapped at her hand.
Her eyes flared open. “What?”
“You were gnawing on your thumb.” His words rasped out. His eyes locked on her mouth.
“Bad habit.” She tucked her hand into her back pocket.
He turned, but not before she caught the flicker of heat in his gaze.
“Is there a way to put a connecting door in?” she asked, trying to stay on task.
He assessed the plans. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”
She frowned. “We’ve got a couple more adjoining-room requests.”
Daniel determined only one was possible. Then they looked at the tub and shower placement changes Bess and her sisters wanted.
In the master bedroom, she asked, “Can you create a larger balcony here?”
He opened the door. They peered out at the rickety wood floor.
“When we tear off the old balcony, we’ll assess whether there’s enough support to expand.”
“Good.” She brought her thumb near her mouth.
He shook his head.
“You’re as bad as my sisters.” She frowned. “We want French doors and balconies on all the courtyard bedrooms.”
Daniel smiled again. “This project will keep our staff and subs busy. I’ll check with the architect and engineer.”
Would it cost more money? “Thanks.”
On the stairs, Daniel set his hand under her elbow. “I don’t trust the railing.”
She didn’t know what was more dangerous to her health, a loose railing or Daniel. If he kept touching her, she might burst into flames and burn the place down.
“So how’s the job search?” he asked as they headed down the next flight of stairs.
She shrugged. “Nothing yet.”
“Did you do something impulsive like quit?” he blurted out.
“I loved that job!” Why couldn’t he see that she’d changed?
He raised one eyebrow. “Then what happened?”
“I was laid off.” Her face grew warm. “Mid-August. Not the optimum time to be searching for a job in my field.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, kid.”
“Kid?” She wanted to poke him, but he held her elbow.
“If you need to delay your rent payment, let me know,” he said.
“I’m fine.” Now her face was on fire. She hated Daniel’s sympathy. “I need to work on a wedding consult.”
“I thought you didn’t have a job?”
“I have a supply agreement with Cade.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“He fired you.”
“Laid me off. And I worked for him for almost five years,” Bess said.
“He betrayed any loyalty you owed him.”
She headed to the door. “Don’t you lay off crew members?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“But you do,” she pressed.
“Yeah.”
“And do they feel betrayed?”
Daniel ran his fingers through his cap of golden hair. “That’s different.”
“I’m not burning any bridges with Cade.” She tipped her head at him. “Are we done?”
He nodded.
She stepped outside, finally able to take a breath without catching a whiff of Daniel’s aftershave.
Two days down of working with Daniel. Only five months more. It had to get easier.
* * *
“OVER HERE,” DANIEL CALLED.
Gray moved from the entrance of Kevin Barry’s pub. “How’s it going?”
“Good.” Daniel didn’t plan to tell Gray about his father’s health or his problem with working side by side with Bess.
For the walk-through, she’d worn her normal working uniform of hiking shorts and a tank top. His body didn’t know what was good for him. All he could think about was how good she looked naked. When she’d put her thumb to her mouth, he’d gotten hard. He couldn’t tell Gray about that.
He wished Gray would take an active role in Carleton House and keep Bess out of it. They’d worked well together on Gray’s condos here in Savannah.
A server swung by and they ordered beers.
“Here’s the condo build-out estimate.” Daniel handed Gray a folder. Forester Construction handled all the build-outs on the condos Gray owned in Savannah. Daniel walked him through the numbers.
“That was fast.” Gray tipped his beer at the estimate. “I’ll let the couple know, but this is in their price range. They’re hoping to be in by the end of October.”
Daniel made a note on his phone. He’d have to rework the crew schedules. “The only challenge will be getting the Brazilian cherry flooring they want. I’ll make some calls.”
“Let’s lock this down before I head back to Boston.”
“How’s your renovation progressing in Boston?” Daniel grinned. “As smooth as your Savannah rehab?”
“I wish you could work on that project.” Gray shuddered. “I trust you.”
It was nice to hear. While working together, he and Gray had become friends. “I’m a Georgia boy. Plus, we’ve got enough going on with Carleton House.” And whatever was happening with Pop.
Gray bounced his project issues off Daniel. It was great to talk with someone as an equal. Talking to Bess had been—difficult. She had a vision, but it didn’t allow for structural limitations.
When Gray stopped asking his opinion on his Boston problems, Daniel asked, “How do you want Carleton House to work?”
Gray frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Bess doesn’t have your knowledge, but she’s spending your money. I’m hoping you’ll stay active in the project.”
Life would be simpler working with Gray. Unlike Bess, Gray would never pull some prank. And Daniel wouldn’t fantasize about kissing him. He rolled his shoulders.
“I’ll be too tied up in Boston.” Gray raised an eyebrow. “Are there problems?”
“Let me show you the changes Bess requested.” Daniel unrolled the blueprints and walked through Bess’s list. “I suggested they use single French doors in the library, but the doors will still be custom.”
“Good idea,” Gray said.
“And they want balconies on all the courtyard rooms.”
“That works.” Gray tipped back his beer. “Want another?”
“Sure.” Daniel had work to finish tonight, but he needed to know how to keep Gray in the loop.
Gray flagged the server and they ordered beers and food.
“I like the idea of adding more balconies.” Gray pored over the exterior prints. “You’re sticking with the black wrought iron, right?”
“That’s what Bess wants. And Pop would have my head if we didn’t.”
“What’s with your dad?” Gray asked. “Everyone assumed he would run this project.”
“Something’s...off.” He didn’t want to tell his friend he was as shocked as everyone else. “Mom made him go to the doctor. I assume they’ll figure out what’s wrong and he’ll be back on the job soon.”
“Good.” Gray nodded. “So back to Carleton House. This will be the Fitzgeralds’ B and B. Bess is in charge. I’ll be in Boston on a pretty set schedule. Let me know whenever the changes total two percent.”
Two percent. Daniel did the math. “We might be there with the balconies. The wrought-iron bids will be high.”
“Let me know what the total cost will be. After these changes—go with the two percent.” Gray raised his eyebrows. “Are you worried about working with Bess?”
Not that he would tell Gray. “You know construction.”
“And she’s a landscape architect. There has to be crossover.”
“I don’t need help with the drainage and what bushes to plant where.”
Gray tipped his head and didn’t say anything. The server dropped off their food. While Daniel dug into his grilled shrimp, Gray stared at him as if he’d stepped in something.
“Yeah, yeah, Bess is good with flowers,” Daniel admitted.
“She’s smart, too. And hardworking. And the sisters know what works for a B and B. They all lived through the Fitzgerald House restoration.” Gray aimed a finger at him. “Don’t be dissing my future sister-in-law.”
Daniel swallowed. “I won’t.”
“Bess has authority to sign change orders for Carleton House.”
“Good to know.” Daniel wanted to scream that this was not a good idea. She was an accident waiting to happen.
But that wasn’t the real problem. Bess was basically his boss.
He needed to stop thinking about her naked.
