The eco-tour with Ty and the Chapman guys went as expected. Derek and Eli asked a ton of questions, which Jessie and Ty each answered in turn. She couldn’t help but think about what Noah said about her place here in Cypress. She’d felt competent and valued on that tour. That was for sure. It still wasn’t clear just what the guys were looking for, but when they’d passed where the Active Adult community would be built, they both straightened almost imperceptibly.
When she got back to the tent-cabin that night, she had a pizza from the tavern beside her in the Jeep. Noah was probably stopping by, and she would need her strength. For the passion, sure. But also for the act she planned to continue. Project keep-Noah-at-arm’s-length. She was shocked to see Shannon’s dusty Miata parked next to the tent-cabin.
Closing her eyes, she breathed in and prayed that her sister hadn’t brought Rob or Billy or some other guy back to her house.
She stopped the Jeep and set the brake. Carrying the pizza, she stepped onto the front deck and pulled open the screen door. The main door was unlocked, Shannon apparently still had the emergency key Jessie had given her, so she pushed it aside and strode in. What she saw caused her breath to catch.
Her sister sat on the edge of the bed, her clothes rumpled and her hair a tangled mess. But it was her face that made Jessie’s heart twist. Her makeup was smeared and the mark on her cheek was more pronounced. It was also clear from her puffy red eyes that she’d been crying.
“Shannon, what happened?”
“It’s over, Jessie.”
“What’s over?”
“Me and Rob. My job. Everything.”
Jessie put the pizza on the small table and then sat next to Shannon. “Everything?”
Shannon sniffled. “I have no place to live. Hell, I have no place to go.”
“Did he hit you?”
Shannon nodded. “The other night, yeah. Tonight he just told me he was through with me.”
“I thought you were living with him.”
“I was staying at his place.” She gave her head a shake, brushing her hair back from her forehead. “That’s so not the same thing.”
“But, wait. He fired you?”
She offered Jessie a watery smile. “What can I say? I’m as good at picking them as you are.”
Jessie felt the sting of her sister’s words, but she knew she was referring to Mitch. “You’ll get over him, Shannon. You’ll stay here and you’ll get over him.”
Shannon turned on the bed, hugging Jessie so tight she felt her spine crackle. “Thanks, Jessie.”
When her sister pulled back slightly, Jessie brushed away some of her tear-streaked makeup with her thumbs.
“Go clean yourself up and I’ll dish out the pizza,” Jessie said.
Shannon nodded and shuffled over to the sink. Jessie watched her for a second and then grabbed her phone to send a quick text to Noah.
Change of plans. Sorry.
More than a minute passed before his answering text arrived. She filled that minute with worry over just what he might be thinking about her bailing on him.
Okay. See you tomorrow?
She wasn’t sure if that question mark was intentional or not.
Okay. Good night.
Setting her phone down, she opened the pizza box and shared it with her sister. While they ate, Jessie got the whole story on the trajectory of her failed relationship with Rob the Dick, as the sisters referred to him before the meal was over.
Apparently, he’d banged a few of the female barflies and thought there was nothing wrong with that. He’d started holding back some of Shannon’s pay too, which he’d explained was to help cover for her room and board.
“I can’t believe he did that. He really is a dick,” Jessie said.
Shannon didn’t smile but Jessie was pretty sure she appreciated her support. Her face lost some of its rigidity, at least.
Later, after Shannon was sound asleep on one half of the bed, Jessie had the chance to think about just what she was doing with Noah. She had to end it. There was no question in her mind now.
What Shannon was going through was the embodiment of everything Jessie worried would happen in her own life. Depending on a guy, for a job or a place to live, was just as scary as depending on him for her happiness.
Her heart squeezed as she pictured her life going forward. No more hanging out with Noah and Max. No more laughing and talking with Noah when they were alone. And no more of his loving her so well with his hands and mouth and incredible body.
Oh, his arms. No more would she lay in his arms and feel that contentment. That comfort. Tears burned hot in her eyes as she buried her face in the pillow and cried herself to sleep.
***
Noah brooded as he sat in the living room Jessie had decorated. His phone was tossed on the wide-planked coffee table beside the bowl of string balls or whatever they were as he blindly clicked through channels on the TV.
She’d blown him off. In a text, for fuck’s sake. He’d known she was afraid of getting too close, and he could come up with nothing to argue with that. Except for Max and his parents, he wasn’t close to anybody in his own life.
Should he talk to her? What the hell could he say? God, he was out of his element here. Specifications and materials and grade restrictions he could work around. The houses he built were homes for the families that occupied them. He knew that. He also knew that he had no fucking clue how to make a home for himself or Max.
In the morning he decided to forego a stop at the Sales Center. He wasn’t a glutton for punishment, and he sure as hell didn’t want to deal with being ignored or dismissed by Jessie in front of everybody there.
He’d dragged his tablet along, and would work in one of the model homes today. The big house’s construction was progressing, and he knew he’d spend a fair amount of time there. It was getting close to the finish details, and it was on him to make sure that Ben’s sketches were accurately brought to life on the inside as well.
As he parked his truck in front of the house, he gripped the steering wheel so hard the leather laces bit into his palms. The big truck from the cabinet company rumbled up behind him, and the sound of the air brakes broke through the fog. Putting on his game face, he shoved aside his confusion and went to work.
The kitchen would be the heart of the home, and like all the homes in Cypress Corners it would serve the future homeowners with comfort, style and convenience as well as serve the environment with energy-efficient fixtures. Cabinets of renewable woods and countertops of recycled glass in light and airy finishes would help bring the breezy, ocean feel home.
“Hey, Barry,” he said to the guy stepping down from the big truck’s cab. “We ready to do this?”
Barry, a supplier he’d worked with on a few houses before, threw him a smile. “You tell me. Everything painted?”
“Everything’s ready for you,” Noah assured him.
He and Noah unlocked and threw open the back of the truck to reveal all the cabinets. Noah carefully peeled back the wrapping on the nearest cabinet, smoothing his hand over the smooth white Shaker-style door.
“Looks good, Barry,” he said. “I’ll get my guys to help unload and they can start this thing.”
Noah headed into the house and found his finish carpenters busy attaching moldings in place at the baseboards. The white moldings were wide and crisp-looking, and popped against the cool gray wall paint. A darker gray colored the blank walls in the kitchen, and Noah knew the cabinets they’d chosen would look great in there.
“Cabinets are here,” he said, causing heads to turn in his direction.
His guys moved to help the supplier and Noah picked up his tablet. He updated the cabinet install on the project schedule, knowing Ben would get the info as well. Going back outside, he helped bring in a few boxes until the countertops were exposed. Hopping up into the back of the truck, he looked over the polished surface of the nearest counter. It was a dove gray, with flecks of pearl and white and what looked like pieces of beach glass in pale blue-green. He couldn’t help but think that Jessie would love this. He knew he’d have to call her soon about staging, but he didn’t know which Jessie he’d get. Warm, funny Jessie who had an incredible eye and impeccable taste? Like the Jessie who’d decorated his home with confidence and style. Or would it be distant, hesitant Jessie? The girl who doubted herself, and him by extension.
Cursing softly, he stepped down and left his crew to work as he ducked into the completed model several lots away. One of the salespeople was inside thumbing through the information binder set on the work island, a woman he didn’t know but vaguely remembered as having a desk in the big room where Oliver and Jessie worked.
“Hello,” he said.
The woman, a blond with straight long hair, looked up at him. She was pretty, with blue eyes and a perfect-oval face. He put her age in her late twenties.
“Hi. I’m Bree,” she said, coming around the island with her hand outstretched.
He shook her hand. “Noah Brady.”
She nodded, flicking her hair over one shoulder. “Oh, I know. I was at the meeting the other day.”
Noah nodded absently. “You’re working in the model now?”
She shrugged. “They want one of us in place every day, now that work is ramping up on the other lots. We’ll give the inside tours.”
He seemed to remember seeing a memo about that. “Makes sense.” He held up his tablet. “I guess I’ll work out in the screened porch if you’re using the office.”
“I’m not. Mr. Forbes asked me to set up camp in the kitchen. Next thing I know, he’ll ask me to bake cookies.”
He smiled. “I’ll take the office then.”
She returned her attention to the binder. Noah made himself a cup of coffee and took it with him to the office at the back of the house.
The room was backed by a wall of windows, and right now the view was half rolling grassland and half cleared lots. Trees dotted the view as well, and he knew most would remain in place to provide much-needed shade for the homes. The furnishings were done in what he guessed was light and fresh, with a gray parson’s desk and chairs and pillows in yellow and white. One of those big white plastic sphere lights hung overhead. It wasn’t his style, but he didn’t care at the moment. It wasn’t his house.
As he worked on specs and supplies for the next lot slated to start construction, a knock came at the door. Looking up, he found that Bree woman standing there.
“Mr. Brady?” she asked.
“What do you need?”
“Um, there are two men to see you out in the living room.” She leaned in. “Those two men from Chapman Financial.”
Noah nodded. “Thanks, but you don’t have to work as my assistant.”
“Oh, I’m not. I just wanted to let you know. They were making me a little nervous, just standing there and talking in half sentences.”
Noah smiled. “No problem.”
He followed her back to the living room to find Derek and Eli standing there. Eli flashed him a smile but Derek remained stone-faced.
“Hi,” Noah began. “Did you guys need something?”
“Yes,” Derek said. “We’re heading back up to Boston but wanted to let you know that Bill Chapman will be in touch.”
“With me?” They both nodded. “Why?”
“Just touching base,” Eli said. “No big.”
I’ll just bet. “I’m assuming Mr. Forbes will be in the loop.”
“Of course,” Derek said. “And please tell that little sales person that she’ll be needed, too.”
“Jessie?”
Eli grinned. “Yeah. The pretty Pixie.”
Noah somehow managed to not punch the guy in the face. “Okay.”
They both walked out without saying anything more. Noah turned to find Bree wearing the same confusion on her face that he felt.
“What was up with that?” he asked.
“That was weird, right?” she asked.
Noah waved a hand as he went back to the office. He knew he’d have to talk to Jessie now. Something was up with those two guys and she was the one who gave them that tour yesterday. He’d just have to put the strangeness between them aside and talk to her. Keep it all business.
The prospect made him feel strange and out of breath. He’d fallen off one of the roofs he’d been fixing when he was a kid, and the breath had been sucked out of him. He felt a little bit like that right now.
He wasn’t sure he could keep things all business with Jessie, but if that was how she wanted it, he’d suck it up and try his damnedest.