SOMETHING WAS OFF. Bonnie couldn’t put her finger on it, but something had changed the night Mitch came back. For some reason, Aaron became more distant. The next day, he asked if they could postpone their date, claiming there was way too much to do on the house and he needed to work late and get there at the break of dawn on Saturday. When she stopped by the house to check on the progress, he had little to say to her and almost seemed to be avoiding her.
How could they go from kissing on the couch to not even speaking in less than twenty-four hours? She tried to brush it off. Could she be overthinking it? For sure. Days became weeks, and still this wedge existed between them. She wanted to ask him what had happened, but feared what his answer might be.
TODAY, SHE WAS working at the realty office, hating every minute she had to sit behind that desk. To her surprise, Mitch strode in. “Hey, I need to hire a Realtor,” he said.
Bonnie didn’t know what to say. “I’ll let Gordon know you’re here.”
He stopped her from picking up the phone. “I don’t want to hire Gordon. I want to hire you.”
“Mitch, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He held his hands up. “No, I get it. I don’t want it to look bad. It’s just that you’re the only one who can help me find a new house. You are the one who can help me pick something that Lauren would absolutely hate.”
It was one thing to need a new place to live—it was another to need a place Lauren would not want to live. “Why is that?”
He pulled one of the waiting room chairs closer to her desk. “Everywhere I look at home, I see Lauren. She’s the one who made me buy that condo. She picked out all the furniture, every little knickknack, every photo, every book on my bookshelf. I need a fresh start. I need a new place that hasn’t been touched by Lauren. I want a place Lauren wouldn’t want to touch. Can you please help me?”
Mitch really had gotten out of that relationship in the nick of time. Lauren would have told him what to do the rest of his life had he not called the wedding off. There was a weird sensation in her chest. Was she actually feeling sorry for Mitch? She needed to suffocate that emotion immediately. She didn’t want him to misconstrue her sympathy for anything else.
“I will happily guide Gordon to all the right properties. I, however, won’t go with you to look at any of them.”
“Come on, Bonnie. Aaron told me you’ve been missing getting out there and selling houses. He thought this was a great idea.”
Bonnie imagined her chin hitting the floor. “Aaron told you to hire me?”
“More or less. We’ve been trying to think of ways to make things better for you. Please let me try to make things better for you.”
There was no way it was better for her to be seen around town with Mitch. She could only imagine the gossip if they were house hunting. People would assume they were looking at houses to move into together.
It was unbelievable that Aaron would encourage Mitch to do that. He knew how she felt about being around him. He knew how Lauren would feel about the two of them being seen out in public together.
“I appreciate you wanting to get me out of the office, but I think it’s better that we not give anyone the impression that there’s something going on between us.”
Gordon came out of his office. His glasses were resting on top of his head. He must have been in there reading something. That was the only time he took them off. “Everything all—” He put his glasses back on his face, and what he saw stopped him cold. “Mitchell Bennett, back from your trip abroad, I see.”
“I am. It was good to get away. Clear my head. Decide my new path in life. My first big decision is finding a new place.”
“I would be happy to help you find something. Bonnie isn’t doing any of the hands-on stuff right now. She’s taking a break behind the scenes.”
“She helped Aaron Cole find a house, didn’t she?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Then she can help me, too. We’re both in so much hot water in this town, how much worse could it get?”
Bonnie had no desire to find out.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Gordon said, much to Bonnie’s dismay. “Why don’t you come on back to my office and let me know what kind of place you’re looking for?”
Mitch got to his feet. “No need, Gordon. Bonnie knows exactly what I need,” he said.
As soon as he was out the door, she turned to Gordon. “Why would you tell him we’ll work something out? I am not going to look at any houses with him. That would be social suicide.”
“I figured it was the quickest way to get him out of here.”
He was probably right about that. She couldn’t believe Aaron would set her up like that.
“Mind if I go check on the Greenbriar house? I haven’t been over there in a week. I’m interested to see how things are coming along. We might need to start getting ready for an open house soon.”
“Go ahead. Say hi to your dad for me.”
Bonnie would happily say hi to her dad—right after she reamed Aaron out for conspiring behind her back with Mitch, of all people. It suddenly felt like he was backing off so Mitch could make his move. Why would he do that?
She was about to find out.
Sasha was outside in the driveway when she pulled up. He had gray paint sprinkled in his red hair.
“Hey there, stranger. Long time no see,” he said as she got out of the car.
“Hello to you, my friend. How are things going in there? Are you guys already painting?”
“We are. It’s looking pretty awesome. We’re doing an amazing job, if I do say so myself. I kind of wish I had plans to stay in town when you guys put it up for sale. It’s a really beautiful home.”
She patted him on his thick arm. “Well, you know there’s nothing I’d like more than for you to put down some roots here in Blue Springs.”
“Good thing I know a great Realtor who could help me do that...”
“Anytime. Is my dad in there?”
“He is. Your father is probably the hardest-working man I have ever met in my entire life. I am in awe of him every day.”
That was sweet. She thought he was pretty incredible as well. “I wish I had half of his stamina. Is Aaron here, too?”
“Boss man is inside as well. He told me putting on the finishing touches is his favorite part of this job.”
Maybe Aaron was distracted by all the little details that had to be done. Maybe he wasn’t really ignoring her on purpose.
The sound of classic-rock music greeted her when she opened the front door. When she walked inside, she was shocked at how different it looked. The kitchen cabinets were in, as well as the countertops and backsplash. The wood beams on the ceiling in the living room were up and absolutely stunning. The chandelier she’d chosen on their shopping trip was hanging in the dining room, and the pendant lights she’d fallen in love with were perfectly placed above the enormous island.
All the trim was done, and the paint was coming along. All that was left to do out in these common areas were the floors. When this place was staged for a showing, it was going to completely wow potential buyers.
“Bon Bon, what are you doing here?” Her dad came down the hall leading to the master bedroom.
“I was in the neighborhood. Thought I would check in on the progress. There’s been a lot of progress since I was here last.”
The pride on her dad’s face was priceless. “It’s coming together. I don’t think Aaron sleeps. He’s got an air mattress in the master that he says he’s been using, but I think the man never stops.”
“Funny, Sasha just told me you’re the one with endless energy around this place.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I’m just trying to keep up with Aaron. He’s the one in charge now.”
“Where is Aaron?”
“Painting the second bedroom, I think. That’s where the music is coming from, so I assume that’s where you’ll find him. Everything okay?”
Her father had some kind of parental sixth sense. He knew her moods better than she did.
“Everything’s fine. Just wanted to touch base with him about a couple things.”
“If you say so,” her dad said, not sounding the least bit convinced.
Bonnie followed the sound of music down the hall and into the first of the two guest bedrooms. Aaron was rolling more gray paint onto the walls. His light blue T-shirt had some paint on the sleeve. His jeans were like a memorial to all the work that had already been done. He had some cement on there from when her dad had taught him how to redo the concrete stoop. There was a tear on the leg where he’d gotten it snagged on a nail when they were putting in the bathtub. Black marker on his thigh from when he’d needed to jot down some measurements and didn’t have anything to write on other than himself. Now he was adding some paint to the mix.
Unaware she’d been standing there watching him, he jumped when he saw her. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“Sorry. I was just admiring the view. I mean, all the work you’ve done. This place looks fantastic, Aaron.”
He set his roller down in the paint tray and put his hands on his hips as he looked around. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“It’s going to fetch top dollar. I have no doubts.”
He didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. He fidgeted a bit, almost like he was nervous. “Did you see the master bedroom yet?”
“I didn’t get that far.”
“You’ve got to check it out,” he said, coming over to where she stood in the doorway. He stopped, and for a second she thought he might kiss her. “Come on, you have to see it.”
Disappointment coursed through her veins. She was so foolish to think someone who hadn’t spoken more than a few words to her in weeks would want to start kissing again.
The master bedroom was painted the same gray on three of the four walls. The new wall that had been put in to extend the room so they could put in a bigger en suite was painted a nautical blue.
“I know I was supposed to keep things neutral so people could come in and imagine their stuff in here, but I wanted to add just a pop of color for fun. I figure this wall is where the bed will sit, so it needed something. If people hate it, it’s only paint. They can change it, right?”
“I think it’s awesome. Blue and gray work together nicely. The gray keeps the blue from being too overpowering, and the blue gives this room a touch of masculinity. I like it.”
“Yeah?” He seemed genuinely surprised.
“Yeah.”
“I thought for sure you were going to hate it and tell me to paint over it.”
She was surprised to hear that her opinion carried that much weight. “This is your house, Aaron. Not mine. If you want to paint all the walls purple, I’m not going to say anything except, ‘Get ready for some lowball offers.’”
He laughed, and she wanted to listen to that all day on a continuous loop. His laughter was contagious. “Don’t worry. No purple.”
“Good to know. I can only imagine the kind of feedback we’d get.” She took a deep breath. She’d come here to confront him. “Can I talk to you about something?”
AARON HAD A sinking feeling that Bonnie wasn’t going to ask him about something related to the house. He’d been avoiding her, and it was making him miserable. He deserved to feel miserable, however, because he was a terrible brother. He figured the least he could do was put a little breathing room between him and Bonnie as well as him and Mitch.
He couldn’t hate either one of them, but he owed it to Lauren not to be seen all over town with the two of them. Not hanging out with Mitch was easy. Not being around Bonnie was torture.
“You can talk to me about anything. You know that.”
Bonnie seemed to think that wasn’t exactly true. She hesitated a second before opening up. “Did I do something?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did I say something or do something to make you question your feelings for me? Because I thought we were on the same page, and now I’m not sure we’re even reading the same book anymore.”
Another smooth move on his part. By trying to ease Lauren’s feelings of rejection, he’d managed to give them to Bonnie. “You didn’t do anything. I’m sorry if I’m putting out a lot of mixed messages right now. I’m trying really hard to do the right thing, but it seems like no matter what I do, someone I care about gets hurt. First Lauren. Now you.”
“I warned you that things would get messy if you placed yourself in my corner of the fight. I knew your sister wasn’t going to handle it well.”
“I know she’s a pain. I know she’s wrong about you. I know you deserve an apology and so much more. But I have let my sister down in ways I didn’t realize, and I have to try to make it up to her. The only way I know how to do that is to let you and Mitch fend for yourselves for a little bit.”
“Is that why you told Mitch he should hire me as his Realtor? Are you trying to help him spend time with me?”
Aaron’s back stiffened. “What? Why would you think that?”
“Because Mitch came to the office today and said you encouraged him to seek me out and that you two have been trying to come up with ways to make things better for me.”
Based on her tone, they both appeared to agree that spending time with Mitch was not better for her. “I have barely spoken to Mitch in weeks. I don’t know why he would say that.”
By stepping away, he hadn’t meant to open the door for Mitch. “I can talk to him. Remind him that it’s in his best interest and yours if he leaves you alone.”
“That would be extremely helpful. Thank you.” Bonnie slid her hands into her front pockets. “Can I be honest about something else?”
He took a step in her direction, drawn to her in ways he couldn’t explain. In ways he only saw in movies and read about in books. “I hope you’re honest with me about everything.”
“I understand you’re trying to regain your sister’s trust, but I really hope we’re still going to go on that date. I think about it pretty much every day. It would be so disappointing if it wasn’t ever going to happen.”
Aaron shared her desire. He also thought about that date every morning and every night when he finally let himself rest. “I want to say yes so badly.”
She shifted her weight from her heels to the balls of her feet. “I am scared to death there’s a but at the end of that sentence.”
“No but. I need some more time, that’s all. I’ve got to make some things right with Lauren before I can let myself have you, but make no mistake, I want you.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked down at her feet. “Okay, well, I can give you time. I don’t want you to take too long, but I can accept you needing a little bit.”
“Help!” David screamed from the living room.
Bonnie and Aaron exchanged “not again” looks and took off down the hall. Another trip to the ER would be absolutely humiliating. Another accident when Bonnie was here might make her start to question if a higher power was trying to tell them something.
Bonnie ran over to her dad, who was sitting on a folding chair in the kitchen. Sasha sat next to him, calm, cool and collected. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
A smile spread across David’s face. “Nothing. I just thought you two were alone back there a little too long. Sasha had me convinced I shouldn’t intrude, so I decided to bring you to me instead. I’m impressed with how fast you guys made it out here.”
“Me, too,” Sasha said with a chuckle. They thought they were hilarious. Aaron watched as Bonnie’s ears turned bright red.
“It was almost like they saw a mouse,” David said.
“Are they scared of mice?” Sasha asked.
“Oh, you should see these two when they see a mouse. It’s a toss-up who will climb on top of the other first to get away from the tiny little critter.”
“Don’t. Ever. Do. That. To. Me. Again,” Bonnie said, slapping him on the arm with every word.
“Everything okay with you two?” Sasha asked Aaron, his gaze shifting between him and Bonnie.
“We’re all good. We’ll be even better when we get our revenge, won’t we, Bonnie?”
“You two have no idea what you’re in for. Revenge will be sweet.”
Aaron tried being optimistic. Things would work out. Some playful vengeance would be served, and that date would happen. The worst had to be behind them.