We're One: Two wrongs always make a right

Chapter Twelve

Sia

As I pull up to the long driveway of Zach’s ranch, my stomach tightens in anticipation and fear. I’m not afraid of him in the slightest bit, but I’m scared of myself, and of how weak I am around this man. I’ve carefully laid out a plan to be professional. Hopefully I can stick with it.

I enjoy this long driveway with stunning views of rolling hills and the incredible landscape that stretches out before me. I bring my window down and inhale the fresh country air. It’s incredible that this place, only about thirty miles outside of Seattle, is like being in a whole different state. It’s crazy to go from the city to this gorgeous, forested area in such a short amount of time.

I’m prepared with a trunk full of paint samples, fabric swatches, and furniture catalogs eager and excited to transform this already beautiful home into a brighter and more inviting space. Right now it’s dark, typical for an eighties decorated home when dark walls and cabinets prevailed. Perhaps they simply didn’t know darkness shrinks spaces, and in my opinion, is depressing.

Arriving, I load my arms with multiple bags that are about to tip me over, trying to do this in one trip. I wobble to the front door but before I can knock, Zach opens it, a warm smile on his lips that makes my heart skip a beat. I stare dumbfounded at him for several long moments.

“Good morning, Sia,” he tells me. I open my mouth to return the greeting, but I’m mute.

“Let me help you,” he says, immediately taking the majority of my bags. I don’t protest. “Are you ready to work some magic on this old home?” he asks as he waves me inside. This carefree Zach is hard to resist.

“I think you’ll like the samples,” I say, a few seconds later than I should’ve replied to his question. I’m thrown off by his attitude. He appears so carefree and happy. I’m not sure what to do with it. I know how to handle the intense Zach, but happy Zach is truly throwing me off.

I follow him into his large kitchen that Nikki would orgasm over. I need to have her help me with something so she can come inside and see his home. Someday she’ll have something just like this or better. I want it far more for her than for me. I only need a large garage to store all of my design goodies and a big open office with a view. She needs a monster-size kitchen. Neither of us care about any other space. Sure, it’s nice to be able to stretch your legs out, but how many rooms in a mansion do people truly use? Probably not much of the space more than a few times a year.

“Would you like coffee?” Zach asks.

“Yes please. I was going to stop on my way here, but I was running late, then traffic was a nightmare.”

“Yeah, that’s why I despise living in the heart of the city. I lived there for years and thrived on it for a while, but it changed. I wasn’t going to stay here after Gramps passed, but I found that I was unwilling to leave. I still have my condo in the city, but I haven’t slept there in over a year.”

“Are you going to keep the condo?” The amount of money lost on an empty space in Seattle is incomprehensible to me.

“For now. It’s hard for me to let things go. I might eventually need it.” I wonder what it would be like to have so much money you could afford to have multiple homes not in use. It’s never been my goal to have that much money, but to not have to worry about bills and food wouldn’t be so bad.

I hear a noise, then turn to see Honey making a beeline straight toward me. I give a real smile this time as I drop to the floor and she launches herself into my arms. “Hello, Beautiful, how are you?” I coo. She licks my chin and jumps all over me.

“I’m trying to break her of that. It might be cute now, but it won’t be so cute when she’s eighty pounds.”

“She’s fine,” I assure him. “But she’s already put on a couple of pounds since I saw her last. I hate how quickly puppies grow.”

“I’m more than ready for her to be fully house-trained,” he says with a sigh.

“She’ll learn fast. She’s super smart.”

He shakes his head, but I can see he’s already getting attached to the pup. He looks at her with a fond smile. “Do you have to go outside?” he asks. Her ears perk up and she runs over to him, stumbling a couple of times as most puppies do when trying to get used to their rapidly growing bodies. He turns and walks her over to the door and opens it. She rushes outside.

“I had a nice big fenced area put in for her. She’ll probably play for a little while.” I’m a bit bummed to see her leave so quickly, but she’ll be back soon. I stand and move to the counter.

Zach makes coffee, then pulls out a box of fresh donuts. I close my lips to keep from drooling. He grabs a jelly-filled one and I go straight for the maple bar, barely able to hold in the sigh of pleasure wanting to escape. After a few sips of coffee, I set my cup down while I nibble on the donut, then start pulling out samples and spreading them out on the huge counter in a line.

“You mentioned you want to brighten up the house, and I fully agree,” I say once it’s all laid out. “You’d be shocked at how many choices you have. We need to narrow down the color tones you want. Browse these samples and eliminate what you don’t like. Then we can narrow it down to your favorite.”

“It will be so odd to have bright walls and color in here. It’s looked like this since I was a young boy,” he tells me, fondness in his eyes.

“You don’t have to do this, Zach... to drastically change it,” I tell him, feeling a bit of disappointment at the potential loss of the job. I’m a designer though, and want my clients to be thrilled at the makeover, not sad.

He shakes his head. “No, I want to do this. Sometimes it really hits me that Gramps is gone and won’t ever walk through these halls again. I love your idea of incorporating some of the old with the new, because I don’t want to erase his memory.”

I can’t help myself. I reach out and touch his arm. It’s clear how much he loved his grandfather. These losses tend to stay with a person for years. He’s lost his parents and grandparents which can’t be easy, especially since he’s not very old. It’s tragic. I can’t imagine how it will feel when my parents are gone. I’m already sad thinking about it.

“We’ll do a partial walk-through today so we can mark each of the pieces of furniture and decorations. It will take a couple of days to go through all of the rooms since this place is so big. We’ll do the definite keeps, the definite rehomes, and the maybes. That will help with knowing what else to bring in. Something else to consider as we move through each rooms is that we can move pieces around. So if you like a piece, but don’t like it in a certain room, we can change areas. That can really make a difference in how the piece looks. There are also some fun things we can do with pieces of furniture that don’t work but have sentimental value. For example, we can use window frames to make picture frames, use posts from beds to make end tables. I have an incredible designer — who isn’t cheap, but is a true artist — who takes furniture and makes new pieces, giving a bit of the old a bright newness.”

Zach’s eyes light up at this. “What a great idea. Now I’ll look at the furniture in a whole new light. I love it,” he tells me, all traces of sadness in his eyes evaporating.

My donut and coffee are gone. I eye the box, wanting to grab a second one, but not wanting to look like a glutton. Zach laughs as if he can read my mind.

“These are only good for a day so eat away,” he tells me as he reaches in and grabs a second one for himself before moving to the coffee pot to refill both cups. I don’t need further prompting as I grab another donut, this time a cinnamon glazed twist. It’s soft and sugary and pure heaven.

“Okay, first you have to decide on paint.” I go to the paint samples. “We have soft whites, pale yellows, some light blues, sage greens, and more. Like I said, first eliminate what you hate so it’s easier to narrow down what you like. Once you pick your three to five preferable colors, we can paint large splashes on the walls and you can look at them for a few days to decide which one you like the most. We can do one color throughout the house, or multiple colors. We can do accent walls in certain rooms. The options are endless. You can be as involved in the details as you want. You can leave the final decisions up to me or not. I’ve had clients who give me their initial opinions then want nothing to do with the project. Other clients want to approve every single detail. I can work with both. It’s your home and you’re the one living here.”

“Okay, paint will be tough, but I can already say I hate the blues,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t know why as I love a clear blue sky, but for some reason I hate blues in houses.”

I laugh as I grab all the blues away. “Perfect, we’ve eliminated one category already. We’re making headway.” He plucks out a few more colors, but a dozen remain on the counter. He moves to the curtain swatches.

We chat about patterns versus solids, and different colors. Before I realize it, three hours have passed and over half the donuts are gone. Honey has been running in and out of the house, getting some attention, then off again to chase squirrels or whatever else she can find. She’s quite the little chewer so we’re going to have to consider than when choosing furniture. Animals can destroy a house quickly if a person isn’t careful.

We’ve only eliminated about half the samples I’ve brought, but we’re making progress. We have a very long way to go. With the size of this ranch home though, I’m well aware it will take a while. If we can narrow the choices today, I’ll be satisfied.

“The furniture will be a lot harder. Some designers like to pick everything out at once. I work better by getting the floors, walls, and curtains finished first. Then I can see what furniture in the house still works, and what doesn’t, and find pieces to match. Some people like to pick out their furniture first, then design the walls and curtains around that. It’s really up to you.”

He looks at the furniture catalogs. “I think I like your way better. I want the walls and curtains to be bright. I only want my furniture to be comfortable.”

“We can look at patterns for the furniture. There’s a lot of leather in the house now. I’m not the biggest fan of leather. That might be controversial, but it’s not inviting in my opinion. I think it works well for a den, but I like bright hues: greens and greys along with sunny yellows and maybe a bold print to really accent a room. This works well for men and women, especially with accents like colored frames, plants, and designer lamps strategically placed.”

Zach leans closer to me to inspect a fabric sample, his fingers sliding across the fabric while his shoulder brushes mine, sending butterflies straight to my stomach. “This feels good,” he murmurs, his voice dropping, making my pulse speed up.

A flush creeps up my neck, but I stay focused on the task before us. “This fabric would work well for the living room,” I say, my voice a bit too breathy, though I’m trying to stay professional. Thankfully he doesn’t call me out.

“I trust your opinion. You’re obviously great at your job,” Zach says. The damn dip in his voice is seriously messing with my hormones. I look up and our eyes meet, and for a moment, the air between us is charged. His gaze captures mine for several heartbeats. Finally, I manage to look down and inhale a calming breath of air.

“Sounds good,” I say, my voice too squeaky. I clear my throat and start again. “With added touches of plants, the other accents will really pull it all together.” Wait? Didn’t I say this already? He’s frying my nerves. I can’t stand next to him. I move away as I go over to my bag and fiddle with it, pretending to pull something else out as I give myself a lecture on staying professional.

“I like all of this, Sia,” Zach says, thankfully staying right where he is as he touches the different fabrics, pulling some into the out pile. We have very similar tastes. He only removes a couple of the ones I like. “What about the picture frames?”

“A home needs framed photos throughout. They tell the story of who you are, where you came from, and what you like. We don’t have to cover every space with photos, but a home with only artwork feels like a museum,” I tell him.

“I like the personal touch. Gramps always put framed pics of us in the den, but never hung them through the house. I think after he lost Grams, he didn’t know how to decorate,” he says with a chuckle.

“That’s normal. Some men love decorating, but that’s more the exception to the rule. Although, I have to tell you some of my best competitors are men.”

“I’m not in that category. I have no clue where to even begin. I have you here, though, so that’s better than me trying to do all of this.”

“Very true. Once we have the walls painted, I’d love to take you to my favorite warehouse that has displays set up to give you entire room views. You can pick an entire set, or pick out individual pieces.”

“I’d love to see it, and give you ideas, but honestly, I’ll let you pick the final vision. You’re going to know more about what won’t crowd the space too much. If it was up to me I’d probably line the house with La-Z-Boys and nothing else,” he says with a chuckle.

We continue discussing details when Zach gets a call. He lets out a sigh. He answers, tells the caller he’ll call right back, then hangs up and turns to me.

“That’s a work call I need to take. Why don’t I show you the computer with the photo file. You can pick out images you think will work. This call will take at least an hour,” he says.

“That sounds good to me,” I tell him. I need a break from his company. It’s not that it isn’t pleasant. It’s the opposite. Being with him is far too enjoyable and easy. I need to calm my hormones.

He takes me into the office and opens a file marked photos. There are thousands of images. This will take a while. He leaves me with a fresh cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese, then disappears. This man must not have anything to hide if he’s leaving me with open access to his computer. I wouldn’t leave my computer with anyone. It has far too much personal stuff on it. I’m not a person to snoop, but he doesn’t know that.

Honey comes in the room and immediately curls up at my feet. I like this dang puppy far too much. It’s not wise to get attached to anything that belongs to Zach, but I’m failing. I like his dog, I like his home, and as much as I don’t want to, I like him. Ugh.

I turn from these thoughts as I click through images, feeling a lump in my throat as I go through Zach’s life. There are countless images of Zach with his brothers, Blaze and Callan, their camaraderie and love for each other evident in every shot. There are multiple images with their grandfather, and some with their grandmother, the older people’s faces beaming with pride and love. The ones of Zach and his brothers with their parents make my eyes sting. This family was so happy together. To have all of that ripped away is so heartbreaking. It makes me realize I need to take some time and make a visit home. I miss my parents. Talking on the phone isn’t enough after a while.

One photo of Zach catches my eyes. It’s him and his brothers fishing by a serene lake, their laughter frozen in time. He’s so young and carefree, younger than when I met him, maybe around sixteen. He’s wearing the same cocky smile he wore the first time I met him, like he has the whole world in his hands. Another picture is with Zach and Gramps, their arms wrapped around each other as they gaze out at a beautiful sunset, their profile absolutely stunning. More tears sting my eyes.

I shake off the feeling and compose myself, then create a new folder and add my favorite photos to it. I hope he allows me to choose the pictures. I want to surprise him. I’m sure he hasn’t looked at a lot of these images in years. It will be fun to place them through the house, to allow Zach and his siblings to walk down Memory Lane as they move from room to room.

I carefully select a mix of young and current images, ensuring they represent the beautiful essence of Zach’s family and the strong love they share for one another. I’ll get them sent and framed as soon as I know the colors of the walls. This, in my opinion, is the most important part of the redecoration process.

I lose track of time as I get the last of my photos in the new folder. I jump as Zach’s voice interrupts my task. “Find anything good?” He chuckles as I look up to see him standing in the doorway. Honey sleepily looks up, then jumps to her feet to circle Zach, her tail wagging away. I wish I could wake up as happy and fast as an animal.

“What time is it?” I ask, my eyes a bit blurry. I blink away the fog that comes when staring at a computer for too long.

“Four. That call took me nearly three hours,” he says with apology in his voice.

“Wow, I lost all sense of time. That was fun, and yes, I found great images. Do you want to go through them?”

He shakes his head. “I’m sure you did well. I’ll leave that up to you.”

I beam at him. “As soon as we have the wall colors chosen, I’ll send these to a company that will send them back framed and ready to go.”

“Wow, that’s great,” he says. “I guess there’s no need to head to the print shop anymore.”

“I love the convenience of everything being online. That is until I lose internet then don’t know what to do with myself.”

He laughs. “My job depends on the internet, so I get that.”

“I think we went over everything we could today. Let’s do the walk through on the next round so you can take some time to look through the rooms on your own and have an idea of what you want to do before I go through it with you. Also, you can spend the next couple of days narrowing down the samples. When I come back next, we’ll do a complete walk through on the house. I’ll bring my trusty tabs. We can move as fast or slow as you want now. When the budget is this high, things don’t have to wait.”

He frowns for a moment, but it’s so brief I might’ve imagined it. He quickly grins again. “I can’t send you home hungry. Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

It’s crazy how much I want to accept his offer. Because I want to accept so badly, I shake my head. This day has messed with me too much already and I need to make an exit before I do something foolish like end up on one of his couches naked.

“I have plans tonight, but maybe another time,” I tell him then laugh. “Besides, I’ve eaten enough pastries and bread today to fill me up for the entire week.”

“Yeah, I don’t normally eat donuts all day,” he tells me. “But I don’t regret it. Those were excellent.”

“I agree. Nikki and I might eat a bit too many of them, but they’re always so good we can’t have regrets.”

“How about we plan on meeting here again in two days? That will give me plenty of time to narrow down the samples and take a look at furniture.”

I stand and walk with him back to the kitchen as I gather my bag and notes I took. “That sounds good. Same time?” I ask as we begin moving toward the front door. There’s something about being in his home, surrounded by his warmth and the memories of his past captured in the photos I spent hours looking at, that makes me want to stay. I need to get out fast.

“Yes, same time will work,” I tell him, now in a hurry. He opens his door and I quickly step through it, inhaling the fresh evening air outside. I’m going to hit the worst of Seattle traffic at this time, but that’s okay. It will give me time to calm my racing heart.

“Thanks again for all you’re doing on this, Sia.”

“It’s truly my pleasure, Zach,” I say, meaning this. As hard as it is to be around him, I love this project. It’s going to turn out beautifully.

I climb into my vehicle and start driving. He did some flirting today, but we didn’t talk about the sex we’ve had or a potential relationship. I need to chalk this day up to the win column. It was a great day with a wonderful job I’m grateful for. The sexual tension is something I’m going to have to get used to. It’s not going away. I hate how much I’m looking forward to coming back in a couple of days. Maybe, the more time I spend here, the less attraction I’ll feel toward Zach.

I laugh at this thought. I’m well aware I’m lying to myself. It’s okay, though. I can say whatever I need to say in order to survive this. Who knows? Maybe in the end it will become something more. On the other hand, it might fizzle and die. We’ll have to wait and see what the end to our story will be.