Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
NOAH BARRETT
I stand in my living room with Savannah, staring at the wall where I used to have my television. It’s now bare. It’s the only wall I can somewhat justify in knocking down. It’s Sunday afternoon and Savannah insisted on coming over to help me with my demolition project. She brought over all the tools we bought together and piled them in the corner of my living room. Now we’re standing, facing my wall, goggles and gloves on.
She hefts the sledgehammer over her shoulder as she stares at the wall. “ This is the wall you want to knock down?”
Beads of sweat form on my foreheat. “Uh, yeah.”
“Really?” She eyes me skeptically.
I swallow. No. I don’t want to. But I have to. Otherwise, I’d have to tell her I lied. “There are no wires in this wall,” I say lamely. “No pipes, either.”
She turns to face the wall again. “I see. And why do you want to knock it down?”
I tug at my t-shirt collar. “If I knock it down, I wouldn’t have to go around the corner to get into my study. Easy access from the living room.”
She slowly nods. “Ah.”
“I think it will open things up…” I tack on, glancing around my living room, trying to convince myself this will be good. “And if someone comes to the door when I’m at my computer, I’ll have fewer steps to take…”
“I see.” Savannah points to my television, unplugged and over in the corner of the room. “And where will you put your TV?”
I have no answer. I hastily moved it right before she arrived. “I was thinking of getting rid of it.”
Savannah nods at me like I’m crazy, but I force a grin, so she buys it. She pulls the sledgehammer down from her shoulder and hefts it a few times, like she’s getting ready to use it. “Okay. Put on your goggles.” She slides her own goggles over her eyes.
I put my goggles on, but a feeling of dread comes over me. When she lifts the hammer in the air, I panic and grab the handle, stopping her. “Wait!”
Savannah rips her goggles off and glares at me, taking the hammer from me. “What are we doing here, Noah? Why are you telling me you want to knock down this wall when it’s obvious you don’t want to?”
I bite my lip to buy time to come up with a good answer. My mind is a vortex of nothingness. Words no longer form in my head. I’m an empty shell. Finally, I give up. “I lied,” I blurt out. “And I didn’t want you to know.”
She studies me. “Lied about what, exactly?”
I rub the back of my neck. “I lied about needing to knock down a wall, so you’d let me pay for half the materials. I don’t want to knock anything down.” I take a step back from her and quietly I add, “I like all of my walls.”
Savannah narrows her eyes at me. “And did you lie about how much all this stuff was? Because I wondered at the time why we got all this for so cheap.”
Guilt swells in my chest. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“Why did you lie?”
Frustration surges in me. “Because I was trying to do something nice for you, and I knew you wouldn’t let me. I know that you’re struggling a bit financially. And … well … I’m not.”
She sets the sledgehammer down on the floor, leaning it against the wall that I now get to keep. My lovely, television wall. I’m getting emotionally attachment to it.
She turns to me and pokes my chest. “Yeah, I figured that out, Mr. Money Bags.”
“How?”
She looks up at me, but I don’t see anger in her eyes. I see mirth. “Because people don’t just go out and rent a luxury yacht for a dinner date. I was curious, so I looked up how much that cost.”
“Oh.”
She smiles and shoves my chest. “You’re really bad at keeping secrets. So, what is it? Did you win the lottery? Find treasure in your backyard?”
“My brother gave me my inheritance when I moved out.”
Her eyes widen. “You spent your inheritance on a yacht rental?”
I laugh. “No, I inherited—” I cut myself off when I realize what I’m saying. Heat rises to my face. “Uh … I mean…”
Savannah stares at me. “You inherited a lot?” she asks, in a small voice.
I don’t like how she’s looking at me. Like my money could change things between us. “I mean…” I repeat, not sure what to say to her. I don’t want things to change between us. “My parents left me some, but it’s not that much. I guess I splurged.”
“I see.” She pushes my chest again. “Don’t splurge like that again. I don’t want to waste your inheritance. You should invest.”
“Oh, yes. I do plan on investing.” At least that’s not a lie.
“Good.” She smiles at me.
I decide to change the subject. I don’t like the feeling that I’m not being totally honest about my money. “Instead of knocking down my walls, can we work on decorating them? I loved the photos you took the other day.”
She picks up the sledgehammer. “Sure. I’ll help you put these tools away, then we can go to my house and look at the photos on my laptop. Once we decide on the photos you want, we can figure out if you want to paint some of your walls.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Do you want to just keep all these tools? You pretty much paid for them all anyway, and I don’t need them anymore.”
“That’s fine.”
She helps me take all the tools to my shed. We change out of our work clothes and meet back at Savannah’s house.
I sit next to her on the couch and Savannah pulls up the photos she took on her laptop. As we look at all the photos and I pick out the ones I like the most.
“What if we print these in black and white?” I ask, pointing at the ship photos I want in my living room.
“Ooh, that would look nice. Then you probably can keep your current wall colors.” She glances at me. “Do you mind some pops of red around the room?”
I think about it. “That would look good.”
She scrolls through more photos. “You really want a print of this one?” she asks, pointing to the goose.
“Oh, yes. I need that one.”
Savannah laughs. “Why?”
“Because I never want to forget that day.” Flashes of memories from that day come back to me. Savannah snuggling into my chest as we eat the picnic dinner. The feeling of her being in my arms. That was the day she told me about the cancer. That was the day I fell even deeper in love with her.
“I kind of want to forget it,” Savannah says softly.
“Why?”
“Because it was that day that Elizabeth ruined my dream.” Her voice catches.
An idea comes to me. “Wait. Elizabeth said she was going to open a portrait studio, right?”
“She already did,” Savannah says. “I drove by it yesterday.”
“Right. But what if you specialize in something she can’t do?” I stand up and rush into Savannah’s studio. I find the photography book with all the baby photos, and I take it back into the living room. “What if you do something like this?”
Savannah looks at the Anne Geddes book. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” I sit down beside her and open the book. “You took some sewing classes in high school, right? You could make costumes like these.”
She laughs as she points to a baby in a sunflower costume. “I love your faith in my sewing skills, but I think that’s beyond my capabilities.”
My shoulders slump. I thought I had such a good idea.
Savannah flips the page and stares at the pictures. She sits for a moment in contemplation. “Hmm.”
“What?”
“Even though I couldn’t make these kinds of costumes, I could still take infant photos. I’ve seen lots of them without extravagant costumes. There’s a whole art to it.”
I smile, glad my idea wasn’t worthless. “What if you specialized in that?”
She slowly nods. “I could do that. But I’m not sure this small town would support that kind of a specialty.”
I slip my arm around her shoulders. “We could advertise on the mainland. We’re a short drive over the bridge. I bet a lot of people would drive to Willow Shade. We can hook them on the infant photos, and people will come back time and again because of your talent.”
Savannah snuggles into my side. “You’re too kind. I know you’re just saying that but thank you. You’ve given me new hope.”
I lean close and kiss the top of her head. “I’m not just saying that. You can do anything you put your mind to. I’m amazed at your talents.”
She looks up at me, and I can see the moisture in her eyes. She blinks it away. “Thanks, Noah. That means a lot.”
I stare into her eyes, which is a mistake, because I’m immediately drawn into them. They’re the color of jade, but with blue and gold flecks in them. I could stare at her eyes forever. They’re beautiful.
Her gaze softens and dips down to my lips, and my heart races. I sit perfectly still, waiting to see if Savannah will close the distance and kiss me, like she did in front of Levi.
She moves slowly closer to me, as if there’s an invisible force between us. My palms grow sweaty as she stares at my lips. All I want to do is kiss her.
Someone pounds on her front door and I jump back. Savannah slams the Anne Geddes book closed and hops off the couch. “I’ll see who it is.”
I follow after her. The pounding sounds frantic. Savannah opens the door. Colton Lawson stands on her porch. He’s leaning against the door jam, breathing heavily, and he looks like he’s been on the losing end of a fight.
“Colton, are you all right?” I ask, my protective instincts on high alert. I step closer and turn his face so I can get a good look at the bruise on his cheek.
Colton’s gaze pierces through me. “My mom… She needs help.”