Chapter 36
“There is a situation you need to handle.”
I take my glasses off and rub the bridge of my nose. “That I need to handle?” I repeat back to my father.
“Yes, with that vendor you found for the Manhattan location’s holiday event.” He sounds bored, as if it’s obvious that I should abandon this project to return home. “Tad has been trying to field it for you, but you know the owner best. I want this handled before we get any bad publicity.”
Well, sure. That’s why he has a vice president of community relations.
“Do you have a meeting set already?” I ask, looking up from the ordinances on my lap to watch both dogs hurry toward the apartment door. That could only mean one thing.
“Two days from now, first thing in the morning.”
A huff slips from me. “And you’re just telling me now?”
“We just set it.”
Scratching nails and high-pitched whines carry through the room. Charlie and Bear are pacing around each other, bumping together every so often as they jostle for the prime spot when the door finally opens.
“You realize that I’m six hours away from the office, yeah?” I mumble.
He doesn’t have a hard time hearing me though. “Then leave tomorrow. Spend a night back in your own place.”
It happens automatically, the way my attention sweeps across the room. Over these last couple months, I’ve settled in nicely here. I feel good, looking around and thinking that I’m already in my place. A place that isn’t all striking lines and blinding whites.
Like the rest of Ellicottville, this apartment is a warm embrace. And I quite prefer the rich-toned wood floors, crown molding, and muted green-blue walls here. I especially prefer the view of mountains on the horizon, peppered with trees still fighting to hold onto their fall color.
“Was there anything else?” my dad asks, forcing my attention back to him as I watch the door handle twist.
I toss the book of ordinances onto the coffee table and stand from the sofa, taking the cordless with me. “Anything else?”
Dark hair and a nervous expression slowly appear; Lucy’s eyes are soft with hesitation. Sorry, she mouths—despite my insistence that she let herself up tonight. I cross from the living room to the kitchen as the dogs vie for her affection.
I’m faintly aware of my father saying that he needs to go if I don’t have any other questions for him. But I answer Lucy instead. “Don’t you dare apologize,” I say in a hushed tone. “I’m wrapping this up now.”
“What was that, Jake?”
I bring the receiver back near my face. “Nothing, Dad. I guess I’ll see you soon.”
Lucy’s head cocks to the side, her bangs skimming her face from the movement. I reach out and wrap an arm around her middle, pulling her flush to my chest despite the dogs still circling at our feet.
“Eight o’clock. The Manhattan Carpenter meeting room.”
I drop a peck to the tip of her nose. “Yeah, see you then.”
The phone clatters against the counter as I end the call and toss it over. But I’m more concerned with giving her a proper hello. My hand reaches for the back of her head, tipping her up to me for a kiss, when I catch the firm press of her lips.
“Is he coming here? Does this mean the property is yours?” Her voice is careful, making it impossible to get a sense of how she feels about that prospect.
Of course, I already know. That’s been the problem from the start.
“No, I have to run back to the city tomorrow.”
This time, disappointment is written all over her face. I feel like an asshole when it gives me a thrill of hope.
“Are you… leaving leaving?”
“Not a chance,” I assure her. “I just have to attend some meeting.”
She tugs her bottom lip between her teeth and nods slowly. “Okay,” she drawls.
“Lucy Hart,” I say with a smirk, “are you going to miss me?”
Her eyes roll, but the corner of her mouth hikes up too. “You’re not as bad as I first thought,” she tells me like it’s a big confession.
“You’re ruining me with all your tender words.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
A deep, amused laugh rumbles in my chest. The kind that only she seems to bring up for me. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” I assure her.
My hand slides down to cup her cheek, and she presses into my palm. “How long will you be gone for?”
Bear whines, nudging Lucy and causing her to sway into me. “As short a stint as humanly possible. I’ll fly in and out of Buffalo so I can leave tomorrow and be back the next day.”
What I don’t confess is that I’d tell Richard Carpenter to shove off and handle the meeting on his own. She would only need to say the word.
“And that won’t be too much for you?”
“Not at all.”
Her mouth presses into a tight line as she studies me, not wholly convinced by my plan. I don’t blame her; it borders on irrational.
“I’ll be fine, really. This vendor deserves better treatment than he’ll probably get from my dad, but I don’t want to waste a minute of the time I have here.”
“It must be hard,” she murmurs, allowing me to guide her up against the counter.
I drag my hands down to her waist, holding her in just the right spot that I notice makes her eyes flicker a fraction brighter at me. “What’s that?”
“Being torn between two places.”
“I’m feeling less torn by the day.”
I’m prepared to share more, but her lips are on mine in an instant, and then everything else melts away.