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With the air clear, Richard did his best to help make conversation, asking me more personal questions about my past, upbringing, and anything else I cared to answer. I returned the interest, grateful that in the pain, I’d made sure I still had a friend. Richard had been through more than I could have imagined prior to being in his relationship with Sarai, and it made me respect him all the more.
“Finding love can be a rocky path sometimes. But when you find the one who steals your heart and does what they can to take care of it, suddenly the rest doesn’t matter so much. The hurt becomes a distant memory and you just want to keep the good you do have.” Richard smiled and looked off into the distance. I knew he was talking about Sarai.
I cleared my throat, feeling choked up a little. “I’ll confess, since I met you two I was impressed with how well you both support each other. I envy what you two have.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Richard swiftly replied, “it takes hard work at times too. But she’s worth loving and supporting. We’ve come a long way. I’m very happy with what we’ve built together. I don’t want to endanger any of it.”
As he talked, he got onto the subject of how they met, and I listened, letting his words soothe some of the pain I felt at not being with Kit, though in other ways it made it worse. I had begun to hope Kit had been my Sarai.
Somehow, I was going to have to keep going and hope the woman who loved me entirely, the way we cared about each other, was still out there.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
Kit
There were only a few days until the showcase and I had barely stopped or slept in what felt like a week. Although I had put as much work as I could into getting everything I needed for the final huts ahead of time, there were always a few items that didn’t look right and changes of plans.
Some of the snagging had gotten in the way of me getting into the huts and finishing them off as well. And others already had guests who were staying ahead of launch. Sarai had handled all that, allowing me to focus on getting everything ready for the showcase while also letting me keep away from Lukas, but I still had to have everything ready.
Since I’d gotten back to Chicago and the project, Sarai had been my guardian angel. And she’d been more than excited to let some of my friends stay in one of the huts. I was in theirs now, knowing they would arrive later in the day and so it needed to be ready. The beds were made, the dust swept and I was trying to decide if I liked one lamp on the center of the dining table or another.
“Oh my,” Sarai said from behind me, making me jump. “You really have done wonders. I don’t know how you do it. Irecognize the few bits of furniture that overlap or are finishing touches in each of them, yet every hut is unique and beautiful all on its own. I can’t wait to show it off to all our special guests.”
Behind Sarai came Richard, Henry, and a few of the site workmen. Henry had some kind of paper list in front of him and would barely meet my gaze. I frowned and felt my stomach tighten painfully. So far, I hadn’t seen Henry either, the man usually here with Lukas.
Although I tried to step back and look around for Lukas, I couldn’t see him. If he was here, he wasn’t coming into the building. I tried not to think about it too much, and just focus on the hut and interior. This was my job and I couldn’t fail to do it simply because Lukas might come in.
Not only that, but I knew my friends would be here soon and I wanted to make sure the hut was as ready for them as possible. They’d paid for their flights, and I had figured out the accommodation with Sarai as I’d told them I would. Although she wasn’t charging me the full amount, I’d promised to at least cover their costs of being there—a smaller amount for the cleaning, freebies that came with staying there, and all the little touches.
Sarai had sounded like she wouldn’t even accept that, but I’d insisted I shouldn’t take her generosity too far. She could have sold time in the hut for a lot more. While I was grateful she didn’t want to charge me the full price others were paying, I could have afforded it.
Having my friends here was worth far more than paying the full price. Sometimes money was no object to be with people who cared. And this was one of those moments.
I backed off a little more, despite feeling the benefit of knowing my friends were already on the flights here. Henry was going around and checking the snagging had actually been dealt with. Of course, I’d done the same, not wanting to get thefurniture in until I knew it would be able to stay in, but Lukas and Henry hadn’t failed to check any of the huts themselves.
Until now, Sarai had managed to keep me away from everyone else who might upset me, and I was surprised she hadn’t at least warned me. While Henry continued deeper into the building with the two supervisors in tow, she stayed behind with me, however.
She reached out and took my arm again. “I really mean it when I say you’ve done a wonderful job. You should be so proud of yourself. Is this the last one you need to finish?”
I nodded. “I’m happy with the rest if you are.”
“Very much so. And I trust you. If you say they’re done, I’m not going to interfere.”
“I’ve made an inventory for each hut too. And where I got each item, including a list of spares. Some of it will be hard to replace if it breaks, but I did my best to make sure everything could be repaired or replaced with something alike.” I kept talking, trying to make sure I’d told her everything important, even though I was certain I’d already told her everything she needed to know.
She squeezed my arm gently. “Thank you. I’m sure we’ll be able to keep it looking wonderful. And if not, we’ll just hire you in a few years to overhaul it all again.”
My eyebrows rose of their own volition. Given how much she had paid me, I doubted she would want to spend that kind of money again to have me redo them, but she appeared to be completely serious.
“Anyway.” Sarai pulled away slightly and studied me rather than the room. “I understand your friends will land at the airport in about an hour.”
“Yes, something like that.”
“If you’re done, why don’t you go meet them? I was going to send your usual driver thinking you would be stuck here and stillworking, but I can spare you if you are happy and ready for the showcase.”
“I’ll come back with them anyway,” I replied. “I’d like to be here when they see it.”
“Oh, of course. Can we show them around together?” Sarai’s eyes sparkled as she opened the back door for us to slip out.
