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“Great. I’ll see you then.”
We hang up, and I scroll through the photos again. If the finished product is half as beautiful as what she’s given me here, Piper will be over the moon.
I can’t wait.Chapter Three~Noel~I have my coffee, extra-large, and I’m ready to tackle this day. If all goes as planned, in just three days, Reed’s house will look like Santa himself lives there.
Traffic headed out of the city isn’t too bad this morning since I’m driving opposite of rush-hour traffic, so getting up to his place should only take me about fifteen minutes.
“Long enough to enjoy this coffee,” I mutter to myself just as my phone rings. My sister’s name comes up on my car’s screen. I click accept on my steering wheel. “Hello there.”
“Hey, I was hoping I’d catch you before you started in with your meetings today,” Joy says. I can hear dogs barking around her, but that’s not unusual, given that my sister is a successful veterinarian in Seattle.
“You did catch me. I’m on my way to a job. What’s up?”
“I think we should do family dinner on Sunday with Dad. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen you.”
“I know.” I sigh and take a sip of my coffee. “It seems that everyone in the Seattle metro area suddenly wants their house decorated.”
“This is the time of year everyone has parties, so of course they want their homes to look nice.”
“You have a good point,” I concede and wonder why I didn’t think of that. “But I’ll make time for dinner on Sunday. How is Daddy? Have you talked to him?”
“He’s good. He brought Nancy in for a check-up yesterday, and he looks happy. He said he has a date on Saturday.”
I sit stunned, staring at the red taillights ahead of me.
“Noel?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you hear me?”
“I think so. Dad has a date?”
“I was pretty surprised, too,” she says. “But he seems excited about it.”
“Mom’s only been gone for three years.”
“That’s a long time, Noel,” she says softly. “I know it feels like yesterday, but three years is a long time.”
“Well, as long as he’s happy, I guess.” I swallow hard, still wrapping my head around this. “We’ll ask all of the questions on Sunday.”
“That’s my plan,” Joy replies. “Okay, don’t work too hard. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She ends the call, and I bite my lip. I don’t know how I feel about my dad dating someone new. I guess I’ll set it aside until we talk to him on Sunday.
I pull into Reed’s driveway, pleased when I see that the crew, along with their big trucks and supplies, made it here before me.
With coffee in hand, I march down the driveway to the house and see Reed talking with one of the men.
“There she is,” Reed says, looking relieved when he sees me.
“Great.” Bob, a man I’ve worked with many times before, turns and smiles at me. He’s old enough to be my father, but I still flirt with him relentlessly.
“Hey there, handsome,” I say to Bob and pat his shoulder. “Are you all ready to go?”
“Your notes were clear, as always. My boys will get started out here right away.”
“Thank you.” I smile up at him, chuckle when he blushes a bit, and watch as he walks back to his truck.
“I think I’m jealous of Bob,” Reed says beside me.
“Why is that?”
“He just got way more attention out of you than I’ve managed to do,” he says. I turn to him and sip my drink.
“Well, Bob does a hell of a job, and I think he’s rather adorable.”
“So you like older men, then.”
I shrug a shoulder, trying not to notice how broad Reed’s chest looks in his blue button-down shirt, or how his forearms flex as he pushes his hands into his pockets.
Good Lord, Reed is something to write home about.
“I’m going to need you to leave,” I inform him and watch as he raises an eyebrow.
“In what capacity?”
“I need you and Piper to move out of here for the few days that this will take. First, because you’ll just be in the way. And second, because I want it to be a surprise when it’s finished.”
“You’re kicking me out of my own house.”
I wink up at him. “Yes. I am.”
I turn to talk to my interior crew, but my toe catches on a rock, and I pitch forward, my coffee flying out of my hands and splattering all over Reed’s driveway.
Strong arms catch me, keeping me from falling on my face, and all I can do is stare longingly at the coffee steaming off the concrete.
“Damn it.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thanks for catching me.”
He has strong hands. Firm arms. A tight grip around my waist.
I wonder how he’d hold me if we were naked, and—
I shake my head, stopping those thoughts before they have a chance to go anywhere else.
