“I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Olivia said. “Have fun.”
Carina ordered another mimosa, and she and Olivia had their heads together as Whitney walked out to her car.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Matthew stood waiting at the elevator in Whitney’s condo building. One elevator wasn’t moving at all, and the other had just stopped on another floor on its way up, increasing his anticipation.
He glanced at his watch. He was early. Maybe he should’ve texted her first.
As he reached for his phone, finally, the elevator doors swished open.
Whitney began to exit the elevator wearing a pretty sundress and sneakers when she looked up and saw him. “Hey!”
Her smile was a welcoming sight. “Hi.” He stepped back, giving her room to exit.
“Am I late?” She glanced at her watch. “Oh no. Did I get the time wrong?”
“No. I’m early. I was getting ready to text you.” He stepped back, admiring her. “You look so pretty.”
“Thank you.” She looked surprised by the compliment. “I wasn’t exactly sure what to wear.”
“What you have on is perfect.” He reached for her hand. “I’ve been looking so forward to this.”
“Me too. It was the longest week ever,” she admitted.
“I was thinking the same thing.” They walked out and got in the car.
He put the key in the ignition but didn’t start the car.
Her eyes conveyed curiosity.
“Before we leave, I wanted to show you something,” he said. “It’s just an idea, but I wanted to see if this was the direction you wanted to go. I intended to wait, but I’m terrible at keeping a secret. I can never wait until Christmas to give a gift either.” He leaned back and grabbed a sketch pad, flipping the pages back against its spiral. “Here it is.”
“What is it?” she asked, but no sooner had the words left her lips than she sucked in a breath. “For Chloe’s wall?”
He’d tried to catch the essence of what she’d described with a girly treehouse and all the little extras. “What do you think?”
“You did this. Already. Thank you.” She looked at it, shaking her head, then looked at him. Her eyes were glossy. “Yes. This is exactly what I had in mind. No, it’s even better than what I’d imagined. Look how pretty you made the tree house.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Love it.”
It had turned out really cute, but her enthusiasm made it even more exciting. “I’ll transfer the idea to canvas so we can work on it. Meanwhile, I’ll need you to get the exact dimensions of the wall where we’re going to hang it.”
“I can do that. This is so exciting.”
“You think that’s exciting?” He started the car. “You wait until you see what I have planned for the rest of the day.”
She handed him the sketchpad and nestled back in the seat. “I like the sound of that.”
He couldn’t wait to share this very special place with her. He’d never wanted to share it with anyone before. Stealing a glance her way, her soft smile captivated him, leaving him yearning to know more about her.
A few dark clouds clustered in the distance, but at least the cloud cover kept the temperatures manageable. Hopefully, it wouldn’t rain.
When they arrived at Maymont, he parked and then reached into the backseat.
