“That’s fine,” she told Jill. “Do what you need to do. If you got any footage of my argument with Allie, though, I’d be grateful if you didn’t use it. Same with the footage of her argument with Seb. She’s a great real estate agent, and I want to make sure her talents are presented in the best possible light to viewers at home.”
After a few moments of thought, the producer heaved a gusty sigh. “Fine. Even without agent-client throwdowns, I think we have enough drama for this episode.”
“Thank you.” Lucy gave Jill a heartfelt hug. “I really appreciate all your kindness.”
Finally, with a last wave to the producer and the rest of the crew, she headed for her car.
Onward and upward, right? Time to pack her belongings, grab Hairy, and check into her hotel again. For the first time since they’d met, she was kind of hoping she wouldn’t have to see or talk to Sebastián along the way.
They might still be friends, but even friends required some emotional distance at times.
Sebastián absentedhimself from the house for the rest of the day, until he was certain Lucy had come and gone. His desperation to see her one last time, to look into those soft brown eyes and bask in her sweet smile, hadn’t waned. But after a few quiet hours alone, his panic and determination to protect himself had.
If he spent another minute in her presence, he mightreveal everything to her. How much he’d always loved her. How that love had transformed over the years, shifting until he could no longer call it platonic, until no other woman in his life and bed would do. How badly he wanted—needed—her to stay by his side.
So instead of waiting at home for her to return, he went to work and began tinkering with his latest model. Which was a better use of his time anyway, since he was running behind after taking several days of vacation.
His coworkers greeted him with casual unconcern, none of them appearing particularly interested in where he’d been all week. Not even Gwen. Probably because he never told her anything personal, even when she asked.
They knew his name. They knew he was an efficient, pleasant coworker. But they didn’t knowhim. Not really. His parents and family did, of course. The only other person who’d ever come close was?—
Nope. Back to inputting lines of code.
He couldn’t believe how quickly and completely his standoffish cat had become accustomed to Hairy’s undying affection. When Sebastián had ventured into the kitchen after Lucy’s departure, eyes bleary with fatigue and?—
Well, that didn’t matter. When he’d ventured into the kitchen, he’d found the two pets resting entwined around one another. That Hairy liked to sleep cuddling didn’t surprise him. But Kitty, of all creatures? The cat who only deigned to let Sebastián pet her once a year, on his birthday?
When the two animals had woken at the sound of food in their bowls, Kitty hadn’t hissed or clawed at Hairy. Instead, she’d butted her head under his chin until he licked her a few times. Then, in her inimitable style, she’d flicked him with her tail and presented him with her ass as she stalked to the litter box.
Hairy hadn’t seemed to mind. He’d just stared after her with his stupid doggy heart in his eyes, as if he and an entirely different species of animal could ever make a go of it.
Those animals were going to miss one another. Almost as much as?—
Fuck. He needed to concentrate on his model. If he made one small mistake, the simulation would crash when he tried to run it. His work required the ability to shut out all distractions, to focus on nothing but the job at hand.
Still, he hoped Lucy hadn’t listened to Allie. Hadn’t let the other woman convince her to choose one of those horrific tiny house options on camera.
He understood his best friend. If she picked a house on cable television, she’d feel obliged to go through with the purchase. The last thing she needed was either a deep-woods pot shack, a dick-festooned bus, or an Oregon Trail enthusiast’s fever dream.
If he’d been there to offer support, maybe she?—
MATLAB. Focus on MATLAB.
His fingers paused on the keyboard. What she and Hairy really needed was a yurt. Unlike the other tiny houses she’d toured, a yurt would give her plenty of overhead clearance—more than enough to stave off claustrophobia. Lots of options for a client changing area and a decent bathroom. Room for Hairy to run around and torment hapless, aloof cats. She could design the yurt to whatever specifications she wanted, take it down and transport it with relative ease, and pay someone to set it up for her again.
An engineer should be able to look at yurt plans and figure out how best to meet her needs. After all, she expressed them so damn easily, with such faith that they wouldn’t be used against her. And when theywereused against her, as with Fuckhead Jarrod or Allie, she managed topick up the pieces and regain her confidence somehow. To keep believing that reaching out, holding on, was worth the pain and effort.
Believing matters, she’d said.
A little light Googling wouldn’t hurt anyone. After all, he’d originally intended to take more vacation time today, and he wouldn’t charge the company for the hours he spent researching yurt options and plans.
What sort of weather conditions could a yurt withstand? Were different types of yurt materials more conducive to different settings? How much would it cost to transport the whole yurt contraption? What sort of supports were needed to create separate spaces within the yurt structure?
He’d never, not once in his life, used the wordyurtso often. It had lost all meaning to him at this point. Yurt yurt yurt yurt yurt.
Yup. Total nonsense.
An hour or so later, however, he had some yurt-related answers. Given a few days, he suspected he could help design one that would incorporate everything Lucy required and suit her aesthetic sensibilities. Maybe even design two, depending on the decisions she reached about her future.
