She loved that he was asking her, and not Reaves. She nodded, and he wrapped her in a brief hug before stepping back.
"Thanks, Alara. And I'll pay—a premium, I expect, since I want it done soon."
Alara opened her mouth, but Delaney spoke over her. "Don't you dare say a word." She laughed. "Not one word about friend pricing. You might not want to workforme—but let me work foryou. I know you can do your own visual branding. But let me handle the pricing, at least. We're going to present you as premium." She jerked her chin at Ollie. "And he's not the only one around here with more money than God."
Alara laughed and nodded. But underneath, a flicker of an idea stirred. Maybe, if she was earning decent money—painting for Ollie and people like him, doing flowers for the girls' weddings—maybe by the time the house was finished, she'd be able to rent it from Charles.
"You okay?" Reaves asked quietly.
"Yeah. I'm good."
"Do you like the idea?"
"I love it, Reaves. I really do."
Delaney turned back to her. "Promise me. Before you take any jobs, you’ll run them past me. I don't want you underpricing yourself." She reached out and squeezed Alara's arm. "In fact—if you set yourself up as a company, you should call itGoldleaf. Because that's what you are. The real deal. Worth every penny people will pay you."
After Delaney and Ollie had finally gone, Reaves wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "We'd better go see Dad and Zia, hadn't we?"
"Yeah. I want to share the good news about Sterling Hartman with them, but I'm glad we stuck around long enough for all of that."
"I knew Ollie would like to see what you're doing. But I had no idea he'd…" He shook his head.
"I know. Don't worry, Reaves—I didn't think you’d set it up. It was easy to see what happened. Ollie fell in love with the painting, didn't he?"
"He did. And I love it. For both of you." He meant it. "That your work will be part of it for him—part of the way he's rebuilding things with his dad. Rebuilding their family." He pursed his lips.
"What?" she asked. "You just thought of something, didn't you?"
"I did. And it's probably not the right time—I know we need to go see Dad and Zia. But it was talking about building a family."
She held her breath, waiting.
"Have you thought any more about what I said? About Homer?" He held her gaze. "I talked to the shelter. He's still there. And I want to go get him. But I don't want to force it on you."
She smiled and nodded. "I still don't see how it can work just yet. But I'd hate for someone else to take him home while we figure it out."
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alara set down her paintbrush and stared out at the view. She'd been coming over here to the house the last few mornings. Zia had been coming with her, but today she'd gone to work with Reaves.
Alara had tried to tell him he didn't need to take her. He and Ollie were working hard, setting up new systems to make sure everything was functioning as it should—and from the way he talked, it was clear that everything he'd told Caleb was true. He might not be familiar with the business, but he knew how to operate efficiently. He'd assured her, though, that Zia had important work to do with him today.
The delighted look on her daughter's face when she'd come down from her room—backpack over her shoulder, pot of glitter in one hand—had been enough to quiet Alara's misgivings. Just the fact that she wasn't hiding her glitter meant Reaves must be in on whatever she was up to.
She got to her feet and wandered around the house. She had so many plans for the place. It was going to be beautiful. Whoever got to live here would be so lucky.
She stood at the kitchen sink, staring out the window, and found herself wondering again whether it might be possible for her to rent it. But it'd be a while before it was finished, so that wasn't a question that needed answering yet.
She straightened up and grabbed her purse from the kitchen table. There was one question that did need answering, though—and it was one she wanted to ask Charles while both Reaves and Zia were out of the house.
Reaves had suggested she use his Land Cruiser today. She smiled as she picked up his keys, the sparkly, googly-eyed pom-pom key ring seeming to smile back at her.
She drove back up to the main house, and it was only as the gates closed behind her that she realized how normal it felt now—driving through a private gate like that, on her way home. The word settled in her chest and warmed her right through.Home.That was what this place had become.
Faye was in the kitchen when she got there. "I didn't expect we'd see you back until much later. Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm good, thanks, Faye. I just came back to have a word with Charles."
