Page 78 of Finding Forever

Beth’s shoulders lowered slightly, as though she’d hoped he’d tell her she was mistaken. “Why?”

“I thought the better products were worth using.”

“That doesn’t explain how we paid for them.”

He sighed. “The center didn’t pay the difference.”

Beth went very still. “Who did?”

“I did.”

For several seconds, the only sound in the office was the faint rumble of voices from the hallway.

Beth looked down at the papers. “All of it?”

“Not everything.”

“How much?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Her gaze came back to his. “It matters to me.”

Dave shifted in his chair. This was exactly the conversation he’d wanted to avoid. “The acoustic treatment needed upgrading. The original hinges weren’t good enough for the amount of use those cupboards will get. The shelving will last longer.”

Beth waited.

Dave knew that expression.

“And the faucets?” she asked.

Dave rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I paid the difference between the faucets you ordered and the ones you liked.”

Beth stared at him.

He tried to make it sound less significant than it was. “You wanted them. They suited the building better.”

“So you changed the order without telling me?”

“I knew you’d say no.”

“Exactly.”

Dave frowned. “I was trying to help.”

“I know you were.”

That took some of the fight out of him.

Beth folded her hands on the desk. “And I appreciate what you were trying to do. But if you wanted to donate money to the center, you should have spoken to Natalie. We could have recorded it properly and adjusted the budget.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know what I’d done,” he told her.

Beth glanced toward the spreadsheet. “Natalie gave me the responsibility for keeping this renovation within the money we’d been allocated. I’ve been telling her we’re doing that.”

“You are.”

“No, Dave. I’m not.”