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“See you Friday morning.” As quick as her call had come in, it was over, and I sat listening to a dial tone. She was gone.
I hung up the phone, grabbed my keys, shut the lights off in my office and made my way to the coffee shop.
Later, as I drove up my driveway, all that was on my mind was Leah. I kept thinking back to the night when all I had wanted to do was continue to kiss her into the morning, nothing more, but that damn phone of hers had to ring, pulling her from me and back into reality.
I slammed the front door shut and walked into the living room. I threw the fireplace on and flopped onto my old couch, turning the TV on as I sat down. I closed my eyes as the TV echoed in the large empty space. Soon, this space would be transformed, and it would all be because of her. I would have her design as a constant reminder of what I wanted the most: her. I would live here surrounded by her, wrapped in her, without her.
I needed to tell her she was the one, without just coming out and saying it. She wouldn’t believe me if I did. She would be here tomorrow morning at eight. Noting the time, I had less than twelve hours and needed to get busy with my plan.
TWENTY-SIX
Logan
The sun shone through the window of the breakfast nook as I sat eating my oatmeal and reading through the morning paper. I heard a car door slam and felt my stomach hitch at the thought of seeing her this morning. I had been up almost all night deciding how to go about this and I was excited to see the look on her face. I got up from the table and carried my bowl to the dishwasher, quickly loading both my mug and bowl into the top rack. Finally, the doorbell rang, and I made my way to the front door. I smiled as I pulled the door open only to come face to face with a girl I had never seen before.
“Mister Lehmbeck?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Susan.” She stood there holding her hand out smiling at me as if I should know who she was. When she realized I had no clue, the smile disappeared, and the hand dropped. “I’m Miss Tate’s assistant. She is sorry she had to deal with something before arriving this morning, but you need not worry. She has sent me in her place, and I have everything under control. She should be arriving in the next forty minutes or so.”
“Where is Miss Tate? I’ve asked that she personally handle this account.” I sounded like an utter dick and I knew it, but I was pissed.
“I’m sorry, she was dealing with an issue regarding one of your pieces. I had a voice mail on my phone this morning asking me to be here at eight.” The girl gave me a gentle smile. “The first delivery will be here in about ten minutes, Mister Lehmbeck.”
“Yes. Come in.” I stepped to the side and let her in. “Miss Tate told you I have meetings to attend this morning, so I won’t be here to oversee things.”
“Yes, sir.” She sat her briefcase on the living room table and pulled her laptop out of her bag. “She gave me instructions to follow until she could get here.”
I was a little uncomfortable leaving her here alone, and I wondered where the hell Leah was. This was what cell phones were for. I would have canceled the few meetings I had if I didn’t have to be there in thirty minutes.
“There is coffee in the kitchen. Help yourself. I will be back as soon as I finish my meetings.” She smiled up at me as she dialed a number on her phone and spoke to someone about the deliveries today.
I grabbed my jacket from the closet. As soon as I was in my car, I dialed Leah’s cell. If she thought I would put up with this shit, she was wrong. I waited for it to connect but after only two rings her phone went straight to voice mail. “You’ve reached the personal voice mail of Leah, leave me a message.”
“Leah, where the hell are you? Call me back.” As I hung the phone up, I felt the tension in my jaw getting worse as I drove down my driveway. I quickly dialed her office.
“Hello Preston Interior Design.”
“Hi, Could I speak with Leah Tate, please.” I flicked my thumb on the steering wheel as I sat at a red light.
“May I ask who is calling?”
“Logan Lehmbeck.”
“Mister Lehmbeck, I’m sorry. Miss Tate is on the phone. Didn’t her assistant show up on time?”
“Yes, she did, but I have a few questions for Leah.” I closed my eyes praying the girl either got Leah or put me through to her voicemail.
“You could always try her personal cell number.”
“I already did, she isn’t answering that.”
“I’m sorry, sir, you can always try emailing her. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No, thanks.” I hung up the phone. I was beyond irritated that she didn’t show up this morning.
I sat through my meetings trying hard to focus on the task at hand. Instead, my phone wouldn’t stop going off. Every time I looked at it, another question from Susan sat on my screen. Questions I couldn’t answer because Leah was supposed to be in charge and answering them—not me.Leah would be there in forty minutes and she gave Susan all the instructions she needed, my ass.
