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Stepping up onto the porch, I paused as the wood groaned and settled. The whole thing would need to be replaced in the very near future, but I figured that was probably the least of Holden’s concerns.
I walked through the open door and heard voices drifting from the back of the house, so I started to wander in that direction. The house had been pretty well gutted, so there wasn’t much to look at along the way — until I passed a room that appeared to be untouched. Lured in by the sunlight and glimpses of the original interior, I decided to take a peek.
It looked like the room had been a library or office, judging by the built-in bookcases flanking the large stone-paved fireplace. The walls were papered in a rich red and gold wallpaper, with wainscoting that matched the wood of the bookshelves. The room felt masculine and opulent in a way that, strangely, reminded me of Holden. I set the rolled blueprints and Daddy’s coffee down on one of the shelves and carried my own drink over to the gigantic picture windows on the wall opposite the fireplace.
The view was absolutely beautiful. There used to be two barns sitting in the field this window overlooked, which had obstructed the view from the back of the house. Both had given in to time and neglect, eventually collapsing in on themselves. Now that they had been removed, you could see the field of overgrown grass leading to the small copse of trees that lined the creek running along the edge of the property line.
I knew without a single doubt that this would have been my favorite room of the house, and I felt oddly sad that Holden was going to change it.
“Sutton!” Daddy called from someplace nearby, drawing me out of my thoughts.
“In here,” I called back, moving away from the window to grab the blueprints and Daddy’s coffee just as he and Holden stepped into the room. When I turned to face the entrance, my gaze landed on two pairs of work boats — one pair scuffed and dirty with age, and the other pristine. I swallowed, allowing my eyes to notice the way a pair of dark denim jeans clung to surprisingly muscular thighs. The sight had the coffee in my stomach swashing around like the ocean in a hurricane. Just as I was beginning to explore the effects a dark grey Henley could have on the male form, Daddy cleared his throat, making my eyes jump up to meet his.
“You shouldn’t be wandering around a construction site, Sutton.”
“I wasn’t wandering. I was on my way to you. I just got distracted.” I glanced back at Holden, then awkwardly pointed to him with my Thermos. “Where’shisPPE?”
Daddy sighed, leaning forward so he could pinch the bridge of his nose.
“Will you follow us to the kitchen with the blueprints please? I want to show Holden some of the options for opening up the downstairs a bit.”
Not waiting for a response, he turned and crutched out the door, leaving me alone with Holden. We stood staring at each other for a beat longer than I was comfortable with, and I wished I wasn’t dressed like Big Bird, complete with matching helmet and dirty eye protectors.
“Let me help you with that,” he finally said, breaking the silence and reaching for the rolled-up blueprints smashed under my arm.
“It’s fine.” I twisted my body in an effort to keep him from getting the blueprints. I had no idea why I was being difficult. This man did not bring out the best in me. Yes, I decided, this was his fault — for having the audacity to pretend to be a helpful human being. “I’ve got it.”’
“Don’t be stubborn. Let me help you before you drop something.”
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth, only agreeing because I didn’t want to face Daddy if I spilled coffee on his blueprints. “And I’m not stubborn. I just had a handle on things.”
My hard hat chose this moment to shift to one side and was saved from crashing to the floor by nothing but my ponytail.
“Okay.” Holden steadfastly avoided looking at my face, but I could have sworn I saw the corner of his lips twitching. His ready agreement felt disingenuous, so naturally I couldn’t just let it go.
“I’m really not stubborn. I have no problem letting things go.” He slid the blueprints out from under my arm and took one of the coffees, giving me a free hand to fix the stupid hat. “Figuratively or literally.”
“Noted.” Holden turned to leave, stopping at the entrance to wait for me and giving me a great view of what turned out to be a very nice butt.Good grief, who made those jeans, the king of temptation?“Coming?”
I sighed — but to my dismay, it came out sounding more wistful than taxed and annoyed. Setting my feet in motion, I reached his side and took a large gulp of coffee.
“I don’t think we should leave your father unsupervised for too long,” Holden said, turning his head to look at me. “He doesn’t seem like the ‘follow doctor’s orders’ type.”
I snorted, much to my horror. “You’re not wrong. He’s the worst patient.”
“Yeah, I suspected that was the case when I couldn’t talk him out of coming here last night.”
My head turned so fast that a nerve in my neck burned in protest. “You tried to talk him out of coming here today?” He nodded. “Why?”
“Because he just fell through a floor and broke his leg and I felt fairly confident in guessing the doctor told him to stay off of it.” My face must have been doing something questionable because he added, “It’s just a house.”
This early on a Saturday, without a full pot or twelve of coffee fueling my brain, I was unable to process the fact that Holden seemed genuinely concerned about another person’s well-being. So I decided a topic change was the best way to avoid having to deal with this new information.
“What are you going to do with that room?”
Was it any of my business what he did with that room, or any other room in the house? No. Was I fully prepared to give him my opinion on his choices anyway? Hell, yes. I took a drink of coffee in preparation for giving a lengthy and unsolicited dissertation on why he was wrong.
“I plan to leave it mostly as is. Just...” He was quiet as he searched for the right word. “Freshen it up. New wallpaper or paint, refurbish the floor, new windows — that kind of thing.”
