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Monday brought their first day back at the office at Kinkaide & Associates. They were greeted by all the staff and told how happy they were that both were safe. Word traveled around the building quickly that they were there. The first hour didn’t allow them to get much accomplished because of the warm greetings. Ethan walked in about an hour later wearing a huge grin. “Do you two have a minute? I’d like to show you something.”
He nodded and glanced at Sam; she shrugged and stood. “Can you join me on the second floor?”
Ethan was unusually quiet as they followed him upstairs. He glanced at Sam once and shrugged.
When they arrived on the second-floor landing, Ethan looked back at them and smiled. “We’ve been working on this for a little while.”
He opened the door, and they walked in. There were easels set up around the big open space, which only had the bookcases installed where the conference room would be. On the easels were drawings—beautiful drawings of a gorgeous office space. Ethan watched them walk around and study the drawings.
“Well?”
Sam looked over at Ethan. “Is this what this office will look like?”
Ethan smiled. “Of course, we can make any changes either of you wants, but we knew how hard you guys had been working on wedding plans, the fourth floor, getting the furniture refinished, and then the shooting. Anyway, we finished up the drawings without consulting you, as a surprise. What do you think?”
The pride he held in his son was not unlike any father’s pride, but right now, he was so proud of Ethan he thought he’d burst. He stood unable to answer until he could control his emotions.
Sam walked toward Ethan, her smile bright. “These are great, Ethan. Wow, you’ve captured the furniture from upstairs, too. This will be a beautiful office space.”
Ethan was proud. “Did you notice your offices?”
He pointed to an easel across the room by the windows. They walked over and inspected the drawing. It depicted a set of office suites next to each other with a doorway in each office opening to an adjoining bathroom they would share. The bathroom had a shower and separate toilet and sink area. There was also a small closet in the bathroom for hanging clothes. It was extravagant and beautiful.
“Wow, Ethan, this is fabulous, but why the shower and closet?”
Gray chuckled. “You mentioned that you wanted a work-out facility on the third floor, remember? You said you wanted everyone in the building to be able to work out whenever they had the chance. You thought it would lower our health insurance rates and we could bring in trainers to help employees with their specific needs and wants.”
Ethan nodded. “We all thought it would be awesome to have that facility available to us. Most of us are in and out and visiting work sites and aren’t able to make it to a traditional gym but want to stay in shape. The more we talked about your ideas, the more excited everyone got. We had a meeting while you guys were out and we networked and threw ideas out there on what we would like. The gym drawings are over in that corner.”
He pointed to another easel with drawings on it. They walked over to the drawings of the gym and perused them.
“Oh Ethan, these are phenomenal. You did an impressive job with all of this. I'm speechless.” Sam hugged Ethan. “Thank you so much for listening to what we said and working with it. I’m pleasantly stunned and awed.”
Gray hugged Ethan as well. “I couldn’t agree more, Ethan. Thank you so much for incorporating everything we’ve talked about. You’re a remarkable architect, and I’m so proud of you. You’re a great son as well as a great man.”
Ethan’s face filled with a huge smile. His chest puffed out a bit, and he grew just a bit taller.
They stayed at the office for a couple more hours before heading home to take a nap. They had plenty of time to work. Ethan and the others had taken care of his clients, and the remodeling on the second floor would start next week. Then they would tackle the third floor.
He had the wife he’d always dreamed of. They had a grandchild on the way from Jake and Ali. Sam often spoke about how she hoped Jessie and Jamie would end up marrying, but only time would tell.
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Continue reading for a Sneak Peek at Securing Kiera’s Love, the next novel in the Second Chances Series. Get book #2 Securing Kiera’s Love now.
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Pulling the collar of her lightweight denim jacket closed and tossing her head quickly to the side served two purposes. She managed to warm herself from the biting weather and then to glance behind her, making it look as though she were tossing her hair from her eyes. She hated the paranoid feelings she’d been unable to push away. Her counselor told her that anyone who had gone through the same things she had would take more than five years to overcome the fear and anxiety that’d become her companion. But she was growing impatient.
She opened the door to the little coffee shop she frequented and was greeted by the ringing of the little bell above the door, and the warmth wrapped around her like a woolen blanket as she stepped inside. The aroma of freshly-brewed coffee and the sounds of the cappuccino machine whirring and whipping up a concoction enveloped her. The only customer waiting for his order was a tall, thin, nicely-dressed man. Taking her place in line just behind him, she fought the urge to look behind her and lost as the door opened again and three teenagers entered the shop, laughing and nudging each other as friends do. At least, that’s what she assumed friends would do if a person had them.
Closing her eyes and taking a cleansing breath, she squared her shoulders and fisted her hands. She could do this. The barista slid the freshly-brewed, steaming drink toward the man and glanced at her as she came into view.
“Hi, what’ll ya have?” he asked, his deep brown eyes crinkling as he smiled.
Clearing her throat, she ordered. “I’d like a white chocolate macchiato with two percent, please. Medium.”
