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With that, she lowered her hands and glanced around.
Exactly as she’d expected. She was at Simon’s new home.
She gave him a pointed look. “All I see is a dated living room. And let me guess…” She motioned toward a door that was far too skinny to be anything but the entrance to a kitchen that was built at least fifty years ago. “That’s the kitchen.”
As many times as she’d come to visit Simon at his new farm, she’d never entered the house. Simon had told her he wasn’t ready for her to see just how bad it was. Her gaze swept through the room that still had that terrible shag carpet from a time before she was born. The walls were covered in wallpaper that wasn’t necessarily terrible—it just felt busy.
The focal point of the room had to be the fireplace, but even it looked in desperate need of an upgrade.
“What exactly am I looking at?”
Simon gestured with both hands to their surroundings. “Have fun.”
What was that supposed to mean? There was a built-in bookshelf in one corner of the space, but she doubted there were any books she’d want to read. “Thanks, but I didn’t come here to hang out in your terrible living room. I came here to spend time with you. What are we going to do today? Is there anything you need help with out in the barn?”
He chuckled as he moved toward her and slipped his hands around her waist. “No, I want you to decorate it for me.”
This time, she didn’t know how to react. Her eyes grew wide, and she stared at the room with fresh eyes. “You want me to decorate it?”
Simon brushed a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. “I want you to do what you do best. I want you to tear out the carpet, replace the wallpaper, pick out furniture…”
“Simon,” she murmured breathlessly, “that’s going to cost a fortune. Never mind me withholding a fee, all the materials you’d need would just be… too much.”
He grinned as if he had a secret he had been holding onto until this very moment.
“What?” she demanded. “What are you keeping from me?”
“Everything was finalized with the lawyers regarding Mr. Gregory’s estate. He had a life insurance policy, too. And I guess he put my name on it because he wanted me to run the place.”
“What? Why?”
Simon shrugged, his eyes bright as ever. “What would you do if you knew the person who was taking over the one thing you loved couldn’t do so without financial assistance?”
“Wow,” she whispered, looking around the room with fresh eyes. “And you want to spend some of it on updating your home? Wouldn’t you prefer to invest that money into the company side of things? I mean, it’d be neat to see this place updated, but?—”
His hold on her tightened, causing her heart to bounce around like it had no will of its own. “This place is going to be my home for a very long time. I’d like it to feel as such.” His smile widened. “And there’s no one better to see that vision through than the one person who has been with me since the beginning. You have the talent and the know-how. You’re perfect for the job.”
She gasped, finally accepting what he was trying to give her. This was a gift—a way for her to get back on her feet and gain the confidence she needed to get back out there.
No one but Simon would have thought to do this for her, and that was why she only had one answer. “Of course I’ll do it.” Katrina placed both hands on either side of his face and pressed a firm, unyielding kiss to his lips.
Never had anyone given her something so meaningful. If there was any proof that she was headed down the right path, it was this moment, right here.
And she couldn’t wait to get started.
* * *
While Simon workedthe fields and cared for the dairy cows, Katrina busied herself with the smaller tasks like tearing down the wallpaper and pulling up the carpet. She wanted to start on the primary suite, but Simon had insisted on fixing up the common areas first. They were the rooms that would be visited more often by guests.
She couldn’t say she agreed with his way of thinking. To her, the room where he would be spending most ofhistime should be given priority.
As far as a bigger picture was concerned, it didn’t really matter which room she fixed up first just so long as she got to all of them before she found her dream job in the city. It was like Simon had said. He planned on living here for the long haul. That meant she had plenty of time.
Even if she got a job offer elsewhere, she would surely be coming back here regularly.
And at this point, she wasn’t even sure a new job was going to happen, so she’d convinced herself not to expect anything goodorbad. She wanted to live in the here and now, which was something she’d struggled with since coming back to town.
Katrina dumped some of the light gray paint into a tray and pushed her roller through it before she pressed it against the wall. She hummed a little tune as she worked, loving even the more hands-on aspect of designing Simon’s place.
