AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Most importantly, Sarah doesn’t need to experience the kind of loss or rejection that would come from his walking away. No, Sarah is mine, and I can love her enough for both of us.
I can’t lose sight of what I am to Maks, and I have to keep repeating it until it’s thoroughly engrained. What we have is just a contract, a brief respite from reality. He told me that from the start, so it would be unfair of me to expect more.
He can’t help that he’s gregarious, charming, gorgeous, and far too good at sex.
But that’s all it is. Sex. I just have to keep telling myself that.
My phone rings as I enter the master bedroom, and I pick up without checking the caller ID. “Turner Interior Design.”
“When will you be heading back to the office?” Zoe asks, her tone warning me that she’s up to something.
“Why? What’s happened? What have you and my daughter gotten into this time?” Zoe and Sarah never fail to get into mischief when I leave them alone together for too long.
“Nothing,” Zoe says, her tone guiltily defensive. “But she, ah, may have left you a surprise on your drafting table.”
Though I know Zoe can’t see me, I can feel one eyebrow creeping toward my hairline.
“I know! I know!” she says as if she’s reading my exact expression. “I lost track of her for, like, two seconds. How was I supposed to know she has a bloodhound’s nose for sniffing out markers and a penchant for drawing on tables?”
That sounds like Sarah. She loves drawing, and few things can deter her from putting her art skills to the test—regardless of the medium. Zoe knows it too. We’ve already painted the living room twice and still can’t figure out where Sarah’s getting the markers—or stashing them.
In truth, I find it rather adorable. I love that she has a passion for creativity, but it won’t be good when she turns her focus to the walls at school. Fortunately, so far, they seem to understand that crayons are the only way to keep their environment safe from my artistic terror.
“Well, thanks for the heads up. I should be back within the hour.”
“I’ll try and clean it off before you get here.”
Releasing a soft chuckle, I let Zoe off the hook. “Take a picture before you do?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Hanging up with Zoe, I get to work taking pictures of the last few rooms in the house, brainstorming for my meeting with the couple this afternoon. Then I pile back into my BMW and head toward the office, picking up lunch for us on the way.
“I brought sandwiches!” I call as I open the swinging glass door.
“Mommy!” Sarah calls, hopping up from the colorful little table where she works on a coloring book as Zoe taps away at the computer.
“How was your morning?” I ask them both as Zoe greets me with a bright smile and stands to help with my armful.
Sarah beats her to me, wrapping my leg in an adorable bear hug. This is my kind of greeting. Zoe arrives a moment later to showcase my daughter’s handiwork on the drafting table in my office.
She’s done an adorable mockup of a home—two outside walls, a roof, and the insides divided into four rooms. But what I love is that Sarah actually decorated each room like I would on a proper mockup. The top left corner is a bedroom with a bright-purple bed that sits opposite a purple dresser. The dining room has a table with three chairs around it. The living room, a couch and a TV. Sarah put serious thought into the home’s layout, and even if she used the marker directly on my table, it warms my heart to see her inclination to practice my profession.
Wordlessly, Zoe and I share a smile. Then she collects the food, and I scoop Sarah up and plant her on my hip.
“Do you have something to tell Mommy?” I ask her.
Sarah plucks at the collar of my shirt, her eyes decidedly avoiding mine. “I colored on your table. I’m sorry, Mommy.” She sniffles slightly.
“Thank you for apologizing. Will you draw me another house on paper? Then I can keep it. That’s the nice thing about paper.”
Sarah meets my eyes now, her smile sudden and brilliant. “Okay.”
“Good girl. Now let’s wash our hands so we can eat.”
We share lunch together, and then I get back to work, pulling up available furniture and applying colors, flooring, and light fixtures into the computer program I use to offer customers a visual of my intended layout.
I put together three different suggested options so I can get a better feel for what they want. Sarah plays quietly, some alone at her table, some with Zoe. My best friend and my daughter are two peas in a pod—adorable and absolute troublemakers—and I don’t know what I would do without either of them.
