AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I think the problem is I don’t know what I want. This project has been all-consuming and I loved it, but it is going to be done soon, and essentially, as far as my work, it really is done. Until last night, I hadn’t considered what is next for me.”
“What about houses?” Davey asks.
“What?”
“Have you always done commercial projects? What about houses?”
I look at him, not sure how I feel about this line of questioning. He’s acting like he knows something I don’t. I’d started my professional career with houses, but my ideas were too creative, not cookie-cutter enough for the masses, and I hadn’t established enough of a reputation to attract people to my ideas or to trust me. So I let that go.
“It’s been years since I even thought about that,” I say.
“Liar,” Davey snaps back.
I narrow my eyes. What is he up to?
He lets out a sigh. “Okay, confession time.” Standing, he walks across the room to my leather briefcase. He fishes my large sketchpad out of it and tosses it into my lap. “You left this lying on the table one night and I might have taken a peek.”
I eye him, somewhat annoyed. More than somewhat annoyed, actually. My brain tries to figure out when I had been so careless to leave my sketchpad out. My heart feels violated. How dare he?
“These are gorgeous,” he says.
I look at the pad in my lap. This is akin to a diary for me. Private. Personal. My therapy. “They are just for me.” My tone is not pleasant. I’m not kidding around.
“Well, they shouldn’t be,” he says. “They’re gorgeous. There are a lot of people in this city who would love an original Carter Hughes design. And what’s more, there are people who can and will pay a lot for that. You could start with Travis and Brittany.”
“What?”
“They bought some land and can’t find a builder or designer they like. I’ll bet they’d love something you designed.”
We both turn to movement by the balcony door. Madison yawns and stretches and stands, signaling to us both she needs to go out. She wags her tail and eyes us, looking from one to the other. She is not concerned with which one of us makes the move to meet her request, just ready for one of us to do so. Davey places a hand on my thigh, using it for leverage to stand. Madison follows him to the door, and I hear him clip her harness and leash on. My brain is still spinning at his major violation of my privacy.
“Or, maybe you could start with something a little more dog-friendly for us.”
Us.
Us. Relationship. Us implies relationship. Relationship means sharing. Davey doesn’t see viewing my sketches as a violation and I guess I’d better come to grips with that if I plan to make this relationship thing work.
Us.
Relationship.
I do like the sound of that. A lot.
Chapter thirty-four
Epilogue
“Where are we going?” Carter asks.
“Salt Lake City.”
He barks out one of his classic did-not-see-that-coming laughs. “Uh… really?”
I nod and smile. “Have you ever been there?”
He shakes his head. “Not unless you count the airport. You?”
“Yep, frequently. One of our farm teams is there.”
