Designs on the Cowboy

“How long will that take?” he asked.

She tried to quickly calculate the time and came up with a figure. “An hour, maybe an hour and a half, for the walk-through. Ballpark, of course. I’ll have a better idea of how long the real work will take after that, but I suspect it will take at least a month, probably two.”

He nodded, and she hoped the squint of his eyes and twist of his mouth was an indication that he was giving it all some thought. But there was no way of telling. She didn’t know him well enough.

“Then you don’t need me around for anything, right?”

The air in the room seemed much stuffier than when they’d first walked into the office, and she wished there had been a window to open. She’d also noticed that her heartbeat had kicked up a notch, the moment he’d stepped inside the shop, and it hadn’t let up yet.

“If you don’t want to be involved in the decisions, I can’t force you to.” She wasn’t crazy about the idea of redecorating a house when the person who lived in it didn’t have some kind of input, but it appeared that was the way it was going to be. She’d just have to hope that when she finished the job, he wouldn’t hate it.

“Fair enough.”

“So I have your permission to start?”

“Let’s say I won’t keep you from doing the job my sister hired you to do. How’s that?”

It wasn’t great, but it would do. “That’s all I need. I’ll start tomorrow morning.”

She pushed away from the desk and stood. He followed suit, and she realized that to seal this business agreement—or the possibility of it, anyway—he would expect to shake on it. With a temerity she didn’t feel, she stuck out her hand. She could have sworn that she saw one of his heavy, dark eyebrows lift just the slightest over his gorgeous green eyes, but he didn’t hesitate when he took her hand in his.

They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, the warmth of his grasp making her slightly dizzy. She was certain it wasn’t more than a second before he moved, yet didn’t release her hand.

With his other hand, he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled something from it. He placed it on the desk, and she recognized her business card. “Interesting,” he said.

Completely lost in his green eyes, all she could say was a nearly incoherent “What?”

“The card,” he answered. “The Glory Be part.”

Her mind was working in slow motion. “Oh. Yes. Well, it was...catchy.”

Finally, he released her hand, picked up the card and returned it to his pocket. “Just in case.”

“Y-yes. Just in case.”

She watched as he replaced his hat, touched the brim of it with his index finger and turned to open the door and walk out of the office.

She was thankful her chair was available when her knees gave way.

* * *

DYLAN DIDN’T INTEND to notice the time as he parked the utility tractor next to his brother’s barn. But when he did, his first thought was to wonder if Glory had started what she’d called her walk-through.

He wasn’t completely convinced that he should have given her the okay to start working, but he really hadn’t been given a choice. Erin had made sure of that. Did he really want Glory traipsing through his house when he wasn’t there? Not that he thought she’d take anything or snoop around. But the idea of her being there alone just didn’t sit well with him. Maybe he should check on her, just in case. At least if Erin called, he could tell her what was going on, and that should keep her off his case.

After shutting off the tractor, he climbed down and headed for his pickup.

“You’re leaving already?” his brother called to him. “Hayley’s stopping by with one of Kate McPherson’s coffee cakes.”

Dylan shook his head and opened the door of the truck. “Can’t. I’ve got to get...” He needed an excuse. “I have an appointment I need to get to.”

He was just sliding behind the wheel when Luke appeared at the door and closed it. “What kind of appointment? Are you sick?”

“Nah, nothing like that. Just...” He wasn’t quite sure what or how much to tell his brother, so instead, he answered with, “I’ll tell you about it later.”

Luke stepped away from the truck as Dylan turned the key and started the engine. “You’re sure you’re all right?” Luke asked.

“Positive,” he answered, knowing how much worry he’d caused his brother over the years.

“Okay.” But Luke didn’t look completely convinced.

With a quick nod, Dylan put the truck in gear and pulled out onto the road. During the short drive, he tried to think of how he might be able to get out of this crazy decorating deal his sister had dreamed up, but he knew the effort was useless. He knew Erin well enough to know that she wasn’t going to let this go. And maybe she was right. Maybe he needed this. Maybe they all did. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Turning into the long lane at his house, the first thing he noticed was the late-model sedan parked in front. With Glory nowhere in sight, he guessed she’d already gone inside. Climbing out of his truck, he headed for the enclosed porch, where he opened the wooden screen and stepped inside. For a moment, he hesitated, while his memories played their usual trick on him. His mother had had a green thumb, and the porch had always been filled with plants and flowers, often hiding the muddy boots and well-worn jackets and coats. The greenery was gone now, but it always took him a moment to accept it.

At the door that led from the porch to the kitchen, he noticed how badly it needed a coat of paint, much like everything else around the house. Since the death of his parents in a car accident, fifteen years before, he and his brother had focused on making the ranch the best they could, believing that was what their mom and dad would have wanted. But he’d ignored the house. Erin was right. It needed some work.

Opening the door, he stepped into the kitchen and stopped. Glory stood at the kitchen table with a camera in her hand, while she made notes on the papers in front of her.

She greeted him with a smile and put her pen on the table. “I hope it was all right that I let myself in. I looked around for you, and knocked on the door several times, but when no one answered...” She finished with a shrug.

He felt the first embers of anger, but quickly put them out. What did he expect her to do when he wasn’t around? “I forgot you were going to be here,” he said, but it was a lie.

“This house is amazing,” she said, taking a step back away from the table and looking around the room.

In that briefest of moments, he saw the place through the eyes of a stranger. Embarrassed that he’d let things go so much, he wasn’t sure what to say. “The folks weren’t into fixing things up fancy.”

“No, it isn’t that. It’s just... Well, to begin with, I haven’t seen wallpaper like this for, oh, I don’t know how long.”

He took in the pattern of green ivy on the wall, and then the rest of the room. None of the appliances were anywhere near new. There was nothing as fancy as a dishwasher, and a large chest freezer took up most of one wall. But he’d never cared before, so why should he now?

“This table and chairs,” she said with a sigh, from behind him.

He turned to look at the old chrome-and-vinyl kitchen set where his family had eaten every meal. “Yeah, it probably needs to be thrown out.”

“Not necessarily,” she said, but she frowned. “They’re definitely retro, and people are looking for this type of thing. I wish they were in better condition.”

He immediately stiffened at the slight. “The wallpaper’s going, too, I suppose.”

“Yes, I’m afraid so.” Looking up, she smiled at him again. “Don’t look so worried,” she said, reaching out to put her hand on his arm. “I know what I’m doing.”

He stared at her hand as the warmth of her touch snaked up his arm. Opening his mouth to tell her that she had no idea what she was doing to him, he immediately shut it again. He wasn’t sixteen years old, and he had better sense than to let that perfume she was wearing—or her touch—get to him.

He cleared his throat as she pulled her hand away. “What about the appliances?” he asked. “Do I keep those?”

“That will depend on how much you want to upgrade.”

Money hadn’t been a problem for him and his brother for several years. They’d made out better than they’d ever thought they would. But he wanted this decorating thing to be over with as soon as possible.