Chapter 8

Alissa

 

 

It was late in the morning, and I was more than happy to be working out of the home office for the day. The woman with the home she’d bought and wanted redone finally made her mind up and ended up loving what I did with the dining room. She allowed me to go nuts with the rest of the house, as long as I took her thoughts into consideration. The men were there painting the house while I was sitting at my home office, ordering all of the furniture that would be going into the house in just a few weeks. This was the really exciting part, where everything started to slowly come together. After the walls, the floors would be done, and then, I would have all the light fixtures changed. Once that was complete, I got to do my magic. I would sweep through the house with all of the rugs and furniture first, and then I would start hanging all of the accents. When I was done, I loved sitting back and staring at the before and after shots right before the big reveal. It was exhilarating on so many levels.

I grabbed my coffee and headed down the hall to my office, deciding that working in yoga pants and a t-shirt was more than professional enough. My hair was thrown up on top of my head in a messy bun, and I hadn’t even thought of applying any makeup. I sat down at my desk and opened my computer and notebook, excited to start buying the pieces. Before I could type in the first site, my phone rang, and I looked down to see that Ryan was calling me. I hoped that everything was okay. I wasn’t supposed to be watching Kayla at all this week.

“Hey, there,” I said with blushed cheeks.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Good, just sitting down to do some ordering for a client,” I said. “How is my little monster?”

“Ha,” he said, snorting adorably. “She is as feisty as ever.”

“I really wish I could get through to her,” I said, sighing. “I’m starting to think she just doesn’t like me.”

“It’s not you, I promise,” he said. “She doesn’t like me at all. She has been through so much over the past year, and she is resentful to adults in general right now.”

“I can understand that,” I said. “Is she at school?”

“No,” he replied. “It’s spring break, but I enrolled her in this week-long camp program that the school recommended. It’s like therapy with art. She seems to have liked it so far, but she really doesn’t have a choice since she isn’t old enough to stay home by herself.”

“Yeah, I can’t remember when my mom left me home alone for the first time,” I replied. “Maybe I was like fourteen or so. I know that my older sister babysat me a lot when my mom had to work.”

“My parents didn’t trust me for a second,” he replied. “When I was old enough to drive, they left me home alone for the first time.”

“Yeah, my mother didn’t trust my sister, but she trusted me,” I said, laughing. “I’m pretty sure when she was babysitting me, I was really the one making sure the house wasn’t burning down around us. Bella is a bit of a free spirit, and I’m pretty sure I got high by accident when I was about twelve just from hanging out in her room with her and her friends for too long.”

“I’m pretty sure Kayla is doomed,” he said, laughing. “Between my haphazard brain and her mother’s inability to sit still, she won’t be left alone until she is eighteen, and even then, I might install a nanny cam to watch over her.”

“Oh my gosh,” I said, laughing. “That poor girl.”

I set down my pen and concentrated on our conversation. It was surprising to me how easy talking to Ryan had become. I was never big on talking on the phone with anyone, and I was that girl that was super excited when texting became a thing. With him, though, I could totally see myself spending hours talking about nothing in particular with him. He was a lot like me with his sense of humor and ease of words, and I found it almost refreshing. I could tell that flutter in my chest was back, especially when I found myself leaning dreamily forward onto my hand and listening to his deep voice talk about Kayla’s accidents and clumsiness as a baby. I had never been the flighty girl that fell all over herself for a guy, but with Ryan, it was like I couldn’t help myself. I was practically drooling.

“So, then I went upstairs and found her in a pile of clothes,” he said. “She had gone through all the drawers and taken everything out, building a pile so she could jump off the bed like Superman. Suffice it to say, I was rarely left alone with my own child as a toddler. Luckily, she has a bit more sensibility to herself now, and I can leave her out of sight for more than a few minutes and not worry that she has repainted the house with her finger paints.”

“Oh, my gosh.” I laughed loudly. “Being the youngest, I never got to see those things, but from my mother’s stories, my sister used to do the same thing. Mom told me that she came upstairs once and found me and my sister in the bathtub sliding around. Bella had taken the vegetable shortening from the cabinet and lathered us up completely, and we made our own slip and slide. I can’t even imagine how hard that was to get off the walls.”

“Your poor mother,” he said, laughing. “Hey, I did have a question.”

“Okay, shoot,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes.

“What is your work schedule like?”

“Um, like today?” I was a little confused. “I’m working from home today and then spending the week managing the guys putting in floors at a client’s house. What’s up? You need me to watch Kayla?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he said. “I was sitting around in the kitchen a few nights ago and started to really look around the house. I was thinking that a change in décor and the whole feel of the house might help Kayla and myself be able to move forward a bit easier. Christina was completely in charge of decorating the house, and it’s been pretty hard on Kayla, especially, to move on when the fact that Christina left is shoved in our faces every time we come home. I know she isn’t going to love the idea, but I think it is what is best for her at this point, something new and fresh.”

“Oh,” I said, smiling. “That makes sense.”

“I know it’s a lot, but I figured with your expertise, it could be a really great house,” he said. “Otherwise, it might end up looking like a ski lodge if I’m left alone with the reins.”

“Oh, god, we don’t want that.” I laughed. “Kayla is sweet, but a giant moose on the wall may just give her nightmares. It might actually give me nightmares whenever I come over there. Besides, it’s really hard to find overstuffed brown leather couches unless you are going for vintage. And by vintage, I mean thrift store.”

“See, this is why I need you,” he said with an awkward pause. “To decorate the house, I mean. Thrift stores are cool and everything, but I don’t want to lay down on a couch someone else’s leg skin has stuck to on a hot summer day.”

“That is disgusting,” I groaned.

“And of course, I would be more than happy to pay you your customary fees,” he said. “I would never imagine taking that much time out of your work schedule for this place. It’s a bit eclectic which I think might be the opposite of what it needs to be.”

“Yeah, I mean your ex-wife definitely had an artistic vibe to her, which was not something I would have guessed when I met her that one time,” I said.

“Honestly, she read a bunch of magazines and like, copied rooms from them,” he replied. “I think all of the magazines are stacked in boxes in the garage still. I’ll probably use it for kindling for the fireplace this winter.”

“Waste not, want not,” I replied. “But yes, that is definitely something I can do, and it sounds like a lot of fun. I have a pretty stacked week this upcoming one, but after that, I can definitely put you in on my schedule. I’ll be honest, it’s a bad habit of mine to dissect everyone’s house when I go into it, so after watching Kayla for so long, I have already put quite a bit of thought into what I would do if I could redecorate your house.”

“Uh oh.” He laughed. “I hope you weren’t miserable with the giant paintings hanging on the walls.”

“No.” I laughed. “But you will definitely be able to sell them for some good money. They are pretty reputable artists. The art itself may not be my taste, but the painters behind them bring in a pretty penny in the big cities. I’ll do some research on it and see where I can submit them to.”

“That would be awesome because I don’t need any more junk in my garage,” he gruffed.

“Okay, tell me what some of your ideas are,” I said, interested in hearing what he thought.

“Seriously, you don’t want me to put my two cents in.” He chuckled. “I have no idea other than different than what it is. Besides, I don’t want to make you biased toward anything. I fear that bringing up the ski lodge was even a bad choice.”

“No.” I laughed. “Trust me. There will be no ski lodge influence in the décor of your home. I’m sorry, but I can’t allow it.”

“All right, it’s a deal.” He laughed. “Well, I gotta get to work, and I don’t want to hold you up. Just let me know later this week when you want to start, and I’ll make sure to be around.”

“Sounds good,” I said happily. “And tell Kayla I said hi.”

“I will,” he said before hanging up.

I set the phone down on the desk and smiled. It was really awesome that I could do this for them, especially since I would be helping both of them feel more comfortable in their home. It wasn’t very often that I could use my skill set to really help someone, so this was exciting. In fact, I was a little bit more excited than I should be about redecorating Ryan’s place. I wasn’t going to lie. It was going to feel good to get rid of that bitch’s fingerprints in their home. There was a certain amount of satisfaction I could already feel in getting rid of the gaudy new age décor she had hanging on the walls. On another note, I would get to spend a little more time with Ryan, something that had constantly been on my mind, but I wasn’t sure what I should do about.

I put my hand to my cheek and could feel the warmth swarming my face. He made me feel all kinds of different ways, and I still wasn’t sure if that was okay or not. I really wanted to talk about it with someone, but the idea of talking that way about my stepbrother still seemed too taboo, even for my free-spirited family. I would wait and see how this new venture went, hoping that it calmed whatever emotions I had going on in my stomach.