Chapter Four

Mya stretched and rolled over on her bed, looking out the wall of windows as the soft golden glow of the sun rising danced across the vast expanse of the valley. Every day she was amazed at what was right outside her home, and couldn’t wait to see the changing seasons.

As much as she wanted to lie around and watch the day pass by, she had to get some work done before Nate’s man Brent showed up. The first thing she had to do was get a cup of coffee. Sitting down at the dining room table, where she had more room to spread out than at the small table in the kitchen, she opened her laptop and started to work. Before long she was lost in creating a marketing plan for a company that was going to be relocating to Roslyn sometime within the next year. An alarm on her laptop sounded, letting her know she had to stop working and get ready. She didn’t want to answer the door in her pajamas and bedhead.

Dashing up the stairs, she took a quick shower and went through her usual routine of getting ready. Thankfully she didn’t have to make sure her hair and makeup were perfect. Running a brush through her hair and putting on minimal makeup were all she did before making sure everything was straightened in her room and heading downstairs. Within a few minutes the doorbell rang, and she opened the door to a tall, dark-haired, muscular man. She was taken aback by actually meeting someone who she could describe as ruggedly handsome. He totally fit that label, and not that of the typical computer programmer.

“Hello,” she said, and held out her hand to him. “I’m Mya Lawson. You must be Brent Wade.”

“At your service.” He bowed slightly and winked. “It’s nice to meet you.” As he walked into her home, he tripped over the threshold. “Oops” He smiled.

Smiling too, Mya could already tell he probably had all the single ladies in a fifty-mile radius swooning over him. “No problem—I actually do that all the time. Where would you like to set up?”

Brent glanced at the small kitchen table. “Do you have a larger table so we could spread out?”

“Sure, let’s go into the dining room.” Mya walked out of the kitchen and over to where her laptop was set up. “Just give me a couple of seconds to get this out of the way.” Quickly she stacked the papers on top of each other and moved them to the sideboard. “I typically use this as my work desk.” She pointed to the windows. “You can’t get a better view. Not to mention when it is nice out the fresh air coming through is incredible.”

“You’re absolutely right, it’s a million-dollar view. I always wondered what it looked like from up here. Everyone has wanted to see what the inside looked like for years. And I have to admit, it’s pretty spectacular.”

Mya smiled at him. “That’s the reason why I bought this house sight unseen—well, except for the photos. Even if the house wasn’t in as good of condition as it was, I still would have bought it. Why don’t we take a quick tour of the house? That might answer some questions you might already have, and then we can get down to business.”

The next couple of hours went quickly as they reviewed the specifications of the system and he tweaked it based on what she was telling him of her lifestyle and what exactly she wanted out of it. They’d even had a video conference call with James back at Nate’s office. He was another programmer that had a vast knowledge of the system Mya wanted to be installed. By the time they were almost done, she was ecstatic that they were going to be able to accommodate everything she wanted. Having a complete self-sustaining system, off the grid, that also provided excellent security, along with state-of-the-art technology managing her home was something she was excited about.

Mya nodded toward the empty plate by Brent. “Do you want some oatmeal raisin cookies to take home with you? I have extra.”

A red flush spread across his cheeks. “They were delicious, but no, that should be enough for me.” He started to gather his papers together. “That should be about everything. We’ll have your security system up and running in a couple of days. Your SmartHouse will start to fall in after that, with everything being online within the week. Setting up the other systems to be self-sustaining will take a few more after that, but you’ll be able to start playing with all the toys here pretty soon.”

“Great.” Mya’s smile was huge. “I can’t wait.”

Reaching into his back pocket, Brent pulled out his card and slid it across the table. “If you think of anything else, or have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

“Thank you.” She picked up and card. “I really appreciate it.”

Brent waved his hand. “Don’t mention it.” Picking up his laptop, he started walking to the door. “We’ll be here about seven in the morning on Monday, and we’ll probably work eight to ten hours, depending on where a good stopping point ends up being.”

“I’ll see you then.” Mya waved to him as he walked out the door and got into his sports car. The powerful roar of the engine starting echoed off the canyon walls and she watched him pull out of her driveway.

Heading back into the house, she looked down at the drawing of her house he had left on the kitchen table on his way out. He had easily captured the details of her home in bold strokes of his pen. When her phone rang, she looked down at the caller ID and smiled.