Chapter 3

To say that things were tense the next morning would be the understatement of the year. Every time Regan asked her mother’s opinion on something, Caroline merely shrugged and said, “Whatever you think is best, dear.” Regan hated when she did that. By lunchtime, she’d had enough.

“Okay, look,” she began as she dragged Caroline into their office. “I know you’re disappointed in the way I handled things yesterday, but let me remind you that it was your idea to sell the house and you were the one who wanted to sell it ‘as is’ because you didn’t want to do anything to it. I was the one who suggested slapping on a coat of paint to freshen up the place, and I had to twist your arm on that one! Now all of a sudden, you’re all psyched to have some silly television show come in and fix the place up!”

Caroline sat quietly and examined her nails while Regan spoke. She waited another solid two minutes before speaking because she knew it would irk her even more. “Yes, I know how I felt when we first talked about selling the house and I know what I said. I’m entitled to change my mind, aren’t I? I mean, I didn’t carve my opinion in stone anywhere, so what’s the big deal?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Mom. Sheesh.”

“And just for the record, has it occurred to you how much more the house will be worth once the renovations are done? From the little bit of info Max shared with me yesterday, it sounds pretty darn impressive. I think we are going to benefit from this a lot. Think about it—you technically own half the house. You’re going to get half of the profits. Wouldn’t you love to have a little extra money in savings? Or for improvements here at the spa?”

“What’s wrong with the spa?” Regan demanded.

“There’s nothing wrong with the spa.” Caroline sighed. “I’m just saying there may come a time when you want to do work here, and it would be nice for you to have a little nest egg. Or maybe you’ll want to move out of that sterile townhouse you call a home.”

“Now there’s a problem with my townhouse?”

Caroline shrugged. “All I’m saying is we have nothing to lose and everything to gain here. Why are you fighting it?”

“Because then it means Dad’s really gone!” Regan cried and quickly turned her back so Caroline couldn’t see her tears, but she wasn’t fast enough.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Caroline cooed, wrapping her arms around her. “Is that what this is all about?” Regan nodded. “Your father has been gone a long time, Regan. The house isn’t going to change that.”

She wiped away the tears that were clouding her vision. “I know that here, in my head, but in my heart…well, it just hurts. Whenever I come home, I walk around the house and I can still picture him there.”

Caroline helped wipe the stray tears away. “Your father loved that house, but he wouldn’t want it to be a burden to either of us. We had always planned to retire to Florida or someplace warm. It was never going to be a forever kind of house for us.”

“Sometimes when I’m there,” Regan began, “I’ll sit in his recliner and I swear I can still smell his cigars.”

Caroline smiled sadly. “Those darn things stunk up the whole house, but he enjoyed them.” Taking Regan by the hand, she gently tugged so they were sitting on the leather sofa they kept in the office. “The house is just a place. We’ll take the memories with us. You can have the recliner or whatever else you want from the house, but it’s time, Regan,” she said softly but firmly. “It’s time for us both to move on.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“You’re stronger than you think. You’re an intelligent woman with a successful business and I know you’re going to be okay no matter where this whole house thing takes us or no matter where I end up.”

Regan was almost in agreement until that last part registered. “Where you end up? Are you planning on going somewhere?”

“That’s just it—I don’t know. Once the house sells, I don’t have to stay in Raleigh. I can retire like I had planned or move and do something new.”

“But what about the spa?”

“Sweetheart, you and I both know I’m not really needed here. I am happy being a silent partner. This will give me an income to keep going, and I’ll have the money from the house to get settled someplace new.”

This was so not the conversation Regan thought they were going to have. It was like her entire world was spinning out of control, and she had no idea how to stop it. “But what about me? What am I supposed to do?”

“Regan, you’re twenty-seven years old, you don’t need your mother hanging around you all the time. I think you spend too much time worrying about me and not enough time taking care of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means when was the last time you went out on a date?”

Regan racked her brain and she must have zoned out because Caroline jumped in. “Exactly! It’s been so long that you can’t even remember! It’s not healthy. You’re a young, beautiful woman. Why aren’t you out there dating?”

“This successful spa keeps me quite busy,” Regan said defensively. “You know the first couple of years are the hardest, and we’re finally at a point where we’re making a decent profit. Maybe in another year or so I can take some time off, but for right now, this is the way it has to be.”

“Nonsense. I think if the right man came along, you’d find the time.”

Regan’s mind immediately went to Sawyer of the sexy muscles and rough and callused fingers, and wondered if her mother had a point. Regan had a feeling if Sawyer Bennett penciled her in for a little one-on-one time, she’d readily take the time off.

* * *

Two days later, Regan found herself cooking dinner with her mother. “So, what’s the occasion?” she asked as she chopped vegetables for what seemed like an awful lot of steak kabobs.

“Does a mother need an occasion to have her daughter over?” Regan shot her mother a glance that clearly conveyed her disbelief. “Okay, fine. I just thought things have been a little tense with us lately and that it would be nice to have a peaceful dinner together.”

How could she argue with that? “Well, it does sound much better than what I was thinking.”

“What were you thinking?”

“That you invited me over for the presentation the Bennetts want to do.”

Caroline didn’t answer right away.

“Mom?”

“You’re going to have to hear it eventually, Regan,” Caroline said as she busied herself in the kitchen. “You need to accept it.”

“I know, but not right now. I’m not ready.” She looked around and saw the wine was already open. “Can you pour me a glass?” Caroline nodded, but Regan noticed that something was off. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something wrong. “Mom? Are you okay?”

“Hmm? What? Oh, yes, everything’s fine, sweetheart. Did you see I booked the Miller bridal party for the full day of pampering? There’s twelve in the party. It’s going to be wild on that day, that’s for sure.”

“Did you offer them the brunch package?”

“Of course. I’ve already made arrangements with Posh Delights to do the food.”

“That’s awesome. That makes three bridal parties this month.” Regan did some quick math in her head. “If we can get the word out on these packages, we’ll have a leg up over the competition. Remind me to look into when the next bridal expo is coming to town. We’ll see about getting a booth with them to advertise and maybe offer a package to one of the brides to drum up excitement.”

“That’s my girl, always thinking. You’re a natural with the business.”

Regan blushed at the praise and was getting ready to pull the marinated steak from the refrigerator when the doorbell rang. “Mom? Are you expecting anyone to join us for dinner?”

“What? Oh, don’t worry, I’ll get that.”

Worry wasn’t exactly what she was feeling, but it seemed odd for anyone to be showing up at their door at dinnertime. She was reaching for the platter of meat when she heard male voices coming from the foyer. Oh no…

“Regan, you remember Max and Sawyer Bennett, don’t you?” Caroline said in a cheery voice, and Regan had the urge to smack her.

“Yes, of course,” she said, recovering quickly. “This is a surprise. My mother didn’t mention you’d be coming by tonight.”

Both men looked at one another and then at Caroline. “Did we get the date wrong?” Max asked.

“No, no, you’re right on time. It just slipped my mind to mention it to Regan.” Caroline fluttered around the kitchen pouring wine and making small talk, and when she finally made eye contact with Regan, she was sure she got the point across.

Liar, liar, liar.

“I never said they weren’t coming tonight,” Caroline whispered for Regan’s ears only as she walked by.

“I think you’re going to be thrilled with what Sawyer’s come up with,” Max said after taking a sip of his wine. “You’ve got a good, solid house here, and we’ve run it by the producers and they’re excited about what we’ve got planned.”

Regan gave a half-hearted smile but knew it didn’t reach her eyes. As a matter of fact, nothing much was meeting her eyes except for the meat she was meticulously placing on the skewers. She wasn’t ready to face Sawyer and his confident smile that screamed I can win you over with a fancy presentation.

“Can I help with anything?” Max asked, taking a tray of cheese and crackers from Caroline and placing it on the table.

Caroline was about to tell him no, but Regan took that opportunity to do what she could to remove the Bennett men from the room. “If you wouldn’t mind lighting the grill, that would be great.” Max went to leave when Regan added, “Actually, Sawyer, I think the tank may be a little low on gas. Maybe you can check it for me? There’s a second tank in the garage if you need it.” She pasted on a fake smile and thanked them both as they walked out.

Then she rounded on her mother.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“Oh, for crying out loud. If I had told you they were coming, you would have found an excuse not to be here. This is going to happen, Regan, so you need to get used to it.”

“I knew they’d be coming back, Mom, but did you have to invite them to dinner? Isn’t that a little unprofessional of them?”

“They have to eat, don’t they?”

“Well then, let the network pay for them to eat,” she snapped. “Or better yet, maybe let the network pay to take us out to eat! You knew how I felt about this and now you’ve trapped me into being here.”

“Stop with the theatrics, please, and try to have an open mind,” Caroline begged. “Please, Regan, this means a lot to me.”

“Fine. But if I don’t like something about his stupid design, I’m going to speak up.”

There was the sound of a male clearing his throat and both women turned to see Sawyer standing in the doorway. “As long as you’re keeping an open mind, how can I go wrong?”

“Oh, Sawyer,” Caroline gushed, “don’t mind Regan. She’s a tough sell, but I know you’re going to win her over.”

“That’s the plan,” Sawyer said confidently.

* * *

Chasing thoughts of Regan from his mind wasn’t easy, but somehow Sawyer managed to get through dinner without embarrassing himself and before he knew it, Caroline was looking at him expectantly.

“I am so excited to see what you came up with,” she said with a big smile. “Max says it’s some of your best work!”

Sawyer looked a little uncomfortable at Caroline’s words, but he quickly recovered. With a smile, he said, “Well, if you’re ready, I can grab my computer, and we’ll tour the house and do a walk-through of what I have planned. You’ll be able to see on the screen how it’s all going to look.”

“Oh, just like on the TV! I love it!”

Regan rolled her eyes at the same moment Sawyer looked over at her. “Open mind,” he reminded her as he rose and went to get his stuff. Unable to help herself, Regan watched him leave the room. It didn’t matter that she didn’t want to like him; the man was one perfect specimen and she couldn’t help but appreciate that fact.

Sawyer strode back into the room and held up his full-size tablet. “I was able to program all your rooms in here, so we’ll walk around the house while I explain my plans to you, and then you’ll see what the finished product will look like on here.” When both Caroline and Regan nodded, he continued. “As you know, the main premise of the show is that we do minimal demolition. My plan for your home, Caroline, is to refresh most of what you have. There are minor issues with some cabinetry that I believe can be replaced and there are a couple of windows I’d like to do the same with, but other than that, we’re in good shape.”

“So you won’t be knocking anything down?” Regan asked.

Sawyer shook his head. “I don’t plan on it. All the rooms are already good-sized, and I don’t see a reason to change that.”

“What about if I wanted something changed?” Caroline asked.

“Such as?”

“Well, the fourth bedroom really is too small for anything—we always used it as an office, but I was wondering if we could convert it to make the master bathroom larger and maybe do one of those big walk-in closets?”

Both Max and Sawyer nodded in agreement. “It’s not normally recommended to eliminate a bedroom because you tend to lose value on the home, but nowadays everyone is looking for a master suite that really blows you away.”

“Wait a minute,” Regan interrupted. “Why are we discussing this?” When three pairs of eyes looked at her like she was crazy, Regan pointed at her mother. “Why are you adding something of that magnitude to this job? I mean, we agreed to a basic makeover.”

“Well—” Caroline began, but Sawyer interrupted her.

“If I can add my two cents… Doing a deluxe master suite will add value to the house and therefore, when you sell, you’ll be able to list it for a higher price.”

Regan wanted someone to love the house as it was; she wanted to be able to walk away and have what she remembered of the house where she grew up remain intact. If everything changed, it would ruin that for her.

“We can come back to this,” Sawyer said gently. “Let’s walk around and I’ll explain the rest of the plans I’ve come up with.”

With every word he spoke and every image he showed them for his design, Regan couldn’t help but be impressed. She didn’t want to be, but there was no denying that the man had a gift and what he had planned for the house was nothing short of spectacular.

She looked up and caught him watching her and she knew, she just knew he was aware of how much she liked what he had presented.

Dammit.

They continued to stare at one another while Caroline and Max talked endlessly about the plans and how wonderful it was all going to be. Regan wished her mother wouldn’t gush quite so much; for all she knew the work could come out looking terrible.

And she could sprout wings and fly home.

“So when does all this work begin?” Regan said tiredly. There was no use arguing; this was going to happen. She could only hope now that the whole thing would be quick and painless.

Caroline sat down next to her daughter, squeezed her hand, and smiled. She mouthed “thank you” and then looked expectantly at the Bennetts to hear what their timeline was.

“If we don’t have any issues with permits, we’ve got everything else in place and we’ll be able to start the work on Monday,” Max replied.

“Monday?” Regan croaked. “That’s…that’s soon.”

Her wide eyes and look of utter shock had him wanting to wrap her in his arms and comfort her.

Only…he couldn’t.

Not yet.

He took in the sight of her tonight, wearing a gauzy, sleeveless blouse that hid those phenomenal curves as it landed just below her hips. She’d paired it with white capri pants. She was barefoot and looked more petite than he remembered. Her toes were painted a shade of neon pink, and he noticed the small tattoo on her ankle.

Interesting.

It must have been covered by her pants the other day and now all Sawyer could think about was what else Regan Amerson was hiding. His mind raced with the possibilities of what he might find the longer he stuck around.

Unfortunately, she was still staring at him, waiting for an answer. His staring at and studying her was starting to become a habit. So rather than say anything right away, Sawyer nodded sympathetically at her. He knew Regan was struggling with this, and he wasn’t completely heartless. The network was gunning for the family drama angle, but Sawyer hoped to distract them with plans for the house to give Regan the time she needed.

“And how long will it all take?” she asked.

“The total renovation time should be about four weeks.”

He held his breath, waiting to see if Regan had any reaction to that news. Sawyer knew he had to come up with a way to make her a little less annoyed and a whole lot more drawn to him. Unfortunately, his presence in her mother’s home represented everything she didn’t want.

Good thing he never walked away from a challenge.