Chapter 9
The flight back to Denver was nowhere near as scary as the one out had been. Scott had taken a few minutes to explain to her that he could fly the plane himself if need be, then took her on a safety inspection of the plane. With a little knowledge, she felt much better. She was even able to enjoy the view out the window without crushing Scott’s hand. On the flight from Denver to Los Angeles, she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder and woke only when he gently kissed her on the forehead.
“We’re home,” he said, helping her get to her feet.
“Scott?”
“Hm?”
“I really don’t want to go back to my dad’s house. I don’t ever want to go back there again if I don’t have to,” she said, trying the words out and feeling that for now they were true.
“That’s a little harsh, but I don’t really want to go back there either. We could rent a room for the night then drive up to your house tomorrow morning,” he said, taking her hand as they walked through the airport.
“It’s your house too now,” Marissa said, looking at him. “You know I really do love my house, but if you hate it, we could talk about moving someplace else.”
“I bet I’ll love it. You seem to love it so much that I can’t imagine I won’t. Don’t worry, a house is just a house to me, I’ve never really cared on way or the other,” he said, holding the door for her.
She thought about that for a few minutes. “It doesn’t bother you that your dad sold the house you grew up in?”
“No, not really, it’s not like there were very many good memories there. If fact, I think it might have been the best idea,” he said, helping her into the car.
“Hm, maybe we should convince my dad to sell his house and start over,” she said, squeezing Scott’s hand. Then she put it to her mouth and kissed the back, leaning in when he cupped her face with his hand and kissed her.
The next day, after a frustrating trip out of Los Angeles, Marissa was finally able to look in the rearview mirror and say goodbye to the city for a few days. Scott was following her in his car, every available inch of space full of their things. They’d had to hire a moving company to transport the rest, but by the time they’d left the house in Los Angeles, nothing remained of Marissa’s presence.
Before she left, she found her father in his study, wandered in and stood in front of his desk. “Well, Dad, you’ve gotten your way. I’m a married woman now, so I’ll be moving to my house in Golden Hills. I’m no longer your problem, Scott will have to handle me from now on,” she said, stepping back to where Scott was leaning against the doorjamb, unable to miss this conversation.
When she stepped up to him, he stood up a little straighter, then wrapped his arms around her. “I’ll be more than happy to handle Marissa,” he said, pulling her into him until she was leaning heavily on him. “She’s more willing to be handled when you know how to do it.”
Marissa giggled, then reached up and pulled Scott’s head down and kissed him. An obscene display that was designed to get her father riled up, he had his mouth open to lecture her on public displays of affection but closed it when Scott finished off the kiss with a loud smack and took her hand. He lifted it to his mouth and kissed the ring that sat there when suddenly lit by a shaft of sunlight coming through the window.
They looked at each other and laughed, all thoughts of her father gone in the strange moment. Once out of the room, Scott said, “Shit,” and backed Marissa up against the wall not caring who might see them and kissed her breathless, his hand snaking up under the skirt she was wearing. When his finger found her hot and wet for him, he pulled her back up the stairs to her old room and locked the door. An hour later, they snuck back down the stairs and out the front door, leaving Marissa’s key on the table by the front door on their way out.
Smiling at the memory of that morning, she almost missed the turn off for Golden Hills, swerving at the last minute onto the gravel road that led to her property. She’d named it Golden Hills last fall when she’d bought it because the little valley where her house was located had been covered in a blanket of gold and orange as fall proclaimed it glory. But now in the middle of the summer, her land looked parched and dry, the landscape a sad mix of brown and more brown.
The monsoons would be here soon, but it still looked bleak as they climbed the mountain to her home. When they crested the hill that dropped into her little valley. it was as if someone had turned the picture from black and white to color. Thanks to a little stream that ran though the valley, it was lush and green in the wide clearing. Marissa rolled down her window and took a deep breath of the clean air, feeling the pressures of the city melt away.
She pulled up in front of the farmhouse that was her new home, not seeing the peeling paint or badly patched roof, but what it would be when she was finished. She waited for Scott as he got out of the car, not able to tear his eyes away from the dilapidated house. Grinning from ear to ear, she watched him survey the mess in front of him, from the falling down outbuilding to the overgrown orchard behind the house.
“Um, this wasn’t quite what I expected,” he said, looking around him again.
“But isn’t it wonderful and it’s all mine as well as a huge chunk of land,” she said, grinning proudly. “I know the house is a little rough, but with some work it will be wonderful again.”
“Did you have this thing looked at by an engineer?” he asked, a skeptical look on his face.
“Yes, Scott. I’m not an idiot. It looks much worse than it is. What’s the matter, afraid there might be a ghost living there?” she teased, pulling him onto the porch which groaned under their weight.
“No. I’m afraid the whole thing is going to come crashing down on top of us making us ghosts,” he said, ducking through the door.
Once inside, she pulled him through a room the must have been the dining room into a very outdated kitchen and finally into a huge room that had been added at the back of the house. It had huge windows that looked out on what have once been a beautiful garden complete with a wishing well. He looked around the room seeing in his mind’s eye, a big comfortable couch in the center of the room.
“It’s a wonderful room and look at the view. When the garden is repaired, this will be the best room in the house,” he said, joining her at the window.
Taking his hand, she showed him the rest of the house, including the master bedroom. “We might want to get a bigger bed. I mean that is if you’re planning on...there are other bedrooms if you’d be more...” She trailed off, suddenly embarrassed.
“Definitely a bigger bed,” he said, pulling her to him. “Definitely not a separate bedroom.”
“Okay then, we’ll put that at the top of the list,” she said, leading him back down the stairs.
“I think there’s a lot more that needs to go at the top of that list,” he said, wiggling the banister as they descended the stairs. “Starting with this. Are you sure this place is safe?”
“I’m sure it’s safe and I have contractors coming out tomorrow to bid on the job. I’ve got it down to a choice of three,” she said, leading him back to the kitchen. “All the plumbing works in case you were wondering.”
“Well, that’s good to know, but I’m not sure we need to hire a contractor. After all, you’re married to someone who used to be one,” he said, helping her unpack the groceries they’d brought with them.
“That seems like a lot to ask you to do. I could pay you then, it would be fair,” she said, considering the offer.
“Sweetheart, I hate to tell you this, but what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine. Paying me would be kind of silly,” he said, taking a head of lettuce out of her hand when she froze in place.
“We didn’t sigh a pre-nup,” she said, staring at him, suddenly realizing that it hadn’t even occurred to her that they should.
“Yep, I had one, but I tore it up the night we had that big fight,” he said, shutting the refrigerator door and digging into another bag.
“But, Scott, your worth billions. I’m not even close to being that rich. Next to you, my family looks poor. We could still sign one,” she said, putting her hand on his arm so he would look at her.
“Nope, I told you I wanted this to be real. I have faith in us, Marissa. We’re going to make it, I can just feel it,” he said, taking an arm load of canned food over to the cabinet and putting it away.
Marissa thought about his words, the warmth spreading through her, then crossed the room and pulled him to her. “Let’s go initiate our bedroom, make it ours,” she said, then led him out of the room by his hand with no protest from him.
The next morning, they sat down at the rickety table after breakfast to make plans to get the house repaired in time for winter. The roof was in bad shape, clear evidence of several leaks could be seen all over the house. But for the first time in a long time, Scott was excited about something besides making money, a refreshing feeling that left him feeling energized.
“So, what do you want the house to look like when we’re done?” Scott asked. “I’m assuming from the furniture you bought that you want to leave the house as close to original condition as possible.”
“I was hoping to make it look as much like it did back in the 1930s. It was built in 1875, but I don’t want to go back that far,” she said, laughing. “Can you do that?”
“Well, not on my own, but with the right crew it might be possible. You might have to make some allowances for modern conveniences like a washer and dryer,” he said, then got up. “Let’s go look at the house again. We need to put in a better bathroom too. I’m assuming that’s a modern convenience that you’d like to have as well.”
She got up and followed him upstairs to the smallest of the six bedrooms. “This might work,” he said, stepping in and pacing off the room. Then he went to the other end of the second story where the biggest bedroom was located, gesturing for her to follow him. “I also think we should take down this wall and make the master bedroom bigger and add a bathroom.”
“I didn’t think about knocking down walls, but it would be nice to have a bigger bedroom with a connected bathroom. We’d still have three extra bedrooms for guests,” she said, walking around the room and stopping at the window, trying to picture it in her mind.
“Or for our kids,” he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
She looked up at him, the surprise at his words clear in her expression. “We never talked about kids. I mean...that’s...we’ve only...” She stumbled over her words, not sure how she felt about the idea.
He laughed, his breath tickling her ear and raising goose bumps on her arms, “Relax, I wasn’t talking about right now, but someday I’d love to have kids.”
Marissa relaxed back against him, “I think I’d like that too.”
Over the next two weeks, Scott spent all his time working on the plans for the renovation. He even sucked up his pride once again and called Michael who was happy to give him some contact information for people in California who could help him with the renovations. It had been an uncomfortable conversation but one that needed to happen. He still hadn’t talked to Marc, but there was still time for that. Although Michael had been the focus of his misplaced anger, Marc had suffered just as much as Michael had.
He’d hired both an engineer and an architect, but they both wanted the old blueprints for the house, which Scott had looked for but been unable to find. Finally, he asked Marissa, “Do you know where we might be able to get our hands on the blueprints for the house? Sometimes, they were filed with the city or county when a house was built, but I’ve searched all the county documents and it’s not there.”
“Well, they might be at the old town courthouse,” she said absently, not really listening to Scott. She’d been trying to work from home, but without an office it was difficult. Plus, she had to be careful that Scott didn’t catch her working on charity business.
She’d made the selfish decision to make one more trip to several of her favorite places before she told Scott, then she’d tell him the truth. It was harder than she’d imagined to keep the secret from Scott, but she’d faced the truth that her life was going to change now that Scott was in it. The discussion about kids that day in the master bedroom had made her think about how much risk she took sometimes going into those neighborhoods. Putting herself at risk was one thing, but putting a child at risk was unforgivable. She also had to face the fact that if it was Scott going in there, she’d be upset.
“Town courthouse? What do you mean? Where is this town?” he asked, his curiosity spiking. He hadn’t seen any sign of a town since he’d moved out there with Marissa, and he’d been back down the mountain several times.
“Well, it’s not really a town anymore. It’s just a bunch of old abandoned buildings,” she said, shutting the computer, knowing that she’d never get anything done until she showed him what she was talking about.
“Where is this place?” Scott was truly intrigued by the idea of an empty town just sitting in the mountains.
“It’s about five miles from here. Come on, I’ll show you,” she said, getting to her feet.
He followed her out to the falling down barn where she’d stored a four wheeler, then watched as she started it up. “Climb on, this is the only way to get there. The road washed out a few years ago.”
Scott climbed on behind her and wrapped his arms around her making sure to brush his hand across her breast as he did. “You behave yourself, mister,” she said, grinning at him over her shoulder.
“I was just making sure I got a good hold on you,” he said, trying to look innocent.
When Marissa shut the four wheeler off in the middle of the ghost town of Cedar Ridge, Scott didn’t move, just sat on the back of the four wheeler looking all around him. It was like they’d just stepped back in time. The town wasn’t big, only one single dirt street crossed by another, but it was the condition of the buildings that surprised Scott. He could see the general store with a sign for the post office, a church, and a doctor’s office the sign swinging in the wind.
“This is impossible,” he said, looking around him.
“Believe it or not, back in its day this was a busy little town. It was a solid little farming community, but the dam up above us ruined all that. With no water, there was no farming. Most people just up and left, but a few stuck it out. How they survived up here I don’t know,” she said, looking around her at the parched landscape.
“But how did it survive this long?” he said, opening the door to the general store to see that it was as if the owners had just walked out the day before.
“Well, there were a couple of brothers who managed to hold onto the family land until well into the nineties. They maintained these properties all that time. I guess they had a plan to open the town up to tourists, but nothing ever came of it. Plenty of developers have looked at this area too, but there’s just not enough water,” she said, pulling him out of the general store and into the doctor’s office next door.
“Who owns all this, the county? It could be opened up for tourism or something. It seems too good to just leave here rotting away,” Scott said, leaving the post office and heading to what look like the courthouse.
“Actually, I own all of this. The county took all this land and lumped it together. To get my house, I had to buy it all. It’s really not worth that much, so the price was reasonable. The taxes don’t amount to much either. Someday, it might be worth more if a good water source can be found,” she said, following him across the street.
She bumped into him when he stopped abruptly in the middle of the street. “Did you just say that you own the town?” he asked.
“Yes, and about 250 thousand acres of worthless land,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I wanted the farmhouse.”
“But this is awesome,” he said, heading again for the courthouse. “I want to explore every building. Good thing my brother Michael didn’t meet you first, he would have married you just for this.”
Marissa followed Scott all over town for the next few hours, reciting every story she’d ever been told about the place. She finally managed to drag him away when his stomach began to growl loudly reminding them that it was dinner time. If she’d known that her little town was going to make him so happy, she would have shown it too him sooner.
“I’m going back tomorrow to see if the blueprints for the farmhouse are in those filing cabinets we saw. I don’t understand why the county left all that stuff there. Those are official records. The birth and death certificates are valuable if nothing else,” Scott mused that night after dinner.
“We’ll have to do something with them. They can’t just sit there rotting, but first let’s get the house done,” she said when she tripped over a loose floor board as she took their plates to the sink.
“The roofers start tomorrow, which brings me to something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Some of the craftsmen and laborers wondered if we would let them camp out up here, it’s quite a drive back to town.”
“Oh, Scott, I should have thought about that. They’ll need water and we should provide some kind of bathroom facility for them,” she said. “Do whatever you need to do. There’s a nice clearing north of the house about a fourth of a mile.”
Two weeks later, she wished that she’d never uttered those words, never realizing just how many people it was going to take to fix up the house. Luckily, Scott had taken her advice and put their camp far enough from the house that they weren’t underfoot at night, but the daytime was a different story. Everywhere she went in the house either there was someone working or someone followed her and began to work. At times, she would have sworn they were doing it on purpose.
Her frustration level was at it max, but she still had her trip to look forward to although it was overshadowed by the knowledge that she was keeping it a secret from Scott. As the day for her trip quickly approached, Marissa was still trying to finish the budgets and paperwork she’d need while she was there. It seemed like it was impossible to stay out of the crew’s way. She’d already moved twice and on top of that, Scott kept coming in while she was working, and she’d have to slam her laptop closed so he couldn’t see what she was working on.
When the power went out making her lose an hour’s worth of work, she slammed her laptop closed and stomped down to the kitchen where she knew she’d find Scott. “I need a break from all this,” she said, practically having to scream over the sound of a drill.
“What?” Scott asked, unable to hear her.
Crossing the room, she got right up next to him, her anger flaring. “Everywhere I turn there’s someone working, there’s not a single room in this house where I can get some privacy. Now the power is going on and off, I just lost an hour of work,” she said, loudly.
“What are you working on anyway?” Scott asked. Her behavior hadn’t skipped his attention.
Silently cursing herself for bringing up work, she deflected the question. “How much longer is this going to take? Can we get at least one room done?” she asked, tears threatening. Feeling stupid, she turned to leave the room. “I think I need to take a walk.”
“Hey, wait a second,” Scott said, getting up knowing that this was not the time to let her leave. Something more than the construction was bothering her, but there was no way she’d talk about it with a house full of people. They needed some privacy and fast.
Picking up his radio, he called Sal his foreman. “Tell the crew to take the rest of the afternoon off,” he said, shooting Marissa a look that said stay right where you are.
He took her hand and pulled her upstairs to the bedroom that would be theirs and up to the huge windows he’d installed along one wall. “Look out his window and imagine what the house will be like when it’s finished,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.
“I’m sorry, Scott. I never planned to do all this while I was living here,” she said, leaning back against his solid weight, taking a deep breath.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have gone at it quite so aggressively,” he said, kissing her neck. “But just think how wonderful it’s going to be when it’s all finished.”
“I know, but in the mean time, I can’t get any work done and we have no privacy.” She pouted not ready to be placated.
“There’s no one in the house now,” he said, sliding his hands up to cup her breasts, his thumb rubbing across the nipple.
“But you never know when one of them will show up here. The other night, I was getting water, and Jeff came through the back door looking for his phone,” she said, trying to ignore what Scott was doing.
“Hm, well, we’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” he said, nibbling on her neck and sliding one hand down between her legs. “I’m just going to lock the door and we’ll pretend that they are all gone.”
Marissa gave up and tilted her head so he could continue his exploration of her neck, finally letting out a little moan of pleasure. Scott was across the room in three strides. He locked the door, then pulled her into his arms. “It’s just us for the rest of the afternoon,” he said, kissing her until all her frustration evaporated in a storm of passion.
Later, they were curled in the over-stuffed chair Marissa had put in the bedroom for just such a purpose. With her head resting on his chest, she could feel his heart beat and knew that this was the time to tell him about her trip. She knew that he wouldn’t try to go with her, but she felt so guilty about it that her palms got sweaty.
“Scott?”
“Hm?”
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something,” she said, looking up at him.
He picked his head up from where it was resting against the back of the chair, the shaking in his leg just beginning to stop. “What’s up?” he asked, knowing he’d read her right earlier.
“I’m going to have to go out of town for a few days next week,” she said, putting her head down again to avoid his eyes.
He looked at the top of her head wondering why this was such a big deal. It was almost like she felt guilty about leaving him. “I’ll miss you, but I’ll be okay here alone for a few days,” he said, rubbing her back.
“It’s going to be more like five or six,” she said, cringing a little.
“Do you want me to go with you?” he asked, still surprised that she was so worried about a business trip, it was beginning to make him suspicious.
“No, that’s okay,” she answered quickly, “You have the house and everything.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure this won’t be the first time we’ll have to be separated. The time will go fast,” he said, kissing her on top of the head.
“Yes, you’re right, it will,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Maybe when you get back, we’ll have your office ready,” he said, tickling her.
Jumping off his lap, she said, “Do you really think so? That would be wonderful.”
“I might be able to pull some strings and make it happen, but it might take a bribe or two,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Oh, yeah, and who would I have to bribe to make it happen?” she asked, circling around the chair until she was standing behind him. Leaning down, she whispered in his ear, “The contractor is pretty hot, I wouldn’t mind bribing him.”
Scott was on his feet in seconds, just the sound of her voice in his ear getting him hard. With a feral look in his eyes, he caught her when she tried to run across the room, threw her onto the bed, and covered her body with his. “The contractor might be open to a bribe,” he said, sliding into her.