“I’m glad you thought of us. You were at the Nafferty wedding last month, right?”
“Yes, and I was very impressed with how it was decorated. It was a beautiful wedding,” I compliment her and Gracelyn’s cheeks turn a charming shade of pink as her eyes light up.
It’s obvious that she loves her job and I love seeing her so happy and confident.
“Did you have a color scheme or anything in mind yet? I’ll also need to know which parts of your home you’ll need decorated. Do you have approximate square feet?”
“I’m not great with colors or decorating so I’d like to leave that up to you. Whatever you like. I’m sure that it will be perfect. I’m not sure on the square feet yet anyway. Would you like to come see the place? Maybe that would help you decide?” I offer her and I’m already picturing her in my place. I’m hoping that soon it will be our place.
“Yes, that would help. We’ll have to set up a good time for you.”
“Whenever you’d like. I’m home most days.”
She nods, writing something else in her notebook.
“I’ll look at my calendar and let you know. Having a more definitive guest list might help as well. We’ll try to schedule something for after Halloween.”
“Sounds good,” I say but I’m really wishing that she would come sooner.
“I’ll call you in a few days then, Mr. Montgomery. We can set everything up then and I’ll show you some more of my ideas.”
“Thanks, Gracelyn. I can’t wait to hear from you.”
I’m not sure that I can last another month without her but at least now I have a reason to call her, to talk to her.
Chapter 3
Gracelyn
* * *
It’s been a week since I first met with Dash and I’ve been busy coming up with some design ideas. Fall is the easiest theme and will allow for the most decoration choices.
I’ve been in almost constant contact with Dash since he first walked into my office. He calls me every day, always starting to ask about party details before he changes the subject to me. He asks what I’m doing, what my favorite colors are, favorite holidays, and more. It feels like a game of twenty questions every day, and each day, he ends the phone call by inviting me out to dinner so that we can talk more about the party.
Every day I say no.
Today is the day that I go to his house. I need to survey the space so that I can see what I’m working with. We’re a little over three weeks out from Thanksgiving so I need to get a move on planning this event.
My old car looks out of place in this upscale neighborhood. I know that I’m going to need to replace it one day soon but it’s not in my budget right now. With Ivy and Fern still getting off the ground, I think it will be a few years before I can get a new one.
I pull down Dash’s long driveway, parking in an empty space up front. I’m climbing out of my car when the front door opens and Dash jogs out to meet me.
“Hey! Did you find the place okay?” He asks as he meets me outside the driver’s door.
“Yeah, the GPS was spot on. Wow, this place is beautiful,” I say as I take in the modern, upscale, white mansion before me.
The entire place is either white brick or glass windows. It’s done in an abstract layout with different levels jutting out. Dash leads me over the stone walkway which is actually a bridge over the two pools outside the front door.
I’m speechless as I head inside and Dash gives me the tour of his home. It’s my dream home, although I would change a bit of the décor. There’s five bedrooms, all upstairs on the second floor. A TV room, living room and office are downstairs, along with the kitchen and dining area. A pool is out back, along with sprawling green grass lawns.
Dash flirts with me as he shows me around. I just smile, taking in the house more than his words. He watches my face as we walk through his house and he must notice that I don’t like something because he tells me that I can change anything I like to the house.
“Oh, this isn’t my place. I don’t need to change it, just decorate it.”
“You can do whatever you’d like to it, Gracelyn,” he says sincerely.
“Do you want me to decorate the upstairs for the event?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“Whatever you think is best.”
“Will you allow guests upstairs? I mean it’s just the bedrooms so decorating it won’t be necessary.”
“Then just the downstairs and outside is fine.”
By the time we make our way downstairs to the kitchen, my head is filled with ideas. I can already picture the decorations that I’ll use, which flowers will look best and where, and how I’ll set everything up. Food over on that table along the wall, little pumpkin pies and bite size desserts on the other side of the room.
“Are you hungry? I can whip us up something to eat,” Dash says and I want to say yes.
I like Dash. He’s sweet and charming, not to mention good looking. I wish that I could be with him, date him. God, part of me wants to just say screw it and take Dash up on his offer, but then I remember Bella and the rumors. I can’t sabotage our new business. I can’t hurt her.
“I can’t, sorry. I need to go help Bella with a Halloween party that she’s running tonight,” I lie.
Dash looks crestfallen and I almost cave and say yes, but I just moved on from the ugly rumors. I can’t do something that would potentially bring them back up.
I have to protect myself. To keep myself focused because I have a feeling that Dash could get me to throw caution to the wind in the blink of an eye.
Chapter 4
Dash
* * *
I stand at the front window and watch as Gracelyn drives off down the road. It’s late so I made her promise that she would text me and let me know that she made it to the event alright. The tail lights of her old beater disappear and I sigh as I turn and head into the kitchen to make myself something to eat.
I take out the steaks that I had marinated last night and sigh as I go outside and place both of them on the grill. I ponder why she keeps turning me down as I start the oven and prepare the vegetables for roasting.
It’s obvious that Gracelyn is interested in me. Or at least, I thought it was. I’ve caught her looking at me, her gaze lingering when she thinks that I’m not watching. I had thought that she was going to say yes to dinner tonight for sure. She had seemed like she wanted to. The way she bit her lower lip, like it was something that she wanted to say yes to but there was something holding her back.
I can’t figure out what that would be though. Maybe because I’m a client? That’s all I keep coming back to. If I fire her though, then she definitely won’t say yes to a date.
I finish dinner and am loading the dishwasher when I realize that Gracelyn hasn’t texted me to let me know she got to the Halloween party safely. I dry my hands off and head over to grab my phone off the counter. It’s almost 9 pm and I start to get nervous as I dial Gracelyn’s number and raise the phone to my ear.
It rings a few times before it goes to voicemail and I start to pace as I dial her number again and then again. Gracelyn always answers. It didn’t matter what time I called her over the last few weeks, she always picked up.