by Kris Bryant
When Gabrielle’s eyes met Serena’s, the room stilled. Gabrielle heard the whoosh of air leave her lungs, then nothing but silence. The look Serena gave her made Gabrielle’s knees weak. There was a flash of uncertainty, but the thing that made the room drift away, the part that made her lungs take a breath again, was the heat she saw in Serena’s eyes. Maybe it was the makeup, maybe it was that for a split second her guard was down and Gabrielle saw desire. A small, hesitant smile appeared at the corner of Serena’s mouth, as if she wasn’t sure she should smile at the meeting or not. Gabrielle hitched her brow, gave a curt nod, and winked. Serena blushed.
“Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming into the city, Ms. Evans. I think you will be pleased with the revisions. Please, take a seat.” Gabrielle reached across the table and shook Chloe’s hand. “I’m Gabrielle Barnes, Ms. Evans’s architect. It’s nice to meet you.” Confusion, then a soft, barely noticeable kick from Serena spurred Chloe to introduce herself.
“I’m Chloe, Serena’s friend, and I’m just here to see the revisions. I know it’s getting close to being done, and Serena asked for a fresh set of eyes.”
“Next to me are Christopher Morrow, Lawrence Anderson, and John Lacy, all partners of Arnest & Max. Thank you to everyone for coming. Should we get started?” Gabrielle asked. She turned on her laptop and synced it with a large screen that lowered in front of the conference room. A video cued up and a 3D image of the Pet Posh Inn filled the screen. Gabrielle described each section as the video took them from room to room. She refused to look at anyone, too afraid of their reactions. She wanted them to like it—no, love it, and if there was a hiccup in their reaction, it would throw off her semi-prepared speech. When it was over, Gabrielle left the mock-up of the front of the Pet Posh Inn and turned to face her audience.
“I think we covered everything you wanted, Ms. Evans.” She turned and looked at Serena for the first time.
“Gabrielle, it’s…well, it’s perfect. It really is.” Serena stared up at the screen and smiled. “How did you do all of this since Wednesday?”
Christopher spoke up. “That’s why Gabrielle is one of our best. Does anybody have any questions or concerns?”
“I love it, too,” Chloe said.
“The loft is brilliant. Can you go back to it?” Serena asked.
“Certainly. You can get a closer look at the drawings in front of you, too.” Gabrielle flipped through her slides and found the loft. “I thought it might be fun to have a few cats walking about upstairs while you work. That’s why your offices have toys and small kitty trees and scratching posts.”
“Not once did I even consider a second level. It’s great.”
Gabrielle watched Serena flip through the drawings, point and even laugh with Chloe. She heard the name “Scooby” and smiled. She looked at the prints, jotted a few notes about nothing just to look busy while her client and the partners asked questions.
“We’re headed off to another meeting, but thank you for letting us sit in on the reveal. Ms. Evans, I’m sure Gabrielle will answer any questions you have.” Lawrence rose and buttoned his jacket. He shook Serena’s hand, then Chloe’s while John politely nodded and followed him out. Christopher shot Gabrielle a look that she took as positive reinforcement.
“Do you have any questions?” Gabrielle asked.
Serena looked up from the prints with a giant smile. “I still can’t get over how incredible this is. This is everything I want and more.”
“You did a great job, Gabrielle,” Chloe said.
“Looks like you’ve got this,” Christopher said. He scooped up his iPad and his drink and excused himself.
“Where’s the restroom?” Chloe asked.
“Down the hall on the right,” Gabrielle said without breaking eye contact with Serena. They remained quiet until Chloe closed the door behind her.
“I sent you a message apologizing to you. I’m really sorry I put you in a bad spot on Wednesday.”
Serena’s voice wasn’t accusatory but laced with sadness that stung Gabrielle’s heart. She bit her bottom lip as she thought of an appropriate response.
“I’m sorry, but I got on a roll and didn’t want to step away or have any distractions. And you, Serena Evans, are a distraction.”
Gabrielle watched Serena nervously cap and uncap the pen in her hand. Serena’s hands were slender and her long fingers were void of any jewelry. She waited patiently for a response.
“Oh?” Serena’s voice cracked. She cleared her throat and repeated herself, her voice stronger with confidence. “Oh?”
“There were a lot of reasons why this job wasn’t clicking for me. At the beginning it was that I didn’t have an inkling about pets and I was scared of L.B.” Gabrielle stood and slowly worked her way to the side of the table where Serena was sitting. She kept her distance, though, partly for her own sanity, but also to tease Serena a bit. “But then I got to know you and wanted to get to know you better. Then the job wasn’t important. You were all I could think about, so in order for me to get this done, and really understand what you needed, I had to close myself off.”
Serena scooted her chair back a bit so she could look up at Gabrielle. “That would have been nice to know. I was worried I upset you in the last meeting.”
Gabrielle leaned down. “Oh, you pissed me off, all right, but that meeting kicked my ass in gear. I needed that to happen.” She looked at Serena’s mouth, wanting to kiss those full lips, but took a small step back. “Now you got exactly what you wanted.” She pointed down at the set of drawings. “Take these home, study them, and we can get together next week to discuss any changes.”
Chloe walked into the room, breaking their moment. Gabrielle turned and faced her. “I’m glad you came to support Serena. I’m sorry about introducing myself to you. I don’t want any suggestion of impropriety.”
“I get it.” Chloe shrugged and waved her off. She looked from Serena to Gabrielle. “What happens now?”
“I’ve asked Serena to take the drawings home and look them over and see if there are any changes. Since we’re against the clock, I’ll send these off for bids today so they can get started. Hopefully. we’ll get numbers back by next week.” Gabrielle returned to the other side of the table and sat, ready to take any notes. “Any changes you make won’t affect bidding that much unless it’s a major thing.” She already knew who she was going to send the bids to. There were a few favors she intended to call in to get a rush on the project. At this point, it wasn’t because of the promotion, but getting Serena’s dream business up and running. Getting the foundation down would be tricky. Concrete took time to cure, and the lot still had to be excavated.
“How long do you think this will take?” Serena asked.
“The good news is that you already filed for permits, so that will help out immensely. Your lawyer is a keeper. If everything goes according to schedule, which it never does, but in a best case scenario, the Pet Posh Inn will be up and running by next summer, maybe late spring.”
Serena’s shoulders slumped. “That’s great.”
“Not fast enough?”
“I trust you. I’m just impatient,” Serena said.
“The good news is that once the foundation is up and the framework begins, you will be more involved. You’ll have to pick out paint colors, window treatments, toys and beds for the rooms. So technically you’ll be bored only for the first two to three months. By Christmas, you and the builder will be best friends.”
“It’ll be fine. You’ll have plenty of things to keep you busy,” Chloe said. She put her arm around Serena’s shoulder.
“Do you want to meet next week to follow up? I can meet you in Vail since the last two times you had to come here.” Gabrielle wondered if Serena heard the desperation in her voice. From Chloe’s quirked eyebrow, she guessed it was obvious. “If you have time.”
Serena nodded. “Sure. I have three months where I’m going to binge-watch all the cable shows I missed.”
&nbs
p; “Then I’ll know where to find you.” Gabrielle stood when Chloe and Serena stood. She hated that their meeting was over because she wanted to clear things up with Serena on a personal level, but she didn’t feel comfortable with Chloe standing there.
“Thank you so much for designing the perfect place for me. It’s everything I ever dreamed of,” Serena said.
If it was just the two of them in the conference room, Gabrielle would have pulled her into a hug. Since she had an audience, she shook Serena’s hand instead. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
Chloe picked up the drawings and rolled them up. “We should get going. Jackie’s waiting. It was nice to see you again, Gabrielle.”
“Thanks for coming, Chloe.”
“Bye, Gabrielle.”
Gabrielle walked them out, her fingertips barely brushing the small of Serena’s back as she opened the door for them. “Call me. You know, if you need me.”
Serena turned and squeezed Gabrielle’s hand. “I will.” Her gaze dropped to Gabrielle’s lips and then back up to meet her eyes. “I definitely will.”
Chapter Twenty-three
“I’m so glad you made it.” Piper greeted Serena with a hug. “And you brought your friends. Hi, I’m Piper. It’s so nice to finally meet Serena’s friends.”
Serena almost laughed at Chloe and Jackie’s reaction to Piper. They were smitten.
“Thank you so much for inviting us. You have a beautiful home,” Chloe said. Jackie nodded.
“Make yourself at home. I have a wardrobe emergency to take care of, so excuse me for a moment.” Piper leaned in closer. “Somebody spilled juice all over the front of her new unicorn shirt, and Shaylie is trying to prevent the inevitable meltdown.” She laughed and headed up the stairs.
“Wow. Maybe we all should move to Denver,” Chloe whispered.
“I’m not even going to give you a hard time for staring at Piper because you’re totally right,” Jackie said.
“Come on. Let’s find the kitchen and drop off our food. Then we can mingle and meet people,” Serena said. She’d made an artichoke and black truffle dip. It took her three tries to get it perfect, but she wasn’t going to bring something average that nobody would want to eat. Jackie made pineapple cheesecake bars. Faith had given her the recipe her first year in culinary school. Serena could easily eat three in one sitting. But here at Piper’s house, she was almost too nervous to eat. The minute they found the kitchen and all of the delicious food, her grumbling stomach reminded her she needed to eat.
“It sounds like everyone is outside. Let’s go mingle.”
Chloe loved to meet new people. Jackie was more reserved, like Serena, but they followed Chloe outside to a deck full of women. Serena quickly scanned the deck and felt her heart sink because she didn’t see Gabrielle there.
“Hi, I’m Chloe and this is my wife, Jackie, and our best friend, Serena.”
Chloe made the rounds and introduced them to every person there. It was overwhelming, but Serena followed their lead. Two people who were in the yard setting up cornhole and ladder toss games waved hello to them.
“Jenga’s ready.” A cute brunette named Shelly waved them over. Chloe and Jackie, always competitive, jumped at the opportunity. Serena grabbed a longneck from a cooler and waved them off. She found an empty chair nearby and sat to cheer them on. She was too awkward to participate and too nervous to even try. This many people made her uncomfortable, but she was resolved to stay put and make more friends.
“I’m so glad you came.” Piper sat next to Serena with Maribelle on her lap.
“Hi, there. I’m Serena.”
Maribelle leaned close to Piper but smiled at Serena. Piper whispered in Maribelle’s ear.
“Hi.” Her tiny voice sounded shy, but happy. Apparently, the meltdown was averted or had happened and she was spent.
“She’s being shy tonight. This is Maribelle.”
“Hi, Maribelle. Are you enjoying the party?”
“I spilled juice.”
“Oh.”
Maribelle nodded. “Yeah. All on my shirt. I put a new one on. This is a raccoon.” She pointed her little finger to her belly, where a cartoon raccoon was playing hockey.
“Your shirt is better than mine.” Serena looked down at her fitted button-down black shirt with the sleeves rolled up. “Mine is boring.”
“Hi, Serena. It’s good to see you again.” Shaylie leaned and kissed her on her cheek. The gesture surprised Serena.
“You, too. I see the wardrobe crisis was averted.”
Shaylie wiped her brow. “In the nick of time.”
“You have a beautiful home.”
“I heard your new house is very nice, too.”
“It’s amazing how expensive real estate is here in Colorado,” Serena said. She’d never get used to the idea that she had money.
Shaylie laughed. “I sell real estate.”
“No way. Just in the Denver area?”
She nodded and reached for Maribelle, who crawled over to her lap by way of Serena, who had the seat between them.
“Sorry about that.” Piper wiped the bit of dirt Maribelle’s shoe left on Serena’s dark jeans.
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” She secretly wanted to hold Maribelle because she was adorable. Serena sighed at the perfect family surrounding her. She wanted this. When she was a teenager and had to take care of Faith every day, she swore she’d never have kids. But now, seeing how supportive and loving Shaylie and Piper were, hope started blossoming inside. Maybe she could have a family. She’d be fierce and love them and never leave them. “My sister is going to move here. I was thinking a nice apartment and not a condo since who knows where she’ll end up in the long run.”
“I can certainly tell you good ones close to her job. What restaurant?” Shaylie asked.
“Frederick’s.”
“Nice. We’ll have to go there to support her. I can email you a list of some apartments close by that she would probably like.”
“That would be so helpful. Her job starts in a few weeks and she hasn’t picked a place yet.” Serena rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“I wouldn’t worry. There are several places that have apartments available at the beginning of the month. Plus if she can’t make up her mind, she can stay with us for a few weeks until something opens up.”
Serena stared at Shaylie, her mouth dropped open. How were these people so damn nice? It was one thing for people like Chloe and Jackie to offer up their place. They’d known Faith since she was ten. “That’s entirely too nice. I can put her up in a hotel for a few weeks.”
Piper waved her off. “Nope. We have plenty of space and we’re only about fifteen minutes from the restaurant.”
Their generosity was too much for Serena. “I’m so glad I met you. Thank you.”
“We are, too.” Shaylie playfully tickled Maribelle, who squealed for a bit and then relaxed against her. “Since this bug is stuck to me, how about you show Serena how to play cornhole? I noticed she avoided it like the plague at Gabrielle’s barbecue.”
“Oh, no. I’m so not good at anything athletic.” Serena waved them off.
Piper stood next to her. “I’m not taking no for an answer. Come on. You can be my partner.”
Serena playfully groaned and stood. “Okay, okay. Just know I’m going to be horrible and you’ll regret making me a partner.”
“You’ll be fine.” Piper grabbed the bean bags and handed Serena three. “Get a feel for their weight and just aim for the hole.”
“That’s so far away.”
“From top to top, it’s twenty-seven feet. You can throw from the bottom of the board so you only have to throw it about twenty-four feet. That’s easy. Go ahead and try one.”
Serena looked around to make sure nobody was watching and then tossed the first bag. It hit the very bottom of the board and slid off.
“That’s a great first toss. Just give it a little more oomph and make it stick,” Piper said.
Serena took a deep breath and threw the second bag. She overshot and cringed in embarrassment. “That was horrible.”
Piper laughed and pointed to the other team. “It wasn’t bad. Watch this team. They’ll be playing for hours.”
Serena noticed none of the bean bags were on the boards. They were scattered around. “So this is harder than it looks.” She took the last bag and tossed it. It slid up the board but stayed. She gave a little victory dance. “How many points?”
“One. If you hit it in the hole, that’s three points. Here, throw these, too.” Piper handed her the red bags and she got another point after throwing three. “See? You’re good at it.”
Serena smiled. “I wouldn’t say good, but at least now I’m not embarrassed.”
Piper wrangled two others, Meagan and Cheryl, to play a quick game. It was right in the middle of their second game, right as she was celebrating because she sank a bean bag into the hole for a solid three points, that she saw Gabrielle. Her heart kicked up and she held her breath as she watched her step onto the deck and hug two women.
“Serena. Serena, hello?” Cheryl nudged her.
She turned to her and stared at her trying to figure out what was happening. Gabrielle’s presence wrecked her. “What? I’m sorry. What did I miss?”
“You’re up.”
How did she miss an entire round? “What’s the score?”
“Your team is still ahead.”
Serena was beyond nervous and missed the board completely on her first toss.
“Come on, Serena. You’ve got this,” Piper yelled from the other side of the game.
She nervously looked over at Gabrielle who, at that moment, looked at her. Serena held her breath and stared. Gabrielle looked beautiful. She was wearing a summer dress that hit above her knee and a small front open sweater to ward off the evening chill. Her hair was pulled away from her face in a loose braid, and Serena couldn’t take her eyes off her. Gabrielle smiled at her and Serena knew things were good with them. She tamped down a squelch of excitement and tried to focus on the game. The second bag landed on the board for a point, and the third made a loud thud before sliding into the hole. Piper threw her hands up in the air victoriously. She ran over to Serena and hugged her.
