Windy City Romance: Boxed Set: Prequel - Book III

by Barbara Lohr

  “He did?” Harper glanced at Cameron in mock surprise.

  “Just frustrated. I apologized.” The guy was so cute when he flushed. “Having trouble moving this job along.”

  Suppressing a grin, she turned back to his drawings. Cameron sure had changed from the uptight man she’d met at the bachelor party.

  “This is the main room for a renovation I’m involved in. The couple wants an open concept for their older home—a common request right now but not always easy.” Frowning, he bent over the table. She followed his fingers moving over the page. A hot flash made her shift positions. She could almost feel the touch of those hands on her hips when they were dancing.

  Time to concentrate. And not on dancing.

  “By taking down this wall to the dining area, I can open up the room, but the wall with the fireplace bothers me. There’s a woods in back of this place, and I want to somehow incorporate a view.”

  Harper studied the drawing. The room held tremendous potential. “Can you take out part of the wall on either side of the fireplace? Add some shelves below for driftwood and vases, with a window above. Let the light in that way.” Her mind creaked into action like a rusty clock. Long time since she worked on something like this. Even then, in school the work had consisted of assignments.

  Cameron nodded. “Great idea. I’ll check with the contractor today.”

  Harper’s mind spun. “Maybe get some weathered doors to block off the second floor overlooking this area. Use colors that mimic the Savannah marsh. You know, that warm grayish brown. Add some golden highlights with glass work, woven b-baskets...” Looking up, she stuttered at the intensity in Cameron’s eyes as he listened. Like it mattered.

  When had Billy ever given her attention like this?

  “Yes?” His appreciative smile skittered across her skin, raising goose bumps. Good God, as Cameron would say, what was going on here? She pushed her hair back from heated cheeks. Way too much sun in this room.

  “Harper, you’re brilliant.” He’d already picked up a stick of graphite. Cameron had the hands of an artist, and she swallowed hard as he blocked and sketched. While they worked together, Bella colored quietly at her little table. She was drawing a house.

  For the next twenty minutes, they tossed ideas back and forth, each new point feeding another. All the training she’d had in school, all the fabulous field trips her classes had taken came roaring back, only this time the project was real.

  And this time she was working with Cameron.

  Time passed quickly until finally Bella said, “Harper, I’m hungry.”

  Pulling her phone from her pocket, Harper checked the time. “Gosh, it’s past noon.”

  “Damn. I have a lunch meeting.” Cameron began to carefully roll up his drawings and tucked them into a cardboard tube. “Thank you, Pipsqueak, for reminding me.”

  Bella smiled up at him with adoring eyes.

  “Come on, Bella. Lunch time.” Harper opened one hand. Maybe lack of food was responsible for her own spinning head.

  “Thank you, Harper. These are all great ideas,” Cameron said, walking her to the door. When their shoulders touched, electricity zinged through her. “I, ah, I...”

  Did he feel it too?

  One of his shoulders rolled back, oh, so casually.

  Yep, he felt it.

  “I hope you’re willing to work with me on this? I can, well, compensate you.”

  Not again. She felt offended. “Look, I’m already well compensated. Working on this project is fun, not work.” Turning to face him, she felt buoyed by recklessness. Their brainstorming had felt better than the best sex she’d ever had. Were her cheeks red?

  He pursed his lips, like he didn’t agree. Too bad. Her terms. Cameron followed them downstairs, briefcase in hand. On the way, she noticed the paper still clutched in Bella’s hand. “Can I see your picture?”

  They’d reached the foyer and Bella held it out. “It’s my house.”

  “Bet you have your daddy’s talent.” Harper took the paper. Three stick figures stood outside the house, a plump bluebird overhead. Cameron must be the figure in the tie and Bella, the smaller stick figure with the dark hair. Harper pointed to the figure in the short skirt. “Who’s this?”

  “The mom. Every house needs a dad and a mom.”

  Cameron looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  “Very pretty. Can I take it up to my room?” Rolling up the sheet, Harper felt like she was hiding the evidence. Who was this mother figure in Bella’s mind? Kimmy? The woman who wouldn’t even look Bella’s way when her parade float passed by?

  “Nope. I’m going to hang it on the refrigerator.” Grabbing the paper, Bella marched into the kitchen. The picture went up, anchored by Bella’s ABC magnets.

  Harper couldn’t even look at Cameron.

  ~.~

  Sessions in Cameron’s home office became more common and the house in the historical district began to take shape. One drawing led to another until they spilled over onto Harper’s drafting table upstairs. Her work focused on window treatments, furniture, fabrics and accessories. For the first time since graduation she was doing work her education had prepared her for…and it felt wonderful. Some nights she almost felt giddy. Hard to get to sleep.

  Was the project keeping her awake or was working so closely with Cameron the problem? The excitement in his voice, the light sparking his blue eyes while they tossed ideas back and forth played on an endless loop in her head while she lay in bed. She found herself analyzing each comment, the slightest gesture. Crazy making. Harper had to remind herself that the interest was about the project, not her.

  April arrived with a burst of warmer weather. When Cameron suggested a day at the beach for the coming Sunday, Harper was all for it. “Kimmy’s coming with us,” he added.

  “Sounds like fun.” Not. “Do you think the water will be warm at Tybee?”

  He squinched his eyes like a little boy. “Probably not warm enough to swim, but you can splash along the shore. This isn’t Chicago and Lake Michigan.”

  “You mocking my city?” She socked him playfully in the arm.

  Surprise brought a smile and he rubbed his arm. “You’re hurting me!”

  “Want me to kiss it and make it better?”

  His eyes slid to her lips.

  Would both her feet fit in her big mouth?

  Two beats of silence felt like ten. Flustered, Harper dove back into conversation and motor-mouthed, like she was swimming for her life. “Don’t, ah, you give me a hard time about the Great Lakes. Your beach at Tybee isn’t that much better.”

  Bella appeared in the doorway. “Did you say beach?”

  Cameron expelled a deep breath. “Would you like that, Pipsqueak?”

  “You bet.” Bella came tripping toward them, clutching the hem of her Tinkerbell nightgown. “Could we go, Daddy? Really?”

  He looked to Harper. “Pack a picnic lunch?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Hooray!” Bella’s bare feet slapped the tile floor while she jumped up and down. Cameron smiled at her antics. A day at the beach. Harper didn’t care if it was only seventy degrees. A day with Kimmy? Maybe Harper needed a reality check right now. A stern reminder. Anything to cool the heat raging through her body like a bad sunburn.

  Connie had come in from the living room, dust rag in hand. “Did I hear something about a picnic lunch?”

  “On second thought, you don’t have to bother, Connie.” Cameron scooped Bella onto his lap. “Plenty of places in Tybee to grab some food. Maybe just some snacks.”

  “And cereal for me,” Bella interjected.

  “Right. Cereal for you.” Cameron ruffled his daughter’s hair, and she rested her forehead in the hollow of his neck. “Kimmy would probably like a day at the beach.”

  Bella jerked back, wrinkling her nose. “Does she have to come?”

  Cameron’s smile dissolved. “I think it would be nice to invite her, don’t you?”

  “I guess
.” Bella’s resignation made Harper swallow a chuckle.

  She really had to work on her attitude. Kimmy was Cameron’s girlfriend and Harper should respect that. But as she lay in bed that night, her thoughts ran wild, overstepping that boundary by a mile.

  ~.~

  For the rest of that week, Bella was in high gear. Harper would find her singing as she danced around the house.

  “That child is wild.” Connie was cutting carrots and celery for them to take along.

  “High spirited,” Harper offered.

  “You’ve brought a change in that little girl.”

  “Me? No.”

  Turning on the disposal, Connie shook her head. “Never was this happy around here before you came.”

  “Thank you, Connie.” Bella sure wasn’t the sad little girl who’d been coaxed into the library for Harper’s interview only months ago. Maybe she was succeeding in this position. Quiet satisfaction buoyed her steps all day.

  On the coast just east of Savannah, Tybee Island was only twenty minutes away. Kimmy decided to drive herself. Apparently she had work to do at the station that Sunday. Harper figured the TV figure wanted an escape hatch. Kimmy seemed so restless, flitting around the area hoping the media would spot her. At least that was Harper’s take on it and the thought turned her stomach. How would Kimmy ever have time for Bella? As Cameron and Harper rode down Highway 80 with Bella in the backseat, she was glad she didn’t have to listen to Kimmy prattle. This day was much too perfect to be ruined by cryptic comments.

  Under her bright orange tee and cutoffs, Harper wore a purple bikini. A straw cowboy hat helped protect her cheeks that freckled no matter how much block she applied.

  In the backseat, Bella was singing a song from The Wizard of Oz, adding her own lyrics. After watching the movie on TV one Sunday afternoon, the classic film had quickly become a favorite. Thank goodness the little girl’s taste had expanded beyond Ninja warriors.

  Settling back, Harper enjoyed the ride. “I’ve always loved the palm trees on this boulevard.”

  “Me too.” In cutoffs and a blue T-shirt, Cameron looked like he was about eighteen. Those biceps? A shame that his oxford cloth shirts hid so much.

  “Did you come to the beach a lot when you were growing up?” Oak Street Beach had been a thirty-minute drive from their house in Chicago. Her mom and dad had taken the family to the lake on warm weekends.

  “Lord no. I hit the beaches with college friends. They were my introduction to the coast.” His rueful chuckle indicated some serious partying.

  “So you didn’t grow up around here?”

  His lips twisted. “I most definitely did not.”

  Now, that was a surprise. During her student days, the college students from Savannah told jokes about the upper crust who hadn’t been thrilled when the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil brought hordes of tourists. Publicity wasn’t what Savannah wanted at the time. And yet, tourism became their major industry, along with their harbor.

  Bella continued singing about the wizard while they passed billboards advertising dolphin boat tours. Sunlight glanced off the water stretching on either side, edged by marshes. Low country homes with wide porches could be seen along the shoreline of the inlets. Piers stretched through the tall grass until they reached the water that rose and fell with the tides.

  “I love it here.” Harper sighed with satisfaction.

  Camera looked over. “You mean Tybee Island or Savannah?”

  “Both.”

  “So you came here for the school and stayed because...”

  Doggone it, was he fishing? “That’s right. I stayed.” No way was she going into the boy who was the drawing card.

  Boy. Is that how she thought of Billy?

  Cameron wasn’t giving up. “And you stayed because...you have friends here?”

  She chewed on her lower lip. Maybe talking about her past would free her. “Yes. I was living with someone. He decided I wasn’t his happily-ever-after.”

  Cameron appeared to mull that over. “The guy must have been out of his ever-loving mind,” he finally said.

  “Thank you, but California movie companies don’t hire crazy people.”

  He laughed. “Are you kidding me? Lots of crazies out in California.”

  That made her smile.

  Before long, beach shops appeared along the highway and traffic slowed. Surfboards and inner tubes were stacked near doors. Bright colored clothing fluttered from racks dragged outside to lure tourists. Opening her window, Harper could smell the ocean. The main road turned right but Cameron took a left to where a trim lighthouse rose above the cottages. “I like this beach near North Beach Grill. Less commercial than the public area farther down.”

  “Works for me.” She knew from her college experience that the beach could get pretty crowded, especially on weekends. The restaurants down at that end were always jammed, and lines snaked from crowded public restrooms.

  “Are we there, Daddy, are we?” Pulling at the restraints of her car seat, Bella thumped her feet against the seat.

  “We sure are, darlin’.” Gravel crunched beneath the tires as Cameron pulled into a parking lot. Only took them a few minutes to unload. Since the public beach hadn’t opened yet, Cameron had thrown some chairs into the back of the SUV. She was helping dig them out just when a bright red convertible pulled up.

  Chapter 18

  “Yoo, hoo!” Kimmy had arrived. Huge dark glasses peered out from under a red hat anchored by a flowing scarf. Stepping out of her low-slung convertible, she looked like a model in sand-colored slacks and red windbreaker. Hips swaying, Kimmy maneuvered toward them on red platform heels not meant for sand.

  “Isn’t this fun to be at the beach together?” After a hug and kiss for Cameron, she turned to Bella. “Got a kiss for Kimmy?”

  Lower lip thrust out, Bella pulled Harper toward the wooden boardwalk.

  “Well, now.” Kimmy straightened. “Hello, Harper.”

  A gust of wind caught the brim of her wide hat and Kimmy struggled to keep it on. Harper swallowed a giggle. “Hello, Kimmy. Don’t you look….red.” Really? That was the best she could do?

  “Well, I never…” Kimmy looked from Harper to Cameron.

  “Ah, I mean, you look so nice in …all that red.”

  Cameron tamped a surprised smile down fast. One glance from Kimmy and that was gone. A quick wave and Harper took off, a couple chairs under her arm and Bella trotting along beside her. Up ahead children in shorts and bathing suits played in the shallow water while parents stretched in chairs, skin pale as the sand. Felt like spring break.

  “Can I go in the water?” Bella asked Cameron when he arrived. Chairs hung from one strong shoulder and he was dragging the cooler. Kimmy followed, stepping carefully, like this might be quicksand.

  “In a second, okay?” Cameron dropped the equipment and began setting up.

  “Mercy me, child, you’ll catch your death in that water.” Kimmy shivered, glancing at the ocean as if it were the enemy.

  “No, I won’t.” Bella’s lower lip came out.

  “Let’s just get set up, okay, Bella?” Harper and Cameron reached for the same chair. Fingers touched. Electricity shot up her arm. Cameron swept her with a startled blue glance before turning to the water. Lazy breakers hit a broad sandbar before rolling to shore. Oh, so slowly, he ran one hand up his arm. Harper shivered.

  As if he’d touched her.

  As if she’d liked it.

  “But it’s way too cold for this water, Harper.” Kimmy broke that mood fast. “You’re not from these parts, but everybody in Savannah knows you cannot go in the water in early April. You simply cannot.”

  Harper couldn’t resist. “In Chicago, a group called the Polar Bears plunges into Lake Michigan every year on January first. It’s a ritual.”

  Kimmy gasped. “I declare, I have never heard of anything so outlandish.”

  Harper didn’t miss the upward tweak of Cameron’s lips. “Kimmy,
Tybee Island has its own Polar Plunge.”

  “Barbaric.” His girlfriend’s face turned pink.

  Bella had shed her pink shoes and socks. “I want to go in the water.” Her bare toes curled up from the cool, hard-packed sand.

  The kid had moxie. Harper kicked off her flip flops.

  Pulling her jacket around her, Kimmy screwed her face up. “Cameron, this is entirely up to you, but letting the child go in the water...well, I just cannot imagine.”

  He was having trouble setting up one of the chairs and Harper turned to help him. In close proximity, the two of them were almost comical, like basketball players trying not to foul. “Well, now, I don’t see how a little water could hurt her. There. We’re set. Thank you, Harper.” Cameron snapped the chair’s frame into place.

  Kimmy dusted sand from her slacks with short, quick swipes. “Fine. Up to you.”

  Cameron stared out at the horizon, looking for all the world like a man counting to ten. Pulling sunblock from her bag, Harper motioned to Bella and began smoothing lotion on the little girl’s face, legs and any other surface that showed, including that button nose. Then she coated her own “Irish skin,” as her mother always described it. Looking up, she caught Cameron watching her. A shiver spilled through her, and she waved the bottle in his direction. “Want some?”

  “Yes. No. But thanks. Think I’ll just watch...I mean, rest.” Sliding his sunglasses into place, he sank into the chair next to his girlfriend.

  Kimmy was already pulling folders from a black tote bag that looked way too expensive for the beach. “If you don’t mind, sweetheart, I’m so behind.”

  Tossing her hat onto a towel, Harper held one hand out to Bella. “Come on. Let’s explore.”

  With a wild whoop, they were off. Cawing wildly, a group of sea gulls scattered in front of them and took to the skies. Glancing back over one shoulder, Harper wondered why Kimmy had bothered to drive over. A beautiful day with the guy she was dating and the woman was going to work? As if to prove her point, Kimmy began furiously scribbling on a yellow pad. Harper pitied her staff.

  The brisk breeze molded Harper’s shirt to her body. Tugging the claw clip from her hair, she let it fall free. Felt like the breeze had fingers and she shook her head with delight. The two of them splashed along close to shore and then stopped.