Designing Love: An Inspirational Romance (Sunriver Dreams Book 3)

by Kimberly Rose Johnson

  She sat. “Thanks. Too bad there’s not money in the budget for new patio furniture. I saw a great set on sale the other day, and I’ve always wanted to design an outdoor space,” she said in a wistful tone.

  “I hope you get to someday. Back to why you don’t have a choice about a man being in your life.” He didn’t like the sound of anyone having someone forced upon them, especially Sierra. He liked her, what little he knew of her that is.

  She took a sip of the tea. “This is really good.”

  He could wait her out, as long as she didn’t flee first. Something told him this could be important. He swallowed some of his mocha then set it on the plastic table that matched the chairs.

  “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you since you asked. You might even be able to help me.”

  He rested an ankle on his knee. “I will if I can.”

  “I’m a very private person, and I would appreciate if this stays between us.”

  “I’m a police officer first and foremost, so—”

  “Because you’re a cop, I’m going to tell you. I had Trey when I was sixteen. My boyfriend, Randy, was a year older than me, but not mature enough to be a dad. We tried to make a go of raising Trey together, but he wasn’t interested in being a parent and resented Trey and me. His parents were not supportive of us, and shortly after Trey’s first birthday they sold their house and moved away—Randy went with them. Things were not healthy between us. In retrospect, it was for the best that he left, but at the time it felt like anything but. I’ve not seen or heard from him or any of his family since.” She sighed. “Now Trey wants to meet him. I don’t know where to start to find him, or even if I should. What if Randy refuses to meet Trey or worse yet, agrees to meet him then walks away again?”

  His insides wrenched. She was in a tough spot. It stank that her son was bound to get hurt no matter what happened. All the more reason he needed to work on that big brother/big sister idea. “When you say things were not good between you, will you be specific?” Something in the tone of her voice sent his cop instincts on alert.

  Her face heated. “He had a temper,” she mumbled.

  “He hurt you?”

  She shrugged. “Only once, but it was an accident.”

  Fat chance. “Why would you even consider looking for him?”

  “He’s Trey’s dad. My son is practically grown now, and Randy’s temper was related to the predicament he found himself in. Being a teen parent is not fun or easy. He wasn’t mature enough to handle it. I know it sounds like denial when I say him hurting me was an accident, but it really was. Granted it would never have happened had he not been so frustrated with Trey’s constant crying.”

  “Tell me what happened.” Anger simmered right below the surface. The man had done Sierra and her son a favor by leaving. Her logic made no sense to him, and he had zero tolerance for abusers.

  “It was nothing really. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. He’d had as much crying as he could take and attempted to storm out of the house. I jumped in his way to try and stop him, but he was a rock. He couldn’t stop fast enough and knocked me to the ground. When I fell I hit my head. But it was an accident.”

  “Okay. I see your point.” Although he wasn’t convinced the man wasn’t a threat. “It’s been a long time since you last saw him. You have no way of knowing what kind of man he turned out to be.”

  “True, but what am I supposed to do?”

  “I know someone who specializes in finding people. He owes me one. I’ll check Randy out first and see if he’s someone you can trust.”

  “You’d do that for me? Why?”

  “It’s my job.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not.”

  “Fine. I want to help. I don’t want to see you hurt, either.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t want to be indebted to you. I thought maybe you could look through police records or something. Forget I ever mentioned Randy.”

  He raised a brow. “He’s in the system?” She hadn’t mentioned her boyfriend had a criminal record. But he shouldn’t be surprised after what she’d told him.

  “No. At least not that I know of. Does that mean you can’t find him without your friend’s help?”

  “I’m going to help you one way or another, but first you need to decide if you really want to find this man. Seriously consider all the possibilities. Are you willing to share your son with him? Are you ready to face whatever comes from introducing Trey to his dad? What if he wants to share custody? What if he still has a temper?”

  “Randy gave up his parental rights before leaving. I still have the signed paperwork. There is no way he will ever be alone with Trey. I won’t allow it.”

  She was naïve if she thought she could keep the boy away from his dad when she wasn’t around. It wasn’t like Trey was a kid. “I’d like to see the paperwork. It should have the information I need. You’re sure about this?”

  “No, not really. I’m glad to know you can help me, but let’s not do anything yet. I want to pray about it first.”

  “You’re a Christian?”

  “I am. Are you?”

  “No. But Mark is.” He had been hounding him to visit his church for months. He had to admit to being curious. Mark had a peace about him that Spencer envied. “Do you go to church?”

  “Trey and I attend one in Bend. I noticed Bailey and Stephen go there too, although I rarely see them since we usually go to the early service and Bailey doesn’t like to rise early.”

  He nodded. “I know the place.” Sierra must be a morning person. She did seem perkier this morning than Monday evening. “I think I received a flier in the mail about a guest speaker doing a Bible prophecy seminar.”

  “Yes. I saw that too.”

  “Are you going to go?” The topic interested him more than he cared to admit. He’d even thought to attend, and it would be nice to see a familiar face there.

  “I might.”

  “We could go together if you decide to.”

  Unease covered her face.

  “Not as a date,” he quickly added. “Just two people carpooling to the same place.”

  “Hmm. We could do that.” Her face turned pensive. “But you aren’t Trey’s favorite person. Maybe driving together would be a bad idea.”

  Chapter Seven

  Sierra pulled up beside John’s Jeep in the driveway of his mother’s house. He rarely came to the house, yet he’d come more than once recently in a short amount of time—odd. Although, considering his mom seldom left the house, she shouldn’t be too surprised to see him. Mona only ventured downstairs if one of her sons carried her, but Stephen felt it was good for her to have people in the house.

  Personally, Sierra was glad the older woman rarely made her presence known. The few times she’d had contact with Mona, she had been snippy, and Sierra didn’t care to be snapped at. Bailey was sweet, though, and a pleasure to work for. She hustled inside.

  John stood near the entryway. He raised a brow. “Good morning.”

  “Hi. What brings you by?”

  “You.”

  Her heart hammered in her chest. “Me?” Her voice raised a notch. Had she done something wrong, or was this personal?

  “Rick has his hands full and asked me to go over the design for the cop’s house with you.”

  “Oh. So you really are a contractor?” Sure, Bailey had said he would be working with her as the contractor on Spencer’s place, and he’d said as much himself when he stopped to help with her tire, but she still had a hard time wrapping her brain around him doing manual labor. He always ran the office.

  “I know my way around a construction site. You couldn’t grow up in this house and not.” He grinned. “Do you have the plans with you?”

  “I stayed up late and worked on them. They’re on my computer. Give me a minute to get organized, then I’ll run through everything with you.”

  He followed her to the office on the first level of the massive house. This pla
ce was grander than the one she was currently living in. Even the wood floors looked nicer. “Where’s Bailey?”

  “With Rick and Stephen working on the Plato place. I doubt you’ll be seeing much of her for the next several weeks. She’s doing a couple of feature walls with stencils and insisted on doing the work herself. I guess she didn’t trust anyone else.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Rick is miffed with me for taking on Spencer’s place when he was already slammed with the other project.”

  “Really? But I thought the plan was to . . .“ It didn’t matter what she thought. “Never mind. Should we hire someone else to help?” She ducked her head. That was probably not the smartest thing to say.

  “You don’t think I can do the job?” He crossed his arms.

  “I didn’t say that. I’m only concerned about your relationship with your brother. If working outside the business office is going to cause problems—”

  “Let me worry about Rick.” He relaxed enough to stuff his hands into his jeans pockets. “We’ve always been a little too competitive. He doesn’t like me stepping in where he’s top dog. That’s all.” He chuckled. “I may be rusty, but I’ll get the job done, and I’ll make sure it’s done right. Your cop friend is in good hands.”

  “He’s not my friend.” Now why had she said that? Spencer sure acted like a friend, and there was nothing wrong with counting him as a friend, so long as she didn’t grow dependent on him. That would be a huge mistake. She’d learned a long time ago to only depend on herself and the Lord because people didn’t stick around.

  “Oh. My mistake. Guess I assumed since he was helping with your tire.”

  “He was the only person I knew to call, and he was close.” She opened the file with Spencer’s design and clicked print. There was no need to have John looking over her shoulder as she walked him through what they were going to do. He made her nervous. He was truly the most attractive of the three brothers with his dark wavy hair, light blue eyes, and broad shoulders.

  The printer spat out several sheets of paper. She walked over and gathered them then handed the proposal to John. “How about you take a look and then we can discuss any concerns or questions you have?”

  “Sure.” He eased onto the small sofa and flipped through the pages. “This looks straight forward. Rick already has a crew assembled and they’re ready to start on Monday. Will that work?”

  “Let me check.” She sent a text to Spencer and waited for his reply. “Are you sure you are up for this, John? This is my first real job, and I don’t want anything to go wrong.”

  “Thanks for your faith in me,” he said drily. “For the record, something usually goes wrong on most projects, but I’m good at working through issues, so relax and trust me to do my job. I might not have worked side-by-side with my brothers for a long time, but I’ve done this before.”

  She nodded as her phone dinged. She checked the text. “Spencer says that’s fine and to stop by his place the evening before for the key. He starts work early and won’t be home when we get there.”

  A sheepish look covered his face. “Can you do that for me? I have plans that night.”

  She resisted rolling her eyes. “Of course, but how will I get it to you?” She shook her head. “Never mind. I’ll be at his place in the morning too. I want to walk you through the plans onsite before you start work.”

  “Or,” he drew the word out. “We could meet for coffee first then head over to the house?” He tipped his head to one side and raised a brow. “I always start my day with a cup of joe.”

  She pressed her lips together. His boyish charm drew her in. No good could come of meeting at the coffee shop. Then again, they did need to establish a rapport if they were going to work together. “I guess. Or we could plan to meet a little earlier at Spencer’s house.”

  “Coffee will be more fun. Don’t you think?”

  Was John flirting with her? She wasn’t sure how she felt about that—flattered, excited, scared? All three? He was certainly good looking and successful, grounded, a Christian, and from what she’d heard he was a good person. It was one thing to be attracted to him but another to act on that attraction. For so many years she’d shied away from men and the complications they brought with them. Did she even have the ability to put herself out there again and risk her heart? She’d told herself through the years that all men were not like Randy, but it was still hard.

  “Sierra?” John looked at her with concern in his baby blue eyes. “We can meet at the house if getting coffee first is a problem.”

  “No. It’s fine. I like to treat myself to a chai tea now and then.” Although she’d been doing that a lot recently.

  He grinned. “Great. But if something changes, call me.” He pulled a business card from his wallet and wrote his cell number on the back.

  “I will. See you then.” Her heart thundered in her chest. It was no big deal, but it felt huge.

  For the first time in years, rather than wearing slacks and a nice shirt to work, John tugged on jeans and flannel. He’d picked up a couple pairs of work gloves and dug out his old tool belt from when he’d labored alongside his dad years ago. Anticipation filled him so much that coffee was probably not a good idea, but he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit with Sierra even if a dose of caffeine was ill advised.

  He whistled as he palmed his keys then headed for the door of his studio apartment. Most people found it hard to believe that after growing up in a virtual mansion he’d chosen to live in a tiny studio apartment, but it was easier. He had little to tie him down, and since his place was so small, no one ever wanted to come over, which suited him fine—at least it used to. Even though he’d turned into a neat freak recently and wouldn’t mind uninvited guests, no one ever dropped in.

  He’d been living here since his early twenties, but now at thirty-three it felt stifling. Change was definitely in the air. From his place in Bend, it’d take him about twenty-five minutes to get to the coffee shop in the Sunriver Village. He’d be right on time.

  The drive on 97 from Bend to Sunriver was pleasantly uneventful, and he pulled into the parking lot. He got out and strode toward Sierra’s SUV, a couple of spots away.

  She waved and quickly slid from her vehicle, wearing dark-wash jeans and a flowing pink blouse and navy blazer. “Good morning. I was reviewing the plans one more time.” She eased up beside him, and they walked toward Brewed Awakenings.

  “I’m sure you have nothing to worry about,” he said hoping to ease her mind. She was clearly nervous. That made two of them. It’d been a long time since he’d done construction, and he’d never been on his own with a crew. However, he spent enough time on job sites to know how things were done.

  She pulled a key with a red ribbon attached to it from her jeans pocket. “I added the ribbon. I thought it’d be too easy to lose otherwise.”

  “Good idea.” He pulled the door open. “After you.”

  She breezed past him, and he caught a whiff of her vanilla-scented perfume. “I’m thinking we should get our drinks and go,” she suggested. “That will give us time to run through everything on site before the crew shows up.”

  Disappointment hit him—talk about a letdown from the high he’d been on. He’d hoped to get to know her, not talk shop, but he had to respect her boundaries. “Sure. That’s probably for the best since we haven’t worked together before.”

  Relief showed on her face. She turned and placed her order. He’d planned to treat her, but the line had been clearly drawn. He ordered a small caramel macchiato, and they stood along the wall waiting for their drinks. “Are you excited about your first solo design job?”

  She looked up at him with a grin, though her eyes remained pensive. “Yes, but I’m mostly nervous. I have ice cubes for fingers.” She touched them to his arm. “See.” She stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets. “I’ve always been like this when I get nervous. It’s annoying.”

  He shifted to the other foot and felt himself relax. “I’
ve seen your design, and I don’t think you have anything to be nervous about. Spencer requested you, so he obviously likes your work.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know how. He’s never seen it. I think he asked for me simply because we got off to a rough start when we first met, and he’s trying to make it up to me.”

  His eyes widened. “Wow! What did he do that he’s willing to spend fifty thousand dollars to make up for it?”

  The barista called her name then his a later.

  “Okay, when you put it like that, I feel silly for thinking he requested me to make up for what happened. I’ll tell you about it sometime, but not here.” She motioned to the crowd around him. “I respect law enforcement, and I don’t want to say something that would reflect badly on him.”

  “Good enough.” They walked to the parking lot together then parted company. He liked that she was unwilling to speak negatively about Spencer in public. It showed the kind of trait that a lot of people lacked—integrity.

  A short time later he pulled up to the project house and parked beside Sierra’s SUV. She stood at the hood sipping her drink. He got out with his coffee and strode toward her. “Let’s get this party started.” He pulled out the key and let them inside. “Okay. I see why he wants to remodel.”

  “It’s dated, but by the time we’re done, this house will finally enter the twenty-first century.” She walked him through exactly what she had planned.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was exactly like he expected, based on the plans, and best of all, she didn’t want any walls knocked down. As renovations go, this job would be simple. “Far as I can see, you have nothing to be worried about. The crew will be here in about twenty minutes, and we’ll get this place demoed. Where is Spencer staying while this is going on?”

  A panicked look covered her pale face. “I think he’s staying here. I didn’t tell him he should move out.” Her words came out in a rush. “I knew I would forget something.”