Inside the quiet house, the door clicked closed behind them. Late-afternoon sunlight illuminated the living room. “It’s almost complete. We’re just adding the finishing touches.” Connor led Laura through each room, pointing out the stone fireplace and the built-in cabinets. He made mental notes of tasks he needed to take care of tomorrow morning. There were always little things that didn’t meet his high standards.
Connor opened a white door to the nursery. “This is the room where the mural will be.”
The room had wood floors, a large window on the back wall with a window seat underneath, and bookshelves on each side. Connor pointed to his left. “The mural will be on this wall here.”
Laura ran her hand along the woodwork. “Lucky kid. It’s going to be amazing.”
Laura’s face was soft and her body relaxed. Not the same tightly wound girl who had been with Thomas.
Laura looked up, catching his stare. Her fair cheeks flushed with color. “Thank you, again,” she said. “I really need this job.”
Her blue eyes said more than her words ever could. The trust he saw in them sent pangs of remorse from his head to his boots. He didn’t deserve for her to look at him that way after all the trouble he had caused her.
She broke the gaze between them. “Have you decided what you want the mural to look like? Animals? Nursery rhymes?”
“I figured I’d let you come up with something. It’s not exactly my area of expertise.”
“Are they having a boy or a girl?”
Connor stood beside her facing the blank wall. “They don’t want to find out until the birth.”
Laura stood back from the wall and cocked her head. “I don’t know much about them. How will I decide what to paint?”
Connor looked out the window toward the horizon. “They met at the church camp located at the end of the canyon,” he said pointing east. “She’s the director there. They both love nature and the outdoors.”
“Okay. That’s a good place to start,” Laura said. “I’ll sketch out some ideas.”
Laura leaned on the window seat beside Connor. “Are you excited about your new niece or nephew?”
He turned around beside her and crossed one boot over the other. “I can’t wait. I’m mostly planning how I can spoil him or her rotten. Will and Cassie are going to hate it,” he said with a laugh.
She nudged him with her elbow. “Spoiling is an uncle’s job, right?”
“Exactly.”
She moved across the room. “Do you want kids of your own?”
A glance between them lingered. “A house full of them,” he said. “You?”
She nodded. “Yes, and I want my kids to have the brothers and sisters I never had.” Her eyes widened. “Although, I haven’t been around too many kids. I worry that I’m not cut out for it.”
Connor’s eyes shot to hers. “Are you kidding me? You’d make a great mom. You’re patient, kind, creative, smart. Who wouldn’t want a mom like that?”
She pressed her lips together as she smiled.
Connor nodded his head toward the door. “Come on. I want to show you the patio.”
He followed Laura out of the nursery. At the glass door at the back of the house, he reached around to open the door for her.
As she walked past him, she gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
Laura pointed beyond the covered patio and grassless backyard toward the salmon-colored walls of the canyon, her eyes wide. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The home sat at the top of the ridge with an expansive view of the canyon below.
“I can’t believe all of this is even here,” Laura said. “It’s breathtaking.”
“It is beautiful.” Connor gazed at Laura’s delicate features. Right now Connor couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be than here with her.
A hawk dipped down toward the wall of the canyon. “It makes me wonder if there really is a God.”
The statement was like a punch in Connor’s gut. “You really don’t believe there’s a God?” He tried not to show his surprise.
She crossed her arms over her torso. “I don’t know. I believed in God as a kid. My parents took me to church, but when I got to college, I had a lot of questions.” She shrugged her slender shoulders. “Right now I’m to the point of wondering if anyone can really know for sure.”
Connor couldn’t imagine a world where he didn’t see God at work. Then again, with his mom’s cancer he didn’t feel like he had seen a lot of God lately, but he didn’t doubt His presence.
Laura tucked her hair behind her ear and pressed her pink lips tightly together.
He looked at her, but she averted her eyes from him. “I feel like I know,” Connor said. “More than that, I believe He loves us and wants the best for us.” He would do anything to help her see that God hadn’t forgotten her. She would need Him now more than ever.
Laura looked out over the canyon. “Then you’re lucky,” she said, her voice flat. “I wish I believed in anything that much.”
When Laura returned to Will and Cassie’s house the next morning, it buzzed with activity. The screech of power tools echoed down the hallway, and the crews of workers only glanced up from their tasks as she passed by them on her way to the nursery.
Yesterday’s conversation with Connor replayed in her mind. She hadn’t expected to open up to him about her doubts about God. After growing up with her parents’ impossibly high standards, she pictured God as someone else she was disappointing. It was too much to deal with. The thoughts had rolled around in her mind for years, but she had never shared them with anyone.
Something about Connor’s laid-back presence made her say too much. He was one of the most unpretentious people she’d ever known, even though he had plenty to be proud of. He co-owned a successful business, and according to this house, he was brimming with talent.
Inside the nursery, Laura stepped back from the blank wall that made her fingers itch with excitement. She missed the feeling of a paintbrush in her hand. She couldn’t express her thankfulness to Connor for the opportunity to paint the mural. She desperately needed the money if she was going to be able to fix up the house to sell. She could never allow Connor to pay for the remodel. This job would give her extra cash to put toward the materials they’d need. Then, maybe, she could leave Wyatt Bend and everything that had happened here behind her.
Her body tensed. Why did the thought of leaving Wyatt Bend fill her with anxiety?
Laura set the paper bag from the small hardware store in town on the window seat and pulled out a drop cloth.
Laura hadn’t packed any clothes for painting. She wore a man’s pearl-snap shirt and a pair of denim overalls she’d found in a dresser in a guest room in the house at Canyon Crossing. She had purchased the house and all its contents. Technically, she owned it all now.
The few things she hadn’t sold to friends before moving from Florida still remained in storage. She had planned to pick them up after the honeymoon, something else on a long list of things to cancel. It would have to wait until she spoke to Thomas. Surely he would return her message.
Laura pulled her phone out of the deep pockets of the overalls. No missed calls. She longed for closure with Thomas—a simple phone call and a reason for why he left her. Without it, she felt trapped between two worlds.
Laura unfolded the drop cloth and covered the wood floors. She hated getting the first few drips on a clean cloth. She was out of practice switching her perfectionism off and her creativity on, but it was a challenge she was eager to jump into.
She spread the charcoal drawings on the floor and debated which she would use for the mural. The wall would need to be prepped before she began, so she still had some time to decide. She wanted the finished product to exceed Connor’s expectations.
Just as she finished the base coat on the wall, her cell phone rang from her pocket. Her fingers fumbled to pull it out, her heart beating in anticipation that it could be Thomas. When sh
e saw his name on the screen, her mouth went dry. Even though she’d obsessed about what to say to him, the words she’d rehearsed had disappeared.
She cleared her throat. “Hello?” Her voice shook.
When no one answered, she chided herself for waiting too long to pick up.
As she pulled the phone away from her ear, she heard a deep breath. “It’s me.”
Laura pressed the phone back to her ear. “Thomas?” It felt foreign to say his name.
“You called me?” He sounded more like a nervous thirteen-year-old boy than an attorney.
Two men carrying toolboxes walked by the open nursery door. Laura pushed it closed, trying to control the blaze of emotion. “I’m glad you called me back. There’s so much we need to talk about.”
Thomas huffed. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not going to change my mind.”
Laura’s jaw clenched so tight she felt as if her teeth might crumble. “You could start by telling me what happened.” She leaned her back against the wall and slid to the floor.
“Listen, Laura. I don’t want to drag all this out now. It’s already done. We need to move on with our lives.”
Thomas had no right to tell her to move on. He left her in this bind with no job, no money, and an impossible-to-sell house. Three loud bangs pounded on the other side of the wall, vibrating against her back.
“What was that noise?” Thomas asked.
She scooted away from the wall on the slick floor. “It’s nothing.” Before she could get the words out, the pounding returned.
“I can hardly hear you. Where are you?” Thomas shouted over the noise.
She held a finger in one ear and climbed to her feet. “I’m in Wyatt Bend.”
The noise in the next room stopped, and an uncomfortable silence hung on the other end of the line.
Laura rubbed her fingers along the bridge of her nose. “Where did you think I’d be, Thomas?”
“Back home in Florida? Living with your parents? I don’t know. What are you doing there?” He spit his words out like poison.
She paced across the room. “There are a thousand things to take care of here. I don’t have a job or an apartment to go back to in Florida.”
“You’re not staying with my parents, are you?”
Obviously he and his parents hadn’t spoken since he left town. “Of course not. I’m staying at the house.”
“You’re still staying in the house? You can’t be serious. That place is uninhabitable.”
Laura resented the concern in his voice. He didn’t have any right worrying about her at this point. “I’ll be fine. Connor is helping me—”
“Connor Overman?” Thomas’s tone changed in an instant, tension running through his voice.
“Yes. I’m going to need some help getting the house ready to sell.”
“Connor is my friend,” Thomas shot back.
It was true. Connor and Laura hadn’t known each other long, but Connor had been a lifesaver for Laura. “He’s also a decent guy who recognized I could use some help.” But Thomas could never identify with that. All of Thomas’s decisions had been purely selfish. The trait Laura had foolishly admired as ambition had actually been narcissism.
Thomas scoffed. “It’s pretty ironic that Connor, of all people, would be helping you. Maybe he feels guilty.”
Guilty? “What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing.” Thomas mocked her tone.
Another one of Thomas’s games. They were exhausting, and he always figured out a way to get the last word.
“Look.” Laura failed to keep the irritation from her voice. “Connor is your friend, and he’s been wonderful to me. Whatever you’re trying to do, stop.”
“He is wonderful, isn’t he?” Sarcasm oozed from Thomas’s voice. “He’s so great that he’s the one who told me I shouldn’t settle for you.”
Laura froze, the words stinging against her ear. It felt like Thomas had reached through the phone and ripped her heart out of her chest. “He didn’t say that.” Her words came out in a whisper.
“Sure he did. Connor told me not to get tied down with you in Wyatt Bend.”
Laura’s face and eyes burned with heat. She hardly noticed the pounding on the other side of the wall had returned.
“I bet Mr. Wonderful doesn’t seem so great now,” Thomas said.
Laura couldn’t speak. Surely it was a lie. Connor would never say something like that. Would he?
Thomas scoffed through the phone. “I’ve got to go. I have a job interview today. Bye, Laura.”
The phone went silent.
Despite the noise and vibrations coming from the house around her, inside Laura, everything was still and empty.
The world around her blurred at the edges, like she walked a tightrope and someone had stolen her safety net.
Chapter 8
Connor tried to concentrate as the landscaper went through the details of the sod and plantings for Will and Cassie’s yard. With Laura’s old truck parked outside the house, Connor could only think of getting inside to see her.
He had unfinished business to take care of with Laura. He had to tell her the truth. She deserved to know what Thomas had said, and Connor’s conscience couldn’t take the deception anymore.
Connor had prayed she would understand. Thomas was unpredictable and self-serving. Laura should know that better than anyone.
He would sit down with Laura and explain everything. He would tell her she was better off without Thomas. Laura deserved better than Thomas Wilkinson. She needed to be with someone who knew how to respect her and take care of her.
“Thanks,” Connor said to the landscaper. Connor had used the same company for five years. They knew what he wanted before he told them. “Everything’s going to look great.”
Before he could change his mind, Connor took a deep breath and headed inside the house. The door to the nursery was nearly closed. He peeked through the opening. Laura sat on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest. She looked adorable in her baggie clothes and ponytail. He collected his courage and tapped the wood with one knuckle.
When she didn’t move, he pushed the door open. She glanced up at him, her nose and eyes pink and her face drawn tight. Seeing her upset made his heart hammer in his chest.
He extended a hand out to help her from the floor. “Are you okay?”
She looked past him, ignoring his hand, and pushed herself to standing. “I talked to Thomas.” Her words were clipped.
The way she avoided eye contact created a cold ball of dread in his gut. Connor hated that Thomas could still hurt her despite the distance. Connor’s boots remained glued to the center of the room as she paced around him. “Is there anything I can do?”
She snapped her head toward him. “I think you’ve done enough already.”
Panic rose in his chest as the possibilities flew through his mind. This wasn’t about Thomas. It was about Connor. “What are you talking about?”
When she reached the window ledge, she stopped circling him and threw brushes and sketches into a paper bag. “What I don’t understand is why you fake this ‘good-guy’ thing with me.” Her voice rose higher with every impassioned word. “When in reality, you’re sabotaging me.”
A lump plunged deep in Connor’s stomach. She knew the truth. Thomas had beaten him to the punch and destroyed any ounce of trust he’d built with Laura. Thomas had probably made Connor out to be a monster. “I don’t know exactly what he told you, but if you’ll let me explain …” He struggled to keep the anxiety from his voice.
Laura thrust a hand on her hip. “Let’s see. Basically, he said you convinced him that marrying me would be a huge mistake. Apparently you think I would bring him loads of unhappiness and make him feel trapped because he would be settling. Does any of that sound familiar?”
Connor’s slack jaw hung open, not only at what Thomas had told her but by the anger in her eyes and the sneer in her voice.
“Well?”
Laura asked, her face red. “You don’t have anything to say?”
Connor swallowed hard and tried to make the mush in his mind turn into a reasonable argument. He stumbled toward her. “I was venting about my own life. He took it all wrong.”
Laura’s bottom lip quivered.
He took a deep breath. “Laura, I’m sorry you’re hurting. I never meant for that to happen.”
She ripped the drop cloth from the floor and crumpled it into a ball.
His mind raced. He had to do something. He couldn’t let her just walk away. “Laura …”
Laura’s shoulders fell forward as she clutched the cloth so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Look,” she said. “I don’t have the energy to do this. We really don’t even know each other. If you go your way and I go mine, we’ll both be fine.”
Laura’s words were like a shot to the chest. Connor didn’t think he’d be “fine” if he and Laura parted ways like this, but he sure didn’t want to find out. “No, Laura. Let me explain.”
Defeated, she turned toward the door, her slumping frame fragile under the heavy overalls.
“Laura, I’m so sorry.”
Without another word, she walked out the door.
Connor banged on the door of the house at Canyon Crossing. No answer. Unless Laura had walked back to Florida, the truck in the driveway confirmed she was ignoring him.
In desperation, he hammered the door harder with his fist. “Laura, please. I want to talk to you.”
Only silence. He couldn’t blame her. Not only had she been abandoned by her fiancé before her wedding, but Connor had made things worse by keeping a secret from her. He scrubbed his hands over his face. What had he been thinking?
Connor’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket. A call from Thomas.
Connor groaned. He stared at his phone and then looked back to the door, torn between the two. Connor mashed a button to answer.
“What do you think you’re doing helping Laura with the house?” Thomas said on the other end of the line without a “hello.” The bass of the music thumped in the background.
Canyon Weddings Page 20
