“Yes, it’ll make the bedrooms in back bigger. On the other side, you’ll have a larger family room. You’re going to need it with the baby coming. If I take out this wall, here, the kitchen will open into the family room and it’ll be like a great room. Marilee can cook dinner and still keep an eye on the baby while he plays. We’ll add an island with a breakfast bar. The larger kitchen will accommodate some updated cabinets and appliances. No need for plumbing, so it should be an easy renovation.” She looked at the blueprints and bit her lower lip as she studied the changes, pleased at how well they’d turned out. “I think it will work. The house will have a more open feel and it’ll be big enough for your growing family. The additions will add another thousand square feet.”
“I can’t let you do this.”
“Which part don’t you like? I can change the dimensions on the expansion if you want it larger, but it will cut into the yard even more and building codes require at least twelve feet between the building and the property line. I thought we’d put up a fence, so the baby is corralled in the yard.”
“I appreciate you’re getting the house cleaned up and making the repairs that need to be done, but this is too much.”
Stubborn. Brian didn’t want her to make the changes. Too bad. She wanted to make the house a real home for him and Marilee. She didn’t want him going back to the same house they’d grown up in. She didn’t want the past to infect his future.
Let him think she’d only make the repairs. If a wall fell down and she had to fix it, so be it.
“If that’s what you want.” Relieved she agreed, or so he thought, he relaxed his shoulders and stance. “I’m heading over to the house to start the cleanup. I want to pack a few things from my room. I’ll donate the usable furniture to charity.
“Go to the office at lunch and sign your paperwork with my assistant, Paula. She’ll get your medical coverage set up and get your cards, so Marilee can see the doctor. I’ll catch you later.”
She gathered her papers and the blueprints and headed for her truck where two other trucks waited with the guys assigned to help her at the house.
“Jessie!”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks, sis.” Brian picked up his tools and went to help Bucky and Andrew with the next wall.
Jessie smiled. He’d be okay. He just needed time to adjust to his new life. She would make sure he put his old life behind him, starting with the house.
Chapter Thirteen
* * *
JESSIE ROLLED HER shoulders and rubbed at the back of her neck. After a week of running nonstop, she needed a break and some sleep to recharge her tapped-out energy. Between keeping things moving at the housing development and working on Brian’s house until well after sundown, she’d barely eaten or slept in days.
Down to her last nerve, Jessie worked her way through the round of questions with her foremen, all three of them, and beelined it to her office to hide out. The phone never stopped ringing, and her assistant tried to put out one fire or another with suppliers and subcontractors.
Jessie worked through her paperwork, entering figures into her computer spreadsheets. She needed to check the progress of one of the custom homes the crew started two days ago.
She glanced out the small trailer window just as Sheriff McBride pulled up in his squad car. He got out, scanned the construction area, and headed for her door.
Great, just what she needed.
Not a word from him in four days. Why did he come today? She’d told him to leave it alone. Should have figured he wouldn’t let the past lie. She wished he’d chosen a more private place to speak and braced herself to see him again. God, he looked good.
She decided to head him off at the pass the moment he stepped through her door. “Afternoon, Sheriff. What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“Man, this place is amazing, Jess. You’ve done well.”
“Thanks.”
“Must have been a lot of hard work to build your company this big in such a short time.”
“I had help.”
“Yeah, and you’re just that good. And smart.”
She didn’t know what to do with such compliments. She received them so rarely, so she ignored them. “Um, is there something you wanted?”
The smoldering look in his eyes as his gaze swept from her head down to her breasts and back told her he wanted her.
He cleared his throat. “I, uh, came to speak with you about one of the guys on your crew.”
Surprised, she leaned back in her seat and asked, “Who?”
“Jay Bradley.”
“What’d he do?”
“He got in a fight at McBride’s last night and broke up the place. Brody doesn’t want to press charges, but he wants reimbursement for the damages.”