Clayton carefully set her on her feet, and she took in the front of the house, trying to distract herself from her reaction to the contact. It had a deep, wraparound front porch, and the native stone that covered the exterior walls reminded her of Sunday houses she’d seen in Fredericksburg, Texas, on a summer vacation years before.
Clayton quietly said, “There is no one else in the house, if you’d like to go in and have a look around your domain. I hope you’ll be happy here.”
Smiling at his word choice, Lydia replied, “I’m sure I will, Clayton. Thank you.”
She started to slip away from him, feeling like there had been more she should say or wondering if there was more he wanted to say. Clayton took hold of her hand, and when Lydia looked up at him, he said, “I’m really glad you came.”
Relaxing just a notch when she saw a momentary trace of a smile and vulnerability in his eyes, Lydia smiled wholeheartedly at him and replied, “I am, too, Clayton. I’ll be inside.”
He nodded, releasing her hand. She heard Chance’s and Clayton’s deep voices in conversation as she made her way up the steps to the front door. She turned the knob on the heavy oak door, catching a hint of the naturally lit interior through the leaded-glass windows in the door. It swung open silently, and she stepped in, sighing contentedly as the cool air greeted her. She closed the door and walked into the foyer. The house was enormous and beautiful.
To her left was a living room, complete with upholstered couches and chairs and a very complicated-looking home theater system. The head of an axis deer hung on one wall opposite of a moose head. One wall was lined with bookshelves. To her right was a formal dining room containing a table that could easily seat twenty, two large china cabinets, and a buffet between them. The room looked as though it didn’t get used very often, but she hoped to change that.
The soles of her shoes echoed quietly on the tan ceramic tile as she moved past the staircase landing. She spied what appeared to be a home office to her left, judging by the paperwork avalanche waiting to happen on one of the desks. Ahead of her was a spacious family room with a bear head rug in the center of it. A mounted elk head graced one wall, and a bighorn sheep head with massive curling horns hung from the other. Couches and other comfortable-looking furniture were positioned around the rug, making it an inviting space for a get-together.
Looking to her right, Lydia gasped in delight. Un-self-consciously, she rushed into the kitchen and wanted to jump up and down with glee. She was going to be very happy here.
The kitchen was spacious, well lit both by natural light from skylights above as well as from the windows. In the center of the room was a large island with a cooktop on one side and a sink at one end. Whoever had designed this room had loved to cook. The appliances were all newer and large enough to handle the job of feeding a big group. She ran her fingertips along the front edge of a large, restaurant-grade stove and oven. Judging by the dust her fingers picked up, it must not have gotten much use. That was going to change.
She heard Clayton and Chance come in and go up the stairs as she looked in the numerous cabinets and drawers. Getting a feel for what sorts of tools and small appliances were there, she determined that she’d take an inventory first thing in the morning. It had been a few years since anyone had spent quality time in this kitchen judging by the age of what she found.
Perhaps one of their parents or their grandparents had loved to entertain, because she found a lot of vintage glassware and china. With the addition of a few new tools and a little reorganization she could make this work, but there was a layer of dust and grime on a lot of it. She’d have to rise early in the morning if she wanted to be able to serve the men of the ranch a decent meal the following night.
After a quick investigation of the pantry and its limited contents, she took a peek in the double garage. One set of double doors faced the front of the house, and another set of double doors opened out to the side of the house. Another pickup truck was parked inside, which she assumed was Clayton’s.
Deciding on a simple meal for that night, she removed a soup pot from one of the cabinets and filled it with water at the deep sink. Once she had it heating on the large stove, she wiped down the large island and began pulling ingredients from the pantry and the refrigerator. The garlic and mushrooms were chopped for spaghetti before she laid the knife down with a chuckle. She’d gotten so caught up in her excitement over the kitchen and the prospect of cooking for Chance and Clayton that she’d forgotten she still hadn’t seen the upstairs.
After checking the big pot on the stove, she looked around the kitchen, reliving the thrill of discovery and the joy in the challenge that lay ahead, and walked back through the house.