Finaly My Heart's Desire (Meant for Me Book 2) (16 page)

"I'm great," I said.

"I'm great too," Thomas added, making Shane smile.

He motioned to a few chairs lining the wall. "I'm almost done. You guys can wait right there."

Chapter 20

Shane hurried back to his client who had finished the set of exercises and was waiting for him, wearing a smile. He spoke with her for a second before gesturing to Thomas and me. She looked in our direction with a smile and a wave, which I returned.

"Who's that?" Thomas asked, looking at me.

"She's just Shane's client," I said. "She's here so he can help her."

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "Maybe Shane will tell us when he's finished. But don't ask in front of her," I added.

"Because she might not want to talk about it," Thomas said.

"Exactly."

We sat there for a few more minutes before Shane passed the girl to one of his assistants who took her to a different area to finish up. He told us using hand gestures that he would be a minute longer, and we watched as he went to the a computer and made notes. He was done before his assistant was finished with his client, and he walked over and talked to them both before coming over to meet Thomas and me.

He was smiling brightly, and I wondered for about the hundredth time since we'd been together how in the world I ended up with him. I stood as he approached us, and Thomas followed suit.

"You guys ready?" he asked. He greeted me with another kiss on the cheek, which made Thomas look down, smiling.

"I get to see Brock's new shop today," Thomas informed him.

"I know," Shane said. "We've been working really hard on it, and Brock's wants you to come check it out. He thinks you'll like it."

Thomas smiled. "I'm gonna work today too."

"Yep," Shane said. "We need help getting those floors cleared off."

"That's what Emily said I was gonna do."

Shane reached out and put his hand around Thomas's arm. "Let me see if you're ready… oh yeah, I feel some big muscles in there."

Thomas beamed at him as he lifted his arm so he could better flex, and Shane let out an approving whistle that made Thomas smile even bigger.

Thomas rode with Shane, and I followed them to Brock's workspace. Brock spent every second of his free time working to improve the warehouse and get it ready. He had two investors, but couldn’t afford a showroom just yet, so his warehouse studio space would have to serve as a makeshift showroom for now. If a customer was looking to buy a piece from him, they would have to come directly to the studio. For this reason, he was working hard to make it as inviting as possible.

The rest of the Rollins family, including Shane, were doing their part to pitch in, and they had succeeded in making quite the transformation since they started. I could see when we pulled up that Brock and Shane's parents were there.

"This doesn't look like a store," Thomas stated as we walked toward the metal building.

"It's not really meant to be a store," I said. "It's Brock's workspace, and he's gonna have an area where people can come to look at and buy finished pieces."

Thomas looked confused, but he didn't say anything. Shane held the door for us, and Thomas and I walked in together. There was music playing loudly, but Brock walked to the stereo when he caught sight of us and turned it down.

"It looks amazing in here!" I said.

"Brockkk!" Thomas yelled with his arms held high.

"Thomasss!" Brock returned, walking over to greet us. He shook Thomas's hand, and turned to shake mine as well, but I made him give me a hug instead.

"I stink," he said, reluctantly reaching out to hug me.

"I don't smell you," Thomas said, leaning toward him and breathing in through his nose.

"We all stink," Mrs. Rollins yelled as she made her way toward us.

"I especially stink," Mr. Rollins added.

They'd been in the far corner of the gigantic room working on a built-in workbench. It was taking them a while to get over to where we were standing, so in the meantime, I looked at Brock. "I can't believe how much you have gotten done since the last time I came here," I said.

He smiled, looking around. "It's coming together." He paused and sighed. "It's scary how fast, actually. I think my family and your brother have more faith in me than I have in myself."

"Just wait till the world gets a glimpse of Brock's stuff," Mrs. Rollins said, extending her hands to hug me as she approached.

"I know, I’m excited for him," I said.

I shifted to face my brother. "This is my brother, Thomas. Thomas, this is Deb and Rick Rollins, Shane and Brock's mom and dad."

She hugged Thomas before Rick offered Thomas his hand to shake. "I hear you two are gonna help us get these floors cleared," she said.

Thomas smiled. "Yep, I have big muscles Shane said." He flexed for them, which made everyone smile.

Deb reached out to grab Thomas's arm in much the same way Shane had done and let out an impressed sound, at whatever she felt. Thomas blinked and smiled shyly at her.

"Thank you guys for coming," she said. "I've been here since 8:00 this morning, so now that Brock has you guys here to help, I figured I'd go pick up some dinner for us all. Is everyone okay with burgers?"

"I don’t mind picking something up if you aren't up to it," Shane said.

"Oh no, baby. Like I said, I got here early and I'm more than ready for a change of scenery.

"You must be exhausted," I said. "But it's great that you can be up here so much to help Brock. I was noticing how good it looked when I came in."

"I'm officially on his payroll," she said, smiling and winking at Brock.

"She'll do most of her work from home," Brock explained, "but the timing is good. I don't know anything about bookkeeping or running a business, so she'll take care of the hard stuff for me."

"Don't forget your website," she said.

"I
want
to forget the website," Brock said. "That's why I have you, isn't it?"

I turned to face Deb. "Are you really gonna work for Brock?"

I heard her say, "Mostly from home."

But Brock accidently spoke over her saying, "Their loss is my gain."

"Okay, that's good," Shane interjected. "Let's get the menu together for burgers." He nudged his mom. "Where are you going?"

"I was thinking Nicco's."

"What'd you mean about their loss?" I asked, knowing Shane well enough to know that he was trying to hide something from me.

Shane looked at me with a regretful expression. "Mom got laid off," he said, "but it works out for everyone."

I was confused until I remembered that she worked for the Buller's ranch. I closed my eyes, unable to believe what I was hearing. "I am so sorry," I said, opening my eyes slowly and cringing as the realization of what they were saying sunk in. I shook my head and stared at her with an expression full of sorrow. "Did you seriously lose your job?" I asked, unable to believe it.

She smiled sweetly and reached out to touch my shoulder. "Yes baby, but you really don't need to worry about it. We were all lucky that it happened when it did. Brock doesn't know anything about running a business, and the timing is absolutely perfect."

I glanced at Shane to see that he was wearing an
I'm sorry you found out like this
expression.

"There's no such thing as luck," Thomas said. "The Bible says every good and perfect gift is from God. He never makes mistakes."

Deb smiled at him, but I flinched at the fact that he corrected her just after I learned about her getting fired. "She was just saying the timing was good, Thomas," I said.

"It's okay," she said. "It should probably make me feel good that someone's looking after me rather than chalking it up to chance."

"I don't know what you mean about chalking," Thomas said, "but someone
is
looking out for you. His name's God."

She smiled.

"We should probably get to work," I said, hoping to spare the Rollins of an uncomfortable conversation.

Shane nudged me, and when I glanced at him, he shook his head imperceptibly, telling me to be quiet and let his mom and Thomas speak.

"Our boys have been telling us about God lately. Haven't they, Rick?"

Mr. Rollins smiled and nodded once.

"Yeah, Brock and Shane accepted Christ," Thomas said. "That's why they want to tell you about it." He glanced at Deb and Rick. "Do you want to accept Christ too?"

I wanted so badly to interject, and Shane must have known this because he reached out and pinched my arm.

"I'm not sure I know how to do that," Deb said.

"Oh, that's easy, we do that every Sunday morning at church. You just have to ask Jesus to come in your heart."

She smiled at him. "Well, maybe I'll have to come to church and see about that," she said.

Thomas stared at me with a serious wide-eyed expression. "When's the next church?" he asked.

"In two days," I said.

He looked at Deb. "Our church is in two days," he said. "Are you gonna come to it?"

She smiled and nodded. "I think I might. Shane and Brock were trying to get me to go, and now that you're here asking, it seems like I can't really say no."

"Are you gonna accept Christ as your Lord and Savior?" he asked.

She paused for a second, but then cracked a smile as she nodded. "I think I might have to do that too."

Thomas gazed at her for a second before his face scrunched up tightly. He put his fist up to his nose, and took a long breath in before exhaling with that familiar wheezing sound that meant he was crying. He let out a long cry before inhaling and doing it again.

Deb glanced at me with an apologetic expression, and I whispered. "Tears of joy. He's happy."

Her face crumpled the instant I said that. She put her hands partially over her face, staring at him as if unable to believe that he would be so touched. He let out a third cry, and she stepped toward him and took him into his arms. He hugged her back, still sobbing. They stayed like that for a few seconds before he pulled back and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "God loves you so much," he said. "He's so happy that you decided to love Him back."

"I'm happy too," she said, wiping her eyes.

I didn't realize I was crying along with them until a tear fell onto my cheek.

Shane put an arm around my shoulder. "I love your brother," he said, making me laugh through the tears.

"Me too," I said, resting my head on Shane's shoulder.

"I guess I should go get dinner for all of us," Deb said, doing her best to straighten herself up after shedding unexpected tears. She looked at Thomas. "Would you like to ride with me?"

He glanced at me. "What about sweeping?" he asked.

I shrugged. "We need you, but you'll have time to help when you get back if you want to ride with Mrs. Rollins."

He nodded. "I'll go get burgers," he said.

Deb smiled at him and tested his muscles again. "That's great because I can use the help carrying the burgers."

Thomas lit up, and they headed for the door.

"Are you sure he's okay to ride with her?" Shane asked.

I nodded. "Yeah… as long as she doesn't give anyone a Butterfinger in traffic."

He laughed, and Mr. Rollins looked at me curiously. "That's what he calls the bird," Brock explained, since he had been there when Thomas mentioned it the first time. Rick laughed when he understood.

Brock clapped his hands and smiled at the rest of us. "I hate to break up the nice family moment, but we still have a ton of work to do." He pointed at the wall on the far right of the warehouse—the one that was now beautifully covered with strips of distressed wood. Tonight had been the first time I'd seen it. I knew that would be the backdrop for his showroom area, and I was amazed at how great it looked.

"I'm gonna continue on the wall," he said. "Shane I'd love it if you can help Dad with the workbench." He looked at me. I could tell he was slightly hesitant to give me instructions. "We're starting floors in the morning, so if you wouldn't mind starting to sweep a little bit…"

"That's why I'm here," I said. "Where's the broom and dustpan?"

He smiled and pointed to a corner of the room where I could see several brooms leaning against a trashcan. We all went separate ways. Brock continued his work on the wall, Shane followed his dad toward the workbench, and I took off toward the brooms. I glanced over my shoulder at Shane as I walked to find that he was looking at me. He left his dad's side to head in my direction.

"I had to steal a kiss," he said. "You looked so cute going to get your broom and dustpan like Cinderella."

I laughed and offered him my cheek, which he kissed willingly.

"Did I ever tell you I love you?" he asked casually as if it was something he said all the time.

I shook my head. "No, actually you've never said that," I said in a dry tone.

"Oh, well I do," he said in a matter of fact way.

I smiled and narrowed my eyes at him. "Did you just say you loved me, Shane Rollins?"