Hearts Under Construction (11 page)

T
he next day at work, Ellie made her way to the refrigerator for her salad. Cole had told her an hour ago he was leaving for an appointment, yet when she walked by his office, he was still there. She backtracked.

“Hey, I thought you were leaving.”

He glanced up. “Ellie?” He said her name as if he had no clue who she was.

“Are you okay?”

He smiled so big, she could have stuffed a banana in his mouth sideways.

It irritated her a little. “Well, did you call the Kennedys? I mean, weren’t they expecting you?”

He seemed flustered. “Oh, that, uh, yeah, I talked to them. In fact, it was their idea to cancel. Yeah, that was it. They couldn’t make it.” He fidgeted with a folder on his desk.

Ellie stared at Cole. He was acting very strangely. Her gaze ran over his shirt and tie and black pants with a sharp crease down the center of each leg. How odd. Cole never fussed with creased pants, and almost always wore jeans on days he visited job sites. Her eyes narrowed. Something seemed very odd about him today.

He glanced back up. “You need anything else?”

She snapped out of her mental wanderings. “Oh, no. Nothing.”

“Well, I guess I’d better get back to work,” he said.

Feeling a tad embarrassed by his dismissal, she mumbled, “Oh, sure.” She started to walk away when she heard him say her name.

“Ellie?”

She took two steps back and stopped in front of his door. “Yeah?”

“You look great today.”

She was stunned into silence. That didn’t happen often. Okay, try never. “Thanks,” she finally managed.

Another smile. She turned away and continued on toward the kitchen.

No question about it, she could not figure him out. One minute he upset her, and the next, he said something that took her breath away. Trying to understand Cole Preston was near to impossible.

Still, she couldn’t deny she rather liked it when he was this way. In fact, she could almost pretend it was worth wading through his not-so-pleasant ways. Namely, changes.

She reached into the refrigerator and got her salad, then went back to her desk. Pushing thoughts of Cole aside, she decided to check her e-mail while she enjoyed her lunch. Cole had sent a message. Uh-oh, probably another change.

Hope you didn’t mind my forwardness just now. But I couldn’t help but notice how your blue jacket made you look so vibrant. My tongue got away from me. Sorry. But what can I say, you sort of took my breath away.

Cole.

She stopped chewing her carrot in midbite and stared at the screen. A couple of more chomps, and she swallowed hard. Her eyes scanned the e-mail once more. Then again. One more time for good measure.

Waiting a minute, she looked away from the screen and rubbed her eyes. She glanced around the room to see if anyone was watching her. Morgan sat at her desk, staring into her own computer screen. Tim and Chad were out on calls. She peeked back at her computer screen, half expecting the message to be gone, a figment of her imagination.

There it was in all its glorious color. Well, okay, black print on a white background, but still. She checked the name of the sender.
Cole
. She re-checked who it was to.
Ellie
. She reread the last line, her eyes emphasizing the final phrase,
…you sort of took my breath away.

Sort of,
as in not really, but kind of did? Meaning, she didn’t really take it away, but then again, she sort of did.

Suddenly, she felt a little giddy, as if she’d downed a double shot of espresso. With trembling fingers, she reached into her bottom drawer to pull out her stash of chocolate and celebrate. The bag was gone! Had she eaten all of it? She didn’t remember. Thrashing through her drawer, she pulled out files, papers and debris, until finally, hidden carefully back in the corner away from the files, she glimpsed a wrapped piece of chocolate.

She gave an audible sigh. Carefully unwrapping the tasty morsel, she plopped the candy in her mouth and felt better instantly. Don’t try to analyze the compliment, she told herself. Enjoy it. He thinks you look nice. Period. She glanced at her clothes. Pastel blouse, light blue jacket, and matching skirt. She’d have to remember that. Not because of Cole, exactly, but a girl liked the idea of being noticed by members of the opposite sex. Even if they happened to have a toothless grin and only five long hairs stretched across their head.

But, of course, that hardly described Cole Preston.

Ellie glanced at her desk calendar and shook her head. Friday. Where had the week gone? It had seemed to fly by as she’d put together some house deals and worked like crazy to close on pending sales. She and Cole had run into one another on occasion, but he seemed swamped with his work, too.

What she couldn’t get over was the change in him. She felt as though she had stepped into a fairy tale where she was the princess. He opened doors for her, complimented her, went out of his way to do special favors, and even brought her chocolate from the Sweet Shop down the street.

Feeling sure he was preparing her for a huge change, she kept waiting for the news to hit. But it never did. The way Cole had changed toward her made her want to change all the more.

She smiled. God was working in her life and she was changing. Something that did bother her a little, though, was how Cole’s new behavior affected her. There was a stirring of something deep down inside her. Maybe it was just the extra pepperoni on last night’s pizza, but she didn’t think so. And at present, she didn’t want to know.

They weren’t fighting, and that was enough for now.

“Hey, Ellie, these came for you. I’m green with envy,” Alex said, placing a vase of colorful flowers on her desk.

“Wow. I can’t imagine. It’s not my birthday or anything.” Ellie picked at the card, feeling a little nervous that Alex was waiting for her to open it. Maybe her parents thought she needed a little encouragement. She’d been complaining a lot lately.

Her fingers trembled as she worked the flap of the tiny envelope. Finally, it flipped open and she pulled out the card.

“What does it say?” Alex said, clearly excited over the whole matter.

“It says—” Ellie stared a moment, then glanced back at Alex.

“Well?”

“It says, From Your Secret Admirer.”

“Well! It must be nice!” Alex said in a snooty voice before turning on her heels and heading back to her desk. Ellie wondered what that was all about and figured things must not be going well with Jax and Alex.

Ellie turned her attention back to the card.
Secret Admirer
. For a fleeting moment she wondered if Cole could have sent them. She shook her head. True, he was being nice lately, but she couldn’t imagine him going this far. Oh, well, it was kind of fun having a secret admirer. The very idea held a certain amount of charm.

“Hey, Ellie, just thought I’d let you know, I’m headed over to the Wilson job site. You want to come along?” Cole asked.

“No, I’ve got some paperwork I have to get through, if that’s okay.”

“Sure. It actually works out well. I have other appointments outside the office scheduled today. Since I don’t have to bring you back, I’ll probably be gone until about three o’clock or so. Just so you know.” He paused then glanced at the flowers. “Wow, where did you get those?”

He looked genuinely surprised. Her spirits plunged. Okay, so he hadn’t sent them. But who then?

“Well?”

“Um, a friend sent them.”

“Really?” His eyebrows raised. “Looks serious.”

She barely lifted the corners of her mouth in a smile.

“You okay?”

“Sure, why?”

“Oh, I don’t know, you’re just acting funny. Does it have something to do with the flowers?”

“No.” Obviously a friend had sent them. An enemy wouldn’t have. It was none of his business anyway.

“Your left eye always twitches a little when you’re upset or trying to hide something, did you know that?” He pointed his finger within inches of her eye.

“Stop that,” she said, pushing his hand away. Cole’s laughter floated after her as she stomped to the bathroom. Oh, he made her so mad. If he were an egg, she would have beaten him.

She didn’t like teasing. Especially from him. What did he care who sent her flowers? It’s not as if she owed him an explanation anyway.

In the bathroom she took a moment to calm herself. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset. She reapplied her makeup and after she’d settled down, peeked through the door. No sign of Cole. She stepped through and tiptoed back to her desk.

By early afternoon, Ellie was so engrossed in her work, she had forgotten the entire incident.

“Hi, Ellie. Nice flowers. Who’s the secret admirer?”

Her head shot up. Cole had changed clothes. “You read the card that came with them?”

He held his palms up, facing her. “No, why?”

“Why did you say that?”

“Say what?”

“Oh, nothing. Forget the flowers. We’ve already had this discussion.”

“Sorry, just wanted to say they’re nice,” he said in a soft voice, making her feel guilty.

“Look, I’m just a little touchy after this morning.”

“What happened this morning?” he asked.

Boy, sometimes she just didn’t get him. The past week, he had been acting so weird. “Never mind.” She studied him a moment. “I thought you weren’t coming back until three o’clock?” Her eyes narrowed. “And why did you change clothes?”

He looked down. “I didn’t chan—” He stopped himself. “Oh, that.” He shrugged.

She eyed him with suspicion. “Well, people don’t usually go home and change clothes in the middle of the day,” she probed.

“Spilled coffee on my shirt.”

“I thought you had given up coffee—well, at least the coffee in the office. Said it wasn’t any good, remember?”

He coughed. “Oh, uh, I did, but—” He gave a sheepish grin. “Well, what can I say? I needed caffeine and, um, I caved.”

“You know, Cole, you’ve been acting strange lately. You feel okay?”

“I’m fine. Couldn’t be better,” he said, a touch over-enthusiastically. “Uh, Jax wanted to see me, I’d better go.” He walked away from her.

“Cole?”

He turned around. “Yeah?”

“Jax’s office is that way,” she said, pointing in the opposite direction.

He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Oh, yeah. Right.” He walked past her and headed for Jax’s office.

Something very strange was going on with him. And Ellie intended to find out what it was.

That night after dinner, Cole and Caed settled down to watch TV. Caed picked up the remote.

“Before you do that, Caed, we need to have a talk.”

“Uh-oh, I don’t like the sound of that. You’re using your big-brother voice.”

“You want to tell me why you’ve been slipping into the office while I’m out and pretending to be me?”

Caed feigned innocence. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t give me that. Jax told me. Ellie talked to him about how strange I had been acting lately, sending her e-mails, saying things I don’t normally say, that kind of thing. She wouldn’t give Jax the details. You want to fill me in?”

Caed sunk further into his chair. “Um, not really.”

Cole glowered. “I think you’d better.”

“Well, good grief, Cole, you wouldn’t know a fine woman if she had a seal of approval stamped on her face.”

“I knew it,” Cole said, slapping his knee. “You’re trying to set us up! I don’t believe this. I don’t even want to think about what you’ve done, Caed. How can I look Ellie in the face again?”

Caed leaned back into his chair. “I’ve done you a favor.”

“I’m in no mood for this, Caed.”

“Okay, so I’ve maybe stepped over the lines, but—”

“Stepped over the lines, is that what you call it? Brother, you’re way out of bounds! You deceived her, making her think you were me. How do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out the truth? She’ll feel stupid, that’s what.” He got up and started pacing. “No one wants to look like a fool.”

“I wasn’t trying to do that, Cole. Honest. I just know you have feelings for her, and I was trying to let her know that in a subtle way. And I was trying to get you to see the truth.”

Cole jerked around and pinned Caed with a glare. “I don’t have feelings for her!”

“Yes, you do.”

“Cut it out, Caed.”

“It’s the truth.”

“You know nothing about me and women!”

“I know you’re in love with this one,” Caed pressed.

“I’ve never loved any woman!” Cole said through clenched teeth.

“Well, now you do.”

“I do not!” Cole stepped within inches of his brother, feeling as though he might clobber him.

“You call out her name in your sleep.”

Cole felt like he’d been doused with ice water. It took a full moment to find his voice. “So what, people can’t help what they dream,” he snapped.

“You fell asleep on the couch while I was watching TV. I had just turned it off and you kept saying her name.”

“Probably because I thought we were at work.”

“Look, you weren’t speaking with your professional voice.”

Cole didn’t even want to know what that meant. He took a deep breath. “My subconscious was goofing around with you, then,” Cole hedged. “I know how you get all caught up in that stuff.” His mind raced to distract Caed. Otherwise, Caed would run with this.

“That’s not even possible, Cole. You might as well face facts. Whether you like the idea or not, you’re in love with Ellie Williams.”

O
n Monday morning at work, Ellie stopped Cole in the hallway. “Hey, Cole, I think it does work better to go to the job sites in the morning. I’m glad you changed things,” she said, flashing him a stunning smile.

Cole looked at her and muted a gulp. He had never seen Ellie look so agreeable and so—what was it—something about her eyes. They looked clear and sparkly; it was like looking into a lucid pool of water and seeing through to the bottom. Her face nearly glowed. He didn’t know what, but something was clearly wrong. Maybe she needed a doctor. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I know. I’m surprised those words came from my mouth, too.” She laughed, a laugh that said she enjoyed his company and wanted to spend more time together, he thought. He mentally shook his head. His brother’s goofy talk had Cole all messed up.

She tipped her head to one side in a cute sort of way that brought a catch to his heart. “Maybe I’m changing,” she said, her eyes encouraging him to linger. Uh-oh, he didn’t like this.

“Yeah.” He smiled in spite of himself. His jitters surprised him. He figured he must have had too much coffee at the coffee shop. Yeah, that was it. He needed to cut more of his caffeine. If Ellie noticed his discomfort, she didn’t let on. She just stood there, smiling, twinkling, glowing. Using all the weapons that women use to snag a man.

He pulled at the collar of his shirt and loosened his tie. It was his habit to dress up for closings, though today, he wished he had ditched the tie. “Well, I’d better get going. I have an appointment.”

“Okay,” she said.

Their eyes locked. Another silent gulp. He had to get out of there. Something in her expression made him want to run as far and as fast as his legs could carry him. Don’t panic, Cole, he told himself. Caed has you all worked up. Things are fine.

“Are you all right, Cole?” she asked. Concern shadowed her face while her hand reached up and touched his arm. His skin tingled in response, upsetting him all the more.

“I’m fine. See you later.” Cole turned and practically ran down the hall.

No doubt about it, the woman was armed and dangerous.

Ellie smiled as she walked back to her desk. She hadn’t seen Cole behave shyly before. The e-mails he had sent her definitely showed more confidence. She didn’t mind. Their relationship was growing, and that’s what mattered. She knew he had feelings for her, and now she knew how she felt about him.

Her world was changing, and as incredible as it seemed, she was all right with that.

By Friday morning, Cole woke up feeling as if he’d been run over. He’d wrestled all night with his bed covers and one glance at his bed told him they had won. Jerking off the remaining sheet, he thumped out of bed. He had to talk to Ellie today and get this whole mess cleared up.

Once showered, shaved and dressed, Cole walked into the kitchen where Caed sat eating cereal at the table. Caed looked up.

“Hey, Cole, I apologize for interfering with you and Ellie. You’re right, I’ve been out of line. You want me to talk to her?”

Cole softened with his brother’s apology. “No, I’m going to stop by her house after work. I thought it would be better than telling her at the office.”

Caed nodded. “I could go with you since I don’t leave until tomorrow afternoon, if you want.”

Cole sighed. “Thanks, Caed, but rather than embarrass her further, I think it’s best if I go alone.”

“Okay. I promise it’s my last attempt at matchmaking. You just don’t cooperate.”

Cole let out the smile he’d been holding back. “Well, that’s one good thing from this whole situation.”

The two brothers talked a little then Cole headed for work. Once he arrived at Wiley’s Dream Homes, he stepped out of his car, noticing the slight nip in the air. He glanced around. Summer would be over before they knew it, with autumn right on its tail. Not that he minded so much. Autumn was his favorite time of the year, though he didn’t care much for winter, other than for skiing.

“Good morning, Cole,” Ellie said when he stepped into the office. His pulse surged with energy, as if he’d been running. He could almost feel the wind in his face, the blood charging through his veins. Something about her seemed so different these days.

He didn’t like it one bit.

Mentally, he shook himself. She was out to hook him and that irritated him to no end. “Hi, Ellie,” he said with his most professional voice.

His tone didn’t seem to deter her in the least. “Are we going to the job sites together this morning?”

Oh, he had forgotten about that. Maybe that would be a good time to talk about their problem. He was feeling better already. The sooner he got this over with, the better.

“Yeah, that would be great. Will that work for you?” He looked at her incredulously. Right before his eyes, her face turned a soft crimson. Oh, she was good. Charm practically dripped from her. When he gulped, he could feel his Adam’s apple stick halfway. He coughed and swallowed to get it moving again.

She lowered her eyelids ever so gently, allowing her thick lashes to brush lightly upon her cheek and then she looked up again. “That will work for me, Cole.” Another smile.

He glanced at his palms. They were sweaty. His chest tightened and his breath hovered somewhere short of his lungs. He’d never had a panic attack before, but he wondered if he was experiencing one.

“Are you all right, Cole?” Ellie touched his arm. Again.

He coughed and struggled to breathe. “Fine,” he barely managed, waving the matter away with his hand.

She smiled—or was it sneered? He couldn’t tell for sure. She almost had a mocking look on her face. Yeah, that was it. No doubt she figured it was a matter of time before he would be wrapped around her little finger.

Suddenly, he saw himself in an apron with a smudge of flour on his face, pushing a broom. Another scene flashed through his mind showing Ellie lying on a couch while he fed her grapes. He swallowed hard to shake the images.

The last image took two swallows.

“Cole, what is it?” She looked concerned. Oh, sure, that’s what she wanted him to think.

“I need a drink of water. I’ll see you later.” Before Ellie could respond, he was out of there. His heart still intact.

This time.

Ellie glanced at the clock. Time to meet Cole to go to the job sites. She took the last drink of her coffee. He sure seemed wound tight today. She wondered what was up. Lately, he had seemed uncomfortable around her. Everything she tried to do to put him at ease appeared to fail. He had to notice how she was trying to get along with him. She shrugged. No time to worry about it. Perhaps now that they had both admitted to their feelings he was a bit shy.

She liked that. Shy men were, well, endearing in a cute sort of way. With a smile on her face, she grabbed her notebook and purse, then headed for Cole’s office. Yeah, she decided she liked the cute-little-boy look he put on when he felt shy. And to think at one time she’d seen him as a threat.

She couldn’t imagine what she had been thinking.

“Hey, you ready to go?” she asked Cole when she slipped into his office.

He glanced up from his paperwork. “What? Oh, yeah.” Jotting another note, he closed his file and grabbed a notebook. Together they left his room and walked out to his car.

By the time they had finished their work at the job sites, Cole noticed it was close to lunchtime. He got an idea. “Hey, since we’re already out, you want to go to lunch?” he asked Ellie, hoping that would soften the blow of what he had to tell her.

She flashed him that smile again. “That would be great.”

A moment of hesitation grabbed him. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to do this, tell her the whole story. Once he told her what Caed had done, Cole might lose her forever. But then that was what he wanted, or so he told himself. Yet he couldn’t deny his attraction to Ellie. He had even entertained the idea of dating her, really dating her, not just as friends, but the whole commitment thing bound him like a ball and chain. If it didn’t work out, they’d be stuck working together, and that would be awkward for the both of them. No, better to stay friends and not let all that stuff get in the way.

Many times, he’d said he didn’t plan on getting tied down with anyone, and that included Ellie Williams. Caed told him he repeated it over and over to convince himself.

Caed could be such a jerk sometimes.

Spotting an empty parking space, Cole pulled his SUV into it and killed the engine. He turned to Ellie and smiled. “You ready?”

She nodded and grabbed her purse. “Ready.”

The fifties restaurant they entered had a checkerboard tile floor and red tables. Large posters of movie stars splashed across the walls in a colorful display. Hamburger and French-fry smells wafted through the room, while a jukebox crooned the oldies.

Once they slid into their booth, Cole mentally went over how he would tell Ellie. He wanted to say it in such a way that he would keep her friendship. No doubt her ego would get in the way, and she would feel embarrassed by it all. He had to admit he wanted to protect her from that. Cole didn’t want to hurt her for anything, but somehow he felt there was no way around it.

After placing their orders, he leaned into the table. Ellie glanced around the restaurant and then turned to look at Cole.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” she said with a smile and sat up taller in her seat as if she were about to hear good news.

Inward groan. He could wring Caed’s neck for this. “Uh, I’m not sure how to approach it.” He wanted to kick something, doggone it.

Ellie placed her hand on Cole’s hand. “What is it, Cole?”

“Oh, no, no. I can’t think when you do that.” He pulled his hand away and placed it in his lap. Her face clearly registered that she didn’t understand. Now he had her full attention.

“I guess you know that my brother is here visiting?”

She nodded. “I had heard that. I wondered when you were going to bring him into the office.”

“Well now, there you see, that’s just it.” His hands slapped the table, and he leaned back against the booth.

Just then the waitress approached and began placing their food in front of them. Cole felt impatient with the interruption. When she finally left, he leaned back into the table to pick up where he had left off.

“Do you want to pray or do you want me to?” Ellie asked.

“Oh, uh, you can pray,” he said, frustrated beyond belief.

Ellie whispered a prayer. Great. Now all of Heaven knew where they were and could watch him be a total jerk.

Could he help it if the thought of a lifetime commitment made him feel as if he was trapped in a room without oxygen?

One glance at the food on his plate made him sick.

“You know, Cole, you’re looking a little pale.”

Why, the woman was a genius. She should hang out her shingle and start practicing medicine.

“You need me to get you something?”

“Yeah, a hit man for my brother,” he wanted to say. “No, I’ll be fine.”

“You were talking about your brother. You two have a problem or something?”

“Well, not exactly, um, it’s kind of like this—” His cell phone rang. Cole shrugged and answered it.

“Have you explained things to Ellie yet?” Caed asked.

“Not yet.”

“Oh, where are you?”

Cole glanced at Ellie who started to eat her lunch. “I’m at a restaurant—with Ellie.”

Caed whistled. “Oh, sorry. I’m battin’ a thousand, huh?”

“Something like that,” Cole said, while watching Ellie with caution.

“I’ll talk to you tonight. Sorry I interrupted.”

“No problem, I’ll get right on it.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Okay, see ya, Cole.”

“Bye.” Cole snapped his phone closed.

“Everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah, just a subcontractor checking on something. I’ll have to get back to him.” Cole figured two interruptions were a sign from Heaven, so he decided to hold off telling Ellie at lunch. Some things just weren’t meant to be—yet. “So, what are you doing this weekend?” With his fork, he dunked a couple of fries into a mound of catsup. Right after the words left his mouth, he regretted saying them. He looked up.

Ellie’s face positively glowed. “Well, I’m planting a maple tree if you want to help,” she teased.

He stared at her. “Why would you plant a maple tree? You already have trees in your yard.”

“I know it sounds strange, but I’ve never been anywhere long enough to plant a tree and see it grow.”

“People do that?” he asked. He could hear the horror in his voice.

“What?”

“Watch trees grow?” This woman definitely was not his type.

Ellie laughed. “Well, they don’t actually sit and watch the tree grow, silly. It’s just neat over time to realize how a tree is growing with you. Does that make sense?”

Cole took a bite and nodded, though it made no sense to him at all. Who cared if a tree grew while you were around? This woman needed a life.

“When I visit a few of my old friends, we talk about the trees in their yard, how they have grown over the years, remembering how small the trees were when we were kids, that kind of thing. It’s kind of my way of putting down roots, pun aside.”

Uh-oh, here it comes. He quickly took a drink of his iced tea. “Like you, I don’t think I’ve been in one place longer than a couple of years, so other than seeing leaves in my yard come and go, I didn’t really see much growth.”

Ellie shrugged. “I admit it takes real commitment. You should try it sometime.” She flashed him a winning grin.

Now he knew he was in trouble.
Roots. Commitment.
Just hearing those words made him break out in a cold sweat. He knew she kind of liked him, but he hadn’t expected her to try and snare him so quickly. Cole glanced at his watch. “Oh, you know what? I have to get back. You ready to go?” He looked at her almost-empty plate.

“I’m ready,” she said, sweetly. She didn’t seem put out in the least that he’d had to cut the lunch short. No question about it, she had a plan. He had to think of something, and fast.