In the Eye of the Storm (5 page)

She was about to turn back and go in to the kitchen when Stephen came down the stairs, cell phone in hand.  “Any luck?”

“I’ve got service.  Not great sounding service, but at least something.  I just tried calling Will and it went directly to voice mail.  I’m going to try Derek next.  Make yourself at home while I make this call.”

Holly cringed.  The last thing she wanted to do was hear what was being said about her or perhaps have to bear witness to an argument.  Stephen walked away from her and down a short hallway.  Holly heard a door close and breathed a sigh of relief.  Wandering back to the kitchen, she noticed that the coffee was ready and poured them each a cup. 

Taking a quick peek back down the hall, she saw that the door was still closed and decided to investigate the kitchen.  If she was going to be here for any extended period of time, she was definitely going to cook something in this kitchen!  Holly opened cabinets and was thrilled to find high quality cookware that included everything a person would need to cook a feast!  Turning to the pantry she was surprised to find it so well stocked.  If the man couldn’t cook anything besides breakfast, why have so much food on hand?

But the most pleasant of surprises came when she went to the refrigerator in search of cream for her coffee and found it fully stocked as well with fresh produce and cold cuts, colas, wines…she would have no trouble cooking from here.  Opening the freezer side she found a wide variety of meats and quite the stock-pile of casserole dishes.  She pulled out a few and read the labels and knew that they wouldn’t starve.

“My housekeeper does all of the shopping and then takes pity on me and cooks so that I have some ‘real food’, as she puts it,” Stephen said from the doorway, startling her. 

“I’m sorry, I was just…”

“Being nosy?” he joked.  “It’s okay.  But if you’re hungry, please help yourself to anything.”

She laughed out loud.  “Hungry?  You made me a breakfast that could have fed a lumberjack and I finished it!  I don’t know if I’ll be hungry for the rest of the day!”  She let her laughter die off and waited before asking about the phone call.  “Any luck with Derek?”

The fact that he started with a sigh could have meant a few things.  Holly was hoping that it meant that he didn’t get through.  When he walked across the kitchen, grabbing his coffee that she motioned to along the way, she knew that he had.  “Yeah, I got through.”

“Was Will okay?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes, he’s fine. He had actually come to by the time Derek got him to the car.  He’s got a black eye and a possible broken nose.”  He muttered a curse.  “What the hell were we thinking?”  He looked at Holly and then down at the mug in his hand.  “Derek apologized for razzing me and provoking me and I apologized for being the first to throw a punch.”  He took a sip of his hot beverage.  “How did it get so out of hand?  I mean, we’re fairly civilized, grown men and we were in a dirty, roadside bar, brawling like a couple of teens!”

Holly stood leaning against the center island, sipping her own coffee and listening.  She knew he really wasn’t asking her the question; he was truly perplexed about what had transpired and was trying to work it all out. 

“Derek and I both agreed that we had no idea what made us behave like that.  Apparently Will isn’t speaking to either of us and I can’t say as I blame him. I’m thirty-two years old, for crying out loud.  I haven’t been in a brawl since I was seventeen!”

“Maybe you were all just a little on edge over different things and though it does seem a little weird that you’d all blow at the same time, it’s not unheard of,” Holly offered.  “You have been working a lot lately to get the Gideon project prepped and ready.  Maybe you’re under more stress than you think.  You never do take any time off for yourself and I know for a fact that you have not taken more than a weekend off since I’ve come to work for you.”

“It has not been that long,” Stephen denied but it didn’t take long before he realized that she was right.  “And even if it is, I’ve been working to build this company up.  When things get to a level that I am happy with, I’ll take time off.”

“Will you?” she challenged.  “Because I don’t believe you.  I don’t think that you’ll ever get to that place where you have reached a level that you’re happy with.  You’ll always be striving for something more, one more project, a bigger client, newer technology…face it Stephen, you are a workaholic.”

He grimaced at the word.  His father had been a major workaholic and was never at home.  He died young and left him and his mother with nothing to show for all of his work except a mountain of debt.  All the hours that the elder Ballinger spent away from him family had amounted to nothing.  For years after his father’s death, Stephen’s mother had worked day and night to make ends meet. 

Stephen swore that he would not repeat his father’s mistakes.  He loved his work and he was good at it and so he knew that this was the path his life was to take.  That was why Stephen avoided getting too deeply involved with anyone or even thinking about marriage.  He was married to his work.  He grew up witnessing that you could not put energy in to having both; his father and shown him that.  Stephen knew he was successful at what he did but it took all of his time and energy.  He glanced over at Holly and knew that she was a large part of why his company had achieved so much in the last three years. 

An idea began to form in his mind.  Maybe it was time that he leaned back a little and lived.  Hell, if he could convince Holly to stay and really took his promises seriously and cut her hours he’d have to cut his own.  He simply couldn’t work without her.

As much as he still wanted to tackle that discussion, Stephen knew how to negotiate a deal.  Holly was going to be here with him for the entire weekend.  He’d have to force himself to not bring up work or the Gideon project – even though he had a million things to do about it that he had planned to tackle this weekend – and focus on getting to know her.  Once he knew what made Holly tick and became that ‘friend’ they talked about last night, he was confident that he would be able to convince her to stay on as his personal assistant. 

He smiled at his own genius. 

Sensing that Stephen no longer wanted to talk about last night, and quite truthfully, neither did she, Holly switched topics as she walked over to the window.  “I cannot believe how hard it is raining!  I really couldn’t even see beyond the nose of the car.  I’m actually kind of relieved to not be out in this.  Who knows how many other trees have fallen between here and my house and how many detours I’d have had to take.”  She turned and smiled over her shoulder.  “You’re sure you don’t mind if I stay?”

He returned her smile easily.  “If memory serves, and I believe it does, I was the one who told you not to leave in the first place.  You were the one running for the door.  I’m just glad that you didn’t have to be out in this for anything more than an eighth of a mile!”

Sitting back down across from him at the table, they chatted about the weather, current events, nothing of any particular interest.  They were comfortable with one another and Holly told herself that it was nice to talk about something other than work with him.

“Tell me about this house,” she prompted.  “I mean, from what I’ve seen of it, it is magnificent.  This kitchen is a fantasy!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it described that way.” He chuckled.  “Actually, I’m still getting used to it.  It’s weird to have bought a place of this size already furnished but everything looked like it was made for this house that I couldn’t image bringing any of my things from the other house to here.”  Remembering that Holly had decorated the last house, he made sure to explain himself.  “The other stuff was beautiful, don’t get me wrong…”

“Uh-huh…”

“But you have to admit that the other place was a bit more contemporary than this one.”  She nodded in agreement and as much as she had hated to admit it, she didn’t like the fact that after all of her hard work on making the other house a home that he not only didn’t take anything with him, but he purchased this house completely furnished. 

“You have excellent taste, Holly, and I loved what you did with the condo, but this house is just so…different.  This is the house that I always dreamed of.”  He actually sighed.  Holly never thought she’d live to see the day that Mr. Business-Ballinger would actually sigh when describing something as personal as his home.  This was a whole new side to him that was both attractive and a little unnerving.  “Care for a tour?”

There wasn’t anything else to do and she was curious so she agreed.  “Sure.”

For the next hour they toured the 10,000 square foot home.  It was much larger on the inside than it looked from the outside, apparently.  Besides the six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, Stephen has a state-of-the-art office that rivaled the actual office he had in Raleigh.  There was a formal living room plus the more casual one she had seen earlier with the stone fireplace.  The dining room had a table that seated twenty without the leaves in it and she could have parked her car in the laundry room! 

“Isn’t this all a bit much for one man?” she finally had to ask as they re-entered the kitchen.  “I mean, it’s wonderful and it’s gorgeous, but unless you’re planning on having like, a dozen kids, why get such a big house?”

He laughed at her observation.  “No, I don’t plan on have a dozen kids.  I don’t plan on having any, as a matter of fact.”  Holly turned to him in utter surprise.  “I don’t plan on getting married either.  I just wanted a home that had everything that I ever wanted.”

“So what you always wanted was a big house to live in by yourself?”

Well when she said it, it didn’t sound palatable.  “No.” 
Yes.
  “I like the location, I love the property.  Everything in this house is state-of-the-art.  I can entertain here.  I can bring clients here and not have them feel like they are in a bachelor pad.”

“Ah.”  He was trying to sell her on the idea but she had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to this than he was saying, but decided to stay quiet.  “I guess I can understand that. 

And hey, if things don’t work out for you with the company, you can use this place as an upscale resort and charge for the rooms.” 

There was amusement in her voice that made him chuckle.  “And why would I want to do that?”
       “Well for starters, the bedrooms are larger than any hotel room I’ve ever stayed at.  The bathrooms are spa-quality.  You managed to provide everything a stranded traveler could ever need.”    She thought quietly for a moment before adding, “Well, almost everything.”

“Only almost?  What did I miss?”

“There were no chocolates on my pillow.”  Simply stated, she sat herself down with all the properness of royalty and Stephen knew he had never seen anything as delightful.  He walked over to the pantry, opened the door and stepped inside.  A minute later he was standing next to Holly with a square of foil-wrapped dark chocolate in his palm and bowed butler-style next to her. 

“I’ll be sure to remedy that tonight, Madame,” he said in a deep, serious voice that had Holly cracking up. 

“Now that’s more like it.” She smiled as she took the chocolate from his hand.  “Can I request one for each pillow?”

“Aren’t there like forty pillows on that bed?”

Shrugging, she replied, “A girl can get hungry in the night, can’t she?”

Placing the bag of chocolate that he had behind his back on the table between them, he sat back down.  “So, what do you usually do on a rainy Saturday afternoon?”

“Laundry.  Food shopping.  Pay the bills.  Rain or shine,” she answered.

“Sounds exciting.  Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have any laundry that needs to be done.  We could watch a movie?” he suggested.

Holly remembered the media room he had downstairs in the finished basement.  He had a mini-movie theater, with theater seats; they were the deluxe kind the resembled recliners.  Yes, she could definitely see herself curled up in one of those buttery soft leather chairs watching a movie and…

“Okay, I know you’ll think I’m crazy considering my earlier comment, but…”

He arched a dark eyebrow in response.

“Can we make snacks to bring down there with us?”

He laughed out loud.  Honestly, Stephen could not remember the last time he had laughed this much with anyone.  Since waking up this morning or, rather, since Holly came back this morning, he felt lighter than he had in a long time.  Maybe there was something to be said about relaxing once in a while.  “Snacks?  Aren’t you the one who said she ate as much as a lumberjack at breakfast and wouldn’t be hungry again for the rest of the day?”

Blushing slightly, she turned her head away and mumbled, “Maybe.”

Pulling her up from her chair, he led her to the pantry and gave her little shove.  “Go ahead; have at it.  What should we have?”  He watched her inspect each and every shelf, then go to the refrigerator and snoop around and then the freezer. 

“Okay, I’ll tell you what,” she began, “you go and get the movie and whatnot set up.  Give me forty-five minutes and I’ll have everything ready, deal?” 

“It’s going to take you forty-five minutes to open some chips?”

She rolled her emerald eyes at his naïveté.  “Do I look like the kind of woman who would merely snack on chips?”  At that moment, Stephen really looked at her.  She was adorable.  With her hair loose and wavy, barely a trace of make up and dressed in black yoga pants with a blue hooded sweatshirt she should have looked plain, unappealing.  But she didn’t.  She looked like temptation.  Stephen almost found himself telling her to skip the snacks because he wanted to feast on her.

“Hello?” she sang.  “Earth to Stephen.”

He cleared his throat.  “Sorry, my mind wandered for a moment.  And to answer your question, I honestly have no idea what you like to snack on so I’m going to just step aside and wait and find out.  I think I’ll go and grab a shower and get changed while you run amok in my kitchen.”

“Sounds like a plan.”  Holly was relieved when he finally left he kitchen because now she could play.  This was where she felt most at home.  She grabbed ingredients from the pantry, the refrigerator, the freezer and the cabinets; she pulled out pots, pans and baking dishes.  She had things baking, sautéing, simmering while she chopped and prepared plates.