“Don’t worry. I’ll take the heat with Heather,” Jake assured. “You’re just doing what I asked you to do.”
An hour later, he and Daily had the carriage house emptied and the furniture unloaded into the storage unit. The painting crew had just finished taping the woodwork and were laying down drop cloths when Heather, Clara and the baby drove up in Heather’s old sedan. “Jake, what’s going on?” she asked when she got out of the car.
“I’m having the place renovated,” he answered, hoping her reaction wasn’t going to be as dire as Daily had predicted.
“What do you mean by that?” she demanded, her voice reflecting her displeasure.
“I’m having it painted and recarpted.”
She propped both fists on her shapely hips. “What did you do with my furniture and all of my things?”
“I stored the furniture until the work is finished and put all of your personal effects in your room in the mansion.” He’d contemplated moving them to his room, but abandoned that idea after some careful thought. He’d reasoned that she’d be irritated enough that her plans to move back into the carriage house had to be changed, and there was no sense adding more fuel to that particular fire.
“You can’t do this, Jake.” Her voice shook with anger as she walked up to stand toe to toe with him. “I liked everything the way it was.”
“You’re on your own, dude,” Daily said, taking off down the path toward the stables like the hounds of hell chased him.
“I’ll go ahead and take Mandy into the house,” Clara offered as she quickly moved to get the baby out of the car seat.
Jake waited until Clara crossed the patio and entered the house with Mandy, before he turned his full attention on Heather. If he was going to get himself out of the hole he’d dug with her, he figured he’d better do some fast talking.
“Before you become too upset, let me explain.”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts. If looks could kill, he figured he’d be a dead man in nothing flat. “This had better be good.”
“I received a call from my paternal grandmother this morning. She’s going to join the rest of the family here for the race this weekend.”
“And?”
“She and her assistant are both elderly.” He wasn’t about to tell her that Emerald and Luther were two of the spryest septuagenarians he’d ever met and that he strongly suspected Emerald’s request was another ploy to control the situation. “There isn’t an elevator in the mansion and I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to climb the stairs to get to their rooms. At their ages, a fall could be disastrous.”
He could tell by her sudden frown that she was giving his reasoning consideration. “I can understand your concerns, but you should have discussed this with me first, instead of taking it upon yourself to start changing things.” She pointed to the front door of the carriage house. “That’s my home and I should have something to say about what goes on with it. You had no right to get rid of my furniture.”
Reaching out, he pulled her into his arms. “Honey, this whole farm is your home. And your furniture will be moved back in as soon as the work is done. I promise the only thing different will be the color of the walls and carpet.”
He lowered his head and kissed her until they both gasped for air. “If you decide later to move back into the carriage house, won’t it be nice to have those things already done?”
“There’s still a problem of not having enough bedrooms in the house when your family arrives.”
“I’ll have it all worked out by the time they get here.” He was just glad she wasn’t still glaring daggers at him. “Now, let’s go into the house so you can show me the hat you bought for the race and explain to me why all of the women wear them.”
After dinner, Heather sorted through the boxes Jake had moved from the carriage house. She should have anticipated him finding a way to get her to stay in the mansion while his family visited. But she had to admit he did have a valid reason. There was no way she’d subject two elderly people to the perils of climbing all of those steps. She’d never forgive herself if one of them fell and was seriously injured.
“What are you doing in here, honey?” Jake asked from the door.
“I’m trying to organize and find a place to put everything until after your family leaves and Mandy and I can move back into the carriage house,” she answered without looking up.
He walked over to sit on the bed beside her. “I meant it when I told you that I want you and Mandy to feel free to live in the mansion whether I’m here or not.”
She sighed heavily. “Do we have to go over this again? It doesn’t belong to me and I wouldn’t feel right—”
“We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes,” he interrupted. “Right now, I have something I want you to see.”
“This is the only free evening we’ve had in the past few days and I’d really like to relax.” When she’d discovered they didn’t have a reception to attend, she’d looked forward to a quiet, uneventful night.
Taking her hand, he pulled her to her feet. “Trust me, you’re going to like this.”
She allowed him to lead her down the hallway to the stairs. “Let’s get this over. I have a date with the Jacuzzi a little later.”
His grin caused her to feel warm all over. “Want company? I’ll wash your back if you’ll wash mine.”
The thought of being in the bubbling water with him caused a delightful fluttering in the pit of her stomach.
“We’ll talk about it later.” She stopped as he led her toward the front door. “I forgot the baby monitor.”
“Don’t worry about Mandy,” he said, opening the door. “I asked Clara to watch her.” He covered her eyes with his hand. “Now, follow me.”
“But she has been babysitting so much the past few days.” She let him lead her out onto the veranda. “I hate to take advantage of her.”
“Clara volunteered.” She could hear the smile in his voice as he helped her down the steps. “I think she knows we both need some down time. Besides, she told me the other day that it’s a lot easier to grandmother a baby than a teenager.”
Nodding, Heather laughed. “I’ve seen Daily turn as red as a beet when she kisses his cheek, whereas Mandy loves it.”