Page 10 of Taming His Brat

“Didn’t need to. I just know.” He sounded so smug and pleased about it, that it made her burst out laughing. It was the perfect end to his day.

Chapter Five

She was the best kind of sore in the morning. Every stretch brought back memories of the night before and it left her smiling as she went about her day. The final box was easily taken care of, and then Charlie settled herself down to deal with the appraisals on the big house. The figures were daunting for a girl who’d never felt like there was a lot of extra money around.

When she thought back, she realized how privileged she’d been growing up. She knew her father had wanted it that way. He gave her everything she needed but kept her from being spoiled by making her work for it.

No one sat around on a ranch, there was just too much to do, but she’d had what she needed and a lot of things she wanted too. In her head she’d always pictured her father scrimping for those things. The fact that he’d made her do extra chores and save her money to pay for at least part of what she wanted had equated to the idea that money was tight.

It was only after his death that she’d discovered how wrong she was about the financial situation. Graduating college and then getting a master’s degree without having to burden herself with a lot of student loans should have been a big clue that they weren’t broke. She’d just been too busy being mad that he was forcing her to go to school at all, to think about where the money had come from.

Having to take out loans would have given her an excuse to say no to the whole thing, so Jimmy hadn’t even put the suggestion on the table. He’d simply paid for it. It was probably the only thing he’d ever paid for outright without making her kick in at least a pittance so she would feel like she’d earned it.

Now he was gone, and she’d been stunned to learn he’d left her quite a bit of money in investments. That wasn’t the biggest shock she’d received at the reading of his will, of course. His decision to put the ranch in her ex’s hands, leaving him half of the property and full control until Charlie got her Doctorate had been a bitter pill to swallow. She was still struggling to deal with how she felt about it.

But things were getting easier over time. Her fears and baggage were slowly diminishing as she saw her relationship with Sam become more stable. Maybe eventually marriage would actually be an option for her. It was just that every time she considered the idea, she saw her mother walking out the door and never coming back.

Therapy had helped, but it never really went away. After so many years there should have been some kind of closure, but it remained an open wound. She’d been willing to accept that it would always be a painful hole that could never be sealed over, but recently she’d changed her mind on that. She wanted to get over it and now she had good reason to try harder.

In the meantime, she was hoping that doing some major renovations on the house she’d grown up in would help to wipe away some of the memories. There had been dark times in that house, things she didn’t like to think about. Her mother and father had fought with each other constantly until one day her mother had walked out and never come back. But aside from that, most of the memories were actually good.

She’d had a very happy childhood with her father, but now the good memories were just as hard to live with as the dark ones. Constantly being reminded of his booming laugh, the scent of his aftershave, and the horrible western music he blasted when he cooked breakfast in the mornings kept the grief fresh.

Moving in with Sam had been smart. It was cramped and they got on each other’s nerves occasionally, but it had immediately lifted her mood and made it easier to get through the days. The plan she was working towards was to change the main house completely so that it would purge the memories and then they’d both move over where there was enough room and space.

So far there hadn’t been much progress towards that goal. But despite the fact that Sam had let her off easily in the punishment department the night before, shehadtaken his lecture to heart. Putting off difficult things didn’t make them go away, so it was time to make some decisions.

There were three estimates sitting in front of her right now, and she was finally taking the time to go through them. The prices varied wildly, based on the options they’d offered her, but all of them seemed reasonable. The timelines on each one felt less optimal since, depending on her choices, they could be looking at a finish date of six months to a year down the road.

As much as she loved Sam’s homey little cabin, she couldn’t really see living in it for most of a year. Charlie had always been someone who needed her own space to decompress. Living with him was great but the cabin was essentially two rooms and a bath, which meant she didn’t really have any place to be by herself when he was home.

If she did decide to go back to school that was going to be a bigger problem. She needed an office where she could lock herself away to work, but she’d sort that out later. Sighing, she sat back and frowned. There were too many choices to make and she’d never been great at making big decisions when there were so many options. She needed to narrow them down.

“Need versus want, Charlie,” she said under her breath. She continued to cheer herself on mentally as she made lists, and then crossed things off them. She circled the things that were non-negotiable, and after an hour she had a much more concise idea of where to start, but it occurred to her that she should head over to the big house and do one last walk-through before she finalized anything.

With the lists and contracts in hand, she hurried over before she lost the motivation. She moved as fast as she could, not just because she didn’t want to find an excuse to put it off, but because she had to fight against the wind all the way there. Summer was definitely over, and it was looking like the cold and rainy autumn would be short as winter came in early.

Another reason to get the construction started soon, before it was held up by weather. Luckily the work she wanted done was indoors. At least most of it, but there were always slowdowns once the snow started. It could get deep and they didn’t live all that close to town.

The road to the ranch was only plowed when Sam, or one of the workers, took a truck out to do it. There would be days when she and Sam would have to take care of the animals themselves, because the hands wouldn’t be able to make it in at all, so she doubted she’d be able to count on contractors getting through.

But they’d work it out. Everything in her life was running along just fine for a change, so she could deal with a few delays if she had to.

She walked through the rooms making notes. Most of the highpoints she’d already pointed out when she discussed the renovations, but now she was looking at things with an eye towards planning. What could be done after they moved back in? Which things could be staggered so that the main space was livable?

It was easier to see what the most important changes were when she was right in the middle of it, and she finished making notes feeling a lot more positive about the direction she wanted to take. And then she stopped to take a minute. Change was hard sometimes. This was going to be painful, but it was also going to be good for her.

It was likely the last time she’d see the house looking untouched like this. Her childhood home with the faded wallpaper and half-painted walls that she’d been working on before she realized it needed more care than she could give. The plans were extensive and once they were complete it would be a whole different structure.

It went beyond cosmetic. She’d be breaking down walls to give the downstairs a more open layout and upstairs to make the bedrooms bigger. By the time everything was done, she hoped the last ghosts would be purged and she could settle into a home that was like new. A dream home that, best of all, would be right on the ranch she loved.

She was actually smiling when she headed for the back door, pretty sure she had everything she needed to make the calls and put things in motion. As she crossed the living room, she heard a knock. It didn’t come from the back door, which meant it probably wasn’t anyone who worked the ranch. They always went around to the kitchen.

It was a surprise, and good timing too since she was rarely in the house anymore, but she wasn’t expecting it to be anything important. Probably a salesman, or someone who had gotten turned around and lost, she figured. She opened the door to find an attractive, older woman standing on the porch and looking nervous.

She certainly didn’t look like she was selling anything, with her tailored clothing and her carefully styled hair. Nothing about her said small town or local either. It was almost impossible to tell how old the woman was. She could have been anything from thirty-five to fifty, but there were fine lines on her face that weren’t quite hidden by make-up and those said there should have been at least a little grey sprinkled into the black strands. It was probably dyed then, but not with cheap box dye. Nope, definitely expensive salon work there.

“Can I help you?” she asked, offering the woman a smile.

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