Page 2 of The Spring in My Heart

I fight against the flutter in my chest because she’s not as beautiful as I remembered her. She looks even more like a flower that bloomed after the winter, from the jade-green top to the sky-high heels.

Heels? I hope she realizes how much walking we’re about to do.

She smooths her hair and looks around but doesn’t see me immediately. I don’t call out to her but let her walk to her door. I want to see her walk. Looking ain’t going to kill me.

At 1:58, I cross the street.

She turns around, and our gazes meet. Her eyes round for a second, and then her gaze slides over me like mine did over hers just minutes ago. “Hi. I didn’t realize you were here already.”

The itch to get closer to her is instant, but I squelch it and smile at her like none of this is a big deal.

“Hello, Luciana. I got here early to take photos so I could visualize the plan better in the design stage. I also want to anticipate any issues with the outdoor structure.”

Yeah, get down to business quickly so we can get it over with.

She looks away for a brief moment, her gaze beyond the park, and then it’s centered on me again. “Did you notice anything?”

“Some minor stuff. I’ll have to draft permits for the outside as well. The city will have to come merge the pipelines.”

She gnaws on the corner of her lip. “Is that going to be hard?”

I shake my head, trying to shake the memory of those lips against my mouth and my neck. “It’s not too hard, but it will cost you.”

“How much?”

“I’ll have to calculate that and let you know.” I don’t know why she’s worried. Cam has enough money to cover that. He and Chase knew it would cost a pretty penny to complete this project.

“Yeah. We’ll have to discuss costs,” she says.

“Yes, we can do that when we figure out everything you need done. Also, you have to tell me what your budget for this is.”

She nods and gestures toward the front door. She unlocks it, and we go through it. We stand in a rectangular space with a set of stairs on the right-hand side and a door to a garage on the left.

“I have to talk to my financial advisor to nail down my final budget. I want to give myself a cap so I don’t overspend like I always do.”

She probably doesn’t want to ask her brother for too much money. “Cam is pretty well aware of the costs. He has a good sound mind when it comes to this.”

She snorts. “You mean Chase does. Cam knows about the quality of stuff. He has no sense of money. Chase does all the research and the legwork.”

“Really?” It shouldn’t surprise me. We had a long conversation about investments recently. “Chase is very good at that. He invests money for Ayla. I thought it was weird when he first brought up the idea, but after my conversation with him, my mind was blown.”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? When you’re talking investment and money with him, he becomes Warren Buffett. That’s why Cam trusts him so much.”

And so do you. It’s in her proud smile.

“You guys are lucky to have someone so conscious about the money who knows where to put it to make it grow.”

She nods. “It’s true. As annoying as he is, he would never steer us wrong. He’s the most loyal person I know.”

I wonder what it’s like to trust a sibling so implicitly. Hell, I wonder what it is like to have siblings who not only acknowledge your existence but go out of their way to be protective of you and try to find ways to make your life easier. Does she, Cam, and Chase even realize what they have in each other? I shake the thought out of my head. It’s none of my business what they do as a family. I need to stick to what I’m here for.

“So…tell me how you envision your place. And don’t hold back. Give me the full picture of what you see when you close your eyes and think of your ideal space.”

Her eyes drift closed, and she releases a long breath. “I’m thinking three functional floors. The first floor can have a receiving area, a couple of bedrooms, and a formal living room. I want the kitchen, a family room, and two bedrooms on the second floor. The master suite is one of them.”

“I’m not prying into your life, but why do you need so many bedrooms? It’s my job to make sure you get what you want with no regrets.”

She chuckles. “I get it. I have an extended family. I have three nephews and a niece. If I want to have them over, I want to have enough space for all of them.”

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