Page 18 of Beautiful Exile

He nodded. “It’s my favorite thing. Creating a vision of what will meld best with the surrounding landscape.”

It was one of the reasons I’d chosen Shepard Colson to design and build my home here in Sparrow Falls. He wasn’t the kind of designer who went for flash. His creations felt like art in and of themselves, and the surrounding land was his canvas. He always made sure the two came together in the perfect blend. And it didn’t hurt that he was Cope’s brother, which meant I trusted him. And trust didn’t come easily for me. Not anymore.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.”

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Then let’s pick your spot.”

I’d spent the past two days looking at parcels of land in and around Sparrow Falls, taking in the views and listening to a realtor talk about all the benefits and pitfalls of each. The woman had been no-nonsense and a straight shooter, which I appreciated. Especially when I’d dealt with more than one realtor who simply tried to sell me the most expensive thing on the market.

Shep gestured to the eight listings he’d laid out across my desk. “I went by each of them earlier this week just to make sure my instincts were correct.”

“Appreciate you taking that time,” I said.

“It’ll save us in the long run. Picking the right build site is half the battle.”

The right spot to call home. Just thinking the word had me shifting my weight from one foot to the other. I didn’t feel like I’d ever had one of those. Not really. The penthouse on Central Park West had been more like a museum. With an endless list of rules of what you couldn’t touch and where you couldn’t run.

My only escape had been the park. Charging over grassy knollsand around walking paths with Ellie as our nanny watched. Racing around the Peter Pan statue and across countless bridges. Central Park had been the one place I’d felt like I could breathe growing up. And I’d been determined to search out and find that for myself ever since.

I’d come close with my place in Seattle. On the water. Plenty of space. But it ended up feeling empty half the time with nothing to fill it but too many nights caught up in endless hours of work.

“I’m not sure these three are right.” Shep cut into my thoughts, tapping his pencil against the three listings on the right. “This one’s too close to Castle Rock. The ground is full of lava rock and cinder. Thanks to all the excavating we’d have to do, it’d take twice as long. It would be worth it if the views were something you couldn’t get elsewhere…”

“But other properties have better ones,” I finished for him.

Shep nodded. “These two are so close to that ridge line, you’ll have a higher risk of forest fires in the vicinity.”

I sure as hell didn’t want that. “Scratch those three.”

“You know, for someone with a reputation as a controlling bastard, you’re being pretty damn agreeable.”

My lips twitched as I grabbed the three we’d nixed and threw them in the trash. I knew I had a reputation. One that suggested I could be hard to deal with. But the truth was, I didn’t play games or manipulate. I said exactly what I wanted and was never afraid of a little hard work. I’d done more than my share to get where I was today.

“I’m not a tyrant.”

“Tell that toForbes,” Shep shot back.

I rolled my eyes. That damn article would haunt me forever. “Maybe you can write a letter to the editor. Tell them how agreeable I am.”

“I’ll put that on my to-do list.”

“Appreciate it.”

Shep turned back to the listings. “Any of these would make great build sites. They all have pros and cons, but I’m curious if any spoke to you.”

I scanned the remaining papers on the desk, bringing the imagesprinted on them to life in my mind. But I already knew the answer. It was likely the least practical of the five: farther outside of town and nestled in the foothills of the Monarch Mountains. But there was something about the spot.

The property had the sort of quiet that meant you could hear your thoughts. No neighbors in sight. A creek that ran through the land and made wildflowers spring to life around it. Endless meadows that shifted into forests, which melted into staggering mountains. It felt like you were so close you could reach out and touch them.

Something about the vastness reminded me that anything was possible. And more than that, it reminded me to stop and breathe. To appreciate the simple beauty that lay around us.

I lifted the piece of paper that readMeadowlark Lane. “This one.”

The grin that spread across Shep’s face was like a kid’s at Christmas. “You know it’s a good thirty minutes outside of town, and you have the potential of getting snowed in come winter.”

Even that sounded like heaven. No one able to get to me. The ability to turn off my phone and simply be unreachable. “I don’t mind that. But you’ll have to run through what I’ll need. I grew up back east, so I’m familiar with snow, but something tells me Manhattan snow and Sparrow Falls snow are slightly different.”

Shep outright laughed then. “How do you feel about getting a truck with a plow setup?”

---