Page 19 of The Awakening
In the meantime, I needed to make myself presentable and continue the charade Gavin and I had created. I stood and looked in the mirror before I turned the water on and washed my face, applied makeup, and dressed.
Holding my head high, I walked out of the room and downstairs, following the sound of chatter to the den.
If there was one thing life in the community had taught me, it was how to put on an act. I pasted a smile on my face and crossed the room to where Gavin sat and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for letting me rest. I feel so much better.”
“I’m glad you feel better,” he muttered, a look of confusion crossing his face before he could stop it, then he placed a chaste kiss on my lips. It might have shocked me if appearances hadn’t been paramount in the Morton family.
Brian, Gavin’s dad, cleared his throat, and I turned to see the whole room had turned their attention to us.
Gavin stepped back wearing an unreadable expression—did I see apology in his eyes?—then he bent forward and whispered in my ear. “Are you all right?”
I painted on the fake smile I’d mastered years ago. “Perfect.”
It may not have been true in the moment, but it would be. I was getting exactly what I’d asked for from the outset. Placing my hand over my belly I took a deep breath. We’d found our way out. I just needed to stay strong and keep focused for the baby. No more distractions.
Chapter Twelve
Ellie
The days turned to weeks, and I was settling in to life here on the Morton ranch.
Gavin and I didn’t stick around too long most nights after supper. We had usually seen very little of each other during the day, so we used this time to portray a happy newly married couple. He didn’t have a typical bedroom. His room was more like a suite and was attached to a well-stocked library.I likened it to chateaus or villas I had seen in magazines. There had been nothing like this where I grew up. Homes were run down and, in some cases, falling down. But the Morton main house looked like a castle in comparison.
Tonight, when I stepped inside the room, I went to the far end, where his library was.
Two chairs flanked the large window that overlooked a pasture. Large wooden bookshelves lined the wall from floor to ceiling. A library ladder stood along each side of the shelves that slid along tracks for easy access to the books on the top shelves.If Heaven was a library with overstuffed chairs, I was definitely there.
Sitting in one chair, I caught sight of papers sitting on the table.
“Well, what do you think?” Gavin spoke as he sat down in the chair across from me.
I hadn’t heard him come in. “What is all this?” I asked, picking up the top page. “Are you starting a new business?” He nodded.
He nodded. “I did some research in Montana, and I asked my business analyst to apply the metrics here.”
“And?” I asked rather impatiently.
“It’s a more profitable idea here than I ever imagined. What I’m going to do is build state-of-the-art architectural homes. They’ll be built to specifications on site, then moved in pieces to their forever locations.” He looked at the papers I had placed back on the table before he crossed his arms behind his head and stretched his long legs out. The stubble on his face made him look distinguished and made my heart flutter a little. The men in the community were required to be clean shaven, so to me, men with five o’clock shadows had always been mysterious and sexy.
“Ellie, are you listening?” His question shook me back to reality.
“Umm, no, sorry. I was lost in another thought?” I stammered.
“One related to the business?” he asked.
“Well, kind of,” I mumbled. It wasn’t an outright lie. “You’re talking about ready to move homes that aren’t the typical style?” The plans here were stunning. “I know you can’t build every style of home you’re going to offer but will you use an example home furnished with the different finishes you are going to offer? That way you can show how it will be moved and things like that.” When Gavin didn’t respond, I looked up from the plans.
He had a pen in hand and was writing frantically.“What else you got?” he asked, an eager expression on his face.
“What about packages? Like gold, silver, and bronze? Each gets a different level of personalized interaction. Bronze, for those who choose to do the consults over video conference rather than in person. That way, your market can extend outside of Texas. Silver, they come to the site and walk through the sample home and pick their finishes. Gold, flown in on the jet, put up at a hotel in Dallas and brought here by a car service. Really wine and dine them.” I shrugged. It was basic and maybe small-minded, but Gavin ate it up like it was the best thing he had ever heard.
“What should your title be?” He raised one eyebrow at me.
“You want my help?” I hedged.
“Well, yes. You’re my wife. For however long you want to be. We should work together too.” He said without hesitation.
“I have no education Gavin, so I doubt I’ll be much help. I don’t even know how to run the simplest things on a computer.”
