Love by Design (Crystal Falls Book 1) (3 page)

“Fine,” he finally replied and used up the last of his resolve to back down from her and get into his truck.

She stood still a moment, looking unsure of herself. He’d always taken the bait with her, fought back. But not this time. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He sure hoped this job was worth all the trouble.

Chapter Two

The Blonde Bear, a local bar and restaurant, was only three blocks from Lily’s new apartment. The closeness of the bar was one of the only reasons she’d settled on the aging complex she now called home. Well, that and her pocketbook. She would have otherwise considered the place far beneath her standards. She’d stored up a decent nest egg working for Blackwood but it had dwindled fast over the last few months without a paying job. Lily and her sister Rachel had been coming to the Blonde Bear since they’d moved to Crystal Falls years before. Thankfully it was one of the few places Noah hadn’t liked coming, so she felt fairly safe continuing to go there. In fact, she’d spent many of the nights immediately after the Big Fight in this very bar, drinking cheap wine and eating too many potato skins.

Lily walked past the small hostess station in the front of the restaurant and into the bar area that was separated from the main restaurant by a big brick wall. The room was dim but cozy with soft overhead lights bouncing off the long mirrored bar. The smell of french fries and grilling steaks made her mouth water. In keeping with the ski resort vibe, a couple of deer heads decorated the walls, along with beautiful oil paintings of the mountain during every season painted by a local artist. Dark brown leather booths took up most of the wall space and cocktail tables dotted the rest of the bar area.

It didn’t take long for her to spot her sister Rachel at one of the high cocktail tables in the corner. Not only was her sister waving a freckled arm wildly at her but Rachel’s carrot-red hair would have caught her eye even in the most crowded room. It was one of the few ways Lily’s younger sister didn’t resemble her - other than the hair and the freckles, Rachel had almost identical features to Lily, including the signature steel-blue eyes of the Daly brood.

The only full-time bartender and owner of the Blonde Bear, Jim Stevens, waved to her as she wound her way through mostly empty tables. She gave him a smile and nod before she reached Rachel.

“Hey, you,” Rachel said and stood up to give Lily a quick hug. “How was the big appointment?”

“Hellish. Where’s the drink menu? I need something strong and irresponsible.” Lily slung her purse into an empty chair a little more forcefully than necessary.

Rachel raised her eyebrows and pushed the menu toward her sister. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not until I’m good and liquored up.”

“Wow, that bad, huh?”

Lily’s best friend Angie appeared at their table and placed a bright blue cocktail in front of Rachel. Angie worked as a waitress at the Blonde Bear most nights, another reason the sisters had made the place a second home.

“Hey babe,” she said and gave Lily’s shoulders a quick squeeze. “How’s my favorite customer tonight?”

“Lousy,” Lily replied.

“Job didn’t go so well?”

“You could say that. Actually, I’m not sure it could have gone any worse.”

“So the usual then, or do you want something a little stronger? Jim’s created something new, if you want to try it. It’s pink and foamy and has enough alcohol in it to drown even the worst of your sorrows.”

Jim liked to make up his own concoctions and brought them out as specials at least once a week. Every once in a while he would hit on something fantastic. But most of the time they were downright awful.

“The usual,” Lily said and put the menu away.

“I’ll be right back with it,” Angie replied. “And then I want the details.”

“So the meeting wasn’t so good?” Rachel asked, sipping her drink carefully from a straw.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to drink a cocktail with a straw.”

“You see the color of this thing? I don’t want to dye my teeth.”

Angie came back and set a glass of chardonnay in front of Lily, then slid onto the stool next to her.

“Want a sip?” Lily asked her, scooting the glass toward Angie.

“Na, I get off in half an hour anyway. I’ll join you guys then.”

“Well, go ahead,” Rachel prodded her. “Let’s hear it.”

Rachel and Angie had been her biggest support during the hard months of starting her business. She didn’t think she would have gotten through without them. They knew every dirty detail, from the “pro bono” work she’d done in her mom’s bathroom to the surprise call from Mrs. Upton’s assistant last week. They’d been so excited for her, so supportive, that she almost didn’t want to tell them about her morning from hell.

Lily took a drink and sighed. “I was running late, of course. I thought I’d left myself enough time but,” she shrugged her shoulders, “you know how it is.”

Rachel and Angie both nodded sadly and Lily continued. “I got there late, only to find - wait for it!” she held up her hand and feigned astonishment, “Who else but he-who-shall-not-be-named, already there.”

“
No.
” Rachel grabbed her hand and Angie leaned back with a look of horror on her face. “What was he doing there?”

“Working, of course. Looks like he’s been hired to do the remodel and I’ll be doing the interior design. Isn’t that fabulous?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Angie said and squeezed her hand. Lily drank the yellow wine deeply, only cringing a little bit at the bitterness of the cheap stuff, her go-to wine for the last three months.

“Oh, Angie. I wish I was. I walked in and he was already sucking up so hard to Mrs. Uptight I’m surprised he wasn’t in bed with her. That woman was all over him.”

“You’re gonna need another of these, I think,” Angie said and stood. She grabbed Lily’s already empty glass and took it to the bar for a refill.

Not only had Rachel and Angie been Lily’s support after the breakup Noah, they’d been witness to the actual Big Fight themselves. Along with about a hundred other people who’d happened to be enjoying themselves nearby and who’d overheard the fight. Noah and Lily had gone with Noah’s friend Rick to stay on Rick’s boat at Lake Mead for spring break and they’d invited Angie and Rachel along with a few other friends. The first few days had been relaxing for everybody, but when Lily accused Noah of sleeping with another woman who was on the boat with them it had gone downhill very fast. Of course all the sun and drinking hadn’t helped, but Lily still swore that she hadn’t overreacted. To Angie and Rachel’s credit, they never doubted her. At least not to her face.

Angie returned with another chardonnay and leaned against the table, ready to hear more. Lily took a careful sip, promising herself to switch to water next.

“So did he talk to you?” Rachel asked.

“He tried. I put him in his place though. I told him to stay away from me.” Lily frowned and fiddled with the bar menu. “Of course he’s looking better than ever. The bastard.”

“Oh, no you don’t. Don’t you dare fall for him again! Not after everything-” Rachel began.

“Ha! No worries there. I’m never going to forgive him, no matter how gorgeous he is.”

“And the job? What happened with that new client?” Angie asked.

“The unbearable woman proceeded to act like I wasn’t supposed to be there and completely ignored me.” Lily felt tears welling up suddenly and took another drink. “She had the nerve to tell me to come back tomorrow and meet with her assistant. So, basically the whole thing was a waste. I could have slept in and gotten my nails done.”

An older couple wandered into the bar and Angie gave her a worried look before squeezing her hand. “Things will get better. Tomorrow you can get to work. It’s going to feel so good when you get this job done. Just think of the pictures you can add to your portfolio.”

“Thanks, Ange.”

Angie left to help the new table and Lily gazed absently around the room, starting to feel the wine relax the knots that had troubled her shoulders all day.

Rachel gave her a smile and Lily tried not to laugh. Seems the straw wasn’t all that effective after all.

“You’ve got a little something,” she pointed to her own teeth and couldn’t keep the laugh in any longer. Rachel scowled.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth sometimes, you know that?”

Lily laughed again and tried to dodge away from Rachel’s foot that was jabbing at her from under the table.

“Speaking of trouble, mom wanted to talk to me about your new piercing,” Lily said, hoping to distract her sister from revenge.

“Uh oh.”

“Why did you tell her?”

“You know how mom is. She pried so hard I thought my teeth were going to fall out.”

Lily laughed and then frowned.

“Don’t you dare tell mom about Noah. You know how she is about him.”

“I’m not going to tell mom.”

Lily scowled at her. “You are going to tell, I know you. You have the backbone of a jellyfish. The last thing I need right now is mom calling me, trying to get me back together with him.”

Their mother had been crushed when Lily had finally had the courage to tell her that she and Noah broke up. She’d adored Noah and thought the two of them were perfect together, hinting more than once, to both him and her, that she expected them to get married and give her grand-babies. She refused to believe that Noah could be in the wrong, even when Lily explained what happened between them. It took weeks for her to move on to another topic of conversation during their phone calls. Lily couldn’t imagine opening that can of worms again.

“So, what’s going on with you,” Lily asked, feeling only a little guilty for making the conversation all about her. “How are things in the land of animals?”

Rachel was the town’s only veterinarian. When the sisters had moved to Crystal Falls she’d taken over the only practice from an aging vet, Mr. Samson. Being the only vet for miles around kept Rachel very busy. Between the neighboring ranches with farm animals and the influx of high-end and exotic pets with the rich ski crowd every winter, business was always booming.

“Things are good,” Rachel replied. “I had to go out to Mr. Allen’s ranch this morning to deliver a foal.” Rachel laughed when Lily made a disgusted face and sucked down more of her blue cocktail. “What I really need is another assistant. I’m not sure I can make it through another ski season with only Matt and Tonya. They’re both great but, hell, I just need more help.”

Lily nodded. “You should put an ad in the paper or something.”

“I would if I could find the time.” Rachel said, sipping the last of her glow-in-the-dark drink, and then turning the subject back to Lily. “So you have to go back tomorrow?”

“Looks like it. Let’s just hope this Lydia person actually shows up. I don’t know why the client couldn’t have just told me what she wanted while I was there today. She seemed a lot more interested in telling Noah what she wanted, if you know what I mean.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Is she hot? You think he’d, you know…”

“She’s older, but she looks good. Blonde hair, designer clothes, probably has an on-call trainer. You know the type.” Lily finished her second glass of wine and debated whether a third might be called for, given the circumstances. “I wouldn’t put it past him. You know how he is.”

“So what are you going to do? You aren’t going to quit are you?”

“Hell no!” Lily said, a little too loud. She lowered her voice as Angie came back over, a beer in her hand, off from her shift now.

“What are we all excited about over here?” she asked and sat with a heavy sigh in an empty chair. Taking a sip of the beer, she closed her eyes, rolling her shoulders.

“Rachel was asking me if I was thinking about quitting the job.”

Angie’s eyes popped open. “Oh, you can’t do that.”

“I know. I’m not going to let him win. Not this time. This is way too important to me. Mrs. Uptight is a pain in the ass, but the cabin is gorgeous. I’m actually looking forward to getting to work. And you know I need the money. No, I’m just going to have to suck it up and try to stay as far away from him as possible until this horrible experience is over.”

The next day, Noah stopped by the local coffee shop to pick up his habitual morning latte before heading up the mountain. Even though he’d spent more than two hours at the cabin the day before, he hadn’t gotten nearly enough information to draw up the plans he would need to get started on the renovation. In all the chaos of keeping Christina’s advances at bay and seeing Lily again, he was surprised he had anything to work with at all. He knew Lily would be there again today but he hoped to be in and out before she arrived. What he had to do shouldn’t take long. And the less he saw of Lily, the better. Just their few minutes of contact yesterday had left him frazzled all day. He wouldn’t admit that he missed her, but he knew there would always be something inside him that clung to her, that wanted her. They’d been too close for too long for him not to have those bits of feelings left over.

The sky was gray as he started up the winding road to the cabin, big clouds threatening a storm. He wanted to walk the property and check out the cabin’s foundation but the rain would probably make that impossible.