A Second Chance (15 page)

He pulled into a hidden driveway that looked like a lush jungle,
causing
Jade
to
hold her breath as she saw the arches of trees closing over their heads
.
H
er first thought as she looked around
was
that it was
very green and very intimate,
and she
almost
overlook
ed
the house that stood at the end of the path.
Liam
hadn’t lied
about the charm of
th
e
place
.
A
feeling of exhilaration
came to her
as she
looked
over the property.

The house was not
particularly
large, nor was it very modern. Somehow she had imagined Liam living in
a
futuristic, cubic
design
home
, where clean lines and metal
finish
e
s
made a statement of purity, elegance
,
and
coolness. Instead she
was looking at a
bungalow with large windows and vines climbing up the cream
-
colored walls. Her trained eye
immediately
noticed certain things that needed fixing
;
the wooden
panels on the walls look
ed
tired and
were
peeling. The path leading to the house was cracked and overgrown with flowers
;
California poppies and sage successfully
dominat
ed
the sunny patches along the road. Red, orange
,
and yellow
,
mixed with coo
l bluish
-
lavender
hues
,
created
a spectacular palette of color and a tasty buffet, judging by the
number
of butterflies and bees hovering over the delicate flower heads.

She could smell the sweet and spicy scent of pine needles covering the ground under the gnarled and twisted trees that surrounded the house. The sun beat down mercilessly, the smell of the evergreens rising to her enthralled nostrils as she got out of the car, caref
ully stepping over the cracked stones.

‘Welcome to my kingdom
.
’ Liam’s amused voice snapped
her
out of her enchantment
.
He was
watching her with a little smile playing around his beautifully cut mouth. ‘
Do
you approve
,
or
do
you mind the lack of good coffee
,
as well?’

‘
It
is absolutely amazing
.
’
She
momentarily
forg
ot
anything but the beauty of the place. ‘
Thank
God, there
aren’t
any coffee
shop
s
around here
,
’ she added honestly, marveling over the secluded privacy of this piece of land. ‘
The
only place for coffee around here should be your coffee machine, if you ask me.’

‘My sentiments exactly.’ He stretched, the thin fabric of his shirt not enough to shield her eyes from the play of his muscles as he moved his shoulders. ‘
But
you haven’t seen the best part yet. Come on
,
girls
.
’

They followed him around the house to the other side, the bushes and perennials jealously guarding their secret almost to the very end
. When t
hey stepped out into the open, Jade gasp
ed
in delight.

‘Oh, Liam, this is wonderful
.
’
S
he turned to him with a smile. ‘I believe it
’
s fair to say that the ocean is your playground, if I
w
ere
ever to use th
at
expression.’

T
he house
had been
built on
a
spectacular cliff with unobstructed views of the water and the beach beneath.

‘China Beach
.
’ Liam came to stand next to her, his sleeve almost brushing her side as he stretched out his arm and pointed across the hazy, blue water toward the land on the other side.
‘This is the reason I decided to buy it, you know
.
I just looked around and figured that there were few places
left
that offered such freedom and tranquility. Not to mention the beach below and the great waves, just made for surfing
.
’
He winked
playfully
at her.
‘
And
speaking of drinks and food, I brought you a snack,
Laura
.
’
H
e
turned to his sister, his concern evident in the way his dark eyes went over her thin, delicate frame. ‘
We
ate while you were in this
meeting,
but you have no
excuse
,
S
is. Not if you don’t want to be blown away with the
breeze,
anyway. And let me warn you, the house was
n’t
nicknamed Windy
Pines for nothing, Laura. So let’s chow
.
’

They walked up the squeaky, protesting steps
,
and he produced the key, hidden behind a large planter with ox
-eye
daisies.

‘There we go.’ Opening the door, he let them through
.
Jade’s heart rate
pick
ed
up
involuntarily
as she felt his body
almost
touching hers
when she passed by him.

The house had been cleaned and spruced up, that much was evident
.
A faint scent of cleaning supplies lingered in the air, and she watched Liam go to the windows and open them one by one.

‘I have to thank my agent for handling
everything
so smoothly
.
’
He leaned
against the
windowsill
, his powerful legs stretched out in front of him in a
leisurely
gesture. ‘
She
did all the work, really. All I have to do
now
is start working on
th
e
place.’

And he would have his work cut out for him, Jade thought as she glanced around, noticing the dated seventies
’
design
s
with
the
large amount of wood
and exposed brick
.
The living room was big and airy, yet the dark colors shrunk it to its disadvantage, making her long for the spectacular outdoors on the other side of the door.

She watched Liam and Laura sit down at the bar that divided the kitchen
from
the living room. He produced a few packages of food and bottles of water, making her realize once again how he always managed to take care of his sister.

‘
Do
you mind if I look around a bit?’ she asked, surprising herself with her eagernes
s to see more of this house. It
s dilapidated state offered a challenge that the designer in her could barely resist.

‘Not at all
.’ Liam looked up and grinned, while
Laura
rolled her eyes again.

‘Liam, we won’t be able to drag her away if you let her l
o
ose, trust me
.
I can already see what you
’
re thinking about, Jadie
.
’
S
he
bit into the sandwich and took a sip from her bottle. ‘
Your
staging skills are taking over,
aren’t
they?’

‘I just love houses with potential.’ Jade walked over to the kitchen, smiling at the carved cabinets and elaborate hardware that was so popular forty years
before
. Paired with the orange and cream backsplash
,
it pulled the house into
a
time warp to the time of love, peace
,
and rebellion against
the
establishment.

‘This house has heaps of it
,
’ she added,
running her fingers along the oak cabinets. The wood felt warm and alive, a
nd she imagined stripping it of
the horrid orange hue and staining it a rich dark mocha color. Paired with
modern,
slick hardware and
a
neutral backsplash
,
it would look absolutely lovely,
the room’s
biggest asset being the large bay window overlooking the ocean. It would be a pleasure to cook here, she thought dreamily, forgetting
momentarily that she wasn’t alone.

‘Hey, what did I tell you, Liam
.
’ Laura’s amused voice woke her from the daydream. ‘Jade has turned
on
her designer mode now, and there
’
s no stopping her.’

‘Be my guest.’ Liam lifted himself from the bar stool with
the
grace of a panther, his light moves surprisingly graceful for a man as tall and well built as he was. He walked over to Jade and came to stand next to her, his dark eyes
inscrutable
.

‘So what
’
s your verdict?’
He was
close enough for her to smell the faint scent of his cologne. It was just like him
:
exotic, fresh
,
and mysterious, eluding any definite
guess
of
its origin. ‘
Do
you think it’s a keeper
,
or did I tank into something not worth my while?’

‘You know very well it’s worth every penny you paid.’ She smiled, looking up into his handsome face. ‘
It
will be a lot of work, of that I
’
m sure, but I can just imagine the end product. And the views are definitely second to none
.
’

He nodded, his dark eyes satisfied. ‘
That’s
exactly what I need. Someone with a vision for this place, who can see past
all the
outdated, dingy stuff and notice the beauty beneath. I
’
m not that practical and patient
.
’
H
e
smiled and shook his head in
self-mocking
irony. ‘I do better with ad campaigns and graphic design.
Th
e
tedious, meticulous work of restoring
something simple
without turning
it into a poster for modern art is way beyond my
capabilit
ies
.’

‘Why don’t you hire Jade then?’ Laura finished eating, her smiling face expectant as she watched them across the room. ‘
She
’
s perfect for what you
’
re looking for, Liam. If anyone can turn this screaming seventies house into the house of your dreams, she is definitely the
one
.’

‘
Wait
a second
,
’ Jade protested
with a laugh
, waiting for Liam to politely refuse his sister’s harebrained plan. But he didn’t, his dark eyes thoughtful as he eyed her, his eyebrows drawn together. He
w
ouldn’t
really contemplate asking her to take on this project,
w
ould he?
Her
whole being
rebell
ed
against the implications of accepting such an offer. It would mean she would see him for an undisclosed amount of time in the near future, a move so unwise it had to be avoided at all costs.
Hopefully he
wouldn’t
pay attention to his sister’s
r
a
mbling
.