Restorations (Book One Oregon In Love) (14 page)

After removing the
offending nails from the bedroom floor, Sara heard sounds of
everyone returning from lunch. She glanced at the hammer in her
hand.
Uh oh
.

“Sara!” Brian yelled in a voice heavily
tinged with annoyance. “I need my tape measure! Do you have
it?”

She started guiltily, realizing she couldn’t
remember where she left it after borrowing it earlier that morning.
Leaving the hammer behind, she trotted down the stairs, trying to
come up with a believable excuse. She came to an abrupt stop when
she saw him standing in the dining room, glaring at her with his
arms crossed over his chest.

“Yes?” she asked, striving to look
innocent.

“My tape measure, please.”

“Why are you assuming I have it?”

“Because you’re the only one who takes my
tools.”

“Perhaps you misplaced it?”

He held out his hand. “Tape measure.”

Sara pursed her lips. “Um, don’t you have
more than one?”

“Yes, but they are all out in my truck and
as you can see, it’s pouring outside.”

“Well, a big strong man like you isn’t going
to melt from a little rain.”

He began to advance on her, looking like
thunder. Tired of the fake courtship, some imp prompted her to give
him a taste of his own medicine. She heard the crew working in the
next room. “I think I left it in the kitchen.”

In a mocking manner, Brian ushered her to
lead the way. Todd, Peter, and Jeff looked up momentarily when they
came in. Sara stood in the middle of the room, tapping her chin as
if trying to remember where she left the tool.

“I’m waiting,” said Brian, standing directly
in front of her.

Before she could change her mind, she placed
her hands on his chest and pressed her lips against his. She
stepped away after a moment, satisfied when she saw the crewmen
snickering. “Is that what you were waiting for?”

Brian’s face went fiery red
as he visibly struggled to compose himself. Sara gave a little wave
and strode from the room. From there, she ran upstairs and locked
herself in one of the bedrooms.
Well, you
wanted to call his bluff. Now what?

She waited for Brian to come after her, half
afraid and half hopeful, wondering if she’d gone mad. Sara looked
out the window and decided to blame everything on the rotten
weather. After thirty minutes she realized he wasn’t going to
demand any explanations, so she unlocked the door and resumed
working.

Brian reminded himself he had a role to
play—a role he started in the first place. Ignoring the knowing
looks from his crew, he forced himself to continue working. While a
part of him was miffed Sara caught him off guard, a stubborn smile
tugged at the corners of his lips. He deserved his comeuppance for
the way he’d treated her lately.

His attempt to deal with her politely, along
with occasionally holding her close under false pretenses, had left
him feeling like a bear. This attitude admittedly spilled over from
time to time, and Sara ended up the target more often than not. He
was after all, a romantically frustrated man, unused to waiting for
what he wanted.

Brian found he looked forward to the
confrontation that would no doubt occur later—after the guys went
home.

***

Sara blew a wisp of hair from her face. She
was filthy from all the scrubbing of the bedroom walls and her
muscles ached. She flopped down on the floor and leaned her head
against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened
her eyes, she glanced up at the ceiling. An uncovered attic access
hole loomed above. She'd used it to store supplies while prepping
the ceiling. Sara cocked her head, noticing an object protruding
from the edge.

She struggled to her feet and climbed a
nearby ladder to take a peek. The ladder wasn’t in exactly the
right position but she didn’t want to go to the effort of moving
it. Stretching out her arm, she grabbed at what stuck out over the
ledge. Her fingertips brushed against something metal. A tool? She
leaned out further.

Sara experienced a sudden sensation of
weightlessness. The ladder! She scrabbled wildly in the air until
her fingers came into contact with the ledge of the opening.
Grabbing hold, she held on with all her strength as the ladder
crashed down beneath her.

Her death grip dislodged
what caught her attention in the first place. A tape measure,
screwdriver, and framing square hurtled out from the ledge,
pummeling her in the head and shoulders on their way past. Gasping
in pain didn’t stop her from feeling an odd tickle against her
fingers.
Spiders?

A glance below convinced her she couldn’t
just drop from a twelve-foot ceiling without risking bones and
ligaments on the upended ladder directly beneath her. Sara threw
back her head and yelled for Brian.

A few moments later—which felt like
forever—Brian burst into the room. When he saw her predicament, his
look of alarm turned to one of mischief.

“Well, well, what have we here?” he asked,
leaning negligently against the door frame.

“Help me down, quick!” she rasped.

Brian saw the tools on the floor and bent to
retrieve them. “Looks like you found my tools.”

“You could say that they found me. Please
hurry!”

In a finicky manner, he replaced the tools
back into his tool belt. Brushing off his hands, he smirked. “What
will I get in reward for helping you down?”

Arm muscles burning, Sara glared down at
him. “How about me not suing you, because if I fall, I most
certainly will!”

“This is your fault, not mine.”

“Please!”

Brian sighed dramatically and moved the
ladder to the other side of the room. He then stood underneath her
and put his hands at her waist. “You can let go now.”

Sara released the ledge and grabbed him
around the neck as he lowered her down the length of his body. When
her feet touched the ground, she quickly stepped away from him,
trying to regain her equilibrium both physically and
emotionally.

A dark shape whizzed past her and plopped
onto the floor. Sara let out a little scream and hopped back toward
Brian. A huge, hairy spider scuttled away, but before it could get
too far, he put his heavy duty, steel-toed work boot to good
use.

“Now, that’s two rewards you owe me,” he
said smugly.

Breathing hard, Sara, brushed off her
clothes and rubbed her sore arms. Disturbed feelings coursed
through her from his helpful embrace. She finally looked up at him,
lifting her chin defiantly. “Since I already 'paid' for one reward
in advance, a single thank you should suffice.”

Brian grinned and pulled a clean
handkerchief from his pocket. He gently took her chin in his hand.
“You have dust smeared all over your face.”

Sara forgot to breathe when she saw the
tender expression in his eyes. It took quite an effort to keep her
hands at her sides.

“That’s better,” he said, stuffing the
handkerchief into his back pocket. He put his hands on his hips and
regarded her with a wickedly gleeful look in his eyes.

Sara tucked a curl behind her ear and
shifted uneasily from foot to foot, wondering if he’d say anything
about that kiss downstairs. “So, how did things go today?” She felt
her face heat. “Uh, work-wise, that is.”

Brian remained silent for several
heartbeats. “The roof of the addition is framed in and as soon as
the weather settles down, we’ll get the new roof on. By the way,
there’s a big home and remodeling show at the Expo center in
Portland in two days. I think it would be good if we went, since it
would help you see how things look all put together. You need to
start choosing your appliances and fixtures because some of that
needs to be ordered in advance.”

“Um, okay. Just name the time.”

“Wednesday at nine, so we can get an early
start? It’s an all day thing.”

“That sounds fine.”

“See you then.” Brian started for the door,
then stopped and turned partially around, his brows quirked. “Are
you sure I don’t deserve some kind of reward?”

Sara walked over and put her hands on his
back, propelling him through the door. After she was certain he
went back to his cottage, she went to her room, and searched for
what to wear on Wednesday.

Chapter Thirteen

Sara regarded her reflection in the
full-length mirror in her bedroom two days later. The day had
shaped up to be sunny and warm, so she chose a sleeveless, tea
length rayon dress the color of sea washed glass. The color of
Brian’s eyes. She grimaced at the syrupy thought and slid her feet
into a pair of brown leather sandals. Sara debated whether to wear
her hair up or down. Not that it mattered of course. He wasn’t
likely to notice anyway.

She hadn’t seen him since their little
confrontation. Sara assumed his absence was work related. She
missed him more than she thought possible. That was the problem.
One minute she hoped he ignored her, the next, she felt hurt when
he did.

Sara had spent time the previous night
praying about the state of her heart. She knew her feelings for
Brian became stronger every day, and somehow, it made her worry she
was failing God. Brian must’ve reappeared into her life as some
kind of test. What if she was walking right into the same trap?

Sara closed her eyes and
once more asked God to take away this deepening attraction for her
contractor—before she went insane. At the moment, she felt faint
with hope and longing at the thought of spending a whole day with
him. She rolled her gaze to the ceiling in a beseeching
gesture.
Please!

She blew out an impatient breath and looked
at her hair. After arranging it different ways, she decided to wear
it up in a French twist, leaving a few tendrils loose. Hoping her
outfit was appropriate for such an event as a trade show, she went
into the dining room to wait for Brian. At the last minute she
remembered to grab a notebook and pen, stuffing them into her
purse.

Brian’s crew and another crew of roofers
were already on site to tear off the old roof and replace it with
new sheeting and cedar shakes. They made a tremendous amount of
noise stomping around up on the roof. At any moment Sara expected
them to fall clean through the ceiling and land at her feet in a
cloud of plaster dust.

When she saw Brian from the front window,
she went out to meet him, wanting to avoid the formality of him
coming to the door for her. He wore jeans and a black V-neck
sweater over a white shirt, and looked more handsome than ever.
After a few last words to the workers, he waved her toward his
pickup.

“We can take my truck,” Sara offered.

He looked at the old Ford, which seemed to
creak and settle under his scrutiny. He grinned and shook his head.
“No thanks.”

Sara followed Brian to his truck and climbed
up into the passenger seat while he held the door open for her. She
put her purse at her feet and folded her hands in her lap as he
slid in behind the wheel.

“Ready?”

She nodded as he fired up the engine. Brian
turned on the radio and listened to a local weather report. He
smiled as the announcer confirmed that the day would be balmy…with
only a ten percent chance of rain.

His smile disappeared. “They didn’t say
anything about rain last night!” Then his face cleared. “Just look,
Sara, there’s not a cloud in the sky. We have nothing to worry
about.” His gaze rested on her for a moment before turning his
attention back to the road.

The trip passed amicably enough on the
surface, but Sara felt nervous and conversed with him in what she
hoped was a normal way. An hour later, the ten-fold increase in
traffic heralded their arrival into the outskirts of Portland, the
largest city in Oregon. While Brian concentrated on maneuvering
through the press of vehicles, Sara watched him discreetly from
under her lashes. Why was he back in her life? It still made no
sense.

After parking, they walked through the vast
parking lot and went into a mammoth exposition center. A myriad of
booths lined the walls, snaking throughout the space. A log-built
house appeared to have sprung up from the middle of the building
floor. Sara’s eyes widened at the dizzying array of products. She
found countertops came in more than just tile, marble, granite, and
Formica. Flooring came in every kind of wood and synthetic product
imaginable. She saw fixtures, appliances, hardware selections, and
even home loans available for the choosing. Hundreds of people
slowly milled about them, and occasionally, Sara was jostled
against Brian’s side. She wondered crossly if he felt as affected
by her touch as she was by his.

They spent three hours perusing the booths.
Brian proved extremely knowledgeable and helpful in informing her
of the pros and cons of the items that interested her, and in her
enthusiasm, she forgot to worry about her dubious relationship with
him. Her purse was soon overflowing with pamphlets and product
information from all the dealers and salespeople. Her notebook came
in handy as well as she scribbled down things she wanted to
remember later.

It was after one o’clock when they finally
made a complete loop through the building. From there, they drove
to an Italian restaurant for lunch. Without the distraction of the
home show, Sara once again felt strung up and edgy in Brian’s
presence. She scarcely knew what she ordered and toyed with her
napkin, wondering why she felt so uncomfortable again.

Brian watched Sara with a guarded expression
and felt disappointed that she seemed so ill at ease in his
company. She sat stiffly opposite him, with a high flush mantling
her cheeks. Brian suddenly wanted nothing more than to drag her
across the tabletop into his lap and kiss her senseless. With some
reluctance, he restrained himself.