ScandalandSin (9 page)

“That’ll be fine.”

She wrote out the check and handed it to
Rye with his pen. She had no reason to hang around since their business for
today was done, yet she didn’t want to leave him. Despite their shaky start
this morning, they’d been civil to each other for the last couple of hours.

“I have an appointment with the sheriff in
fifteen minutes,” Rye said.

“Oh sure. I’ll, uh, be on my way.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Alaina slipped into her car. Once she
pulled away from Stevens House, she looked in her rearview mirror. Rye stood by
his truck, watching her drive away.

Chapter Seven

April 15, 1937

Laura came home early to help our
mother. She has been ill for several days. We thought it was just a cold, but
it may be something more serious. Her cough has grown deeper and more
persistent. Laura insisted we need to take our mother to see the doctor in Dallas.
That would be a long and expensive trip, but our father agreed with Laura. He
said we would take our mother first thing in the morning.

That despicable man showed up at the
store this afternoon with his “personal physician”. Laura was so grateful, I
thought she would hug him. I managed to smile and thank him, but I doubt if
there was any sincerity in my eyes. He didn’t bring in a doctor simply to help
my mother…he did it to get closer to Laura.

* * * * *

“You didn’t even get the house appraised,
Alaina,” Kelcey said. “How do you know it’s worth anything?”

“It’s worth everything to me.” She glanced
at her housemate and good friend in the passenger seat. She knew Kelcey
couldn’t help but think like an accountant. “Bella Olinghouse sold the house
and twenty-two acres to me for twenty-five thousand dollars. The land alone is
worth over a hundred grand. It was a bargain.”

“I still think you should’ve talked to
other construction firms before you hired that one. You gave him a deposit
without even talking about a contract!”

Alaina bit her tongue to keep from sighing.
Kelcey was a year younger than she, but she acted so much older. She was so
intelligent, maybe even a genius, yet she didn’t know how to let loose and have
fun. Her whole life consisted of numbers and spreadsheets. Alaina had lived
with the two women for three years. In that time, she couldn’t remember Kelcey
having one date.

Emma, on the other hand, dated a new guy
practically every week. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Alaina saw the petite
brunette was still curled up in the backseat, sound asleep. Alaina had woken
Emma at six-thirty this morning, much earlier than her friend normally rose
after the dinner shift as a chef at one of Dallas’ finest restaurants. She’d
grumbled about people who woke up at the crack of dawn until she got in the
car, where she promptly went to sleep.

“What do you know about this construction
firm?” Kelcey asked, bringing Alaina back to the present.

“I know they have a sterling reputation.”
She’d debated whether or not to tell her friends that she knew the Colemans, or
had known them when she was a young girl. She’d already decided she wouldn’t
tell them about the incident with Rye in Stevens House. Emma would think it was
cool, but Kelcey would harp on Alaina about having spontaneous sex with a man
without knowing his medical history. “I went to school with them when I was
barely a teenager. I trust them to do a great job on my house.”

“Went to school with whom?” Emma asked.

Alaina glanced in the mirror again in time
to see Emma yawn. “The Coleman brothers.”

“You didn’t tell us that,” Kelcey said in a
tone that implied Alaina was hiding more information.

“I didn’t know until I saw Rye. I assumed
his father owned the business. It was a shock to walk in Coleman Construction
and learn that Rye, Dax and Griff own it.”

“Rye, Dax and Griff.” Emma released a sexy
growl. “Damn, I love those names. And you said they’re triplets?”

Alaina nodded.

“Three brothers, three of us. Perfect.”

“Rye is single,” Alaina said, taking a
right on the road that led into Lanville. “I don’t know about the other
brothers.”

“I’ll find out.”

“Not for me,” Kelcey told Emma over her
shoulder. “I’m not interested.”

“How do you know you’re not interested
until you meet one of them? A Coleman triplet might be the perfect man for
you.”

“I don’t have time for men. Besides,”
Kelcey said, turning in the seat to look at Emma, “we’re both going to be busy
helping Alaina.”

“We can help Alaina and still have fun. You
are way too serious, Kelc.”

“And you’re way too easy, Emma.”

“What, I’m easy just because I don’t shy
away from a man I find attractive? I like orgasms, Kelc. Maybe you’d lighten up
if you had more of them.”

“Okay, that’s enough, children.” Alaina
turned onto County Road 311. “We’re three miles from the house. Play nice.”

Emma leaned forward and wrapped her hands
around the headrests. “I can hardly wait to see it. What does the kitchen look
like?”

“A mess. The whole house is a mess, but
there’s so much potential there. It’ll be amazing when the refurbishment is
done.”

Alaina’s breath caught in her throat when
the house came into view. That happened every time she saw it. She still had
trouble believing it belonged to her.

She wished she could snap her fingers and
all the remodeling be done now.

No, that wasn’t true. If it was done now,
she wouldn’t have any reason to see Rye.

Alaina drove around to the back of the
house and parked. She took a deep breath and faced her friends. “What do you
think?”

Emma’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I
love it. I agree with you, Lainy. It’ll be amazing.”

Alaina turned to her other friend. Kelcey
didn’t look nearly as excited as Emma. “What do you think, Kelcey?”

“I, uh… Well. It’s definitely… Hmm.”

“C’mon, Kelc, show a little enthusiasm.
This means a lot to Alaina.”

Kelcey looked at Alaina with concern in her
eyes. “I’m worried you’re getting in over your head. You’re going to have to
spend so much money to fix up this… monstrosity.”

“I know that. I have the money.
You
know that.”

“Yes, and luckily I convinced you to invest
half of your inheritance for the future.”

Alaina caught herself before she rolled her
eyes. Emma was right. Kelcey needed to let go and have fun much more often than
she did. “This is important to me, Kelc. This is what I want to do with my
life. You can understand that, right?”

Kelcey reached over and squeezed Alaina’s
hand. “Yes, I understand that. I support you one hundred percent, even if
sometimes it sounds like I don’t.”

“Okay, now that we’re all friends again,”
Emma said, “show us your house, Lainy.”

Alaina led the way through the back door
and into the kitchen. “Here’s the room you’ll want to see, Emma.”

Emma stood in the middle of the room, eyes
wide and mouth open. She slowly turned in a circle, gazing at everything from
ceiling to floor. “Oh wow. Look at the woodwork in those cabinets. Well, what’s
left of the cabinets.” She faced Alaina. “Are you going to duplicate the way
the house looked when it was built?”

“As much as possible. I’ve done a lot of
research about Victorian houses in this area. I want to keep the flavor of the
house, yet have all the modern conveniences for my guests.”

“And your cook,” Emma said with a grin.

Alaina slipped her hands in the back
pockets of her jeans. “Emma, I don’t think you—”

“Don’t even go there if you’re going to
tell me I can’t quit my job and work for you.”

“You saw the town as we drove through it.
There’s nothing here that you’re used to…no shopping, no movies, no theater,
no—”

“I don’t care. I told you I can always make
a party. And Dallas isn’t that far away. When we feel the urge to hit a club,
it’s only an hour’s drive.”

“I can’t pay you what you earn now, at
least not at first.”

“I’m not worried about that. I have a nice
nest egg.”

“That nest egg won’t last long if you don’t
contribute to it.”

“If I didn’t earn a dime, I could still
live for a year. Will you stop worrying so much? You’ll give yourself wrinkles.
You’re too young for Botox.” Emma walked over to the cabinets and ran her hand
over the dirty countertop. “I want either quartz or granite countertops. And
ceramic tile behind the stove.”

Apparently Emma had already made this her
kitchen and the remodeling hadn’t even started. “What else is on your wish
list?” Alaina asked.

“I’ll let you know,” Emma said with a grin.

Alaina laughed. “While you’re thinking
about how else you can spend my money, I’ll show you the rest of the house.
Then I have an appointment at Coleman Construction to look at the draft of the
blueprints.”

“When do we eat?” Emma asked. “I’m
starving.”

“Alaina and I ate before we left Dallas,”
Kelcey said.

“Goody for you. I needed sleep more than
food this morning.”

“We’ll have an early lunch, after I talk to
Rye. How’s that?”

“Works for me.” Emma grinned again. “As
long as you’re buying.”

* * * * *

“I think you need to widen that staircase to
the attic, Rye,” his father said.

“I agree. Griff will add more light
fixtures too.” He pointed to the area on his father’s drawing that indicated
Alaina’s suite in the turret. “Alaina will love this.”

“I hope so. Of course, this is simply a
draft. She can make any changes she wants.”

“You drew everything exactly how she
described it. She can’t help but love it.”

“It’s going to be a big job.”

“Yeah. It’ll keep us busy for several
months.”

Kenneth leaned back in his chair. “You
still have reservations about accepting a job from Alesia’s sister?”

Rye considered his father’s question for
several seconds before answering. “No. Dax and Griff were right. I can’t let
what happened with Alesia cloud my judgment. It’s a big job, like you said, and
good for the company. Alaina and I will work together, but that’s all.”

A flash of what happened between him and
Alaina in Stevens House almost made Rye squirm, but he caught himself before he
did anything to draw his father’s suspicion.

He must not have succeeded, for his
father’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure that’s all?”

“Dad, I’m not going to get involved with
Alesia’s sister. That would be stupid, don’t you think?”

Kenneth shrugged. “Not necessarily. She
seems to be a lot different than Alesia. You and Dax and Griff are brothers,
but you’re completely different people.”

His father had a point. Rye doubted if
there could be any siblings as individual as he and his brothers.

“She’s a lovely young lady,” Kenneth said.
“You can’t deny that.”

“No, I can’t.”

His father continued to study him, as if he
expected him to say more about Alaina. “What?”

“Nothing.” Kenneth looked back at the
blueprint drafts. “I wonder if Bella has pictures of the house she’d share with
Alaina. I’m sure Alaina wants it to look as much as possible like the original
house.”

Grateful for the change of subject back to
Stevens House and off Alaina, Rye opened his mouth to comment when he heard the
front door buzzer, announcing someone had entered. “I’ll be right back, Dad.”

Rye stepped into the front room. Alaina
held the door for two other women to come in behind her. He glanced at the
petite brunette and tall blonde, but his gaze quickly returned to Alaina. His
heart did a funny tap dance in his chest at the sight of her.

Alaina smiled. “Hi. I brought my housemates
with me to look at the house. This is Emma Keeton,” she said, pointing to the
brunette, “and Kelcey Ewing. Gals, this is Rye Coleman.”

“Hi,” Emma said with a huge smile. “Alaina
said you’re one of triplets. Are your brothers as gorgeous as you?”

A sputter of laughter escaped before Rye
could stop it. No one could say Emma wasn’t direct. “We favor each other.”

“Great. Are they single?”

“Emma, behave!” Kelcey said sharply.

Emma waved a hand in the blonde’s
direction, but continued to look at Rye. “So, are they?”

Rye struggled not to laugh. He thought Emma
was a little outrageous, which was exactly the type of woman Griff needed in
his life. “Yes, they are.”

“Goody.”

He looked at Alaina to see her eyes
sparkling with laughter. “We usually keep her on a leash, but she got free
today.”

Emma frowned at Alaina. “
You’re
the
one who told me Rye is gorgeous.”

A blush filled Alaina’s cheeks and she bit
her bottom lip. Rye liked knowing she found him attractive.