Life's Next Chapter (2 page)

“Did you just call me ma’am?”

He smiles his sexy smile back and chuckles, “Yes, ma’am, I did. Do you know where Dr. Caldwell is? I have blue prints I need him to look over and sign off on so we can start demolition and remodeling.”

I kick some dirt around and give him a mischievous grin. “Oh, well that is a shame because
he
is not here.” Emphasizing the “he” before biting my bottom lip to keep myself from grinning, knowing I’m teasing him as payback for scaring the girls and me.

“Are you kidding me? My cousin, Brody, said he would be here.” Understanding brings another smile to my face. I went over everything I want done with the office and the stables with
cousin
Brody. Brody is the architect part of Ashton Architecture and Design.

“Are you sure Brody said ‘he’?” I sweetly ask, giving him one more chance before I clue him in.

The long cardboard tube is steadily passing between his hands. Sweat is starting to trickle down his neck and into the starched collar of his light blue shirt. I glance at his wide chest and see the perspiration seeping through. Looking at his sculpted arms, his sleeves are clinging to him. Why in the hell would he be wearing long sleeves in this heat? He seems irritated.

“I think he said Dr. Caldwell is male. Why, is Dr. Caldwell a female? Here, just give me a second, so I can call Brody.” He rambles and takes a few steps back, attempting to pull his cell phone out of his khaki cargo pants pocket.

“Mr. Ashton,” I say, stopping him, “Dr. Caldwell is a female.” He looks to me with appreciation and relief.

“Thank you, do you know where I can find her? I really need to get these signed off, and I have another meeting soon.”

Giving the ruse just a moment more for my own amusement, I furrow my brow and tap my finger on my lips, thinking, “Let’s see…I believe you’ve already run into her.”

“Wha…?
You’re
Dr. Caldwell? There is no way you are a doctor.”

“Well, thank you, I think, Mr. Ashton, but the four years I spent in Veterinarian school would disagree with you.”

“I apologize, I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just…I’ve never seen such a beautiful veterinarian, and I just assumed a male doctor lived out here. You don’t seem the type to…well, what I mean to say is when you said Dr. Caldwell is a female, I pictured an more mature woman, and you’re so pretty…ah, shit. I—”

I cut him off, unable to stop the giggle from escaping, “Mr. Ashton, I believe you’ve suffered enough for scaring my girls and me. How about we start over, and you promise to stop assuming, and I’ll promise not to hold any of your comments against you. Well, except the one about me being beautiful. The animals sure don’t flatter me that way.” Taking a moment to wipe my hand on my pants, I extend it again, “Hi, I’m Dr. Kate Caldwell.”

“Hi, I’m Luke Ashton, with Ashton Architecture and Design,” he says, on a long sigh of relief. “I’m terribly sorry I scared you and your girls, and blabbered all over you. I was not prepared to run into such a beautiful woman today.”

Blushing, I quickly turn and start toward the house to see what my girls are likely getting into. I call over my shoulder, “I have to feed my girls lunch before they tear apart the kitchen and gorge themselves on junk. Follow me and we can look over the plans while they eat.” When I open the front door, the girls are playing with their baby dolls and eating from a bag of pretzels on the living room floor. Grabbing the bag of pretzels, I scold, “Girls, you know better than this.” Sighing, I hold up the bag of pretzels to Luke, “Exhibit A. Girls go wash your hands and sit at the table. Momma will make you peanut butter and jelly.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize your girls were twins. I fully understand your exasperation,” he replies as he leans against the kitchen island and crosses his arms against his chest. “I have a twin sister, and we gave our parents a run for their money when we were little.”

I look at him, completely horrified, “A twin
sister
? Please, dear God, tell me she’s not as big as you.” He laughs—
oh, man—
he has a great laugh, the kind that makes your stomach catch butterflies.

“No, she’s a tiny thing, just like you. We also have a younger sister, who’s five years younger than us.” Heat suffuses my face, despite the air conditioning in the house. I quickly head for the pantry and grab the ingredients to make the girls lunch. Hearing the giggles across the hall, I know they are up to no good, again. “Girls that water has been running too long, you have five seconds to get your bottoms in a kitchen chair. Five…four…three…two…one.” They make it to the table with barely a second to spare, just as I set their plates and glasses of milk in front of them. “Eat. I’m going to be with Mr. Ashton in the family room. No playing.” With that, I grab Luke’s arm and pull him into the family room. “Have a seat and place the prints on the coffee table. Do you want anything to eat or drink?” I ask as I walk back to the kitchen, mentally kicking myself for touching him.

“I’ll have water, if you don’t mind.”

“Nope,” is all I get out. I need to drown myself in a cold shower. This man is making me hotter than the weather outside. I bring him a bottle of water, which he takes and chugs the whole bottle down in just a couple gulps.
Oh Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, my womb just started to spasm.
Needing to escape before I do something crazy, I suddenly blurt that I need to change my shirt. Running upstairs, I pull off my tank top and yank my shorts off as I run into my room. I spray body mist all over me, hoping to smell a little better than the barn I was just in, and throw on clean shorts and a shirt. I brush my hair and redo my sweaty ponytail and wash my face.

Rushing back downstairs, I stop short when I see the beast of a man, calmly sitting on the couch, expertly dressing a baby doll. Julia has peanut butter all over her face, and Nicole is tentatively watching him dress her doll. I have to say he’s handling the girls well. I could stand here and watch him play with dolls all afternoon. Damn, this man is such a turn on. Shaking myself back to reality, I sigh, “Girls, leave Mr. Ashton alone and go finish eating.” They scurry back into the kitchen as I take a seat next to him on the couch.

Luke has rolled out a topographical map of my property, with the various buildings marked across the property. Seeing my home from this perspective sends me down memory lane. My life revolves around this property. I’ve lived here my whole life and knowing that my girls will grow up with the same lifestyle I grew up with brings me so much joy. I look forward to the days when I see my girls riding their horses throughout this land. The clinic is right off the road. Many years ago, it was my grandparents’ house. They eventually converted half of it into the clinic, leaving the other half as their living space. Behind their house is the stable; behind the stable is six acres of land. My mother rode horses from when she was young ‘til she had me then she stopped. Until recently, the stable hadn’t been used since. In order to the pay bills and loans, I started boarding horses for people who want horses, but don’t have the land to properly exercise a horse.

When Keith and I were expecting the girls, we built our home on the property, parallel to the stable on the other side of the driveway. Just a month ago my granddaddy retired and left me his practice to take over. I’ve spent my entire life on this property. I was raised in the clinic. Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to follow in Granddaddy’s footsteps. But leaving me his practice left me with huge shoes to fill.

The clinic is over forty years old with not a drop of design or decorating done to it since my granddaddy opened the doors. Now, that I am taking over, it needs a new makeover. I can’t work in that environment, anymore. It’s gross. As soon as Granddaddy gave me the okay, I got in contact with Brody Ashton, the architect that designed our house, and two weeks ago he started drawing up the designs. Now, seeing it laid out before me, all I can do is smile as I gaze at the prints. I can’t believe this is going to happen.

“So, here’s what we’re looking at,” Luke begins, moving his fingers across the prints as he describes the plans. “We’ll take out the living quarters, turning it into a bigger waiting room, two more exam rooms, and a bigger operating room. But, in doing so, you’ll end up with this extra room,” he points to an unlabeled space on the drawing. “We can either make it a supply closet, another exam room, or whatever you feel you need. It’s just with these supporting walls and the other rooms’ measurements you have an extra room, approximately nine by ten.”

I look at the layout and love it. The unnamed room is right off my office. I stare at the plans a little more, thinking about what this space should become. Just then my girls come running into the room and start pestering Luke. “Girls, give Momma ten minutes. Please, go play in your room.” Surprisingly, without complaint, they turn on their toes and run out of the room. I watch their dirty blond curls bounce off their shoulders as they run up the stairs, and it hits me what to do with the room.

“You know what, can you make this room into a playroom for my girls? I’m sure there are going to be days I don’t have someone to watch them. Maybe add some shelving along this wall for toys. And this wall here that connects to my office, maybe make a door, here?” Luke grabs a pencil and writes a note, drawing details on the plans as I describe the changes, nodding his head in agreement.

“What about the new stable blueprints? Can we look at those next?” Before I can finish my request, he moves the next set of prints to the top of the pile.

Again, I love them. The new stable will have state of the art ventilation, and heating and cooling systems. It will have an indoor shower stall for use during the winter weather. The stalls will be bigger with drains in every compartment. The stable will be built to withstand high winds. That is great for us here in Florida, where we constantly deal with hurricanes. I’m so thrilled over these plans, without even thinking, I jump up and do a little happy dance. In the process, I catch a glimpse Luke and discover he’s laughing at me. Gosh, he has a mouthwatering smile. I have to bite my lip to stop myself from drooling. “Luke, do you know what these plans mean?” He just looks at me, unsure of what to say. “I will have the best stable on this side of town. I can charge more, and take in more horses!” I calm myself as Luke stands to leave, rolling up the blueprints and returning them to the tube. I walk him to the door and thank him for showing me the blueprints, hoping I haven’t made him too late for his next meeting.

Once we’re at the door, he hesitates before opening it, like he wants to say something else. After the briefest of moments, he just says, “We’ll start construction on Tuesday, beginning with the clinic. Let me know if there is anything you might want to change beforehand. Have a good weekend, Dr. Caldwell.”

Well, that went well, considering I was hoping he would say more. I continue to watch as he walks towards the clinic. A loud thump from above brings me back to reality. I shut the door and head upstairs to check on my daughters and take a cold shower.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON FINDS me loading the girls in the truck for a pre-Labor Day barbecue at Beth and Jacob’s house. Beth and I have been friends since first grade. Our parents held these Labor Day festivities and now we continue it with our children. Of course, I have to run back into the house to retrieve the forgotten mac-n-cheese dish and brownies I am bringing over for the cookout. I clear the front porch for the second time just as an unfamiliar silver Chevy Silverado pulls up behind me.
Who the hell is this?
The sun throws a glare on the windows and I can’t see who it is. The girls are screaming for me to hurry it up, they want to swim with the boys. Opening the back door, I ask them to settle down. “Give momma a minute, someone is here.” I say, as I walk to the massive truck.

The driver’s side door swings open and Luke slides out of the truck.
Holy shit balls!
Just looking at him makes my panties wet. Giving me his sexy smile, he pulls off his aviators and looks down to me. “Well, good morning, sunshine.”