The Idea of You (18 page)

“July—in my parents' backyard. So I'm plenty busy with that, plus I took over Oktoberfest, for this year at least.”

“Yeah, sounds like you
are
plenty busy.”

The building came into view—a charming craftsmanlike cottage with a stone path and patio and what looked like a fantastic garden, even in winter. In fact, crocuses were already breaking the surface along the path, and if it were sunny, Alaina thought the purple blooms would be open toward the sky.

Sara went to the front door and pulled out a key to unlock it. She pushed inside and held it open for Alaina to follow.

“This is so pretty!” Alaina moved into the large room with glass doors that looked out to a patio. Past that was a grassy area and then a breathtaking view of the valley—or she assumed it would be when it wasn't cloaked in low clouds. Now it looked gothic and mysterious, which appealed to Alaina's dramatic nature. She moved toward the doors. “Gorgeous view.”

“These completely open up so that you have an indoor-outdoor space. We had Derek and Chloe's wedding here last summer. It was beautiful.”

“I bet.”

“Come on, I'll show you the kitchen.” Sara passed a bar area across from the front door and led her to the kitchen. It was large and commercial with lots of stainless steel.

“Very impressive. You could host quite a shindig here.” Alaina ran her hand over one of the prep areas. “I can't remember—is this being included in the TV show?”

“I think Sean has filmed over here, so yeah.”

“You may be inundated with Hollywood types. This is a great venue, and it's far enough out of LA to be a destination but close enough to jet here and back in the same day.”

Sara laughed. “Thanks for the heads up!”

Alaina envisioned all sorts of events taking place here, everything from a raucous cocktail party to an intimate dinner. “What's upstairs?”

“A bedroom suite designed specifically for wedding nights. It's pretty incredible. Dylan went all out on the fixtures. Our bathroom at home is pretty sweet, but this one has the epic view to go along with it.”

A bedroom suite? Suddenly Alaina had an altogether different event in mind. One involving Evan. She'd actually been toying with an idea and wondered if Sara could help her. “Speaking of special events, I wanted to plan something for Evan, something . . . unique. I'm hoping you can provide some assistance.”

Sara leaned her hip against the counter and crossed her arms. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Just an experience I think he missed out on and I'd like to re-create for him.”

Sara's eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Sounds great—tell me how I can help, and I'll make it happen.”

Alaina grinned. “I was hoping you'd say that.”

A
FTER DISCUSSING THE
mural, Sean and Tori took off while Dylan went to deal with some questions from his crew. That left Evan with Chloe. He'd made some notes in his phone but wished he'd brought a sketchbook so he could draft some ideas. Instead, he told Chloe what he was thinking.

“I love the concept of bringing in the outdoors and capitalizing on the arch. We should talk to Maggie about incorporating arches and maybe foxes into the garden spaces.”

“Good point.” Evan entered that into his phone as well. He could hardly wait to get home and start working on logo ideas and branding. And he also wanted to come up with an entirely new font. He was just bursting with energy and excitement. “Should we set a follow-up meeting, maybe next Monday or Tuesday?”

“Sure. I'm pretty open. I'm working my last shift at the pub tonight. I'm going to be too busy getting everything ready up here.”

“I'd say so. I'll miss seeing you at The Arch and Vine though.”

“I'll miss working there.”

“But you're part of the family now, so you're stuck with it.” He tried to wink at her and hoped it didn't look cheesy. He wasn't sure he'd ever mastered the art of the wink.

Evan's phone vibrated in his hand. He moved over to his messaging app and saw a text from Alaina.

I'm at the Ridgeview with Sara if you want to meet me down here.

Evan glanced over at Chloe. “Anything else you can think of before I take off?”

“Nope. I'll let you know if I think of anything.” She smiled at him. “I'm really looking forward to working with you on this.”

“Me, too.” He left, taking long strides in his eagerness to reach Alaina. He was anxious to get home so he could start work.

He walked toward the Ridgeview to meet her and in just a minute ran into her and Sara coming back.

“How'd it go?” Sara asked.

He turned and walked alongside Alaina as they made their way to the parking lot. “Great. I'm overflowing with ideas. Can't wait to start working.”

“That's awesome.” Sara leaned around Alaina and flashed him a smile as they reached the parking lot.

He glanced at Alaina. “Ready?”

She nodded.

“See you guys!” Sara waved and took off for the office trailer, where Sean and Tori had gone earlier.

“So you're excited about this project?” Alaina asked.

“Yeah, more than I've been about anything in a long time. Maybe ever.”

“I can tell. At least, it seems that way.” She smiled and shook her head. “Sometimes I have a hard time remembering I just met you a week ago.”

Was that all it had been? “Yeah, seems much longer.”

Just then a van pulled into the parking lot. Not just any van but a news van from Portland.

“Oh my
God
, what is that?” Alaina asked, her voice low and wobbly. “Get me out of here.”

His car was across the lot over by the restaurant. He grabbed her hand and strode in that direction just as the van parked in the middle of the lot.

Evan focused on getting her to the car. From his peripheral vision, he saw someone step out of the driver's side of the van. “Just keep moving,” he said.

“Hey there!” the person called out. “Are you Sean and Tori Hennessy?”

Evan increased their speed and tightened his grip on Alaina's hand. “Don't stop. Just ignore them.”

He pulled his keys from his pocket and remotely unlocked the doors. Screw opening Alaina's this time. He had to get them out of there. He let go of her hand, and they circled to their respective sides.

“Hey!” The person was coming toward them, and a second person had gotten out of the van.

Evan could speed away, but he'd likely spray mud on the guy. “Put your head down.”

Alaina took her phone from her coat pocket and bent her head over it. She pulled her dark blonde hair forward to cloak the side of her face.

Satisfied that she was effectively hidden, Evan rolled down his window. “What do you need?”

The guy wore a jacket bearing the news-station logo. “Hi, I'm Jack. I'm supposed to meet Sean and Tori. Are you them?”

“Nope. Try the trailer.”

“You must be one of the other Archers,” the man said, but Evan wasn't in the mood for his chitchat or news gathering.

“I'm late for a meeting. You might want to step back so I don't spray you with mud.” Evan rolled up the window without waiting for a response and put the car in drive.

He drove around their van and out of the lot. “I had no idea there was a news van coming.”

“I can't believe Sean didn't say anything,” Alaina said. “I just reamed him via text.”

Evan glanced over at her as he drove down the hill. “You reamed him? Why?”

“Because he didn't tell me a freaking news van was going to be up here! That's critical intel for someone who's hiding from the press.”

“Of course, sorry.”

Her phone pinged, and she looked down at the screen. “He apologized profusely. Apparently, the news guys got the day wrong. They were supposed to come for an interview with Sean and Kyle next Thursday, not today.” She slumped back against the seat. “Ugh, that was close. Sorry to freak out.”

If she thought that classified as a freak-out, what would she think of one of his meltdowns? Hopefully, she'd never see one. Wait, did that mean he didn't ever expect to have another one—which was absurd—or that he didn't expect her to be around long enough? That thought made his gut churn.

“It's fine. You were totally justified in your concern.”

“Well thanks for rescuing me.” She turned to face him in her seat and rested her hand on his shoulder.

He'd tossed his phone onto the console between the seats, and now it vibrated with a text. “Can you see if that's from Chloe?” Maybe she'd thought of something else.

Alaina lifted her hand from his shoulder and picked up the phone. “Who's Michelle?”

Shit.
She hadn't texted him in a few days, and he'd hoped she'd finally gotten the message—their
thing
was over. “No one,” he answered.

“Whoa,” Alaina breathed. “This is quite a text.”

“Never mind. Just put the phone back down.”

“I can't. This is just . . . Evan, she's not
no one
. She says she's in love with you.”

His vision blurred for a moment, and he clenched his hands around the steering wheel.
Focus, Evan. You're like three minutes from home.

He rubbed his palm over his forehead. “Can you please stop reading that?”

“Too late. I'm done.” She set the phone back on the console. “She accuses you of abandoning her—and her son. What the hell is that about?”

Her son? Evan had met him like four times. Okay, so the last time they'd gone for pizza at this place with a cool arcade and indoor rides. It had been a little too loud and chaotic for Evan, but the video games had been awesome. He and Jake had had a great time playing together.

“I didn't abandon her. She was a friend. We hung out. That was in Longview.” He shrugged. “I moved back to Ribbon Ridge. End of story.”

He pulled through the gate and drove up the long driveway toward the house.

“Yet she says she's in love with you. How does she fall in love with you if you're just friends who hang out?”

His senses began to spin as his anxiety grew. “I don't know. You'd have to ask her.” He shook his head. “No, please don't. This is actually none of your business.” He opened the garage door with the remote and parked inside.

He picked up his phone but didn't really want to read Michelle's text. How the hell was he supposed to respond to something like that? She'd actually thrown out the
love
word? He hadn't ever been in love before, but he'd like to think he'd know what it would feel like, and he was completely certain he hadn't experienced it with her.

He got out of the car but didn't have a chance to get around to Alaina's door. She met him at the entrance of the garage. “Who's Michelle? I think you owe me the truth. She says she's in love with you. Do I need to be worried? I realize we haven't made any promises or long-term plans, but I deserve to know if there's someone else lurking in the background.”

She did? Hell, he didn't have any idea what the rules were—if there even were rules.

“She was my neighbor in Longview. We were friends. She used to come over to watch movies, or I'd go to her place when her kid was at his dad's. I didn't even meet Jake until last fall.”

“How long were you ‘friends'?” She made air quotes when she said the last word.

Her sarcasm—if that's what it was—put him on edge, and he was already teetering on the brink of a sensory meltdown. Maybe not full-blown, but enough to send him to the gym downstairs.

Why was she making a big deal of this? “Listen, I need to go work.” He pivoted to go to the house, but she touched his arm. The connection was light, but it felt as though her fingers might press through his coat. That was due to his agitated state.

She removed her hand and crossed her arms over her chest. “Please don't walk away. I want to explain why this is important to me. Presumably, you were sleeping with her—” He opened his mouth to correct her, but she rushed to say, “Sorry,
having sex
with her, and you met her son. That's the very definition of a big deal.”

“
We're
having sex, and you just said we haven't made any promises. So no, I don't see how you think a sexual relationship with someone is some massive ‘thing.' ” He borrowed her use of air quotes.

“It's not just the sex, Evan. It's the kid! You met her kid, and she says she's in love with you. Clearly, she had an expectation for your relationship that you didn't share.” She exhaled and looked at the ground for a moment. When she looked back up, her eyes were intense. “Look, I understand that you're . . . different, that by your own admission you aren't good at relationships. I think you owe this woman some sort of explanation or at the very least a phone call to clarify things on your end. Because you are clearly not on the same page.”

She was probably right. He'd stopped responding to Michelle's texts a couple of weeks ago, but she'd continued to send them. “I
have
tried to explain. Here.” He handed her his phone. “Look at the texts. You tell me what I need to do differently.”

He stalked toward the house.

She caught up to him at the door and grabbed his arm again, but he didn't turn. “Hey, don't be upset. I'm . . . trying not to be.”

“Just read the messages and tell me what I did wrong. I need to work this out.” He pulled his arm from her grasp and went inside. He jogged downstairs and beelined for the gym. He tossed his coat to the floor and pulled his sweater over his head, dropping that, too.

He went to the weight-lifting bench and loaded up the barbell with a hundred pounds on each side. Thoughts collided in his brain and further churned his senses. He needed to get himself back together if he had any hope of working. And damn that pissed him off. He'd been so excited to get started, and now he had to deal with this bullshit.