Home Sweet Home by Bella Riley

each other.
    Still despite his clear interest in her work and the fact that he’d given her the perfect lead-in, she had a moment of hesitation. No, it was more like a bad premonition that this whole condo on Emerald Lake thing was a bad idea, that it had been a bad idea from the moment the words “I know the perfect place” had burst from her mouth at the meeting on Wednesday.
    “You don’t want to hear about my work, Nate. We don’t have to talk about it. Not tonight.”
    Her boss was going to kill her, but Andi needed more time, needed things to be more comfortable, more normal—and way less emotional—with Nate before she launched into her sales pitch.
    “Andi, I’ve wondered about what you’ve been doing for ten years.”
    Her breath caught in her throat. Not just because she wasn’t the only one who had been wondering from a distance, but because she was seeing something in his eyes she hadn’t thought to ever see again.
    Not just curiosity. Not just simple interest in her and her life.
    No, what had her breath coming in fits and starts was the fact that he was looking at her like he cared. Really and truly cared.
    “Tell me about your job. Please.”
    “I’ve worked with my client, the Klein Group, for a couple of years,” she began slowly. “They’re great with their employees, both in terms of benefits and corporate culture; plus they’re almost completely green.”
    “And here I was thinking all big companies cared about was ripping off the little guy.”
    She thought he was teasing, was almost sure of it, but all of her sensors were off tonight, spinning around wildly inside her brain and body.
    And heart.
    “Not all of them,” she tried to joke back.
    Now. She had to tell him about the condos now; otherwise it would be like lying to him.
    And really, why was she worrying? How could he possibly complain when the project was so perfect for the town, when there were so many obvious benefits for the townspeople?
    Andi reached into her bag, realizing her hands were sweating against the soft leather as she fumbled for her proposal. “Actually, I have something I want to show you.”
    “What’s that?”
    She pulled out the papers, slid them out across the table. “The Klein Group would like to build beautiful new residences here where the old carousel sits.”
    Everything about the moment—the way Nate stared unblinkingly at the plans, the fact that she could hear each and every one of her breaths over the music playing on the jukebox—told her she was saying the wrong thing the wrong way.
    It was just that nothing about today had gone as it should have. Her grandmother shouldn’t have been coughing. Andi shouldn’t have spent the day running Lake Yarns. And she and Nate shouldn’t have been sitting in the Tavern with a huge black cloud of memories hanging over them.
    Unfortunately now that she had opened the door, it was too late to shut it. Way too late to go back to that moment when he’d been looking at her like she still meant something to him.
    Trying not to let her hand shake, she moved a finger across a drawing. “They’d also like to put in a new public baunch loat.” Oh god, what had she just said? “I mean a new public boat launch.”
    Nate was dangerously silent, and she felt her skin go hot all over.
    Oh no, why hadn’t she drawn out the pleasantries a bit more, asked him more about his sister, about everyone in town before jumping straight into business?
    But small talk wasn’t her way. She’d always believed in being direct with people rather than trying to charm them into anything.
    Perhaps, she thought as Nate’s silence continued, a little more charm, a bit of friendly banter wouldn’t have been out of place in this discussion.
    Using every ounce of poise she had to continue her pitch, Andi said, “These are only preliminary sketches. I plan to work closely with their architects and designers to make sure everything fits in smoothly with the classic Adirondack