Page 12 of Willowbrooke
“Oh no.” Leo shook his head. “Don’t start apologizing.”
I looked up at him, confused.
“Youdidn’t do anything wrong—youhave nothing toapologize for. You’re learning. They’re grown men who can’t wrap their heads around a woman being in charge.” He took another sip of wine.
I hadn’t seen him so wound up before.
“You could have just corrected them,” I offered, my voice feeling smaller than ever.
“Penny.” Leo’s tone commanded my eye contact, which I obliged. “You don’t want to work with someone who doesn’t immediately provide their respect. We need to find someone who understands you’re in control, without having to be told.” He gave a slight nod of his head, as if to confirm my understanding.
“Thank you.” I offered a curt smile. It had been a long time since someone had stood up for me like that, other than Mina. I tried to ignore the now familiar but unwanted flutter in my stomach.
“My uncle said he’d send over a friend next week that would be a good fit—friends with the inspector, it seems—so I’m sure he’ll be alright.” Leo leaned back into the couch, swirling his glass again.
“It’s getting dark outside,” I replied, rising from my seat next to him. “I better get going.” I felt awkward and out of sorts as I made my way to the front door. I was preoccupied, shuffling through memories of my experiences with the interviews and how I had so grossly misperceived each contractor’s intentions and communication, or rather, lack thereof.
On top of that, seeing Leo reclined so casually felt too intimate. He was my boss. It was bad enough that I had started to harbor a small crush, just because he treated me with respect, but even worse that I was still trying to figure out how to get out of my relationship with Adam.
“Drive safe, Penny.” Leo raised his wineglass to me, and I responded with a small wave before leaving the house for my car, hoping he hadn’t seen the flush on my cheeks.
Even though so much of Leo was closed off to me, small exchanges like what I had just experienced offered a wealth of nuanced character study.
Leo was loyal.
He was willing to fight for me, protect me, when I had done nothing to earn it from him.
Maybe we could become friends after all…
Just friends,I had to remind myself.
William’s hunch on the construction foreman was a good one. Just as grizzled as Inspector Joe, Danny Bright seemed to have connections to everyone, and his gregarious nature was surely the reason why.
Leo immediately took to Danny, and Danny seemed just as fond of me, which pleased Leo. Danny would often go into tutorials, teaching me (and Leo, if he was around), about whatever project he or one of his guys was working on. His lessons were usually quite long-winded, but nothing ifnot informative, and I appreciated learning more about the intricacies of various construction processes.
If Danny disagreed with one of my design decisions based on the methods he was using or due to his decades of experience building and renovating homes, we would talk through the importance of my decision, or how we might compromise to both get what we wanted out of the change.
And Danny was fast too.
Demolition of the kitchen took a little over a day. His team was able to salvage a good chunk of the materials, which were donated to a local nonprofit, and they carefully relocated the refrigerator to the dining room, while we waited for the new integrated and panel-ready one to be delivered in less than two weeks.
Leo seemed antsy at the prospect of losing full access to the kitchen for two weeks, but I believed the thought of having a brand new, bespoke space that was customized to his needs and not falling apart at the seams would be well worth the wait and a couple weeks of takeout.
Toward the end of the first week with Danny, he and I found ourselves arguing about the style of sink I was getting ready to purchase. He felt the counter slab that Leo and I had chosen from the stone yard was beautiful enough that it warranted a seamless sink, where the counter material was used to form the sink, rather than purchasing one separately.
Having looked up some quick example photos on my phone, I liked the idea, and we had just begun talkingthrough what kind of hardware I was going to need to order for the drain, when a gasp from the front door stopped our conversation in its tracks.
In the doorframe stood a woman who was slightonlyin stature, as everything else about her, from her three-inch stilettos, to her impeccably tailored designer coat, down to her pointed crimson fingernails, commanded the room.
“What happened to the kitchen?” Her voice was silken, with a trace of an unidentifiable accent that could have been from her world travels, or an intentional affectation to make sure people knew she was well traveled. Her alarmed eyes bounced back and forth between Danny and I, no doubt wondering who we were, as much as the both of us were clueless to her identity.
“Aunt Margot!” Leo called out as he rounded the hallway leading to his room and the solarium, having heard the commotion.
So she was the much lauded Aunt Margot.
She wasn’t at all as I had expected.
Based on Leo’s loving description of her, I had expected a woman who embodied motherhood and coziness, but this woman was, much like Leo, something else entirely, and another knot to unravel.
