Page 8 of Willowbrooke
I nodded, trying to hide a smile as he pulled the chart across the counter to examine it.
“This week, and maybe into next, depending on how quickly we get through everything, I’d like to go room by room with you to discuss your ideas and my suggestions, so I can create a design for each one—I already have mood boards, but if they aren’t to your taste, I can redesign them,” I offered, separating out the mood boards from the rest of the documents in a single stack. “I also have all of this online ifyou prefer soft copies. I used a software where you can add comments, feedback, and make edits, if you’d like.”
“Send me the link,” Leo said absently, as he began to review the mood boards.
I truly hadn’t expected him to be so interested in the designs, but the thought delighted me. While many designers had their own points of view and were hired to impart their vision on a space, I wanted the collaboration that Leo desired as well.
“I’d also like to do a full furniture inventory with you—we can talk about what pieces you like, and if there are any you’d like to get rid of, I can have that arranged.”
“That’s fine as long as we don’t go into the solarium—it’s strictly off-limits.” His eyes met mine; he needed confirmation that I understood him.
“I remember.” I smiled gently, reassuringly.
“Once we’ve got the broad strokes confirmed,” I said, “I’ll need to go out and source the materials—do you have any interest in coming with? I wasn’t sure what your work schedule is like.” Mina and I had speculated about his job, but we’d come up empty.
“I’m not working currently—I’ll join you—this project is my only focus right now.” Leo took another sip of his coffee.
He’d really meant it when he’d said he wanted to collaborate with me.
It occurred to me that he was probably a trust fund kid, and with his father gone, he’d likely inherited everything. Hedidn’t need to work.
I felt a tinge of envy, but suppressed it. The truth was, I still didn’t know anything about Leo West, and it was impolite to make assumptions about him, even if I couldn’t help it.
“Great.” I smiled up at him again. “I’ll be glad to have the company and your opinion.” I finished my own coffee then. “Once we’ve got an idea of lead times on the raw materials, I’ll start figuring out when we’ll need to book the contractors. I’ve got some referrals already.”
“You mentioned an inspection?” Leo asked.
“Yes!” I dug around for another sheet. “Just to be safe, it would be good to schedule someone right away, so if there are any major issues, we can address them immediately and build anything required into the project timeline and budget.” I bit my lip, worried about the next bit. “And you haven’t specified a budget yet…that was the only other big thing I wanted to discuss with you.” I chanced a glance up at him.
Leo was unfazed. “There isn’t one,” he said simply.
I nodded at the revelation. I was curious to see, once we actually started shopping for materials, if that stance changed, but until I had a better idea of what he had in mind, I’d keep moving ahead. “So room by room—where do you want to start?”
We made it through all the rooms within the first three days, and started on the much more laborious task offurniture inventory and photography for the next two weeks. Leo surprised me by being rather agreeable to the plans I had put forth.
Getting a solid opinion out of him was like pulling teeth, I learned quickly, so I only dug in and insisted on things that were really important, like how often he actually used the kitchen—he admitted to enjoying cooking quite a bit, which altered my initial plans to be more chef-friendly.
He wouldn’t relent on how often he watched TV, but insisted there be one in the living room anyway. He also never used the dining table, but wanted to keep the one he had, right where it was. Luckily, I agreed with him on that. Much to my delight, the hideous floral ruffle sectional in the living room was mutually hated, and he seemed very interested in the updated furniture and floor plan I had proposed.
The library didn’t require much beyond a new floor plan and reorganization of the books themselves. Even Leo admitted he didn’t know where anything was.
“Mom always kept it organized,” he’d mumbled to himself absently, unaware that I had overheard him. It was the first time he’d said anything about her, and it was clear she was no longer in the picture, and hadn’t been for a long time.
Upstairs, we thankfully discovered that the decrepit shag carpet in every room was indeed hiding original hardwood floors, as I had expected. “They’re herringbone,” I’d gushed at the pattern.
“Is that good?” Leo questioned, standing above me.
I sat back on my heels. “It’s excellent.” I beamed. “And they look to be in good condition, but we won’t know for sure until we get all the carpet up.”
All of the bedrooms had solid, vintage furniture pieces, but some required reupholstery or minor hardware repairs, and updated linens would be needed across the board. I did find it odd that there was a lack of dust, considering they had clearly not been in use recently.
“Val,” Leo explained. “She’s the housekeeper. She comes every Friday. She does a grocery pickup and tidies around the house.” I sensed there was more to it, but I didn’t press him.
However, Val remained elusive, as Leo requested we leave her to her work on the first two Fridays, and instead we headed out to a handful of local businesses I had scouted to take a look at—tile, countertops, fixtures, and fittings.
Shopping with Leo became a fun escape. He insisted on driving, and owned a brand-new and exquisite luxury sports car. I marveled at the soft leather seats and enjoyed relaxing next to him while he drove through the countryside. My pleasure at his car seemed to amuse him.
While we drove along the country roads, with the crisp fall air biting through the open sunroof, I often found myself observing Leo. He was so much more carefree outside of the house, especially on those long drives. It became more difficult not to notice the mounting number of differences between Leo and Adam, much to my dismay.
