Page 94 of Sherry and Sunflowers
"Of course. Get Reaves to take you over there whenever suits."
"Great. And I'll start making notes, and then I'll bring you my initial thoughts, and you can tell me from there what you want."
He held his hand up. "It's not about what I want. I have no talent for creating a home. My request is that you pour yourself into it. Make it the ideal home. And don't spare any expense—I want it to be perfect."
She couldn't stop smiling. "Is that like Delaney said about the gold leaf? The more you put into it, the more valuable it becomes."
He smiled. "Yes. And not just in monetary terms."
She wasn't sure she understood that, but she didn't question him. Her mind was already racing. She was going to get to design a house.
A home.
She couldn't wait.
Chapter Twenty-One
"You be good, okay, Z? We'll be back in a little while."
Zia smiled at them over her shoulder, from where she was standing on the step stool at the sink. "I'm always good, aren't I, Fairy Goodness?"
Faye chuckled. "You are. You're good inside and you're a good little helper. But come on—those peas won't shell themselves."
Zia giggled. "I bet they would if you asked them to. They'd be little magic peas who jumped out of their shells. Because everyone loves Fairy Goodness."
Reaves chuckled, and Faye shook her head as she shooed them out of the kitchen.
On the way down the front steps, he took Alara's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I bet you'll be glad to get out of the house, won't you?"
She turned to look back up at it. "I know what you mean. I have spent most of my time here for a couple of months now. But you have to remember—for me, that's a luxury."
He hadn't thought about it that way, but he could see it. "Well. We're not going far."
She nodded eagerly. "I cannot wait to see this house, Reaves. I can't wait to work on it. I can't believe your dad pretty much ordered me to make it a home." She shook her head in wonder, and he opened the passenger door for her.
As he jogged around to the driver's side, he couldn't even feel bad that he knew something she didn't. She was so excited about fixing up the old house for a new family that she hadn't stopped to consider what his dad had really meant. His dad had told him all about the conversation—and since Alara had assumed he was giving her a job to do, and she'd seemed so delighted to accept it, he'd let her run with the idea.
It didn't take long to drive over. As soon as they passed through the front gate and he started up the driveway, Alara gasped. "Oh my God, Reaves. Look at this place. Isn't it gorgeous?"
He looked at it a moment before he spoke. He'd known this house all his life; he had a soft spot for it. The few memories he had of his mom had been in the garden here, where she used to grow her flowers, and in the greenhouse outside. He couldn't say he'd thought about it much in years, but now, looking at it through Alara's eyes, it looked pretty special again.
He turned to her—she'd thought the same thing at the same time.
"Zia's going to think it's a magical cottage, isn't she?"
He laughed out loud. "I was just about to say the same thing."
When they reached the front door, she stopped and stared at the flowers. They were the same as the ones in front of the house—the big daisy-looking ones that Zia liked to use in her flower arrangements, along with the dandelions.
Alara's eyes filled with tears, and he wrapped his arm around her.
"Hey. What's wrong?"
She sniffed and shook her head, then brushed her thumbs under her eyes. "Reaves, don't you know?"
"Know what?" he asked, starting to worry. "Is everything all right? Are you not well?"
She let out a short laugh that came out as more of a sob. "Do you not know what those flowers are?"
