“To begin, we have three weddings this summer. They will use the lawn for the ceremony and the ballroom and formal dining room for the reception. Photographs will be both inside and outside, weather permitting. There is a contract with a modeling agency in New York to use the Kendall for their next photo shoot. They will be here for three days, using the house and grounds to shoot an ad campaign for a fashion designer’s upcoming collection. The library, garden, small living room and the red room will be used.”
Stoically, he watched her without expression.
“I have a leasing agreement with Windsor Heights State College for their annual cotillion. It’s scheduled for next November. In that case, we’ll be using the grand ballroom, which will be decorated by the student committee and supervised by the dean of students.”
“Whose idea was that?”
“Actually, it was the Windsor’s. The social committee chairperson contacted me and I signed the agreement. We need the money and they are paying a hefty sum. Apparently, having a house that’s been continually occupied since the Civil War is a draw for the college. In addition, some of the students are helping out with the much needed improvements. They will be on sight come September and receive a credit for their work. I would appreciate it if you would be the project leader on that if you’re still here by then.”
“You think I’m leaving?” The smile on his face could be a smirk. Kelly ignored it. She had to persuade him and she believed in laying her cards on the table. As a marketing executive, she always told her clients the truth. They appreciated it.
“I believe that you will do what’s right for Ari. And for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if my changes for this place become so abhorrent to you because you can’t get it out of your head that the Kendall no longer belongs to the Kendalls, then you’ll have to consider whether or not staying here is the right thing for you both, or you’ll just disappear like you did five years ago.”
She saw it in his eyes, knew it would happen. “You’re a runner, Jace,” she continued. “Whenever things don’t go your way, you get on a horse and you run. When the horse can’t take you far enough, you use a car or a plane, or an engineering job. So no, I can’t be sure you’ll be here in September or even if you’ll be here in the morning.”
No one liked to hear a character assessment of themselves that was anything other than glowing. Kelly had told him nothing he could grab hold of that was good about himself. But she wasn’t sorry she’d said it. “I’ll let you know if I’m planning to leave,” he told her. “So go on. I can’t wait to hear what else is coming.”
Kelly glared at him. “When we begin generating enough income, I’m going to build a racetrack on the ten acres behind the horse barn. There we’ll hold races and charge fees. There’ll be a club house, stables and viewing stands. It’s a long-term project. I don’t expect to begin it for several years.”
Jace listened attentively without any expression. Kelly finished and let her words sink in. His gaze swept around the room. He’d already commented on the alterations she’d made to it.
When his eyes settled on her again, he said, “I’ll meet you partway.”
“I don’t get it.”
“I’ll act as project leader in September with the students. I’ll work on anything you want, but when it comes to tourists traipsing through the house, I draw the line.”
“You don’t—”
He stopped her with his hands, palms out. “I won’t prevent. I won’t undermine. But I won’t participate.”
“Fair enough,” Kelly said. They weren’t at war, but she felt as if she’d won the first battle.
“One more thing,” Jace said. “I’m not a runner. I had a good reason for leaving five years ago and an even better reason for returning now.”
“I know you left because of Laura,” Kelly stated. Windsor Heights was a small town and gossip about people at the Kendall was its stock in trade. He stared at her with eyes so hard they could have lasered her in two. “You don’t know the half of it.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
KELLY HAD JUST left her office for her daily trek to the mailbox when she heard the phone in her office ring. Rushing back, she answered it before the machine kicked in.
“Kendall Farms,” she said. “How may I help you?”
“Kelly.” The voice on the phone was upbeat and chuckling. Kelly’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. Immediately, she tensed. Perry Streeter’s was the last voice she ever expected to hear. Perry—her ex and former colleague—gave the impression that he was in your corner, when he was anything but.
“Perry,” she said. “This is a surprise.”
“How’s it going out there with the nature and sunshine?”
“It’s wonderful, Perry. How could clean air, growing grass and the good earth be anything else?” She couldn’t begin to guess what he wanted. She hadn’t talked to Perry since their scene at her New York apartment two years ago.
“I was wondering if we could get together soon.”
“Why?” Deliberately, Kelly didn’t offer anything else. She knew Perry liked his clients to talk. Often they had an idea for a campaign they were interested in and he said he didn’t want to get in the way. Kelly knew better. He didn’t really have a good sense of design, so he waited for them to tell him what they wanted. Then he could turn it around and act as if it was his idea.
“We haven’t seen each other in a long while.”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted? If I remember correctly, you said we were done, over, needed to go our separate ways and find our own direction.” She quoted him word for word.
“I’m sure we’ve grown wiser since then. It’s been a couple of years.”
“I’ve grown,” Kelly said, leaving the unspoken sentence to imply that he had not.
“I have, too. I was thinking of taking a day off. I could come see you. We could have lunch, get back to where we were before.”
The nerve of him, Kelly thought.
“You know to me you were always special, the one who was different, who knew me better than anyone else.”
Kelly couldn’t vouch for that, but she could say she knew his type.
“What do you have in mind?” she asked, keeping the sarcasm out of her voice.
“I thought we could make a day of it.”
“You mean you want to see the Kendall? Are you thinking of planning an event here for a client?”
“No, I’m thinking of you and I spending time together.”
Again her mouth dropped open. Spending time in his presence was the last thing she would want.
“Perry, I’m very busy. I have an opening coming up and I can’t afford to take any time away from preparations for that.”
“Kelly, we know you have time to take a rest and get back to work the next day. The place won’t fall apart if you take one day off.”
“Sorry, Perry, but enjoy your day off.”
She didn’t wait for him to say goodbye or to try to make arrangements for another day or time. Kelly was not interested.
Back in New York, they seemed the perfect couple—young, upwardly mobile with plenty of disposable income. But he found someone else and suddenly Kelly was no longer the woman he wanted to be with.
And now, after two years, he calls and wants to pick up where they left off. Did he think she’d put her life on hold, waiting for him to see reason and return to her? Kelly was the one who saw reason. Not long after that, she’s lost her first big client and was ostracized within the firm. It wasn’t too hard to figure out that being let go would likely be the next step.
Disillusioned with everything about her life, she’d started to think of how to make some much-needed changes.
When Mira called to tell her the Kendall was going to be sold for taxes, it was the final puzzle piece Kelly needed to change her life. No way would she go backward and start seeing Perry again. There was no need anyway. Returning to Perry would be like stepping down, going back in time and reliving a life she had no possibility of enjoying.
“What was that all about?” Jace asked from the door.
Kelly instantly felt a glow inside her. She turned and faced him. “Past history,” she told him.
“Are you all right with it?”
She nodded. “Over and done with.”
“Is that what brought you back here?” he asked.
Kelly looked surprised.
“I have ears, too. I hear things,” Jace said.
“Like what?”
“Like you bought the Kendall because of a breakup with some guy in New York.”
That was it in a nutshell, Kelly thought. Jace had been kind. He didn’t say because some guy in New York dumped her. “That’s not the entire story.”
“Was that him?”
“It was. He wants to come down and spend the day with me.”
For a moment, Kelly thought she saw Jace frown.
“Are you going to let him?”
She watched him closely. His body language didn’t change, but he let his breath out slowly. Kelly couldn’t say she didn’t know why. Jace was attracted to her. Any woman knew when a man wanted to move to the next level. Only she couldn’t. Not yet.