Every Way (Brush of Love 4)

“Perfect. Your training starts now. I’ll show you how the register works, and I’ll show you what I do to lock up. I’ll get you to fill out some employee paperwork so I can get it processed this week, and your first payday will be this Thursday. I pay out every two weeks,” I said.

“Oh, my gosh. Mrs. McBride, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her close again. I could already feel a burden being lifted from my shoulders. With all the ideas she had swirling around in her head, I saw her taking this place to new heights. I saw art classes with children and rehabilitation classes with those trying to clean up their acts. I saw Saturday night showcases and parties that raked in donations to make my classes free to the public. I led Kelly over to the cash register, walked her through things, and then performed a few practice transactions so I knew she could get it right.

Then, I started closing down the gallery and walking her through the motions.

I could almost feel my soft mattress against my skin.

Chapter 17

Bryan

Ellen was gracious enough to give me the day off so I could put the finishing touches on the house. I went ahead and ordered all the furniture I wanted to fill the home with and then met the delivery guys over there so I could help. I guided them to where the furniture needed to be and then shifted it around so it was in the perfect spot. I pieced together bed frames and fit the mattresses perfectly into them. I hung sheer curtains on the windows and placed accent chairs in their proper places. I even ran out to the local art stores and started pulling things for Hailey’s art studio, tubes of exotic paints and an easel and canvases of all kinds of shapes and sizes.

I wanted everything to be perfect before I showed it to Hailey.

I enlisted the help of Foreman Jack and his massive truck. I traveled out to the warehouse where I was keeping the nursery furniture I had made, and we transported it back to the house. Jack helped me carry in the crib, the dresser, and the changing table I had built with my own two hands. The set was made out of this beautiful blond cedar and smelled like heaven. We carried the set up the stairs and into the nursery for the baby and set it down, maneuvering it into different places until I had the layout I envisioned for my child’s first bedroom.

It was complete.

The house was finally done.

“I don’t like tooting people’s horns and shit, but this place looks great,” Jack said.

“I only did the decorating. And there’s still plenty of room for Hailey to come and put her touch on everything,” I said.

“I think she’s really gonna like this,” he said.

“I hope so.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing. She’s been so stressed lately, and with things I thought were buried in the past. I was going to hold off another couple of weeks so I could get the electricity and the water hooked up and running smoothly, but I’ve been thinking about surprising her earlier with it,” I said.

“It might help with the stress, having something like this to look forward to.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “But I don’t want to make a wrong move. She’s under enough stress already, so the last thing I want is to throw something at her she feels she has to accomplish, if that makes sense.”

“It does, but let me tell you something. If any woman comes into this house and doesn’t appreciate the time, effort, and love it took to put together? Then she’s not the woman you built this house for. A man doesn’t build a house for a woman without expecting to make it a home. And if she can’t see that, then there’s something bigger going on than some stress,” he said.

“Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of, I guess.”

“Well, get unafraid. She’s growing a human being in her body. Get over yourself.”

“I’m concerned I haven’t done enough to support her emotionally. I feel like maybe she wouldn’t be so strung out with her emotions if I had done something more to help,” I said.

“Bryan, let me clue you in on a little secret. Women are gonna always have something they’re stressing over. It’s what they do. You wanna know why?”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because women are programmed to think two things. One, that they have to make a man’s life comfortable. And two, that making it comfortable means shouldering as much stress as they can so we don’t experience it. I don’t know why. I’ve never claimed to be able to figure it out. But for whatever the reason, it’s how they operate. My wife has always been that way, and my two daughters who are now married operate that way. It’s one of the many ways they show us they love us. And yes, it might drive us bonkers. But in their mind, they’re really helping us.”

“But I want her to be happy, too. I don’t want her to be stressed. I want to take on this stress with her, Jack.”

“Well, when you figure out how to do that, let me know. Because I’m over fighting that fight with my wife, and we’ve been married thirty-two years,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said, chuckling. “I’ll keep that in mind.”