Finding Family

But she had to focus on her other sibling for now. “Dani, you can’t blame Mother for being worried about you. Let’s face it, you haven’t always made the best choices when it comes to men. And Kurt is married.”

“Don’t you start, too,” Dani said, immediately on the defensive. “He’s getting a divorce.”

“He’s been saying that for months. There’s been no evidence of it. Can’t you admit that there is reason to be concerned that he’s using you, Dani? That he has no intention of getting a divorce, but every hope of keeping you obligingly on the side for a while longer?”

“Now you sound just like Mother. I didn’t call you for a lecture.”

“No, you want me to argue your point to Mother. And I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I’ll stay completely out of it, but I won’t try to defend Kurt.”

“Well, thanks a lot.”

“There’s no need to snap at me. I’m not going to side with her, either. I’m not getting involved either way.”

“Neither one of you will listen to me. You’re both being closed minded and judgmental. If you would just give Kurt a chance…”

Rachel had heard this spiel all too many times. She cut in firmly, “I’ll listen to you anytime you need to talk, but I’m not arguing with Mother for you. Now, it’s getting late, and I’m tired. So, good night. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Fine. Great. Be that way. I won’t bother you with my problems again.”

She wished, Rachel thought as she closed her phone after Dani summarily ended the call. But she would bet that she hadn’t heard the end of this argument.

Chapter Four

“Would you rather start in here,” Rachel asked, walking into Mark’s bedroom, “or downstairs? It’s up to you.”

Mark looked around the bare room, his gaze lingering on the unadorned bed covered with a set of plain beige sheets and a green blanket. “Wherever you prefer to begin. Either option works for me.”

She followed his glance toward the bed, noted the head-shaped indention in the single pillow and, clearing her throat, turned quickly away. “Well, if you plan to entertain, you’ll want the gathering room finished first for your guests. But some people want their own personal space done first, just so they’ll have a beautiful room to wake up in.”

She hoped it wasn’t obvious to him that even as she spoke, she pictured him waking up in this room, all warm and tousled and heavy-eyed. The image made her mouth go dry.

She moistened her lips discreetly. “So, while I can have crews doing some work in more than one room at once, you’ll need to decide which one you want to focus on, if you still want to be actively involved with the selection of furnishings and decorations.”

Some clients were content to let her make all the choices, consulting with them very little during the process. Mark, on the other hand, had said he wanted to approve every item she brought in, though he was open to her suggestions. She didn’t mind working either way, though she’d had clients who had driven her nuts with their indecisiveness or frequent mind changes. She thought working with Mark would be a pleasure—in many ways.

“It will be nice to have this room done.” Standing beside the empty fireplace topped with a bare wood mantel, Mark looked around the large, spartanly furnished space with a wry smile. “Blank walls aren’t exactly the first thing I want to see every morning. And that bed has never been particularly comfortable. I just never got around to replacing it while I lived in the apartment I rented before. Probably because I knew I wouldn’t stay there long.”

“We’ll make sure you have a comfortable mattress. And that mahogany-framed bed with the paneled headboard we picked out is going to look great in here, especially when we add the double dresser and side tables. And a bench at the foot of the bed, so you can sit to put on your socks and shoes. With some nice artwork on the walls and a gorgeous rug to center the room, it will look amazing in here, I promise.”

“I believe you,” he said with a smile. He waved an arm toward the doorway that led down into the dressing room, closet and lounge. “We’ll do those areas while we’re at it, won’t we? It’ll be nice to have the lounge furnished for reading and watching TV in the evenings.”

“Yes, of course, we’ll work in there at the same time. The decor of the lounge will carry over from in here, making the rooms flow beautifully together. I want this suite to feel like a private retreat to you, a place to unwind and recharge.”

“I like the sound of that.”

She glanced again at the bed, and was aware that she was having to work to keep her attention focused on decorating. “So, this room and then the gathering room?”

“Sure. I don’t plan to entertain anytime soon, anyway.”

Not even his newly discovered family? Or was his lack of furniture and decoration another excuse for avoiding that meeting? She made a mental note to get as much done as possible at the same time in both his bedroom suite and the gathering room. He would have to meet his family eventually, and she thought he should have a nice place in which to entertain them.

Not that she was getting involved, she assured herself firmly. She was just doing her job.

“So, when are we going shopping?” Mark asked, rubbing his hands together in a gesture of anticipation. “I’ve got a few more days before I start my new practice. I’d like to have this project well underway before then.”

She laughed. “We can start whenever you’re ready. Except for a couple of minor details to take care of during the next few weeks, you’re my primary client right now.”

With what he’d agreed to pay her, she didn’t really need another client at the moment, she thought in private satisfaction. The price they’d agreed upon was fair, but generous.

“So we can start tomorrow?”

“Aren’t you getting the DNA test tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but I’ll be finished by noon. We could meet somewhere at, say, one o’clock.”

“You don’t want to spend the rest of tomorrow with Ethan?”

“He’s leaving town immediately after the test. He said he has to get back to work, and so does Aislinn.”

It still bothered her a little that he wasn’t trying to spend more time with his long-lost brother. It seemed to her that they would want to get to know each other better while they had this opportunity.

She suspected that Ethan considered himself to be giving Mark time and space, but that he would have been agreeable to seeing more of each other while he was in town. Mark was the one who was erecting barriers—both emotional and physical.

Still none of your business, Rachel, she told herself. “Okay, we can start tomorrow. We can meet at McClain’s Home Furnishings at one.”

“Great. Now, have we finished all our business for today?”

They had spent more than an hour discussing her drawings, samples and catalogs prior to coming upstairs to his bedroom to make a few final decisions. Unlike the last time they’d tried to consult, Mark had been fully engaged, asking lots of questions, vetoing a few ideas he didn’t like at all, making some suggestions and enthusiastically welcoming hers.

“Yes, we’ve done pretty much all we can for today. The painters should be able to start by Wednesday, and in the meantime, we can shop. You’ll have to order much of your furniture, so it will be a few weeks before it all comes in.”

Mark wasn’t the type who wanted to furnish his house at leisure, spending a long time shopping for just the right pieces for each room. He’d already informed her that he wanted the place completely furnished and decorated within a month, if possible, so that he would have a fully livable home in which to start his new medical partnership. She would almost call his behavior “nesting.” Which her friend Kristy, a former psychology student, would be sure to interpret as a readiness to settle down, start a family, move into the next phase of his life.

She swallowed hard, and told herself it would be wiser not to pursue that line of thought much further.

She had told him before, of course, that decorating was not an overnight process, but he always seemed to hope she had overstated the time frame. “That long?”

“A few weeks is actually pretty quick for an entire house. Had you wanted any carpentry work or other major renovations, you’d have been looking at a minimum of three months.”

“Then it’s just as well I like the house as it is, isn’t it? I can’t think of anything I’d change other than the wall colors, which we’ve chosen.”

“Yes, you were fortunate to have these beautiful wood floors. And the stone floor in the kitchen is exactly what I would have chosen for you, myself.”

He nodded. “So, now that you’re off the clock, so to speak, how about having dinner with me this evening? Not to talk about decorating.”

“I would love to,” she replied, “but I can’t. I have to go to my mother’s for dinner tonight.”

He managed to look both disappointed and amused. “You sound so eager.”