“She’s had some tough breaks and has always been very maternal to me, at ten years my senior. And when she bought that white elephant house in Indian Bayou and announced she wanted to keep running his business?” He shrugged. “I knew she’d need help and I was looking for a way out of the New York City grind. It worked.”
“That’s noble and brotherly of you.”
“She would argue with that description.”
Vivien raised a sardonic brow. “Your sister would argue with sunshine.”
“True. But she is my only family. I came down here and this place was on the market, so…I bought it. I mean, I love the woman, but I don’t want to live with her. I’m notthatnoble or brotherly.”
“Are you staying long enough to really decorate or is this a temporary and quick fix?”
“Eh, not sure yet. But for now, I don’t really want to spend much time or energy on this floor. There’s this blank space upstairs, however…” He motioned to the stairs. “I know it can be something, but I can’t figure out what. Take a look?”
“Absolutely.”
She walked with him up the stairs, using the vantage point to see the whole of the first floor, which had tremendous potential.
“My office and bedroom are all first floor,” he told her. “I never come up here. But the guest rooms are here, and I do get a decent amount of visits from business colleagues and friends from New York. I’d like a place to hang out that isn’t all about water, swimming, or sunshine. Not that I mind any of that, I just want options.”
They reached the top of the stairs, and he led her into a loft space that stretched across the back of the house. Sunlight flooded through more windows overlooking the lake, and an empty expanse of polished white oak floors offered endless possibilities.
“I work from home most of the year,” Danny said. “Thought I’d turn this into something more usable. I don’t have a TV downstairs and don’t really want one, but I’d like a place to watch games and movies, entertain friends.”
Vivien walked the perimeter, her designer’s eye already clicking into gear. “Well, the bones are incredible. High ceilings, great light, and that view…” She turned back toward him. “Do you want a true sports bar vibe? Or something a little more polished?”
“Somewhere in the middle,” he said, crossing his arms and thinking. “Comfortable. Nothing too theme-y. And absolutely no neon beer signs.”
She laughed. “Thank God.”
“I’m nothing like my sister in the design area,” he added.
She gave him a sidelong glance. “In terms of taste or…demands?”
“Both,” he said quickly. “I’m wide open to your ideas and trust your taste to reflect mine. I’d like to keep it in line with my personality, but if I decide I want to sell, it should be neutral enough to do that.”
Nodding, she narrowed her eyes and pictured what she could do. “Like a man cave, but not dark and depressing,” she said. “A wet bar there, a TV on that wall. Comfortable seating, window darkening treatments for when you want to watch a movie.”
“Yes and yes,” he said.
They talked through ideas—stone backsplash, low-profile lighting, modular seating. He loved her idea for a pool table with black felt, so she sketched a few notes on her iPad, and took pictures and measurements.
All the while, she sensed him watching her—not in a way that made her self-conscious, but… aware.
“Would you mind taking a peek at my guest suites, too?” he asked as she closed up her tablet. “They are bare minimum now, and I wouldn’t mind a refresh—art, décor. Maybe matching towels.”
She smiled and followed him down the hall to two good-sized bedrooms that looked a lot like the ones in the Summer House that she’d yet to decorate.
“In fact,” she murmured to herself, looking around. “I could replicate…”
“Pardon?”
“Just thinking. I’m doing several guest rooms in the Summer House and if you don’t mind, I could simply use the same themes and colors. If I buy double the furniture, I’ll get a discount.”
“Sounds good. So you’re doing your own house, too?”
“It’s a family house,” she said. “My brother is sort of the lead on it and I’m staging it for sale.”
His brows rose. “You’re selling that beautiful waterfront property? Why?”
