He walked a few more steps toward the parking area before turning in her direction. “What?”
She huffed out a breath and looked down at her notebook, then back up at him. “I want to say that I’m really glad you’re here this weekend. You’ve been a tremendous help.”
He waited. Perhaps she intended to add that she had missed him as much as he’d missed her, but she didn’t say anything else. Finally, he said, “Not my first rodeo, either. That’s why I brought so many of our own crew. If you partner every volunteer with a pro, you’ll be in tall cotton.”
He stopped and waited. She licked her lips and said, “Well, thanks.” She turned and started walking. About twenty feet away, she spun and said, “I’ve missed you. I was really happy to see you.”
He lifted his chin in acknowledgment and waited another ten seconds or so before he turned away again and headed for his truck.
Daisystood on the top step of the ladder and held a long piece of trim with one hand and a nail gun with the other. As she pulled the trigger, a dizzy spell washed over her, flooding the back of her throat with bile. She started to topple but put both hands on the wall to steady herself, effectively dropping the nail gun. It crashed to the concrete slab below.
Immediately, Ken appeared at the base of the ladder. “What happened?” he demanded.
She closed her eyes and pulled the safety glasses off her face. “Dizzy,” she whispered.
Before she even realized it, he had another ladder next to hers and climbed up beside her. He put a hand on her waist. Even though she immediately felt steadier, she slapped at his hand. “Leave me alone,” she whispered.
Keeping one hand on the wall, she put another on the top of the step ladder. With quaking knees, she slowly descended. As soon as her booted foot touched the concrete, she collapsed to a sitting position.
Ken knelt next to her, but she didn’t look at him. Instead, she kept her eyes closed, concentrating on breathing and not throwing up.
“What do you need?” he asked.
Pull me into your arms again and tell me how everything is going to be okay. “Nothing.” She felt better. The cool concrete floor and the steadiness of solid ground helped. She finally had the strength to look him in the eye. “I’m okay now.”
A frown covered his face. He started to reach out his hand but withdrew it.
“Really, Ken, I’m good. I get vertigo with heights. I guess vertigo combined with my condition isn’t the best combination.”
He looked up at the ladder and back at her. “How about we let a volunteer knock out the moulding? Maybe someone who isn’t…” he paused and looked at her stomach then back at her face, “… prone to vertigo?”
Despite the annoyance she felt, she chuckled. “Probably wise. Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
“I always will,” he said softly, then smoothly rose to his feet and walked out of the room.
She put a hand on her heart and leaned against the drywall. Emotions surged through her veins as if coming to life. How did she fix this with him? How did she make the first move? She’s the one who walked out, so she needed to be the one to initiate. But how? What happens if she tries and he laughs her away?
God, please, help me.
She pushed herself up and picked up the nail gun, inspecting it, thankful that she didn’t break anything on it. Then she found one of the Dixon Contracting carpenters and asked him to take over the moulding installation. She put on a pair of kneepads so she could install the baseboards.
OnMonday afternoon, as he finished installing the last baseboard into the fourth bedroom, he turned from his knees and sat against the wall. A crew had come in and painted last night, giving them a chance to go behind them and get all the trim installed today. He sat on new carpet and looked up at a new light fixture and ceiling fan. The smell of fresh-cut wood combined with the scent of fresh paint and new carpet. He knew the kids who came into this house would remember that smell for the rest of their lives.
Ken worked alongside his brothers as they helped finish the house. He remained impressed at the organization of supplies and labor that went into this project. Many things happened behind the scenes. The house certainly didn’t actually get entirely built in four days. But the structure and all the interior finishes did.
The brief interactions with Daisy of the last few days dug deep into his heart, breaking it more thoroughly. He could clearly see the swell of her stomach now and wondered how many people noticed. He wanted to put his hands on either side of her belly, and talk to the baby, tell it how much he loved it already and how he prayed for it all the time.
What had he hoped to accomplish here? Did he think to impress her with his mad skills enough so she’d fall at his feet, begging him to take her back? Or had he hoped for a way to go back two weeks and handle the conversation at the wedding better?
One thing he knew, he didn’t want it to stay like this. He wanted to find a way to reach her. But how? She had walked out. She needed to be the one to come forward.
Didn’t she?
His dad walked into the room. “Sitting down on the job, eh?”
Ken smiled. “Just thinking about how impressed I am with this project.”
Philip nodded. “I’ve done them before, of course, but this one went rather smoothly.” He gestured with his thumb toward the outside window. “I hired the husband. He starts with us tomorrow.”
