soon do you want me to start?” she asked, still shocked by the sudden change in her schedule and the huge windfall.
“As soon as you can manage. Next week would be great. I’m anxious to get this wing finished.”
She pulled her calendar close, though she knew she could start Monday. He couldn’t be any more anxious to finish than she was, because as soon as she was done she could focus her full attention on Brigmore Charities’ projects—and now she would have the funds to accomplish some of the agency’s goals.
Years ago, the agency, started by Clyde Brigmore, one of her grandfather’s friends, had almost gone under until her grandfather got involved, and with the support of her dad’s church and her grandfather’s hard work, the agency went from running a very small homeless shelter to supporting a larger shelter as well as a children’s shelter. In the past year they had opened an animal rescue branch. Now many churches in Kansas City helped support the agency, along with individual donations, and most of her work focused on acquiring funding. It was work she loved, and through it she felt close to her grandfather.
She realized Blake was talking and she needed to pay attention. She tried to focus on Blake Callahan.
“Would you like that?” he asked, and she felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
“I’m sorry. It’s difficult to get my mind away from the changes in my life and the fabulous contribution you just made. What did you say to me?”
His dark eyes twinkled with amusement. “I’m glad you’re pleased with our deal. I’m very pleased with it. What I asked was about transportation. If you’d like, I have a private jet. I can have you flown to Dallas, where a limo will take you to the ranch, which is about an hour and a half away from the airport.”
“Thank you. I’ll accept that invitation. If I start Monday, I’d like to arrive Sunday and get settled.”
“That works. I’ll be at the ranch, and I’ll show you around.”
She nodded, unable to keep from looking again at the spectacular checks.
“Then we have a deal?” he asked.
She looked up into black, fathomless eyes that seemed to hide his feelings. “We have a deal,” she replied, feeling a tingle.
For a fleeting moment she wondered what she had gotten herself into. What would it be like working with him daily, staying in his home, having him constantly close at hand? The questions made her pulse race...but then common sense said he would turn supervision of the job over to someone and go on with his life.
In a languid manner, he stood. “If you have any questions, feel free to call me. Here’s my business card and another number that’s private. If you’ll let me know your preference for what time of day you’d like to leave Kansas City, I’ll let you know about the flight arrangements.”
“Thanks. I can tell you right now, I’ll be ready to leave after twelve Sunday.”
“How should I contact you?”
She took a card off her desk and held it out to him. “My cell number is there, and you can always get me that way.” As their fingers brushed, she had another flash of physical awareness of him.
She shrugged away the feeling as ridiculous. She couldn’t understand the tingly reaction she had to him—that had never happened with any other man, but it was meaningless at this point in her life. She wasn’t dating because she was focused on her work. This was a business arrangement, and she intended to keep her relationship with Blake Callahan professional.
She walked him to the door where he turned. This time she avoided offering her hand. Even so, as she stood looking up at him, dark eyes searched hers for a few seconds as they stood in silence. “This should be good for both of us,” he said in a husky voice that heated her.
“I hope so,” she said faintly.
He opened the door and stepped out before turning again.
“I’ll text the flight arrangements and have a limo take you to the plane. The chauffeur will pick you up wherever you want.”
“Thank you. That’s a huge convenience. Until then, thank you for the donation, and the job and for having so much faith in me.”
“I’ve seen the results of your work,” he answered. He turned to leave and paused at her assistant’s scarred desk, which had one leg missing and was propped up with bricks. He told Nan that he was glad to have met her, and then, smiling at Sierra and her assistant, he left.
When he had disappeared from sight, she turned to her assistant. “I’m going to take some time off. He’s hired me to do a decorating job at his ranch.”
“Mercy! I’d take that job, too. That’s the most handsome man to ever walk through this office. Don’t tell Bert I said that.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Sierra said with a smile, thinking about her assistant director, Bert Hollingsworth, who was six years older than she was, with sandy hair he never could get totally under control and gray eyes that held a perpetual worried look. She had been friends with him since the moment they were introduced. Unlike her response to Blake Callahan, Bert had never once evoked any physical reaction in her.
Reassuring herself once again that she would see little of Blake once she was on the job, she tried to shove him out of mind.
“Will you please call Bert and then both of you come to my office? We have some things to discuss.”
Giving her a quizzical look, Nan nodded and picked up a phone, repeating Sierra’s instructions to Bert.
Sierra left her door open as she hurried to her desk and sat, taking the checks in hand to stare at them again in amazement. All that money—her head spun at the thought. She had promised her grandfather she would continue his hard work and help people when they needed help.
She had been raised to believe in the good in people, and every week she had proof of that goodness from one person or another. Blake Callahan couldn’t understand why she’d left interior design, but her career in nonprofit work was about what really counted in life. She had great faith in the ability of the human spirit to overcome adversity.
Shortly, Nan and Bert entered her office, Bert with his usual smile. “How’d the meeting go?”
“That’s the reason I wanted to talk to you. He’s hired me to do the interior design for a wing he’s built onto his ranch house. I’ll have to take a leave of absence.”
“I thought you gave up that career,” Bert said, frowning slightly.
“I thought so, too, but he gave me two payments—one for my work, and one as a donation to this agency. Here are the identical checks—each one for half a million.” She passed the checks to Bert, who shared them with Nan. Bert stared open-mouthed while Nan read the amounts again. Nan’s eyes were wide as she looked at Sierra.
“All that money to our agency,” she whispered.
“Saints above.” Bert shook his head, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “I knew the man was wealthy, but this—I never dreamed we’d get this kind
