Page 56 of Call It Home

I looked at Mac, knowing a thousand emotions were flashing across my face. “I honestly don’t know,” I admitted. “It’s been hard enough to hear professionals give their opinions. But today is what really counts. What if they don’t see all the choices we made to give them the best experience? What if they don’t like the colors? What if—”

Before I could finish my anxious ramblings, I was cut off by a swift but determined kiss. Mac leaned his head against mine. “What if they love it?”

“Well, they should,” I retorted. “But—”

“No morebuts. You knew going into this you weren’t going to please everyone, but not everyone matters.”

“Well, yes…”

He cut me off before my nextbutcame out. “Cam, listen. Are you pleased with our work?”

“Well, I—”

“Yes or no.”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters. There will be critics, but no one is going to leave you over your choices.”

His insight hit me like a ton of bricks. “You playing armchair psychiatrist, big guy?”

He shrugged. “Not really. But you found your passion again. That’s the most important thing here.”

Wow. He was right. Every choice I made was because I loved it. And sure, I wanted other people to love it, as well, but once I let go and designed what I wanted, the criticism began to sting less and less.

I tilted my head at him. “You never told me why you changed your mind to come here with me.”

“That’s easy.” He kissed my nose, then grinned. “The money. Plus, I really wanted to see the princess get down and dirty.”

Once before, that comment would have offended me. But now, I laughed. “How’d that work out for you?”

His eyes lit up. “Better than I could have ever imagined.”

I stretched up on my toes to kiss him, but he met me halfway. Our kisses had changed since the very first one. Sure, there were still plenty with a hell of a lot of fire, but more and more, there had been ones like this—sweeter and more tender. It was like an unspoken expression of stronger feelings we were both too afraid to voice.

But now was not the time to dive into that.

With one last kiss, I said, “You’re right. Thank you. Let’s go.”

Mac and I walked quietly to the staging area, where we met with Cash at the beginning and end of each contest. We’d kept our growing relationship out of the public eye, but as we walked side by side, his hand brushed mine, and his pinkie finger entwined with mine.

He winked at me. “We got this.”

All the work—the painting, the new construction, the design choices—done. After weeks of planning and working countless hours, Mac and I, as well as a small group of our team’s crew, had been up past midnight doing the final touches and staging the house, double- and triple-checking absolutely everything. I was exhausted beyond words, but I was satisfied—in more ways than one.

I didn’t know if something had been said to Vivien. While she didn’t lavish much praise, her snarky comments had stopped. We’d finished strong. Team Roy-Al won the bonus room contest, but the judges couldn’t say enough about our outside design.

I had Jared himself to thank for that. His insight that they were trying to draw more people to the lodge during the off-season months inspired us to include an outdoor fire pit and a bocce ball court along one side of the backyard. We added two cornhole boards and a big enough patio where a king-sized chess or checkers game could be played. Everything could be stored in the large mudroom, which was also big enough for guests to store ski gear as they came in from the skiing or hiking trails.

“Good morning, folks,” Cash boomed once the director gave the signal for filming to begin. “Today’s a big day, perhaps the biggest yet. The houses are all finished, and the judges will be here soon.”

His words were met with a loud cheer from all of us. I might be exhausted, but there was a special energy in the air, a mixture of anticipation and relief, even a little sadness that we would be leaving such a big piece of ourselves behind.

“As a reminder,” Cash continued, “this week, we’ve invited one hundred people, mostly current lodge guests and townsfolk, to come and judge your houses. In addition to them, we have a small group of hotel industry experts who will also be weighing in. We’ll be sharing some of their comments with you tonight, but we’ll be saving their final results until the show airs in a couple of months. And, as you know, the final winner won’t be named until our television audience weighs in that same night. I know that all of these houses are incredible. And this afternoon, you’ll be able to see for yourself what your competition has been working on when you tour their houses for the first time.”

We clapped and cheered. We’d been teased each week by the comments the judges made, so now I was anxious to see what the other designers had done that had led to some of the other teams’ victories.

“On a bright note, you guys can use the day to do whatever you want. You’ve certainly worked hard and have earned some rest and relaxation.”

---