Page 19 of Single-Minded
She lowered her phone so Sienna could see too.
“It’s pretty,” my daughter said.
“I think so too,” Presley told her, then turned back to me. “I’m okay with the expense. I don’t want to cut corners. I want this shop to be my future, so I might as well do it the way I want it now, right?”
I put some space between us, because being that close, I caught her light, feminine scent, and it was doing things to me. Making me think of her as more than the decision maker in this project and the other one.
“It’s cheaper long-term to do it right the first time,” I agreed, but inside, I was puzzling over Presley Holiday.
Yesterday she’d been aimless, restless. I’d been able to see it on her even though I’d only just met her.
Today she’d wanted better coffee than she could find in town, and now, less than twelve hours later, she’d signed a lease on a shop and was barreling forward with opening a business.
Who did that?
Someone with the cash to back it up, for starters.
Speaking of cash…
“The saying holds true here,” I said. “In any construction project, you can pick two of the three: good, fast, or cheap.”
“I want good and fast,” she said without hesitation. She stepped closer, facing me, as if to convey this was important. “I understand this would be a lot for anyone to do on the weekends or after hours. I’m willing to pay well for the labor. If there’s any way you can do it, I’d like to work with you, West. Will you think about it?”
I felt Sienna crane her neck to look up at me. “Maybe we could use the money to go on a trip, Daddy,” she pointed out quietly.
I peered down at her, took in her earnest, yearning expression. I flipped my gaze to the two outside, the other two parts of my heart.
I wanted to give these three everything their hearts desired. As a construction worker with no college degree and no other training save for the military, my earning potential would never be in the jet-set range. But maybe I could find a way to do this extra project. It’d mean sacrificing time with them for a few weeks and finding someone to stay with them, but it could also mean giving them travel memories they’d hold on to for the rest of their lives.
I let out a conflicted breath. “I’ll think about it,” I told Presley.
I had a feeling I’d do nothing but think about it until I could come to the best decision.
Chapter Six
Presley
Wednesday afternoon I was on my patio, deeply engrossed in an Ethiopian coffee grower’s website, when I realized someone was standing on the other side of the table from me, and I startled.
“West,” I said on an exhale. “You scared me.”
“That wasn’t my intent.”
I glanced around, taking stock of my surroundings, realizing the construction racket from inside had stopped. The shadows of the trees on my lot were long, and though the sun was still up, it was no longer beating down on the dock directly. In fact, the dock was now in shadow.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked.
I gestured to the chair dumbly, taking in the sight of him. He wore dark gray cargo-style work pants and a black tee with the small Dawson Construction logo on the side of his chest. His thick chest with well-defined pecs was discernible through the shirt. He looked like a man who’d labored all day: dusty, a little dirty, a hint of sweat on his chest, and yet so appealing, even though he’d removed his tool belt.
I checked the time on my phone as he sat. “It’s ten after five?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I narrowed my eyes at the ma’am, and he laughed and shrugged.
My stomach rumbled with hunger I hadn’t previously noticed.
“Where were you when I came out here?” he asked. “I’ve never seen someone so focused in all my life.”
