CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A week later, Rachel looked at the color charts and fabric samples on the table. “You weren’t joking when you told me you were desperate for help.”
The light in John’s eyes made her smile. “If I don’t tell the interior designer what I want, they’re going to find another client. Bella’s color choices are all various shades of pink and purple.”
“And yellow,” Bella added from between them. “I like yellow because it reminds me of sunshine.”
Rachel thought that was as good a reason as any to like a color. She glanced down at the house plans before picking up one set of colors. “Is this for your room, Bella?”
Bella nodded. “Princess pink for these three walls.” She pointed to the walls she was talking about. “Mrs. Daniels helped me choose just the right yellow for this wall. It’s going to look so pretty.”
Rachel smiled. “You’re right. They’re beautiful colors. What other rooms have you helped choose paint for?”
Bella picked up the other color samples that Rachel had left in alphabetical order. “The kitchen, my bathroom, the garage, and the mud room.” She pointed to the kitchen colors. “Mrs. Daniels likes yellow, too. So we chose a creamy yellow for the kitchen walls. My bathroom is purple. Dad’s cars are all bright colors, so I chose white for the garage, and the mudroom is the same color as the kitchen. Mrs. Daniels said it would look really nice.”
“That’s a lot of great colors.”
John ran his hands through his hair. “Do you think it will work?”
“I think it will look amazing.” Rachel picked up the samples that the kitchen company had left with him. “I like the stone counter that you chose. I’d maybe go a shade lighter on the cabinets, so they’re a warm white rather than a soft yellow.”
John frowned. “There’s a difference?”
Rachel picked up a color chart and showed him. “A big difference. If it were my kitchen, I’d want the counter to look fresh and sparkly. If the cabinets are too yellow, they might make the stone counter look yellow, too.”
John pointed to the living rooms. “What about these rooms.”
Rachel looked at the colors John had short-listed. “What furniture are you putting in the rooms?”
John leaned against the table. “That’s the other problem I’ve got. When we rented this house, it was fully furnished. Apart from the beds and a few photos, the rest of the furniture will stay here when we move out.”
Bella was practically bouncing on the seat beside Rachel. “Do you want to come shopping with us?”
“For furniture?”
John sighed. “I know it’s asking a lot. You’ve probably got things you need to do. But I really need to get this sorted. We don’t need to buy anything, but if we take photos of what we’d like, the interior designer will handle the rest.”
“Why don’t you ask the interior designer to help you? They’ll know more about what looks good and what doesn’t.”
Bella looked up from the table. “Because we want you to help us. It’ll be fun. Please.”
Rachel looked between John and Bella. It was hard to say no when two pairs of eyes were pleading with her. “Okay, I’ll do it. I just hope you can live with what we choose. What’s your budget?”
John raised his eyebrows.
“No budget? Not even a little idea of how much money you want to spend?”
“Nope.”
Rachel looked at the house plans in front of her. Walking into a store and choosing whatever you wanted, regardless of the price, would have been most people’s idea of heaven. But all it did for Rachel was stress her out. “I have one condition.”
John smiled. “Only one?”
She narrowed her gaze and his smile grew wider. “We have to visit at least two second-hand stores. You can find some lovely pieces of furniture that you wouldn’t see anywhere else.”
“Poppy’s mom bought a chair from an estate sale,” Bella said in her sing-song voice. “She stapled different fabric on the outside and gave it to Poppy for her room. It’s really pretty.”
John started stacking the papers in front of them. “It sounds like we’ve got a deal. We have to be at the airport in an hour. Does anyone want a drink?”
Rachel put her hand on his arm. “Wait. What do you mean? I thought we were shopping in Bozeman.”
“Not enough choice. We’re flying to Denver.”
“Denver?” Rachel felt a little woozy. No one she knew flew hundreds of miles to go furniture shopping.
Bella patted her hand. “It’s okay. We’re going on a plane, not in a helicopter. You can’t see the ground so much in a plane.”
Rachel looked at John. “You’d already decided to go to Denver before you asked me?”
John cleared his throat. “We needed to register our flight plan. I booked the plane yesterday.”
“What if I didn’t want to go?”
“Bella and I would have gone on our own, but it wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
Bella leaned toward Rachel and whispered, “We’ve got tickets for The Wizard of Oz, too.”
“The movie?” Rachel said weakly.
John shuffled some papers. “At the Buell Theatre,” he mumbled.
“You bought theater tickets as well? Are we staying overnight?”
Bella opened her mouth to say something, but John jumped in ahead of her. “Why don’t you ask Mrs. Daniels for a suitcase and choose a dress to wear tonight?”
Bella slid off her chair. “Okay. Will you and Rachel come and help me?”
John nodded. “As soon as we’re finished in here.”
Bella grinned at Rachel and left the room.
John’s gaze followed his daughter. “I’m sorry about that. It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“I just…I guess I’m a bit…overwhelmed. I was happy to help choose paint colors, even furniture from stores in Bozeman. But Denver? Today?” Rachel tried to explain how she was feeling. “Most people don’t fly to another city to buy furniture. Except if they get cheap seats on an airline. But we aren’t flying economy, are we?”
John shook his head.
If she hadn’t known him as well as she did, his expression would have passed for neutral indifference. But she recognized it for what it was. He was trying not to push her, trying hard to let everything about his billionaire lifestyle soak into her budget sized brain.
She took a deep breath and looked around the table. “I guess we’d better hurry. We don’t want to miss our flight.”
John’s face relaxed. “Thank you.”
“Remember that when I walk your feet off. Shopping for furniture is a painful process.”
“Only if you don’t know where to look,” John said carefully. He pulled a piece of paper out of a folder. “Courtesy of the interior designer. We’ll be met at the airport by a chauffeur-driven Hummer and taken to some of the best stores in Denver.”
“You forgot my special condition.”
“Only temporarily. I’ll have a list of second-hand stores emailed to me before we land. Would auction houses count?”
“Okay. But we’re not paying collector’s prices for furniture we can buy cheaper somewhere else.”
“The price doesn’t matter. I could buy every auction house in Denver if I wanted to.”
“Don’t remind me.” Rachel slid the last few color charts into a folder and handed them to John. “I bet Bella’s already packed Miss Snuggles.”
“And one of her Anne of Green Gables books,” John added. “If we’re lucky she’s remembered a dress for tonight.”
Rachel sighed. “She’s almost nine years old. I can guarantee that she won’t have forgotten.”
John held her hand as they walked up the stairs. “It’s just as well it’s not my money that you’re attracted to.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I’ll have a little less after our new house is built.”
Rachel frowned. “I don’t think it will make much d
ifference.”
John kissed the side of her face. “Neither do I.”