Return to You (23 page)

It was three days until Mr. Williams's events, and Selena felt completely out of sorts. Business was great, she had suddenly seemed to increase her clientele by almost double, and she was finally starting to sleep better. Sort of. Well, she was no longer waking up crying in the middle of the night.

Baby steps.

Kate came into her office with the usual spring in her step. “How's it going today, boss lady? Ready for world domination yet?” She placed a Starbucks mug on Selena's desk along with some papers.

Selena chuckled. “Mr. Williams was supposed to send over a key for me to get a look at this house for Friday night. He's certainly dragged his feet on it. Maybe we need to…” She halted her words when Kate held out her hand and presented a single gold key. “Okay, never mind.” She looked around on her desk for the file she had started for the engagement dinner. “I hate being forced to do something last minute, especially when it's going to be all on me.”

“Please, this sort of thing you could do with your eyes closed; it's a no-brainer. Plus, it will do you good to actually work an event.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” She wanted to sound a little more indignant, but she just didn't have the energy for it.

“It means that in the beginning you were the go-to gal at all of the events; you worked every party, and you weren't afraid to get your hands dirty.”

“I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty! That's not why this whole thing bothers me,” Selena said defensively.

“Then what is it? Is he not paying enough?”

“It's not about the money.”

“Okay, then are there problems with the menu?”

Selena shook her head. “If anything, the menu is exceptional. I have the chef over at Adrienne's catering the meal. We've got a Caesar salad, lobster bisque, and fresh bread with honey butter followed by a rack of lamb, fingerling potatoes, and a fresh vegetable medley. Dessert will be chocolate mousse, because apparently it's the future bride's favorite.”

“She has excellent taste,” Kate said with a smile.

“So it seems.” Selena scanned the file again. “I've got enough candles and flowers to decorate a small cathedral, and from what I can tell, the music will be handled by the future groom. All I have to do is show up, set up, serve, and go.”

“Should be a breeze.”

“Then I'll head over to help set up the business event, and by the time that's over, I'll want to go home and curl up in a ball and spend the rest of the weekend in bed.”

“I believe that can be arranged,” Kate said. When Selena looked at her quizzically, she expanded. “I mean, we have enough coverage for the weekend that you won't have to worry about anything. You're sacrificing your time in order to please a client, so I don't mind stepping up and handling Saturday's sweet sixteen and Sunday's baby shower. Consider it my gift to you.”

“Throw in a massage and you've got a deal.”

“I'll see what I can do.” With a wink and smile, Kate did her usual skip from the office.

“What would I do without her?” Selena sighed as she picked up the mug and smiled when she smelled hot chocolate. Without ever needing the details, Kate seemed to know that something had happened while Selena was away. Since then, Kate had pretty much been her rock. Whenever Selena found herself getting a little too sad or on the verge of tears during the day, Kate would appear as if by magic and have either a funny story to tell or some other distraction that always seemed to do the trick. Like the hot chocolate. “If I could clone her, I'd make a fortune.”

Taking a few minutes to straighten her desk and enjoy her drink, Selena did her best to let her mind go blank for a little while. Well, maybe not blank, but she forced herself to think of something other than work. She needed to call Jen and see how she was doing. If she had to go by their last conversation from a week ago, though, she'd say that Jen was in her best place ever. School was winding down and things were progressing nicely with Officer Mike. It made her smile to think that something wonderful had come out of something horrible. If it hadn't been for the creepy stalker boyfriend, Jen never would have met Mike.
Maybe
she'll be the one to get the happily ever after
, Selena thought. She wasn't even jealous of it; she was thrilled for her friend.

With everything in order and the key in hand, Selena grabbed her purse and decided to go tour this house that Mackenzie Williams had her catering on Friday night. She looked at her watch and saw that it was almost lunchtime, so she figured she'd kill two birds with one stone.

“I'm going to head out and tour the house now, Kate,” she said as she came out of her office. “Can you text me the address so I can do the whole GPS thing on my phone?” Technology was always a challenge for Selena, and she knew it was going to take a few minutes to figure out how to get the damn thing programmed. She held out her phone to her assistant. “Or maybe you could just plug it in for me and save me the time and aggravation.”

“Oh, I don't think you'll need to do that.”

Selena looked up. “Really? Why?”

Kate paused and looked around nervously. “You're probably going to be a little upset.”

Like that was anything new. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “Tell me why.”

“It's your house.”

Wait…what? That didn't make any sense. “My house? Why am I catering a romantic dinner for some strange couple at my condo? That wasn't part of the deal!”

“No, no, no…not your condo, your
house
. You know, the old Davidson estate.” She softened her words as if to cushion the blow a little. “I know you've always loved that place.”

“No! That's not possible!” she cried. “Seriously?”

Kate nodded sadly. “I wouldn't lie to you about something like this.”

Selena had fallen in love with the property from the moment she saw it many years ago. The craftsman style had seemed a little out of place amongst all of the beach homes, but set back on one of the biggest properties in the area, it just seemed to make sense. She used to detour almost every night on her way home just to see it. It had been a not-so-secret dream of hers to own the home one day when her business was more established.

Guess
that
ship
has
sailed
, she thought sadly. “I didn't even know it was for sale!”

“Well, it seems like the Davidson kids didn't really want the property, but since it had been in the family for so long, they weren't sure what to do with it. The whole thing was handled privately.”

“Why didn't you tell me any of this?” She knew Kate was a wealth of information and seemed to know what was going on long before most people did. It pained her that she would have kept something of this magnitude to herself when she knew how much Selena had wanted the place.

“Selena,” Kate began patiently. “You and I both know how much you love that house, but it was way out of your budget. You would have tortured yourself with the knowledge that it was available and you couldn't have it.”

“But still—”

Kate interrupted her. “If it hadn't been for this event, you never would have known that it sold. Like I said, it was all handled privately. I'm sorry that you had to find out about it this way.” She shrugged and gave a small smile. “I thought I was doing you a favor by not bringing it up. Imagine my surprise when Mr. Williams gave me the address.”

“Some people have all the damn luck,” she muttered as the thought of doing this event became even more unappealing.

Watching the sadness and disappointment on her boss's face was almost too much to bear. Kate had to try to find the silver lining to cheer Selena up. “Look at it this way: now you finally get to see the inside of it, and if you play nice, you'll make friends with the new homeowners and maybe they'll invite you over to hang out so you can pretend that it's yours.”

She crossed her arms and pouted. “You know they're going to decorate it all wrong.”

Kate stood and patted her boss's arm. “I know. You'll just have to hope that they haven't done too much yet, and then you can offer some creative advice.”

With a disgruntled snort, Selena told her assistant she'd be back in a couple of hours and left. The whole ride over to the Davidson estate had Selena's emotions all over the place. That was supposed to be
her
home, a place she had been working toward and dreaming about for years, and it didn't seem fair that this unknown bride-to-be was going to have it for herself. How fair was that? Why didn't things work out for her? Ever? Just when she thought that her life was finally heading in a positive direction, something always happened to knock her back down. Why did the universe hate her so much?

Turning the radio on full blast, Selena dropped the self-pity and forced herself into full-blown work mode. She would make this the most memorable proposal in the history of proposals. By the time she was done, anyone who was even thinking of getting engaged was going to want her to handle the event for them.

The house itself wasn't set too far back from the road and boasted a wide circular gravel driveway. The new owners had clearly already started putting their stamp on the place because there was a fresh coat of paint on the house and the flower beds had been spruced up. Climbing from the car, she fought off a wave of envy and forced the little green monster to go back into hiding.

At least for now.

Six steps flanked by those craftsman columns that she loved led her up to a wide wraparound porch. The fresh white paint on the trim made everything look so bright and cheery. Wicker furniture was scattered around in designated seating areas, and at one end she spotted a swing for two. “I would have put it at the other end,” she said under her breath as she pulled out the key.

Once she opened the door, her breath caught in her throat. It was magnificent. Sleek hardwood floors, high ceilings, open floor plan… It was everything she had imagined it to be. Carefully closing the door behind her, she took her time touring the first floor. The furnishings were sparse, the formal dining room was empty except for a couple of boxes in the corner, and the living room had a large white sectional in the center with a flat-screen TV mounted above the fireplace. Other than that, the first floor was bare. Mr. Williams had alerted her to that fact, so she'd rented a small, cozy dining set for the dinner Friday night. Looking around, she made a mental note of where she would place it and then did her best to detach herself from the house and focus on it only as a venue.

The kitchen was huge, with top-of-the-line, restaurant-quality appliances. She would have no trouble heating up and prepping the dinner from here. Over her shoulder she noted the French doors leading out to the deck and wondered if an outdoor dinner would work better. Opening the doors and stepping out, she considered the space. A cool breeze kicked up and that made her decision for her—inside was safer. If the happy couple wanted to move things outdoors, they could do that on their own. Maybe she could rent one of those outdoor heaters and set up a small area where they could come and admire the view. With a shrug, she decided it wasn't a necessity.

Taking out her camera, she photographed the spaces she would be using so that, once back in her office, she could then map out where everything she ordered was going to go and how it would all look when she was done. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a tape measure. When she was done taking down all the dimensions of the room, Selena pulled out her iPad and brought up the app she used to double-check all her specs. Some would say it was overkill, but Selena preferred to think of it as her way of making sure there were no surprises on event day.

With nothing left to do, Selena headed back to the front door. The stairs leading to the second floor beckoned. “No,” she chided herself. “There is no reason for me to go up there. My work will solely be down here.” She looked from the front door to the stairs and back again.

“This will only serve to torture myself,” she said out loud as she inched her way toward the first step. It would be so easy to just turn away and walk out the door, but then she'd have to live forever with the curiosity of never knowing what was up there. How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? For all she knew, going up there and seeing the space for herself could cure her of her love for the house. It could be hideous, a space that she herself could never live with.

“Well, then I really don't have a choice, do I?” She climbed the stairs and once at the top realized that now she only loved the space more. There was a large loft area at the top of the stairs with a large picture window that overlooked the front of the house. Double doors at the far end of the room led to the master suite.

“That's just not fair,” she sighed when she walked through the doors. The room itself wasn't big to the point of obscenity, but with the tray ceiling and windows that overlooked the back of the house along with a private balcony, it wasn't hard to imagine sitting out there with a glass of wine and watching the sun set. Hating herself for not leaving when she had a chance, Selena moved on to finish the tour.

There were three more bedrooms and bathrooms, each boasting a spectacular view of the property. The space was filled with natural lighting, the finishes were all high quality, and she felt that wave of envy crashing back over her again. “So not fair, so not fair, so not fair,” she chanted as she walked down the stairs.

Leaving the second level behind, she went back to the kitchen and out onto the deck. The backyard was a large green space, which was odd for this area, considering it was so close to the beach. The entire yard was enclosed with tall bushes that allowed for optimum privacy. As she stood there and took it all in, she could even imagine having a pool there—for those who wanted to swim without having to walk all the way down to the beach and deal with the sand. At the far left corner of the yard was a white lattice archway that led to the path down to the beach. “You know you have to go and see it for yourself,” she chided as she walked across the massive yard. Standing at the top of the stairs, the view took her breath away.