Bradley walked backward toward the stairs. “Don’t want to outstay my welcome. You may not invite me back.” He winked at them, turned, and headed toward the stairs.
CHAPTER29
The next day,Daniel took Ali to get the rest of her things from her apartment. Her mother was there and tried to get Ali to reconsider. Not the moving in with him part. The kicking her out part.
Ali held firm, though, and he couldn’t have been prouder of her. Zelda Foster was a master manipulator. She tried to play on Ali’s emotions, even pulling out the ‘I gave birth to you’ card.
He was tempted to say forget it and just buy Ali replacements for all her things, but he knew there were some items he couldn’t go to a story and buy. Her art for one. Ali had talent. Her eye for color was spot-on and he wanted to nurture that side of her. He was already thinking what he’d need to do to convert one of the upstairs rooms into an art studio for her.
It took over an hour to pack up the rest of her stuff and load it into his SUV. The furniture was going to stay—at least for now. If Zelda decided she wanted to take over Ali’s lease, she wouldn’t have to worry about furnishing the place. If not, they’d donate anything Ali didn’t want to keep to charity.
As they were pulling away, he noticed the tears in Ali’s eyes. He drove to a nearby parking lot, found a spot, and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay.”
“Why does she have to be that way?”
He rested his cheek against her head as she nestled her face into the crook of his neck. “I don’t know.”
“I’ve tried to be a good daughter. Even though she wasn’t there for me as a kid, I tried to be there for her.”
“Sometimes there’s no pleasing people, no matter what we do. It’s the way she is. Nothing you do or say is going to change that. It’s up to her to decide if she wants to change the way she lives her life.”
Ali snorted.
They sat there, Daniel in no hurry to get home. He’d called Kevin at the office and let him know he wouldn’t be in today. Luke was finishing up the renovations on one of his current flips, and he had a stack of new listings to go over at home. If he missed out on a deal because Ali needed him, he was okay with that.
Over the next two weeks, he and Ali found their footing. She spent some time every day while he was at work painting in her new studio. He enjoyed coming home from work to see her latest creation.
But he could tell she was getting restless. Kim was at work all day and so was he. She wanted to do something besides take care of the house, which she was already doing an excellent job of. By the end of the first week, she’d cleaned out the cabinets in his kitchen and reorganized them. She’d also made a good dent on deep cleaning the first floor. The only thing she had left to tackle was their bedroom suite.
As they were lying in bed that evening, her limp and warm from their play, he approached the subject. “Would you like to come into work with me tomorrow? I need to take a tour of my active projects. I wanted to get your opinion on a few things.”
Ali had been playing with the hair on his chest, but she stopped her movement and looked up at him. “You want my opinion on your flips?”
“I do.” He ran his hand down her side, enjoying the feel of her soft curves beneath his palm. “I have five projects going right now and they need to be visited throughout the construction process. I can’t always get out to them as often as I’d like and I thought if you were still wanting a job, you might be interested in assisting me.”
She didn’t respond right away. “Are you making up a job for me?”
His chest vibrated under her hand. “Yes.” She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued before she could. “But it would also help me out. I’d like to take on more projects, but I don’t have the time to stay on top of them. One of the hardest parts of a successful flip is keeping things moving and on budget. Luke is good at watching the budget, but he can’t be everywhere at once. Despite how much he tries.”
“So what would you want me to do, exactly?”
There was skepticism in her voice, but he could work with that. “You’d drive around to all the properties a couple times a week to make sure things are getting done. If it’s not, then you would address it.”
“Address it how?”
He smiled. “You’d come to me or Luke and let us know so we can get it fixed.”
“That doesn’t sound too difficult,” she said.
“You might change your mind about that.”
She’d started playing with his chest hair again. “Why’s that?”
“Because occasionally you’ll come across neighbors like Grant Jacobson.”
Her hand stilled again. He'd told her what he’d found. They’d spent an entire evening going over the file together. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”
He knew she was no longer talking about his flips. “The plan’s already in motion.”