Apparently knowing Jordan Everwood only sent people running in the other direction.
“Then show me,” Astrid said.
Jordan blinked, took a second to steady her breath. “What?”
“Show me,” Astrid said again, waving her hand at the room. “Surely you have something planned beyond this hideous paint color.”
“By all means, don’t hold back,” Jordan said.
“I won’t,” Astrid said, a challenge in her eyes.
Jordan felt it then, that spark she used to get so often before Meredith got sick. That drive toward creating, toward making something that another person loved. Granted, it had always been furniture up to this point, shelves and cabinets and tables, but Jordan knew her design plans for the Everwood were good.
And goddammit, she was going to prove it to Astrid Parker.
Chapter Eighteen
TONIGHT HAD NOTgone as planned. Astrid had wanted to come to the inn, spend some time in the rooms by herself, and figure out her next move. All day long, she told herself she wasn’t avoiding the Everwood on purpose, that she’d be totally fine to see Jordan on a professional basis after their night together, after the dream and everything she and Delilah had talked about. But each time she thought about being in the same room with the woman, her skin flushed, her belly flopped around like she was a tween with her first crush, and she genuinely felt like she was going to throw up.
Not unlike how she felt now, but there was nothing to be done about it. Jordan had caught her, and Astrid was doing her level best to keep from actually vomiting in front of her.
Jordan rubbed the back of her neck, thinking. Something about the motion—the way Jordan’s skin smoothed over her delicate collarbone, one hip popped out a little farther than the other—set Astrid’s stomach ablaze again.
Jesus, this was ridiculous. Astrid didn’t do this. She didn’t go all gaga over a crush. She didn’tgetcrushes, period. Spencer definitelynever brought out these kinds of feelings. She’d have to go all the way back to middle school, when crushes were a complete novelty, to liken anything to what her body was doing right now as she watched Jordan’s golden-brown hair swoop over her forehead.
Shit, she was in so much trouble.
“Can I see your iPad?” Jordan finally asked.
“What?” she asked.
“Your iPad.” Jordan nodded toward the device in Astrid’s hand. “So I can show you.”
Astrid handed it over without a word, then watched as Jordan tapped and walked at the same time, finally settling on the creaky wooden window seat. Astrid followed, sitting down and tucking her legs underneath her so as not to brush against the carpenter.
An attempt that turned out not to matter one bit. After a few more taps, Jordan leaned into Astrid’s space so they could both see the iPad, bringing with her the scent of that intoxicating floral pine, a shoulder just barely resting against Astrid’s, and the heady press of body heat.
Astrid breathed in slowly through her nose, but suddenly, her dream started playing on repeat in her brain, and dear god, she had to get a damn grip.
“Okay, here’s the Lapis Room.” Jordan angled the iPad a bit more, and Astrid saw that she’d signed into the same design program Astrid used for her own plans.
Except now the screen showed a completely different design.
In the 3D image, the dark, almost shiny blue was on the walls, of course, and the silver-and-white damask curtains framed the windows. The bed was against the right wall and had an off-white, buttoned fabric headboard. The sheets were white, but the coverlet nearly matched the walls—a deep, silky blue—and the accent pillows featured the same shade shot through with white, gray, and goldenrod, all swirling in a mosaic pattern.
A large rug covered the wood floors, white with a similar blue-gray-white-goldenrod twist of circles. Two goldenrod accent chairs sat in one corner, pillows of white and gray perched on their cushions. The furniture—a table between the chairs, two bedside tables, a dresser, and an armoire—was all dark oak, and little amber-colored sconces dotted the walls, along with placeholders for art that seemed to be mostly whites and grays.
To lighten it up,Astrid thought.
She thought a lot of things as she took in the design, from the colors right down to the ornate chandelier that hung from the ceiling. She thought about how the room needed a bit of texture, something to help it feel truly bespoke. She thought about how she usually despised dark wood furniture.
But mostly, she thought about how inspired this design was.
She knew she just needed to say it, but all the letters kept getting tangled on her tongue. Even more than being inspired, Jordan was right—the room fit the Everwood far better than anything Astrid had come up with. It was elegant and modern and beautiful, yet felt slightly... she didn’t know.Spookymight be the right word here, but not in a cobwebbed, haunted house kind of way. In a mysterious kind of way, full of intrigue and history and story.
But underneath all of that, a new, more confusing emotion rolled through Astrid like a wave.
Relief.
