Trap laughed, because his father was smiling too, though he’d definitely heard his parents disagree. Feeling better, he looked down at his paperwork again and then across the desk to his father.
“I have a call I’m doing with my painter in about an hour,” he said. “I think I’m gonna go sit on my front porch and whittle something until then.”
Daddy grinned at him. “That sounds like a mighty fine idea, son. You always think best when your hands are busy. That’s why I gave you a knife in the first place.”
Trap chuckled. “Momma tells that story a little bit differently.”
Daddy scoffed as he got to his feet. “She does, huh? What does she say?”
“She says I was driving you nuts, so you gave me something to do so I’d be quiet and stay out of your way.”
Daddy chuckled. “Well, it worked, didn’t it? And you love it. Seems like a win for both of us.”
Trap moved into his father and hugged him tight. “Thanks for listening to me just say everything in my head.”
“Of course,” Daddy said. “Iwantto hear everything in your head.”
Trap stepped back, and Daddy took his face in both hands. “You’re a smart man, Trap, and you have always known what you want. If that’s Lila Mae, then work it out. And if it’s not, don’t be afraid to walk away.”
Trap nodded, though everything inside of him felt shaky. His daddy turned to leave the office, and Trap left his paperworkright where it was, intending to follow him and find a way to figure out what he really wanted, from MSW to Lila Mae, and if he was patient enough and worthy enough to have it.
33
Lila Mae woke to the sound of rain hitting her roof in the tiny house. A slow smile spread across her face, because she’d never heard this sound before, and the increasing pitter-patter-drumming sound reminded her of how wonderful the world was.
She’d wanted a tiny house because the mansion had always felt too big, too cold, beyond impersonal, and totally lifeless. She wanted to know every single item in the house, and what every single cupboard held. Since she’d planned to live alone on a wild piece of property in an unknown state, Lila Mae had wanted to be able to see every corner of her house with a mere sweep of her eyes. At the estate in Maryland, her mother could have a massive dinner party, and Lila Mae wouldn’t hear it nor know about it.
She’d gotten better at listening to the wind here in Texas and knowing the sounds her house made, but the rain changed everything—in a good way. She snuggled deeper into her down comforter and simply let the goodness of God wash over her.
She couldn’t wait to tell Trap how the rain sounded against the metal roofing he’d suggested and she’d approved. There had been several options, including just regular asphalt shingles, but Trap had said there could definitely be hail that would causedamage, and they’d just had a windstorm this spring that had left a lot of debris and homes in its wake.
Her roof sloped, of course, to shed the rain and any snow, and he’d told her that the metal would withstand both intense heat and cold, with the metal providing a better high energy efficiency. So Lila Mae had gone with that, because she’d trusted Trap from the first moment she’d spoken to him.
He just had a trustworthy voice, and she was once again reminded of howgoodhe was.
Her euphoria at the sound of the rain on the roof faded as she realized that she and Trap still had quite a bit of distance between them. She couldn’t just text him anything anytime anymore—at least not personal things like this, and a sadness descended upon her in a way she had not felt before.
Lying there, Lila Maemissedhim, and she missed him powerfully. He’d become her closest friend in the Panhandle, and tears pricked her eyes at the loss of such a good friend, a good man.
Yes, they still had their professional relationship, but everything else seemed to have been obliterated as she struggled to figure out how to communicate with her staff, and what she really wanted Feline Friends to be. The morning continued to lighten, even through the rain, but Lila Mae determined to stay in bed until her alarm went off.
She dozed a little bit, and when it eventually did, she silenced it and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She could stand up here, because Trap had suggested they build the house tall enough for her to do so.
She could change her clothes up here, because Trap had designed the house to be wide enough so that she could do so. She got dressed and went down the steps, which Trap had suggested they put over her kitchen countertops, and he’d built her microwave into them after her approval.
He’d designed storage compartments in the steps, and stained them the most beautiful, dark oak color. She’d trusted him in everything he suggested, because she had no reason not to.
Working with him from across the country, before she had moved here, before she had taken the tours at Shiloh Ridge and Three Rivers, she’d had a clear vision for what she wanted on this parcel of land in this part of Texas.
Instead of stepping through the kitchen and into the bathroom, Lila Mae picked up the file folder she’d set on the ottoman. She sank onto it and flipped open the folder to look at her list of pros and cons.
She wanted medical supplies in every building, yes, but when she’d needed antiseptic wipes and ointment and Band-Aids, she hadn’t had them. So she had ideas she hadn’t put into motion yet, because she didn’t have time.
She flipped the page and looked at the list of things she needed to implement. She’d taken her notes from her visits to Shiloh Ridge and Three Rivers, and she’d left behind the things that were good, yes, but that she didn’t need here at Feline Friends.
Lila Mae took a moment to look up and out the window centered perfectly above the couch. It sat that way, because Trap had made it so.
Her heart clenched, almost desperate to see him and talk to him. “And not about Feline Friends,” she muttered to herself. She looked back at the folder and settled the first page back over the second.
