Her Little Secret, His Hidden Heir(34)
An awed sigh escaped her lips as she straightened and took in her nearly finished surroundings. The room was beautiful. More than she ever could have imagined, even after being in on the initial stages of planning.
Shelves and countertops of various sizes and heights lined the walls, creating more work space than she ever could have hoped for. The floor and ceiling had both been redone, and everything had been painted to match The Sugar Shack so that it was obviously an extension of the bakery itself.
“Oh!” Vanessa cried, putting her fingers to her lips.
“Does it meet with your approval?” Marc asked, amusement evident in his tone.
She was sure he could tell by her shaking hands and watery eyes just how pleased she was, but still she managed a breathless whisper, “It’s wonderful.”
Spinning around, she slowly took it all in again, and then again, her amazement growing with each turn. She didn’t stop to think about how it had come about, the strings that were attached, or how costly the bill might be when it finally came due. All she knew was that this portion of the building was hers now, her chance to grow and expand the business of her heart.
With a tiny squeal of glee, she threw her arms around Marc’s neck and squeezed him tight. Almost immediately, he circled her waist, hugging her back.
“Thank you,” she whispered near his ear. “It’s perfect.”
When she pulled away, an odd expression crossed his face, but before she could question it, the foreman appeared at her left shoulder. She was coming to think of him as the King of Rude and Untimely Interruptions.
“I take it she likes her new work area,” he said with a smile, addressing Marc.
Considering that her arms were still linked around her ex-husband’s neck, that wasn’t a difficult observation to make. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, Vanessa cleared her throat and stepped back, putting a more respectable amount of distance between them.
“She does seem to like it,” Marc replied.
“It’s more than I ever could have hoped for,” she told the two men. “Even after seeing the blueprints and design specs.” She shook her head, sliding her hands into the pockets at the front of her white capris to keep from fidgeting. “I never imagined it would look this good.”
“Glad you’re happy. If there’s anything else you need, or any changes you want done, let me know. We’ll be here until about four putting on the finishing touches.”
She couldn’t imagine anything she would want changed, but while the two men talked business, she wandered around the drastically altered space. Admiring, touching, mentally filling the shelves and working behind the counters. She loved the sculpted molding and detail that precisely matched that of the bakery and marked it as hers.
Hers!
Well, hers and Aunt Helen’s. And Marc’s or the bank’s, since she was sure there was going to be a hefty price to pay to someone at some point.
But even though she’d resisted being tied to her ex-husband in such a way, she couldn’t deny that he had given her something no one else could—or would—have, and so quickly. She never would have been able to get things done in such short order with another investor or a loan directly from the bank.
Footsteps sounded behind her on the hardwood floor and she turned to see Marc coming toward her once again.
“They’ll be cleaned up and out of here in a few more hours. And the computer equipment will be delivered tomorrow, so you can start setting up then, if you like.”
Vanessa clasped her hands together, just barely resisting the urge to rub them together like some sort of devilish cartoon character. She was so excited, she almost couldn’t contain herself.
They would need a website…and someone to design and maintain it, since she knew next to nothing about that sort of thing. They would also need packaging, and to set up an account with a reliable shipping company, and specialty shipping labels, and possibly even a catalog.
Goodness, there was so much to do. More, possibly, than she’d realistically considered.
Alarm began to claw at her insides and her chest became suddenly too tight to breathe. Oh, God, she couldn’t do this. It was too much. She was only one person, for heaven’s sake, and even if she counted on Aunt Helen’s help, that made them only two people, one of whom had reached retirement age twenty years ago. Which basically put her back to being only one person, who could not handle this type of workload alone.
“I know you have a lot to do,” Marc said, cutting into her panicked thoughts and allowing a small bit of oxygen to enter her lungs again, “but before you get too wrapped up in all of that, there’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you.”
She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. One day at a time, one step at a time. She’d come this far, she could make it the rest of the way…even if it took her months to accomplish what a rich and powerful Keller heir could do practically overnight.
“All right.”
“There’s some company business that I need to return home to deal with.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened in surprise.
She’d gotten so used to Marc being around that the idea of him leaving caught her unaware. Ironic, given how badly she’d wanted him to go back to Pittsburgh when he’d first arrived. Now, though, it was hard to picture the bakery or her day-today life without him in it.