The Good Race

Chapter 16

RYAN SPREAD THE blue prints out on the table and studied them. The barn renovation was going to be quite costly. It would have been cheaper to bulldoze it down and start fresh, but he knew it would break Jackie's heart. She loved the charm of the old farm. The size would work to his benefit though. He'd have plenty of room for multiple cars and all the equipment. The plans showed a second floor with office space, conference rooms and classrooms. He'd need to figure out parking. He had some employees and most of them were willing to relocate. He could move the parking closer to his house though so Jackie wouldn't be disturbed. He didn't want to disturb the farm land in case she decided to use it.

Next, he spread the plans for his house out and studied them. The design didn't sit right with him. It was farm house style with three bedrooms upstairs, an office downstairs, and a wrap-around porch. It seemed charming enough and fit the feel of the town, but he didn't know if it was him. The only house he had ever lived in was his father's. That was a sprawling mass of bachelor pad in upstate New York. It fit his dad, but there weren't really any qualities from it that Ryan would put into his own house. After he'd graduated college, he'd always lived in apartments. This was the first time he thought about a house.

What did one guy need four bedrooms for? He never really had sleepover guests except his dad and the occasional college buddy—certainly not women. So shouldn't two bedrooms and the office suffice? Jackie used a spare bedroom for a gym, but he imagined she'd repurpose it when she and Danny had kids. They were obviously headed for marriage. Jackie always said she wanted kids.

Ryan stopped and frowned at the blueprints. Maybe that was his problem. A house—a home—was a long term investment. While he never gave much thought to getting married and starting a family, he had always assumed he would at some point. Wouldn't his future wife want a say in their house? What kinds of things did wives want in houses? Four bedrooms meant three kids or they'd have to double up.

Wait a minute.

He was thinking of having more than three kids?

He was thinking—planning—of kids?

He needed a drink.

He didn't even know he was getting married.

He walked into the kitchen to retrieve a beer and headed back to the dining room table. He stood before the plans and looked at them, but didn't really see them. He couldn't plan a house for a family without a partner. He needed someone to make that family with first.

On the other hand, he couldn't live with Jackie indefinitely either. Well, he could, but he was pretty sure Danny and Jackie's relationship moved into a more intimate realm last night and there was only so long he could live in the same house his sister was having sex in. His body gave an involuntary shudder as the doorbell rang.

Jackie was still at the hospital and Danny was out back starting the grill and setting up patio furniture, so Ryan moved to open the door. He swung it open and froze.

There was Sophie. Sweet Lord he forgot she was coming over tonight. She stood on the front porch looking just as wide-eyed as he probably did. Her curls fell around her face and down her back. She wore a form fitting, pink V-neck t-shirt, short cutoff jeans shorts and delicate, barely there flip flops. Her toes were painted cotton candy pink to match her shirt. She looked so feminine and so utterly beautiful he lost all coherent thought.

Had it really be twelve years since he had last seen her? His stomach turned over and his breathing grew slightly heavier. She still had that effect on him. If she only knew how much he wanted her then—and, it seemed, wanted her now.