Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

F riday glared at him—blank and damning—from the calendar on his computer screen in his office. Chloe was moving into her house. His house . And he should be helping her since he clearly had nothing pressing at work keeping him here. He couldn’t even reason that she didn’t have much to move because she’d gone to the Archers’ storage unit that morning and selected some furniture for the house, which was probably now being unloaded. He could at least have accompanied her and then helped to set the house up.

Cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck as he contemplated such a domestic scene in his house. He had no memories of romantic love in that place. His father had never lived there, and his mother had never brought a boyfriend home. She’d dated some, but had never met anyone she’d wanted to even call semipermanent. Maybe that was part of Derek’s problem.

He set his elbows on his desk and cradled his forehead in his palms. What a mess. To further compound matters, he hadn’t talked to Chloe since their date two nights ago. He’d called her yesterday, but had done so when he knew she was at work and likely wouldn’t answer. Another jerk move. Maybe George had a point about him driving women away. He didn’t want to drive Chloe away. She was different. Special.

His iPhone rang, but it wasn’t her. He didn’t recognize the number. “Derek Sumner.”

“Hey Derek, it’s Chad Thomas.”

“Oh, hey Chad, how’s it going?” Derek had gone to school with Chad’s younger brother. Their family owned a bunch of high-end restaurants in the Bay Area and last year they’d tried to poach Derek from Archer Enterprises.

“Good, good. How’re you? Still a die-hard Archer-lover?” Chad was well aware of Derek’s close relationship to the family, beyond just the fact that he worked for them. He’d been extra careful when he’d offered Derek a job as their CFO last year. He’d been very respectful, and the offer had been more than competitive. However, Derek couldn’t see himself leaving Archer. He realized it wasn’t because of the job; it was because of the family connection.

Derek chuckled. “Still, yeah. You’re not calling with an even better offer, are you?”

“Actually, I am. The guy we hired after you turned us down didn’t work out. We’d still love to have you. I hope you’ll at least consider it. We’re only going to keep asking.” There was a hopeful smile in his voice and Derek couldn’t help but feel flattered.

“I suppose I better then.” He said that to be courteous, but he stopped short for a second. Maybe he should consider it. He was always so hard on all the Archer kids who’d left, but they were out pursuing their dreams—like Chloe. And that was one of the things he admired most about her, the fact that she’d broken free and followed her heart in the face of disapproval and adversity. Even her house burning down hadn’t turned her around.

“Really?” Chad asked, his tone laced with surprise. “I thought I’d have to do a lot more persuading than that.”

“Well, I didn’t say I’d take it. I’m quite happy here, as you know. But send me your offer and I’ll think about it.” Already, the burst of open-mindedness was starting to slip away and be replaced with reluctance. He was happy here—at work and in his personal life. He’d just met Chloe and he was very hopeful about where that might go, although she had just moved into his house, a situation that practically sent him into a panic attack every time he thought about it.

“It’s on its way,” Chad said. “I appreciate you taking the time to consider it, Derek. It’s a good offer. Look it over this weekend and we’ll talk on Monday. Let me know when you’re free to come down. I’d love to show you our facilities. We’ll have dinner at Franco.” That was their flagship restaurant in the heart of San Francisco.

“Sure,” Derek said, his mind a tumult of opposing thoughts and emotions. “I’ll talk to you Monday.”

“Great! Thanks again, Derek. Have a good weekend!”

“You too.” Derek ended the call and tossed his phone on his desk. What the hell had he just done? Nothing yet. He forced himself to breathe. What the hell was wrong with him? He glanced back at the calendar on his computer and froze. It was less than two weeks to Christmas. Shit, it was almost the fifteenth.

Sunday.

He suddenly wondered if it was too late to book a flight to San Francisco tomorrow.

Chloe had just directed the delivery guys upstairs to the master bedroom with the queen bed she’d picked out from the storage unit and was about to close the front door behind them when Emily Archer appeared on the front walkway.

She waved at Chloe as she approached, carrying a basket in one hand. “Hi, Chloe! I brought you some baked goods to welcome you home.”

Chloe smiled warmly and was delighted when Emily hugged her. “So, how goes it?” Emily asked as she moved inside. She walked through the dining room to the kitchen, clearly at ease with the house’s layout.

Chloe followed, joining her in the kitchen just as Emily set the basket on the counter. “It’s going well. Thanks again for the furnishings.”

“Sorry I wasn’t able to go with you this morning. I see you picked that dark brown sofa. Good choice, it’s very comfortable. And I hope you took the bed I told you about—the queen with the posts.” Emily drew her gloves off and set them next to the basket.

“I did. And some of the matching pieces. Oh, and I picked up a cat tower yesterday. It’s upstairs in the spare room. Ashley loves it.”

Emily took off her coat and set it on the edge of the counter. “Where’s Derek? I didn’t see his car.”

A stab of unease pierced Chloe’s chest. “That’s because he’s not here.” He’d left a message yesterday saying he had an appointment with his trainer last night and that he’d catch up with her today or Saturday. He’d apologized again for having to take her home on Wednesday and had promised a do-over. Though Chloe was beginning to doubt that would happen. Maybe she shouldn’t have rented the house after all, regardless of him telling her she should. She didn’t want to lose him over it.

Emily evidently heard the frustration in Chloe’s voice. “Is it the house? I’ve been worried about that. He hasn’t come home all week and that’s unusual for him. How did your date go the other night?”

Chloe didn’t feel like Emily was prying. Yes, she was a sort of mother to Derek, but Chloe felt as if they’d developed a friendship during their brief acquaintance and thought that no matter what happened with Derek, she could always find a friend—or friends—at the Archer house. “It went great. But he’s been distant ever since. I guess he’s having a hard time with the house, though he isn’t really talking about it.”

Little creases fanned out from Emily’s eyes as she looked at Chloe with warm concern. “I know I said this before, but please be patient. This is a tough time of year for him, and this year will be tougher than any other.” She hastened to add, “Not because of you. In fact, I think you might be the one thing that gets him to New Year’s in one piece.” She gave Chloe’s arm a soft pat.

What did all of that mean? “I wish you could be more specific. I’m not asking you to reveal anything Derek wouldn’t want me to know, but I have to admit I’m frustrated. I know there’s . . . something between us, but if he can’t meet me halfway, it doesn’t matter.”

Something didn’t adequately describe what she felt. She was falling in love with him, and had already fallen so far that there was no way she wouldn’t be devastated if things didn’t work out. She’d never been devastated by a relationship before—breaking up with Ed had been awful, but she hadn’t felt like she couldn’t recover, it had felt like a new beginning—and the thought of it scared the hell out of her. Yet even with that fear, she was willing to take the risk with Derek. It was why she hadn’t stormed over to his loft and demanded he talk to her.

Yes, she would be patient. Because she felt deep in her soul that he was worth it. Maybe Emily was right, maybe Chloe could help him through whatever it was he needed to get through. She’d sure try. A plan popped suddenly and completely into her mind.

“You look as if you have an idea,” Emily said, cocking her head to the side.

Chloe grinned at her. “I do, and it’s thanks to you.”

Emily looked a bit confused, but shook her head with a smile. “All right then. I’ll see about having some of that storage stuff brought over. Will you be here later?”

“I need to run into Newberg to get some staples—towels, dishes, et cetera.” She held up her hand to stop Emily from offering more stuff. “I’m fine with buying them, really. I like to have my own things.” She actually had a secret passion for kitchen gadgets and looked forward to picking out new spatulas and whisks, as weird as that sounded.

Emily nodded. “I completely understand. I’ll see about having the stuff brought over around five or so, will that work?”

“Perfectly.” It gave her plenty of time to hunt down what she needed—the list of which included a Christmas tree stand. Her plan was either going to be a rousing success or blow up in her face. Either way, she was all in.