Unexpected Rush
Page 21

They walked through the front door and into the main living area, which so far, was unscathed. All the action seemed to be happening in the back of the house, mainly in the kitchen.
“Come on this way,” Harmony said, leading him into the dining area. “We’ll be out of the way in here, but we can still watch.”
Jeff had a crew of four in the kitchen, and as Barrett sipped his cup of coffee, he watched them do a total teardown in a matter of a half hour, from removing appliances to ripping out the cabinets and the countertops. Next to come up was the hideous floor.
“Impressive.”
Harmony grinned. “I told you Jeff and his team were good.”
Jeff came over. “We’re about to take this wall down, so you two might want to either back away or make yourselves scarce. It’s going to get dusty in here.”
“That’s our cue to leave,” she said. “Thanks for the show, Jeff.”
“Yeah, it was fun to watch,” Barrett said. “Kitchen already looks larger.”
“This whole place will look bigger in a few days once we take out some walls and flooring and start cutting out for windows.”
Barrett nodded. “I’ll check back in, but I don’t want to get in your way.”
“You won’t be in the way,” Jeff said. “It’s your house. Come by anytime.”
“Thanks.”
He and Harmony walked outside.
“Do you want to come to my office so we can go over some design plans?” she asked.
“Sure.”
He followed her over to her office and pulled in front of a nice storefront that had the name of her company—Evans Interior Design—etched on the front.
He met her at the door and opened it for her.
“Thanks.”
Inside was an explosion of fabrics and tiles and books spread out on a large tabletop.
“Oh, you’re here.”
A young woman, probably around the same age as Harmony, approached her. She was petite, with dark hair pulled into a high ponytail and a gorgeous smile that she leveled in his direction.
“Rosalie, this is Barrett Cassidy. Barrett, this is my assistant, Rosalie Juarez.”
Rosalie grinned and held out her hand. “I know who you are, Mr. Cassidy. I’m a big fan.”
“Call me Barrett. Nice to meet you.”
Rosalie nodded and turned her attention to Harmony. “The countertops are in on the Robinson project. I called the contractor to let them know. Delia Spring also called and is interested in doing a living room redesign. I told her you’d get back to her.”
Harmony nodded. “Thanks, Rosalie. Can you get back to Delia and make an appointment with her? I think I have time tomorrow morning but double-check my calendar.”
“Will do.”
Harmony motioned to Barrett. “Come on back to my office and we’ll go over some design features.”
Her office was located in the back of the shop. Her desk was neat and tidy, with a laptop and pens and a pad of paper.
“Have a seat,” she said, closing the door behind them.
The office had windows on all sides, and was spacious enough even for him. He pulled up a chair and instead of sitting behind the desk, she grabbed her laptop and pulled up the chair next to his.
“We’ll start by going over a few items you’ll need to select. Once I get an idea of your likes and dislikes, we’ll take a look at some of the samples we have out in the showroom.”
“Sure.” He wasn’t thrilled about being here and having to do this, but Harmony had told him on the phone that she wasn’t going to pick his countertops or his flooring or paint color, so he was going to have to do it.
Fortunately, she had everything organized, so it went pretty fast. They were out in the showroom within an hour, where he chose the type of granite countertop he wanted, along with the flooring and backsplash—with Harmony’s guidance, of course.
“I think you’ll be happy with the porcelain tiles,” she said, as she finished making notes in her tablet. “They have the look of hardwoods, but with your pool and all the rain we get, they’ll hold up better.”
“Agree.”
“I think we’ll wait on paint color in the kitchen and living area until the floors go down and the appliances and counters are in. It’ll give us a better feel for how the space looks.”
“You would know best.”
She smiled up at him. “Why yes, I would.”
He picked up his phone to check the time. “So are we done here?”
“Why? Anxious to get away from me?”
“No, actually, I have a thing to do today.”
She arched a brow. “A thing?”
“It’s a team thing. Not really a team thing, since I’m the only one doing it today.”
“Okay, Barrett, you’re being vague.”
“Sorry. It’s a community outreach program for at-risk teens. There’s a facility near the stadium that the team supports.”
“Oh, okay. I know that one well. Drake’s involved with it, too. He’s spoken there a few times. Great program. Are you giving a talk over there today?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Some of the kids are in a summer program, so I’m going to talk with them about sports—and grades. I figure if you talk about sports to them, they might actually listen to how important school and grades are.”
“That’s fantastic. I’d love to go with you. I know the coordinator there.”