Diann Hunt - Hearts Under Construction

Instead of taking the usual care when walking at a construction site, she plunged the heels of her shoes into the muddy ground. When she lifted her left leg, her shoe stayed put. She teetered and swayed like a Hawaiian dashboard doll. Desperate to maintain her dignity, she jerked on her foot and fell into the waiting arms of Cole Preston.

The construction workers whistled and cawed from the house. Ellie wanted to curl up and roll away.

Cole whispered into her ear, “What shall we do for an encore?”

She turned a disgusted face at him and yanked herself free from his arms. “You are the most egotistical man I have ever met!”

He laughed out loud and bowed as she made her way past him.

Her only solace came from flicking specks of dirt from her shoes across his pant legs as she went.

Ellie took a sip from her teacup. “Thanks, Mom. This hits the spot.”

“Your headache is better, then?”

Her mother’s worried gaze met Ellie’s. “I’m much better.” Ellie could see her mom visibly relax. “What would I do without you?”

Her mom waved her hand. “You’d be just fine. The Lord would give you someone in my place.”

“No one could ever take your place, Mom.”

Her mother fidgeted with her teacup and glanced around the room. “Ellie, don’t you think your couch would be more functional if you placed it against that wall? Then you could see out the patio while—”

“Oh, here we go. I’ve told you, Mom, I’ve got enough battle scars from my childhood. Remember? From when I bumped into furniture that you kept switching around the room?”

Her mother’s mouth formed into a pout and she hung her head.

Ellie laughed, causing her mother to brighten.

“Don’t you get bored with it the same way all the time?”

Ellie shook her head. “I like to keep things the way they are. Why fix something that’s not broken?”

Her mother remained silent, giving in on the issue as if it were the first time, though they had had the discussion many times before. “Ellie, your headaches usually come on because of stress. Anything you want to talk about?”

Ellie put her cup on the coffee table, straightened her pillow and leaned against the back of the sofa. “It’s Cole Preston. I try, Mom, I really do, but I just don’t like the man.”

“What is it you don’t like about him?”

“Everything. He’s pushy. He’s demanding. Always trying something new.”

“Ah.”

“Ah, what?” Ellie couldn’t hide the edginess in her voice.

“Well, honey, it’s just that you’ve never adjusted well to change.”

“Mom, please, I’m not a child anymore. I can adapt.”

Her mother raised an eyebrow.

“I can,” she repeated, defensively. They sat a moment in silence. She hated it when her mother was right. “Okay, so I don’t like change,” she admitted with some reluctance. Ellie sighed and adjusted her blankets. She looked at her mother. “I’m still struggling with this whole partnership thing.”

“Really?”

“Well, it’s just not fair.” Oh, she could kick herself for sounding so childish. Her mother stared, saying nothing. Ellie felt like a bug under a microscope. With everything in her, she tried not to squirm. She knew she was wrong. She had to let her bitterness go, but could she? Sighing, she leaned back into her pillow.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Ellie. As you get used to his ways, you’ll get along fine.” Her mother smiled.

Ever the optimist, Ellie thought. “Is Dad coming for dinner?”

Her mother came over and fluffed the blanket around her. “Yes. In another hour or so.”

“The vegetable soup smells so good.”

“You’d get a decent meal once in a while if you could get away from work long enough to come to our house. I had an awful time finding enough food in your cupboards to come up with dinner.” Her mother finished the last tuck on the blanket and stood up. “By the way, why do you have so much cabbage in your refrigerator?”

Thoughts of the new soup diet came to her. She’d only been on it for two days and already the thought of cabbage made her want to pulverize the pale green heads when she passed them in the produce section of her grocery store. She never told her mother when she went on diets. Her mother always complained about today’s women being too thin. According to her mother, unless a woman carried an extra twenty pounds, she looked sickly.

Ellie loved her mother.

“I heard cabbage is good for you.”

Her mother eyed Ellie warily. Nothing gets past Mom. Ellie closed her eyes in hopes of stopping further discussion about the cabbage.

“Sounds like you’ve got a few things to pray about.” Her mother rubbed a warm cloth against Ellie’s forehead.

Ellie smiled. Her mother’s answer to everything: “Pray about it.” Ellie knew she was right, but something stopped her when she tried to pray about Cole. She dismissed the thought that her attitude was wrong when she approached the matter with the Lord.

Her mother said something else, but the words were lost in a hazy dreamworld. A world of stability where things didn’t change, where she felt safe.

A world without Cole Preston.

The next week passed in a blur. Chaos in the office kept Jax and Cole busy. Ellie worked hard to avoid them both. She was tired by the time Friday arrived, and felt relieved when five o’clock rolled around. With a glance at the clock, she grabbed her purse and walked from the office toward her car. The afternoon’s winds had swept the sky clean as evening settled upon the city. Ellie pulled in a deep breath. The air smelled sweet with summer. Though she felt tired from a full day’s work, stepping outside had revived her spirits.

Jax walked up beside her. “So, will you go with us tomorrow?”

She frowned.

“Come on, Ellie. It will be fun.” He lifted puppy-dog eyes to her, which always made her give in.

“Isn’t it enough that I have to work with him every day, Jax? Must I see him on the weekends, too?”

“It’s not like we do this every weekend. A trip to Chicago, a day of sailing on Lake Michigan. Please? I could use some relaxation, and Alex wants to go with another couple.”

“Look, Jax, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, they are a couple. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, they are a couple. Cole Preston and I work together. We are not a couple.”

He stepped back and held up his hands. “I know, I know. I didn’t mean you were a couple.”

Ellie took a deep breath. “I hate like everything to do this, but I will do it for you, Jax. That is the only reason.”

He smiled like a dieter who’d lost another pound—a smile she hadn’t worn in weeks. He grabbed her with both hands and promptly placed a kiss on her forehead. “You’re the best, Ellie.”

She shook her head and smiled in spite of herself. “Just you remember this the next time you need a partner.”

He groaned.

“Seriously, Jax, I’m doing this for you. The last thing I want to do on a Saturday is spend my day off with Cole Preston.”

“Why don’t you like him?”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. After all, Cole was Jax’s best friend. “Besides the fact he’s got an ego the size of Texas?”

Jax threw back his head and laughed. “I guess he does at that. But then I need someone with confidence in the business.”

Climbing into the car, she rolled down her window and looked up at him.

“We’ll pick you up at seven o’clock tomorrow morning,” he said.

With a reluctant nod, Ellie turned on the engine and pulled her car into gear. She waved goodbye and looked in her rearview mirror in time to see Cole join Jax in the parking lot. Her stomach knotted. With a glance at the glove compartment, she decided even the hidden candy bar could do little to calm her spirits. Just one day, she told herself. No big deal, right? She would go along for Jax’s sake.