Page 1 of Never Fall Again
One
Landry Hutton didn’t believe dreams came true anymore. She’d had dreams a long time ago. They’d nearly destroyed her. Still might.
But this was the first step toward the answer to a prayer she hadn’t known to pray. And, oh, how she’d prayed. For safety. For a future. But never for this. She hadn’t dared ask for it. Hadn’t imagined it was possible. Over the last three years, she’d kept her head down and worked hard. Despite the tears and the occasional meltdown, she’d persevered. And now, somehow, she found herself here.
She took several slow breaths and stared through the windshield at the building ahead of her. Could she do this? Should she do this? Was it too soon?
Was she truly safe here?
Those were the wrong questions. She couldn’t hide from the correct question. How much longer would she let the past keep her in a stranglehold? She’d been given an opportunity to make their future stable and beautiful.
And the first step was to place this fragile slip of an idea infront of a man she’d never met and ask if he could turn it into something real.
Landry had been putting this off for six months. Would still be putting it off if Bronwyn hadn’t promised her Callum Shaw was the man for the job. “You don’t have to interview fifteen contractors,” she’d said. “He’ll tell you the truth about what will work. He won’t take advantage of you. He’s safe. He’s a gentleman. He’s great with kids. He loves his family. I trust him completely. You can too.”
If anyone but Bronwyn Pierce had said those things, Landry would have smiled and resisted the urge to tell them no one could be trusted. But they’d been friends for longer than most people realized, and their friendship had been forged in a crucible of pain that had left them bonded for life. Bronwyn knew where Landry’s skeletons were hidden and how important it was for them to stay that way.
Bronwyn didn’t trust many people outside the Pierce family. In fact, she didn’t trust many peoplewithinthe Pierce family. But Callum Shaw had made her short list. It was high praise and had given Landry the push she needed to make the phone call. That and the fact that Bronwyn stood across from her, eyes flashing, and refused to leave until she dialed the number.
Landry was unprepared for the woman on the other end of the phone to say that Mr. Shaw had time this afternoon. She dropped everything and rushed over. Maybe it was for the best. She had no time to continue overthinking this, and instead of coming alone, she had her best girl with her. “Eliza?” Landry turned around to make eye contact with her five-year-old daughter.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Remember what we talked about?”
“Best behavior.” Eliza’s tone sounded like expecting good behavior was a doomed effort.
“I know you’re tired, but Mr. Shaw had a cancellation in his schedule, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to him today. After we leave, we’ll get pizza and have our movie night. Okay, doodlebug?”
Eliza grinned. “Okay.” She waited for Landry to open her door, then climbed from the back of the car. She squinted at the sign beside the door as they walked. “S-P-Q.” She spoke each letter one at a time. “What’s the next word?”
“SPQ Construction. Established 1982.” Landry squeezed Eliza’s hand, then pulled open the heavy wooden door and looked around. The business may have been established in the eighties, but the decor was what she’d taken to calling “modern mountain chic.”
No one decorated this way in Arizona. The desert had its own beauty, and that aesthetic would always be a part of her soul. But the mountains of North Carolina made for a soothing palette, and the person who decorated the offices of SPQ Construction embraced it. Walls of the palest blue. Large prints of local vistas. And in the corner—“Oh!”
“Mommy!” Eliza darted past her and paused at the edge of a flowing water feature that took up an entire side of the room. “It’s Gossamer Falls!”
“I think it is.” Someone had created a replica of the waterfall for which the town was named. The lacy cascade originated one foot from the ceiling, then ran down a water-smoothed rock face and into a river that flowed along one wall until it disappeared into the far corner.
Eliza trailed a fingertip in the river and grinned. “Can we put one of these in our new house?”
A gentle laugh came from the other side of the room. “The Shaw brothers nearly lost their collective minds on that project and have sworn a solemn oath never to re-create it.” The woman behind the reception desk widened her eyes at Eliza. “But I knowfor a fact that Cal has been itching to make a smaller version. And he has a soft spot for beautiful ladies such as yourself. If you ask him, he might be able to get an exception granted.”
“Don’t encourage her!” Landry left Eliza by the waterfall and walked toward the woman. The desk she approached was fifteen feet long, with a slight curve. When she got closer, she saw that the top was made from a massive slice of a tree, varnished to a high shine with a vein of blue running in a lightning pattern throughout. She’d seen this type of woodwork in a few of the shops in Gossamer Falls, but always on a smaller scale. Vases, bowls, bookmarks. This desk was a work of art, and Landry couldn’t stop herself from running her hands along the glossy surface.
Her eyes met those of the woman on the other side. “This is amazing.”
A soft smile split her face. “Cal does beautiful work. He nearly gave his mother a heart attack when he started electrocuting the lumber, but he has quite a gift. You must be Landry Hutton. I’m Carla Shaw.”
“Nice to meet you.”
They shook hands, and Carla pressed a button on what must have been some type of intercom device and said, “Callum?”
“Carla?” The voice was deep, and that one word was infused with humor. Landry had the distinct impression there was a joke between them that she wasn’t privy to.
“Ms. Hutton is here to see you.”
“Send her back.”