scrutinized David Thorn. She didn’t know him, didn’t understand his motives. She wondered if he was really trusting her, or if he wanted to see what she would do with the authority he gave her. She’d had this job before and she was comfortable with it. She could do whatever the store needed.
And she’d prove it.
* * *
David left for the day wondering about Rosanna. As he pulled his car into the rush hour traffic, Rosanna was still on his mind. She remained an enigma to him. Usually he read people easily. He’d been trained to observe them, get at the underlying causes of problems or secrets they held. But with her it was like trying to open an oyster with a toothpick.
He hadn’t realized where he was driving and when he saw the small sign reading Legal Aid Office, David stopped. He hadn’t met any lawyers since he arrived in Logan Beach and this was a perfect time.
Inside, the place was crowded, even at six o’clock in the evening. The office seemed to accommodate those who couldn’t come during the nine-to-five workday.
“May I help you?” asked a large woman wearing a bad wig. She sat behind a high desk and looked him up and down in a gesture that said he didn’t appear to look like the usual people who come to a legal-aid office.
“I’m an attorney and stopped by to say hello and introduce myself.” He handed her his card.
She glanced at it and then up at him. “House of Thorn,” she said. “Isn’t that the new store that’s going up across town?”
“It is.”
“Are you representing them in some action?”
“No, I guess I wasn’t very clear. I’m not introducing myself as someone’s lawyer.”
“Then are you here to help?” she asked.
David hadn’t thought of helping. He’d just come to meet other colleagues in his profession. But the question caught him off guard.
“I don’t think I can. I am with the store, just didn’t know any other lawyers in Logan Beach. How many work here?”
“Not nearly enough,” she said as a man approached the desk. “Perfect timing. Paul, meet Mr. Thorn of the House of Thorn. He’s a lawyer and wants to meet some other lawyers. This is Paul Varga—he runs the place.”
The two shook hands. “Are you here to volunteer?”
“I take it you’re shorthanded,” David said, since he’d been asked the same question within two minutes of entering the building.
“Very.”
“I’d like to help you out, but my hands are full right now.”
“Well, maybe some time in the future. Stop by anytime. We can always put you to work.”
Someone came up to Paul and his attention was gone. David realized he’d been dismissed. It wasn’t something that happened to him often. Paul was busy. People called to him from every direction. There wasn’t much time to talk to someone not willing to help.
David nodded to the woman behind the desk and left the building. He slipped into the driver’s seat, but didn’t start the engine. His office in New York was clean and tidy, with law books and a waiting room. This place was little more than a warehouse with mismatched chairs and working men and women waiting for a straw of help.
He needed to help. David felt the calling of his profession. He knew Thorn’s was his priority. Things were going well and they were on schedule, but there was a lot of overseeing to do. He couldn’t possibly leave everything to Rosanna.
Reaching for the ignition, he stopped, his finger on the start button. He didn’t press it, but took his foot off the brake and opened the car door.
Rose stayed in her office long after David had gone. There were two ways she could interpret David’s comments about giving her preliminary plan to the designers. She could let it go and have them redo the floors to their desire. Or she could present her own version of what the House of Thorn Logan Beach should look like. The idea was practically resolved in her mind before she finished formulating it.
Thank goodness it was Friday. She had the weekend to create her model. Longer than that, and her window of opportunity might close.
It took her the entire weekend to complete, as she started working late at night on Friday, and finished up on Monday morning before going to work. She had both a 3-D computer simulation of the entire store and a physical model of the first three floors.
Getting the model to the office was a precarious trip, but she arrived without a mishap. Setting it up in the conference room, along with her laptop, she covered the model, then made a cup of coffee and went over her presentation before David arrived.
Even though she heard the door of the office open and close, his presence at the conference room door surprised her.
“What’s this?” he asked, coming into the room.
“I want to show you something, but get your coffee and settle first.”
She knew he had no appointments.
At least he hadn’t mentioned any. David was good about keeping her up-to-date and letting her know when he was leaving the office.
“I had coffee on the way in.”
“Then sit down. I have something I want to present.”
He entered the room, taking a seat near the computer and across from her.
“One of the comments you made last week was to ask me what I would do if the store was completely mine and I could design it the way I wanted it.”
Glancing at David, she wanted to know what he was thinking. Her heart beat a little faster and she knew it wasn’t due to her being nervous about her presentation. Each time she saw him her body did things that surprised her, things she knew shouldn’t happen.
David nodded for her to continue.
“This is a computer rendering of the six retail floors.” Her voice was several notes higher than normal. She took a moment to clear her throat.
She tapped a key on the computer and the entire outside facade of the store was projected on the screen at the end of the polished conference table.
David faced the screen, sitting forward in his seat.
“This may not be your vision of the store, but I wanted to start at the beginning.”
There were large display windows with miniature models in them wearing the latest summer fashions. Rose’s 3-D model had real dolls she found in a thrift store.
David nodded, but didn’t give an opinion.
She went on. Every few minutes, as she added more and more floors to the store and explained where everything would be placed and how the lighting would display it, David nodded. He asked a question now and then. She tried to read his expression, but he had his lawyer face on.
Rose continued. She was proud of the design. When she got into the project, she found it didn’t tire her out. It inspired her. When the Bachs retired, her plan was to change some of the departments, but with Thorn’s she had a blank slate. She visited the other stores online, incorporating some of the recurring layouts and creating others. She thought about crowd flow and the natural movement of people from one department to another.
David had said it was scientific and she kept that in mind as she completed her presentation.
“I’ve made a mock-up of the first three floors,” she said when she finished the computer simulation.
Unveiling the three-dimensional model, she stood behind it. David came around to look at it.