Switched, Bothered and Bewildered by Suzanne Macpherson Page B

don't want a big mess, okay?" Jana Lee sounded wary.
    "Oh, it'll all be cleaned up when you get back." That wasn't a lie. Jillian had made Dean swear to it, although he hadn't understood why. She'd said relatives were coming to visit, which was true. Her new game was trying to tell fewer lies to Dean.
    "You're supposed to be resting."
    "I'm not very good at it. I'm having fun anyhow. Do you like that Martha Stewart bluish-greenish-chicken-egg-color thing? I'm going to paint the kitchen."
    "Blue is fine," Jana Lee answered. "Just keep it sane. Muted, you know, like me."
    "Dull?"
    "Yeah."
    "I'm just teasing. You are not dull."
    "I love you too, sister dear, now get some rest. That's an order. That's the only reason I agreed to this, you know."
    "Yes, dear, I'll curl up with a good book and a cup of tea after the kids leave this afternoon."
    "Promise?"
    "Yes, I do." Jillian made kissy noises in the phone and said good-bye.
    Sure she would. She'd curl up with the manual for the nail gun she'd just bought and maybe a dozen decorating magazines for ideas. That would be keeping her promise.
    Jillian resolved not to think about Pitman for the next hour just as an exercise. Besides, this place was fun.
    The store was packed for a weekday morning, but it was the grand opening. There were free samples of tons of things, and she'd been careening her cart through rows of tiles, carpeting, bathroom fixtures and wallpaper borders. She'd amassed quite a collection of items and at this point was wishing she'd brought Dean just to push the cart.
    Oh well, he was busy supervising the rewiring for lighting in Jana Lee's and Carly's bedrooms. The upstairs was fair game while the kids were still doing their afterschool thing. Carly's room
    was next on the pack-up list, although the girl had made a pretty good dent in it. It was amazing what a teenager could do when given a purpose.
    Which reminded Jillian, she'd need some plastic bins for packing things up. How the hell was she going to get all this stuff in and out of the van? Maybe she'd have the molding delivered. She should have hit the gym more often than once a month.
    Jillian turned the corner with her cart, doing a mini-wheelie trying to keep it in balance.
    "Whoa there, you're top-heavy." It was Dean.
    "Oh Dean, thank God you're here."
    "I had to pick up some electrical. Pretty huge, isn't it?"
    Jillian could only assume he was talking about Mega Home Base. "Yes, it sure as heck is. Can you take this cart off my hands?"
    Dean grabbed the big deck cart and steadied her load.
    "Let's just slow down—you've got plenty of time. The fine art of revamping a house is less complex than it seems. It's all in the planning. That, and the decisions. I see you picked some tile?"
    "I thought this would make a great backsplash. What do you think?"
    "Nice, very nice. Those insets are pretty pricy Are you wedded to them?"
    "I am wedded. Money is no object."
    He watched her gaze at the tile sample board and touch the Celtic knot design on the tiny pewter-colored inset piece.
    "It's a peach, isn't it?" she said.
    Dean rubbed his thumb over the design, their fingers brushing. "It's beautiful." He was continually puzzled by the vast difference in the current space this lady was living in and the tasteful, almost professional-level design she'd been coming up with. Maybe she'd just never figured out what her taste was till lately.
    "I thought we'd do a tumbled marble thing, maybe a niche over the stove, and place these in that area. You like?" she asked. Her face was close to his, and he caught himself liking more than the tile.
    "I like." He was caught in her excitement. "And with two tile setters, we'll just be finished in time if we start tomorrow morning." He loved turning a sow's ear into a showcase. She was quick as liquid silver with ideas, and her vision was very clear to him. He looked over at her, with her cute work overalls on, with a tank T-shirt underneath, revealing her figure very nicely. Her