Chapter 10

The doorbell took Spencer out of his thoughts and his work. He had installed a doorbell extender with a wireless receiver, so he could hear if someone was at the door.

“Come on in! It’s open! I’m here in the backyard,” he yelled.

Lindsey entered the house and made her way very shyly to the backyard.

Spencer waved at her from inside a big shed that he used as a workshop. It has been a week since he had talked with her at the reception. He had been trying to come up with a reason to see her again, but couldn’t find any without having to see Melissa too.

Spencer took a good look at Lindsey as she walked towards him. She had a tiny nose and a very appealing petite figure. Her tanned skin tone held the warm color of old copper. She was not gorgeous in the typical Hollywood ideal, but she was beautiful in a very unique way.

“Hi, Spencer. I hope I’m not bothering you at work.”

“Hi, Lindsey, welcome to my workshop. You’re not bothering me at all. Come in, take a look around. One of the good things about being my own boss is that I can take breaks whenever I want,” he said smiling at her.

The smell inside the shed was wonderful, a mixture of wood, varnish, and sawdust. Lindsey thought it was the best smell ever. It was right up there with the smell of Spencer’s Eau de cologne.

As she looked around, Lindsey was amazed by all the gorgeous furniture she saw. She had never seen anything that was made of wood look so warm and lifelike.

“Do you like it?” Spencer’s voice made her jump.

“Yes! I love everything I see. You’re a true artist. These chairs are magnificent.”

Spencer’s smile grew bigger. “Thank you, Lindsey. You flatter me.”

“Just telling the truth.”

“So is this what you do for a living or is it just a hobby?”

“It was a hobby at first. Dad was an amateur carpenter so I was always playing with his tools and wood scraps. When I got my graduate degree in Business Administration four years ago, I landed a job in Portland with a wonderful company and was making more money than I’d ever seen. I was also brutally unhappy. I mean, cry me a river, right? A cushy paycheck. A house and a new car. From the outside, my life appeared enviable, and in many ways, it was, but every Monday when I dragged myself to work, I felt as if I were drowning. So I quit to pursue my passion to build furniture.”

Lindsey could relate to what Spencer was saying, but she could never see it happening to her. “Quite a life-changing decision.”

“Indeed. When I quit my job, in my mind I was opening an old wooden door, leading to a room full of dreams. For many reasons, not the least of which were society’s ideas about what it means to ‘grow up’ and ‘get serious’ and ‘be a good provider’, I had closed that door years before. For me, that door opened onto a woodshop, this shed, to be exact,” Spencer opened his arms. “I don’t make as much money as I did, but I’m happy. And stress-free.”