Distorted.

"What?"

"Always thinking of others. I seriously don"t know what I"d do without you, Aly. I doubt I"d ever think of this stuff on my own."

I couldn"t help but give a little smile. "Oh, you could and you would. It"s just common knowledge is all."

Paul gave a burst of laughter. "Well I"m in trouble then because I don"t think of things like that very often."

Rolling my eyes, our food finally came and we dove in. I was starving again and devoured my pancakes. I was also eager to get going on our day.

"Before we left yesterday, I printed out some maps of the neighborhoods here that we can look around in before meeting Mr. Shay," I told Paul, reaching into my purse and showing him.

He grabbed the papers and perused them for a minute. "These all look good. We should get going soon so we have enough time to see everything."

I nodded. "Before we go, I wanted to tell you that I did some research and there are no parks or playgrounds near Hidden Creek. I was thinking it would be nice if we could build one for the kids. What do you think?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes, I really like that idea. I"m glad you checked that out. Add that in the plans."

I smiled and nodded, making a note. The server finally came and brought our bill. Paul handed her the company credit card and she came right back with the receipt. He quickly signed it and we left.

Getting in his car, Paul asked, "Where to first?"

Looking over the maps I"d brought, I chose the one closest to our hotel. Telling him where to drive, we pulled out of the parking lot and got on our way. I couldn"t help but look at each house we pa.s.sed, wondering who lived in them and what their lives were like. I was also wondering if the people of Hidden Creek would be pleased with us being there or uncomfortable. Time will tell, I told myself.

As we reached the first neighborhood, it was obviously middle cla.s.s and kept up quite well. Some kids were outside playing and the parents were outside talking. It looked like a pleasant area and I took notes as Paul drove by. A few people automatically waved, probably thinking we were neighbors, and I couldn"t help but smile and wave back.

After looking around for a few minutes, we got on the freeway and took the exit for the next neighborhood to check out. This one was obviously old and not well kept. While it didn"t look as dilapidated as Hidden Creek, it wasn"t far behind. A few kids were running around barefoot and even though it wasn"t cold, I was worried it wasn"t warm enough for bare feet. Suddenly a ball appeared out of nowhere in front of our car and I screamed at Paul to stop. Breaking quickly, we both sat there shocked as a child, not more than three years old, ran in front of us to pick up the ball. I looked around and could not see an adult in sight. Terrified, I rolled down my window and told the little boy to please be careful and always watch for cars. He just looked at me with a blank look on his face and kept walking. Turning to Paul, I found him watching the child then he turned to me.

"Oh, Paul," I cried. "Can you imagine what would have happened if we hadn"t stopped?"

Putting his hand over mine, he rubbed circles over the back of it with his thumb. "Don"t think about it. It didn"t happen, thank goodness," he said quietly.

Finally pushing the gas just a little, we continued driving down the street. I couldn"t get over that not one grown up was out there with that little boy. I wondered where his mother was and why she wasn"t being more attentive. Looking at the map of where we were, I saw that the area was called Bright Meadows and wrote that down on my notes. We"d definitely need to come back here as soon as we could.

Finding the next neighborhood, we took our time driving around. This was a very well kept area and obviously had money. Each house was large and had well manicured lawns. Some had wrap around porches and others had tall pillars. I didn"t find one house that looked remotely rundown. Checking the name of the neighborhood, I saw that it was called Devonshire. I smiled, finding it very appropriate. As we went up and down the streets, there were some children out playing as and I was relieved to see that there was adult supervision. Remembering the poor little boy in our previous area, my heart broke.

Since it was close to noon, we decided to hit one more area, then grab a light lunch before heading to Hidden Creek. Getting off the next exit, Paul took a right and immediately we were back in a poor area. Boarded up windows, overgrown gra.s.s and weeds - some didn"t even have lawns - and there was trash everywhere. I hadn"t seen Hidden Creek yet, but this one seemed just as bad off, if not worse, to me.

"This looks terrible, Aly. Worse than Hidden Creek. What"s the name of it?"

Checking my notes, I confirmed that it was called Roosevelt. Looking around me, I couldn"t help but feel sick at the devastation. Some of these homes can not possibly be occupied, I thought to myself. As we pa.s.sed one that I was sure fell into that category, I saw an elderly gentleman in a rocking chair on the crumbling porch. Looking to Paul, I saw that he was seeing this as well.

Shaking my head, I wrote down the house number and street and we continued on. I could not imagine living in an area and home that was so run down. My heart was breaking for the man in his rocking chair. We needed to start keeping a list of areas that needed our attention.

How many other areas were out there we were not aware of? While I knew there were plenty, I only just now started thinking about it. I made a mental note to ask Paul his thoughts on possibly expanding Pierce Homes out to other cities.

Stopping at a four-way stop, Paul glanced over at me. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, my eyes have just been opened wide," I said.

He nodded. "Mine too. Are you hungry at all? Do you want to grab a quick bite?"

Surprisingly, I wasn"t that hungry, but I knew I needed to eat something. "Yes, we should probably grab at least a little something."

Nodding, he started driving when it was his turn. "Where would you like to go?" he asked.

"Wherever. I"m not starving, so whatever we see will be fine."

Getting onto the main road, we saw a hamburger joint or a place for tacos and burritos. Nothing sounded good to me at the moment after having such a big breakfast. I thought for a minute and decided a bean and cheese burrito would do the trick.

Paul pulled into the drive thru and looked over the menu. After asking me what I wanted, he ordered my bean and cheese burrito and a chicken taco for himself. When I reached for my purse, he shook his head and showed me the company credit card.

I rolled my eyes again. "Seriously, Paul. I think I can pay for my ninety-nine cent burrito."

"No can do, Chase. I don"t care if you order a penny gumball, it all goes on the company credit card. This is a business trip, so no more fuss, okay?"

Smiling, I made a show of crossing my heart and leaned my head against the headrest. As we waited for our food, I looked around Paul"s car. He drove a black Mercedes Benz E350 sedan and it was incredibly nice and roomy. I loved the feel of it and could get used to riding in it if things were different between us. Dammit, why couldn"t things be different between us?

Being roused out of my whiny thoughts, I heard Paul call my name and chuckle. "What"s on your mind, Chase?" he asked as we drove off.

Not about to tell him, I said, "I just can"t stop thinking about that poor elderly man rocking on his front porch and the terrible condition his home and neighborhood are in. It makes me wonder how many other neighborhoods are out there like that that we"re unaware of."

Taking a bite of his taco, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and seemed to be thinking. "Yeah, no kidding. You know there are so many. I really wish we could just help them all, but even Pierce Homes can only do so much."

Seeing the disappointed look on my face, he continued. "Don"t get me wrong. Pierce Homes will continue doing this and hopefully be able to do more projects simultaneously. There"s still so much to do we haven"t even touched yet, but to help every single neighborhood in need is not realistic. We, as a company, can only do so much. You understand what I"m saying, don"t you?"

I nodded. I understood, but it didn"t mean I liked it. "Yeah, Paul, I do, though I can"t help but feel like we can do more. I was going to wait until we got back to the office to bring this up, but since we"re talking about it, have you ever considered branching Pierce Homes out to different cities? Opening more locations so we can help more in need?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I"ve been considering it for quite a while, but haven"t done much to research what it would take. I know we could, we have the money. I guess I"ve just been so wrapped up in securing the funding for the Glendale project and wrapping up the one right before it, that I haven"t thought too much about looking into it."

I was thrilled to hear this. "I"m so glad you"ve thought about it. It hit me earlier as we were driving in the more run down areas, wondering how many other areas are out there we don"t know about. I know we can"t do it all but I know we can do more," I said exuberantly.

Paul just sat there, smiling at me as he drove to Hidden Creek. We"d both finished our lunches at this point and were headed that way. I could tell the wheels were spinning in his mind and I was excited.

"Aly, when we get back to the office on Monday, how would you feel about looking into this for me? Maybe it"s time to get that ball rolling."

I couldn"t contain my joy. "Yes! I would be happy to. I"m so glad you"re on board with this. Since it"s not my company, I can only give you the ideas, Pierce," I teased.

"Oh you did not just say that, Chase," he said with a laugh.

"I think I did."

He gave me a sly grin. "Yeah, you did. You are the brains behind Pierce Homes, no doubt about it."

I smiled then frowned when a song I could not stand came on the radio. I lunged for the dial just as Paul did and our hands touched, sending electricity soaring through me. I jerked my hand back and let him change the station.

He looked over at me. "I guess you hate that song too, huh?"

I nodded. "With a pa.s.sion. I cringe every time I hear it come on."

He laughed. "Me too. That guy"s voice is like nails on a chalkboard."

"It is!" I exclaimed. "I hate it."

We looked at each other, then turned away. The playful mood had disappeared for some reason and we continued the rest of the drive in silence. I was still feeling the shocks of his touch and turned my head to look out the window.

A few minutes later we pulled into Hidden Creek, and drove up to the address Mr. Shay had given us. Paul parked his car and turned it off. We sat there for a minute just looking around. What we saw was almost as bad as the Roosevelt neighborhood but none of the homes were boarded up and from what I could see, no cars or pick-ups were parked on lawns. Still, this was the worst neighborhood we"d worked with and to say I was grateful to be here would be an understatement.

I got myself together and gave Paul a playful smile. "Are you ready, Pierce?"

He ran a hand through his chocolate waves and gave me a s.e.xy grin. "As ready as I"ll ever be, Chase."

With that, I stumbled out of the car, weak kneed from his grin, and joined him walking up to Mr. Shay"s front door.

Before we got to the decayed front porch, the door swung open and a short balding man greeted us.

"Mr. Pierce, Ms. Chase?"

We both nodded and stopped at the bottom step. The man beamed at us and shut the door, stepping out onto the porch.

"I am so glad you are finally here. I am Norman Shay."

Paul walked up a few steps and held out his hand for Mr. Shay to shake. He took it and shook it vigorously. I couldn"t help but laugh, and let out a little squeak when he took me into a big bear hug.

"I"m so sorry, but I am just so excited you are here," Mr. Shay said, setting me down. I looked over at Paul and found him trying to hide his laughter. I just raised my brows and smoothed out my pants.

"We are so glad you reached out to us, Mr. Shay," Paul said.

"Please, call me Norman," he replied.

"Okay, Norman. As soon as I got your email, I called Aly right into my office to have her look at it with me. We both had no doubts that we were going to help you and your neighborhood."

Mr. Shay smiled at that. "Thank you, that means very much. Hidden Creek used to be a better place to live, but with the decline in the economy and such, it"s gone so downhill, to put it mildly." After saying this, Mr. Shay cast his eyes down. It seemed as though he were remembering a better time.

"How long have you lived here?" I asked him.

"It will be forty years this month. My wife and I raised our four boys here. They had such a nice childhood, too. When our youngest entered high school, things started to change, but not to this point. I only received a high school education, so I haven"t been able to afford very much. My wife works a full time job as well, but both of our incomes have gone to bills and as much as we can for our boys education, which isn"t much. It just breaks my heart seeing how bad Hidden Creek has become."

I felt so sad hearing his words. When I remembered why we were here, it made me feel a little better. I had hope that we could give them a little taste of what the neighborhood used to be like.

"Well, Mr. Shay, we are going to help bring back a little part of that old Hidden Creek," I piped up. "I really can"t stress to you enough how much your email and pictures touched me. I"ve been so eager for this day to come so we could finally see it, and you, in person."

He brightened up at that. "Thank you, Ms. Chase. I am so glad you feel that way. We have all been eager for you and Mr. Pierce to get here. And please, call me Norman."

"Okay, but only if you"ll call me Aly," I said with a smile.

"Aly it is. How about we start by walking around the neighborhood a bit? Some people are excited you"re here. Some, unfortunately, are not. I got some angry words from a few neighbors when they found out I"d emailed you. They think we"re okay and that if not, we can do the updating on our own. They are wrong. This is way out of our league and budget. We need help."

I let out a sigh as we started walking. "I was afraid of that," I said. "I do not want to make anyone uncomfortable."

Paul put his hand on the small of my back as we walked. I liked it, but the jolts it gave me distracted me from the conversation. I decided it was worth it, though.

"Norman, are those who are upset willing to hear us out today?" Paul asked.

"I"m not sure, to tell you the truth. I plan on knocking on their doors as we pa.s.s by. If they answer, I"ll invite them to come out and talk to you both."

"That would be great," Paul replied. "I"d like to be able to explain to them what we do and how we can help."

"I knew you would," Norman smiled.

We continued walking down the street since there weren"t any sidewalks. Making a mental note of that, we kept walking until Norman stopped in front of one of the worst homes I"d ever seen. It was so worn down from lack of care that calling it an eyesore was putting it mildly. The white paint was completely shredded and the shingles by each window were either gone or hanging on by a thread. There was no gra.s.s, only overgrown weeds for a yard. The cement porch was crumbling to the point that it was a safety hazard. My eyes could not believe what they were seeing.

"This is the residence of one of the protestors," Norman informed us. "Mr. Halliday has been here for ten years and believe it or not, the house didn"t look much better when he bought it. He"s always said he"ll get to fixing it up at some point, but he never has. Unfortunately, his wife Vera pa.s.sed away recently and he"s left alone to raise their two children. I was sure he"d be one who would welcome your help, but to my surprise, he completely resists it."

Two children live in this rotted home?

"Oh, Norman, we need to talk to Mr. Halliday. He should know how much we can help him. The thought of anyone living in these conditions, let alone children, makes me so sad. How old are his kids?" I asked.

"Seven and eleven, I believe. Good kids. The oldest is Josh and the youngest is Heather. Stay here - I"ll go knock on his door and see if he"s home," Norman said as he headed toward the door.

Paul and I stood back and watched Norman knock on the door. We both looked at each other, then back at the scene in front of us. After a minute, Norman knocked again. Finally, the door opened and a little girl stood there. She was adorable with long auburn braids and jeans with patches and a worn out red T-shirt. I could see Norman talking to her and her responding but couldn"t hear what they were saying.

Finally, Norman turned to Paul and me and beckoned us over. Not sure what was going on, we proceeded to the front porch. Not trusting the stability of the porch stairs, I stayed put and Paul followed my lead.

"Paul, Aly, this is Heather Halliday. She said her daddy"s at work right now, but I thought it would be fun for you to meet her. Heather, this is Paul Pierce and Aly Chase. They are the people who are going to help our neighborhood look and feel better."

Heather frowned. "My daddy said he doesn"t want your help. That he can fix our house up himself."

My heart sank hearing this. She was obviously too young to know exactly what was going on. I wasn"t going to plead our case with her, but I did want to ask her some questions.

"Heather, I"m Aly. May I talk to you for a minute?" I asked her gently.

Looking up to Norman for a.s.surance, he nodded and she stepped outside. Walking over to the top of the stairs, she looked nervous. Hoping to put her at ease, I knelt down on my knees and looked into her sweet blue eyes.

"It"s okay. You don"t have to talk to me if you don"t want to. I was just wondering something, though. What is your favorite color?"

That got her attention. She walked down the stairs and her eyes brightened a little as she considered my question. "Well, I love pink, but I also love purple. I can"t decide, but it would definitely be one of those," she said quietly.

Looking over my shoulder at Paul, I saw he had a small smile on his face as he watched us. Catching me looking at him, he gave me a wink.

Smiling, I turned back to Heather. "Pink and purple are such pretty colors and so perfect for a little girl. What are your favorite toys?" I asked her.

She immediately responded. "I love my princess dolls!"

I gave her a big smile. "Princess dolls? What kind?"

"Belle and Ariel and Sleeping Beauty. I really want Cinderella, but daddy says we can"t get it right now," she said with a frown.

"Well, those princesses are special. I love them too. Guess what? Mr. Pierce and I are here to help your neighborhood feel and look better. We would love to be able to help you and your family too. Will you give this to your daddy and ask him to call me so I can talk to him more about it?" I asked as I handed her one of my business cards.