Adam laughed, then got serious. “I’m sorry about the inappropriate questions from other panelists,” he said, his voice dropping in volume so that said panelists didn’t hear. “I assure you Mr. Eldridge is not concerned about the winner’s gender.”

“That’s reassuring,” Sierra said, feeling gratitude down to her toes that he’d clarified that.

“I’ll be honest,” Adam said with a conspiratorial tone, “if anything, your answers to those questions knocked it out of the ballpark and helped your cause rather than hurt it.”

Kennedy gave Sierra’s wrist a subtle squeeze, as if to say I told you so, and then Adam was off in a flurry to grab a flute of champagne and congratulate the other finalists.

Exhausted now that the adrenaline of presenting was wearing off, Sierra forced herself to thank each of the other panelists, Crum included, and then she and Kennedy took their leave, walking out to her truck in silence.

“How do you feel?” Kennedy asked once they were inside the cab.

Sierra exhaled and thought about the question, the keys still in her hand. “I feel pretty damn good. It’s been a hellaciously crazy week of prepping, but I stand behind every last bit of my proposal. I did my best.”

“You rocked it. I’m so proud of you.”

It was almost embarrassing how much those words meant to Sierra, but she’d spent her life wishing her older siblings took her more seriously, respected her. Maybe they had all along and she hadn’t seen it. She didn’t know, but she believed her sister now, and she leaned across the cab to pull her close in an awkward, one-armed hug. “Thank you. Love you.”

“Love you back. Now let’s go home. My sexy husband is waiting for me, and you need to call your sexy guy.”

“Not mine,” Sierra qualified. “Yet. At least not that he’ll admit.” With a smug grin, she started the truck and backed out.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Cole asked Sierra as he parked his truck in front of his mom’s house Saturday evening.

For the dozenth time since he’d shown up at her apartment half an hour ago, he shoved down the guilt that was dogging his ass, determined to not let it ruin their time together.

He’d been in Birmingham since Thursday, putting everything into place for construction to start on the remodel Monday morning. Of the four new properties, Birmingham was the simplest and also the most urgent. But because of it, he’d let Sierra down on her big presentation, and he was still trying to forgive himself for that.

At least she’d been able to hire a new foreman yesterday, though it would take time and extra work for her to get him up to speed once he started.