She looked at me warily. “Oh… okay.”
I turned, already moving before anyone could ask anything else.
Everything about this place had changed in three weeks.
Not just the space.
Marlon and I did too. He got so damn snappy with me, I ended up kicking his ass off the project in the first week. It didn’t even matter because the following Monday, he was in the shed, stripping old paint from the walls.
When I asked what he was doing and told him he couldn’t be in there anymore, he just said: “My property, my shed, my rules.”
I told him to kiss my ass and it went up from there.
He could be so confusing. One second he wanted nothing to do with me and the next he’s up my ass. Especially when Wyatt’s involved.
I stepped out into the hallway, the noise of the room fading behind me as I moved toward the back exit. The air outside hit differently.
The vineyard stretched out in front of me, rows of vines moving slightly with the breeze. Lights had been placed along the pathways earlier that week. Not bright enough to distract butnoticeable enough to guide people without taking away from the atmosphere.
Another change was adding a golf cart shuttle from the office to the shed, so no one had to take that hike just to get here. It also was an opportunity for the workers to make some extra tips by being the driver.
Wyatt came up with the concept.
I paused for a second.
Where was Wyatt anyway?
I hadn’t seen him since guests started arriving. I had seen Hart either, or Lav, or the dickhead.
Did they all take lunch and leave me and Patch to do all the work?
Nah.
Wyatt’s not like that. He’s probably with the horses. He liked them more than people. That thought in mind, I took the shuttle over there.
“Hey boys,”I said as I passed the stables.
Titan lifted his head first, ears alert then Spades followed, slower but just as aware.
I stepped closer, resting my hand along Titan’s neck. “Y’all seen that white boy around?”
A blink.
“Oh. I see how it is. You hiding him?”
Now I get a tail swipe.
“Y’all behaving?”
He huffed softly, nudging into my palm.
“No, I’m working,” I added. “Don’t get used to this attention.”
Spades shifted slightly in his stall.
“I didn’t forget about you,” I said, reaching over to him next. “Relax.”
For a second, everything felt… easy.
