I clutch the camera regardless. It was still hers. Fitting that Calder found it the day we dug his mom’s table out. We each reclaimed a part of two important people in our lives.
“The table is clean enough to eat on.”
Calder releases me and walks around our handiwork. He pushes the chairs back around it. “That looks nice. Thank you.”
“It looks right.” I didn’t mind how Holly had made over the house, but her taste wasn’t mine. The grays are gone in the living room. I found some of Julia’s old framed photographs when we got to the table. I’ll send them away to get updated frames and put them back up, along with Holly’s images, if I can find her SD card. She had to have more than one.
Calder pulls me into him, kissing me until I think we’re going to strip down and use the table for more than eating, but he smiles. “Want brunch or lunch before we go?”
This simple moment is everything I’ve dreamed of—making a home ours and having a quick bite with the man I love. I’ve gotten two weeks of it. We ride to work together, we eat together, and we’re going to hire a couple of new staff together. Then we can continue spending our evenings making this house a home.
Calder messages his brothers every day, and every day, they tell him he can back off. They aren’t going to avoid him. Yesterday, he sent a picture of the cuddle puddle the cats made in their bed upstairs. Landry even asked for a few more pictures of them.
Carlos and Sawyer have returned to working the ranch. The guys and I discussed infusing each business with funds, but they agreed to pay all the loans and start fresh. It’s important to all of us to succeed because we’re good at it, not because we threw money at it.
I didn’t toss a cent into the pool, and that bothered me, until Calder explained it was important to him that I had a safety net. He also claims I won’t need it—and I believe him.
“Do we have calzones?” I ask.
“I stocked up.”
He lets me go to start prepping our meal. I set out the flatware and grab two lemonades.
When I’m almost done eating, I run my hand over the smooth finish of the table. “I’m glad it’s no longer in the shop.”
Affection fills Calder’s expression. “She would’ve liked you,” he says softly.
Touched, I reach across the table to hold his hand. “I wish I could’ve known her better.” A smile plays across my lips. “She used to bring me root beer.”
“I remember. That one time we went to Rolla, she stopped in every town looking for homemade root beer. We grumbled the whole way.”
“Jules Creek is going to be that place for the next Julia trying to spoil her best friend’s kids.” I have a root beer recipe I’m working on. Bowen and Landry didn’t hesitate to make the decision unanimous.
“And we’ll stock it in grocery stores all over the state.”
Excitement rises inside. Calder returned with so many plans to improve the bottom line. He’s asked Sawyer to submit a list to our owner’s group chat of what needs to be done with the ranch to increase income. He even talked Landry into making a down-and-dirty marketing plan to get us through the holidays. Next month, Calder wants to meet with all the retailers who stock our product, personally talk to our local suppliers, and continue to network the shit out of Jules Creek.
Meanwhile, I’m working on the root beer, and I’ve ordered the roasted barley I want to use for the Irish red I have planned, Rosy Creek. So many changes are coming, but adjustments to our process and welcome additions are needed. And I’ll get to do it all with Calder.
If we weren’t sitting, I’d throw my arms around his neck.
I’m pushing out of my chair to do just that when our phones buzz. I exchange a startled look with Calder, and we check our devices.
Bowen: We need a team call in ten minutes.
Calder frowns at his screen before we burst into action. We rush through the cleanup, then sit and wait for Bowen to call back.
Our phones buzz again, and Bowen’s name pops up on-screen. Calder sits and pulls me onto his knee to answer.
“You’re on speaker, and I’ve got Meredith here.”
“Good.” Bowen’s deep voice carries through the kitchen. “Landry’s on the line too.”
“He hasn’t told me what’s going on either,” Landry says.
“I’m sending you all what was in that file Calder sent me.”
The USB we found the day Calder returned to claim me and his legacy.
