He shrugged. "You all know I was nervous about taking over the business. But when I sat down and thought about it, there’s no reason I can’t do it; everything I told Caleb is true."
Ollie grinned. "You've got the skills."
"Yeah. And great partners, too." He looked around at them. "Thank you, guys."
~ ~ ~
The mood in Ollie's Cullinan on the way back to the estate was buoyant. Reaves held Alara's hand on top of his thigh and listened to Ollie and Delaney talking in the front.
"You two are quiet back there," said Delaney. "Everything okay? I'm not going to look over my shoulder, in case I catch you making out." She grinned. "Though I wouldn't blame you, we should be celebrating."
Reaves felt Alara go still beside him, and he scowled at Delaney in the rearview mirror.
"Leave them alone," said Ollie.
"Yeah. Sorry, guys." Delaney actually sounded it. "Sometimes my humor goes in the wrong direction. I don't know why I thought that would be funny."
"I do," said Ollie.
"Okay, smartass. Enlighten me."
"If you ask me, I think you've got romance on your own mind."
Alara raised her eyebrows at him, but Reaves just smiled. He knew exactly where Ollie was going.
"What do you mean?" asked Delaney.
"You know damn well what I mean. But don't think you'll string Elliott along. He's as much of a flirt as you are."
"I'm not trying to string him along." She paused. "You're talking about Friday night, right? We did shots. Or, more to the point—a shot. And then I left."
"Fair enough," said Ollie. "Whatever you say."
They pulled up to the gate, and it swung open in front of them.
By the time they'd all climbed out at the estate, the mood had come back around, and Delaney went straight to Alara and pulled her into a hug.
"You know I'd never want to upset you," she said, letting her go. "Especially now that your work here's done—I need to stay on your good side if I'm going to snap you up to work for me."
Reaves straightened. He caught Ollie glancing at him and knew that he, too, was waiting to see what Alara would say.
She didn't hesitate, not even for a moment. "Thanks, Delaney. But my answer's no."
Delaney grinned. "I figured it would be. But I had to ask." She tilted her head. "What you said on Friday night—about themeaning of the work being what matters most to you? That really landed for me. And you're right." She smiled around at them. "And it sounds like you'll have plenty of meaningful work anyway. Flowers for the girls' weddings, for a start."
Alara shot Reaves a quick smile. "We'll see what comes of those. But in the meantime, Charles has given me another job. One I'm really enjoying."
"What's that?" Delaney asked.
"The old house. The one he used to rent out. I'm fixing it up for him."
"That's awesome. You have to let me see what you do with it—you're so multitalented. I can't wait to see what you do with interior design."
"And you know she paints, too, right?" Reaves said. He couldn't help himself. He was so damn proud of her.
"Painting?" asked Ollie. He knew about the house, but Reaves hadn't mentioned the painting.
The smile on Alara's face said it all. "I'm painting the view from here for Charles. And I'm going to do another one—the view of this place from the original house." She warmed to it. "Well, two of those, actually. One of the land here before anything was built. And one of the castle." She caught herself. "The house, I mean. His dream, fulfilled."
