Page 49 of Holding Ground

Hollis stands and stretches. “I’m gonna drive Ansel home. He gets emotional after midnight.”

Ansel glares at our brother. “Fuck you. Did you hear yourself right now?”

“Humor wasn’t going to cut it. And you are emotional. Want me to show you the dog commercial?”

Ansel pops up out of his chair, pointing at Hollis. “Those dogs have been through a lot.”

Hollis and I chuckle.

I get up and walk them along the side of the house to where Hollis’s truck is parked.

Hollis claps me on the shoulder. “Thanks for a good night.”

“Thanks for the deep thoughts,” I manage.

He chuckles and climbs into the truck.

“Hey,” Ansel says, drawing my attention. “For what it’s worth, she was looking at you the same way you looked at her tonight. You’re not alone in this.”

What does he want me to do with that information? The attraction has been clear, but I’ve been a royal dick to the woman, and now I’m supposed to try to date her? With one hand in my pocket, I wave goodbye to them as the truck reverses down the driveway.

Then I make sure the fire is out, go inside, and lock the doors before heading to bed. I force myself not to look at the door to the guest room, not to imagine what Emelia might look like tucked into bed, fast asleep in that white tank top and boxers.

Behind that door is a woman I’m finally able to admit I want desperately, but I still have no idea what to do with that knowledge. Maybe admitting it is the first step, and from here, I just have to see what happens.

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

Emelia

On Monday, I have a Zoom meeting with my boss to update him and so I can get some clarification on some items that have come up in the conversations I’ve had with people in town.

I’m done updating him and going through everything I wanted to talk about when he says, “That everything you got?”

“Yes, that’s it for me.”

He steeples his hands on his desk and leans in toward the screen. “What do you think the appetite might be if we were to add additional floors onto the condos?”

I still for a beat, then tilt my head. “So they’d no longer be low-rise condos?”

“We’ve run the numbers, and we think there’s more profit to be had if we invest more heavily. The demand is there, and the sales force is sure they can sell additional units if they had to.”

I shift in my seat. This is the first I’ve heard of any of this, and I’m not sure how to respond. Broaching this subject with the residents of Echo Lake will make it feel like I’m pulling a bait and switch.

“Is this something you’re wanting me to pursue?”

Please say no. Please say no.

He mulls over my question, and I think for sure he’s going to say yes—that’s why he brought it up—but then, finally, shakes his head. “No, no, not at this time. Just wanted to hear your take on it.”

We move on, discussing the status of other projects that are coming down the pipeline, and by the time we end our meeting, a slimy feeling coats my skin. Is he going to push for higher-rise buildings in the future, and if so, how do I handle that? But I remind myself he hasn’t yet, so I push away the feeling. It’s just because I’ve been living in the community and have come to know the people here, care about them, that I’m extra sensitive to him bringing other options to the table.

In the city, there are no connections to people. You don’t know their stories or how they got to where they are. Other than the one coffee shop in Boston that was worried about a chain coming into the building we were constructing, I never got close with one of the business owners. And that coffee shop is still in business today with another location on the other end of the city. So that was a win.

I check my emails, then send one to the council, requesting another town hall so that I can address a lot of the questions that came up the first time around, to which I now have answers.

My cursor hovers over the Facebook icon, and I tell myself not to click, but of course I do. The woman who went to high school with my birth mother has messaged me back.