Page 4 of The True-Blue Romance

What?

I can feel my face burning as my stomach starts to roll. Oh, that’s too much pressure. Beau pats my back hard, seemingly realizing that I’m internally losing my shit. Oh fuck. I’ll fuck it up like I fuck everything up. No, this can’t be happening.

“Now that I’m running the farm, the only option was to put Lee in my old position.” Everyone claps and whoops, including the few seasonal workers who are here for just the blueberry u-pick season on the farm. “That also means if you have any complaints about me, you can go to Lee now, instead of Cindy.”

Everyone laughs. No one has ever complained about Beau. I rub my sweaty palms up and down my jeans and bashfully look down, using the lip of my baseball cap to hide my face. Thankfully, Beau moves on pretty quickly.

“And the other exciting announcement is that I’ve decided to turn the food truck into a full-blown farm-to-table restaurant on the farm.”

That announcement gets the same sort of reaction as my promotion, which is a little wild to me. A restaurant is way more exciting. I’m so happy for Joey. A restaurant is his biggest dream; it’s all he’s ever wanted. Well, except for having a family. But he has Savannah, and someday he’ll find another girl to love. He’ll get everything he wants and I’ll watch him get it, cheering him on from the sidelines. Joey crosses in front of Beau to give me a big hug, and I hold him tight, squeezing my eyes shut to stop myself from burying my face in the crook of his neck. He smells like vanilla and the fancy Tom Ford cologne his older sister buys him every single Christmas. I bought a little bottle of my own to spray on my pillow, but it never smells the same as when he’s walked into a room.

“So proud of you,” I say as Joey pulls away.

His eyes twinkle a little as he squeezes my bicep hard. “Proud of both of us.”

“Eh.”

Beau butts in at my lack of excitement. “You don’t wanna be assistant manager?”

“Of course I do!” I nudge his arm, giving him a teasing smile. “A little heads-up would’ve been nice though.”

“Then you would’ve made up a reason to not come to the meeting,” Beau points out, and he’s one hundred percent correct. I would not have attended.

I shrug while rubbing anxiously at the back of my neck. Joey reaches over to grab my wrist softly, not tugging, but gently reminding me to remove my hand. Joey’s constantly doing that, touching me, and I always end up letting him. I always have. I clear my throat and smile sheepishly as I carefully shake free from Joey’s soft grip.

“Thank you, Beau. I won’t let you down.”

Beau knocks his shoulder into mine with a wry smile. “I know you won’t. Now we gotta talk about the beehives out in Lot C. I wanna get Marie out here to harvest the honey sooner rather than later ’cause they’re getting a little crazy.”

“I’ll call her,” I reassure him.

“Marie is sweet,” Joey says offhand, but my stomach curdles all the same. They flirt and chat when she comes to tend the bees.

“Leave Marie alone,” Beau says without any bite.

Joey just grins, those evil dimples coming out to play. “Of course, boss.”

We all chat with the employees for a while, making small talk and accepting thanks. Beau pulls me toward his office once everyone empties out, and Joey follows behind us. There’s a set of plans spread out on the table in his office, as well as a rendering of what the restaurant will look like.

“I’m gonna build it beside the general store. Put in a rooftop bar so that people can watch the sunset with a glass of wine. What do you think?” Beau says in a rush, very obviously excited to share this all with me. Or us, I guess.

It’s ambitiously beautiful. Clean sharp lines, not huge, but perfectly sized for an intimate dinner tucked amongst the sunflowers. A dream come true for Beau and Joey. A shared endeavor.

“It looks beautiful,” I say reverently, almost unable to hold back the breathlessness from my voice. “You can cater more weddings having a real commercial kitchen too.”

I turn to find Joey already looking at me, that assessing look he always has when staring at me. Sometimes I’m so afraid I’m too obvious and maybe he knows my deepest darkest secret. Then again, I hope he wouldn’t treat me the way he does if he knew I was in love with him. Surely he wouldn’t touch me as much as he does if he knew. Joey isn’t cruel, just oblivious.

“Exactly what we were thinking, Lee.” Joey turns back to look at the plans, clearly pleased, a slight flush on his sharp cheekbones. “I can’t wait for it to be done. When do you think we can break ground and get going?”

Beau smiles as he stares down at the plans. “I’ve got the contractor lined up, obviously. I think beginning of April. If the summer isn’t too rainy, then we might be looking at opening in time for the fall.”

“No way!” I gasp in shock. That’s so soon.

“I said might.” Beau shrugs before clapping us both on the shoulder. “All our dreams, guys.”

Not all of them, but close.

We separate after a little while, Joey going toward the food truck, and Beau and I heading out to check on the farm. I assume these outings will be far and few between as Beau takes on more of the bigger decisions, leaving the day-to-day tasks to me.