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It would be weeks before we had all the houses up, electricity run, and the facilities built. But it was a start, and a big start at that.
Behind us was a little commotion as a couple of guys plopped coolers in the middle of the foundation and started passing out beers. Like moths to the moon, everyone began to float in that direction. But neither Keaton nor I moved.
I shifted to smile sideways up at him. “What, you’re not gonna take the chance to get away from me?”
One of his brows rose, but a ghost of a smile still tugged at his lips. “You callin’ me a coward?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
He humphed.
“It’s just that I’ve noticed you make it a point never to be alone with me and I thought it was strange.”
For a second, he didn’t say anything, just watched the crew laugh and chat around the coolers with a far-off look on his face. It was the look of a man who often observed and rarely participated.
Careful to keep a playful note in my voice, I said, “I don’t know if you know this, but I don’t bite.”
The corner of his mouth that I could see tugged up a little higher at the corner, but he didn’t look at me. “Really? I figured you for a biter. Jo for a scratcher.”
“I’m more of a pincher. Jo’s the biter—goes with her bark. Poppy’s the one that’ll scratch your eyes out.”
I earned an honest to God chuckle with that one. “A pincher, huh? Not very menacing.”
“I’ve never been good at menacing.”
“No, I figure you haven’t.” A pause while I waited for him to answer my original question. Just when I thought he wasn’t going to say anything at all, he said, “I hadn’t noticed, if I’m honest. So I guess it’s coincidence.”
“Oh,” I said, hoping he couldn’t hear the combination of disappointment and rejection holding hands and pitching themselves off my heart and into my stomach. “Well, good to know my presence isn’t your punishment.”
“I don’t know if it could ever be that, Daisy.”
I snuck a look at him, but his eyes were still trained on the crew. I couldn’t tell whether he was just being nice or if there was more to it.
Don’t get your hopes up, Daisy Mae.
“Thanks for helping out today,” he said. “I have a good feeling about this. I’m honored to be included.”
“We couldn’t do it without you.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“No, really. You were the only company in the tri-county area dumb enough to take it on.”
He laughed, and I reveled in the sound.
“That might be true. But what can I say. I’m a sucker.”
“You really kinda are,” I teased. “Main Street for cost, this project. I don’t know how you turn a profit, giving the milk away for free like you do.”
Something in him shifted at the joke, but I couldn’t figure out what or why.
“This town means more to me than just about anything,” he said. “I’ll do what I can to help, just like Dad did. It’s part of our legacy.”
“Legacy,” I echoed. “There’s a lot of that around here.”
“You’ve got one of your own. Blum’s Bees is woven into the fabric of this town.”
“So is Meyers Construction. Literally—you’re part of the physical makeup of the place. We just make honey.”
“Honey lasts forever too, I hear.”
“It does. It’ll outlive Twinkies in the apocalypse.”
He chuckled, still not having looked at me. Someone from the knot of people called his name, and he jerked his chin at them.
“Come on and have a beer,” I suggested. “You earned one.”
Instead of taking a step toward them, he took a step back. “I’ve got some work to do, so I’ll have to pass. But you should. And have fun.”
I nodded at him once, small. “All right. You have a good night, Keaton.”
“You too.”
Our eyes met for the briefest moment, and I found his thick with emotions shifting in shadows behind them. As if he had a leash on the whole lot of those emotions and spent all his energy keeping them heeled.
Just like that, he turned to leave, walking back toward the offices with broad shoulders straight despite the weight they carried. I wondered if he knew he didn’t have to bear his burden alone. He had his brothers, the three of them mixed in with the crew with beers in their hands and smiles on their faces. I did my best to quell the thought that I could help too. It wasn’t my place.
Though I kind of wished it was.
9
COOKIE MONSTER
KEATON
I frowned at the cookie dough in the bowl, spoon in hand.
“Are you sure it’s supposed to look like that?”
Sophie nodded.
Cole looked over my shoulder. “Nope. Why’s it so dry?”
“I don’t know. I put in a half a cup of butter like it said.”
“Well, that’s why,” he answered. “It’s a cup and a half.”
