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Relief like Will hadn’t experienced in a while cascaded through him, and he reached up and wiped his hand across his forehead. His stomach grumbled at him for something to eat, and he couldn’t remember what he’d been doing when he’d gotten word about the downed compression machine in the milkshed.
Probably checking some other piece of equipment. The refrigeration unit in their storage facility had been on the fritz for the past month, and Will had finally gotten Daddy to approve the funds to fix that. They ran all of their milk through that fridge, and if it went down… Their losses would be catastrophic.
“The Smith’s are here,” someone yelled, and that was Will’s cue to get moving again. Taylor and Bryant Smith owned one of the larger organic grocers in the state of Texas, and they’d been expanding their stores into Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas for the past year. They were the third largest client that Cooper & Co supplied milk for, and they came personally to pick up their weekly milk supply.
Will expected to find Lee out in front of the massive storage facility, and he did. All three men hovered under umbrellas, but Will simply walked through the rain. Maybe it would wash off some of the grime, the grease, and the gunk from the actual down-and-dirty milking operation.
“Here he is,” Lee said. “I’ll take Taylor to sign the paperwork. Bryant, you can go with Will and start filling your bottles.”
Will put the friendliest business smile he could muster on his face, shook Bryant Smith’s hand, and turned to lead him into the storage facility. It smelled like dairy and dirt inside, a scent Will was extremely familiar with.
Pure exhaustion flowed through him, and while Bryant went to load the first pallet of empty glass bottles they’d then fill with organic whole milk, he pulled his phone from his back pocket.
I’m so sorry, he typed out quickly.But today has gone from one bad thing to another. The rain hasn’t helped. Can we reschedule dinner tonight?
He sent the message as Bryant backed the truck right into the facility, and Will started to close the doors. His phone rang, and irritation spiked within him despite Gretchen’s name on the screen.
“Hey,” he said quickly. “I’m with a client.”
“Do you want me to come out there tonight? I can bring pizza or something.”
Bryant dropped down from his truck, looking for Will. He raised one hand, his smile flying right back into place. He turned his back on the man before barking, “No.”
“Will, it’s not—”
“I’m not in the mood,” he said, and he really didn’t have time for this. He didn’t know how to say goodbye. He didn’t know how to soothe feelings. He shivered from the cold wetness that covered his whole body, and he really just wanted to get Bryant Smith’s order fulfilled and the man on his way.
Then he needed to eat and shower, and he had zero mental bandwidth for Gretchen. Because of that, he said, “I have to go,” and hung up. At least he thought he said that much. As he turned to go help Bryant, Will wondered if he’d really spoken that last sentence or not.
The probability that he’d just hung up on Gretchen Bellows like a great big cowboy beast intensified, and Will’s shoulders sagged under the weight he carried.
“Everything okay?” Bryant asked, real concern in his voice.
No, Will wanted to rage into the sky.Everything is not okay.
Instead, he smiled and reached for the first bottle. “Yep. Let’s get you gentlemen on your way. I don’t think this rain is going to let up until next week.”
With Bryant chuckling, Will’s heart turned to stone because hewascertain he’d just ruined everything with the only woman who’d sparked anything inside him in years.
