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“I wanted to go wine tasting down at Briarwood Falls but half of us are preggers.” Rose let out a heavy sigh as she approached us while Holly laughed. “Today was an entire day. I’m exhausted, but I have taken a sacred vow never to miss sister time now that all of us are finally in town together again.”
“I could definitely go for a glass too.” Holly agreed. “Fridays at the shop are insane. Remember that weird rush last time you were there, Liam? It was like that today too.”
I simply nodded in response. My heart raced; I was too surprised to see her to answer with words. I felt like a kid again, stuck back in high school with a stupid crush. By now I should be used to the way my body reacted to having her near me. But each time I caught sight of her still had me reeling, sending my heartbeat out of control and my mind into overdrive trying to fight her pull.
“I have wine,” Luke offered. “And I’m smoking a rack of ribs out back. I know it’s late, but Lily had a craving.”
“Ice cream and ribs sounds great.” The sound of Holly’s throaty laughter stole what was left of my thoughts as I watched a smile unfurl across her face.
“Don’t forget about the wine,” Rose said. “Do you need any help?”
“Nope, I got it. Lily is in the living room. Go relax and I’ll bring you both a glass.”
“You’re the best, Lukey.” Rose reached high and pinched his cheeks. “Later, guys.”
“Later...” My eyes trailed after Holly, an idiotic smile spreading across my face as I watched her walk up the porch steps.
“Listen, before we go inside, I have news. I have a job for you.”
“What? Huh?” In a daze, I slowly shifted my eyes to Luke. Why did that sound so ominous? Like a test or a call to action. My face blanked in confusion. Still distracted by Holly, it took me a beat before continuing. “What’s the job?”
“You seem a little out of it.” He studied my face. “Have you been getting enough sleep?”
“Not really.” Since returning home, I suffered frequent bouts of insomnia. It was getting better but was still a pain in the ass.
“Want to talk about it?” We had started making it a point to share whenever we felt out of sorts. Both of us were determined not to succumb to our PTSD ever again. Therapy, support, and communication were what would continue to pull us through and keep us healthy.
“Nah, don’t worry. It’s nothing we haven’t covered before. I’m just feeling a bit restless lately is all.”Yeah, because I’m falling for your sister-in-law, who you grew up with and love like she was your own little sister.I shook my head to clear it.
“I get you. Maybe you should start dating again? Or find a like-minded woman, and, you know—”
“Uh-uh, not ready for that.” I was not about to start dating someone when my feelings for Holly were so strong. No matter how long it had been, it wouldn’t be right to lead someone on.
He held out his hands with a grin. “Fair enough. I’m not here to push you into anything. It was just a suggestion.”
“No worries. I get you. So, what’s the job?”
“Holly is going into business. She’s going to start up an apothecary store in Rosemary’s old bed and breakfast in town. You’re going to oversee the renovation. Owen will get it started with demo, clean up, and giving the outside a fresh coat of paint. Then you’ll step in for the rest of the project. I know you want out of the office and into some builds and remodels. This will be the perfect place to get that going.”
“Wait a minute. Owen? Are you sure about that? I still can’t believe you hired him.” He was a good worker and Luke had known him since childhood. But at one point he’d been engaged to Holly. From what I’d heard, she broke things off a day before their wedding after she found out he had cheated on her. He had a terrible reputation around town as a philanderer. As far as I was concerned, Owen was on thin ice, and I’d be keeping a close eye on him.
“He’ll be fine. I asked Holly if she was okay with it, and she said it was ancient history and she didn’t care. She won’t be there while he does demo work anyway. I don’t want to fire him, I’d feel terrible. He has five kids, Liam. Plus, we grew up together—”
“I still think you give too many chances. Plus, this could potentially end up being a huge issue. But, yeah, I mean, get where you’re coming from, I guess.” I paused. “Okay, no, I don’t get it. He’s bad for business. I’m still pretty new in town and even I have heard about how much he cheats on his wife.” I was still getting used to living in a small town. Everyone in Sweetbriar either grew up together, used to be neighbors, or ran into each other regularly at Violet’s for coffee or the Quickbriar Stop and Go for gas. The main point being everyone knew everyone’s business, cut each other far too much slack for my liking, and put up with too much of each other’s bullshit. I was way to suspicious to fight what had always been my first instinct, which was to doubt everyone and everything.
“That’s why you’re in charge of this project. He’ll never be lead, and I won’t assign him to any job where he will be in a situation to even speak to anyone. He’ll work on empty properties or with a crew. Don’t worry about that. I just don’t want his wife and kids to lose their house and starve. I’d do it myself, but I’m already spread too thin with other projects as it is. Plus, I know I can trust you to get this exactly right.”
I threw a hand up and stopped him. “No need to explain. It’s fine. I don’t want his kids to starve either. I’ll do it.”
What was I getting myself into?Now I’d have to see her at work, rather than just my brief visits to Violet’s and occasional run-ins here at Luke’s place, both of which were easy to nip in the bud by using work as an excuse to rush off.Or not.I’d had coffee with her earlier.What had I been thinking?Fuck, this was a bad idea.
“Thank you. The file is on your desk at the office. Rosemary is chomping at the bit to get this done.”
I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “And Holly?” I’d heard nothing about this project and it felt like he’d known about it for a while, which was odd. We always discussed everything to do with the business.
“I was sworn to secrecy. Rosemary wanted to have everything lined up and ready to go before she said anything to Holly. She didn’t want to risk disappointing her if it ended up being too expensive or if the place was too run down to make it work.”
“That makes sense. How’s the building?”
