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“I am,” he said firmly. “Besides, we don’t want to keep Tucker waiting, and we’ll be done faster if we split up the work. Right?”
“Yeah, of course,” I said, feeling a little flicker of guilt. Had I been relying on Beckett to shoulder too much? “I’ll step up.”
“I know,” he said. “You always do.”
I watched him cross The Diner, chest warming from the few words of support. Beckett didn’t need to sing my praises. He showed that he believed in me every day.
* * *
BECKETT
Wesand I swung by Pete’s Pump and Dump, the oh-so charmingly named gas station, on the way to meet up with the crew. Today, I would be leading a few guys in the landscape project at the mayor’s place, while everyone else kept up with our mowing schedule and park project. It had been crazy busy over the summer, but the further into fall we got, the more things would slow down. Over the winter, we found work blowing leaves, shoveling snow, and installing holiday lighting displays, but it was nowhere near as profitable, so we were working double-time to fit in all the projects we could before that happened.
“I’ll fill it up,” Wes said.
“That’s what you keep saying, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Wes’s eyes widened in shock before he laughed. “You’re such a brat.”
“Yup.” I opened the passenger door to hop out. “I’m going to grab a water. You want one?”
“Yeah, but grab me an energy drink too.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. As guys who worked outdoors, we’d learned a long time ago that you had to hydrate properly with water or Gatorade, not indulge in crap like soda or energy drinks. Even when the worst heat of summer passed, working under the sun all day took its toll.
“For later,” Wes said with a smile that promised dirty things. “I’m going to need my energy to deliver on that promise.”
I snorted a laugh. “Good luck with Andi moping around.”
“Hey, she and Colt had a good chat. I think things will turn around soon. And if not, well, Dad is leaving.”
I shook my head at him, knowing he’d never kick out Andi—or even suggest she could go somewhere else if she wanted to stay with us—but it was fun to daydream about the day we might have plenty of time and privacy to get our fill of each other.
If that was even possible.
I pulled open the door and stepped into the convenience store. The water—and energy drinks–were in the coolers on the far wall. I opened the glass door, a cool blast of refrigerated air hitting me in the face as I grabbed what I needed.
When I turned to go, I nearly bumped into Anna.
“Hey,” I said in surprise.
She gave me an awkward smile. “Hi, Beck,”
“I’ve actually been trying to call you,” I said.
She winced. “Yeah, sorry. I’ve just been busy…”
I recognized a brush-off when I got one, but luckily I wasn’t interested in pursuing Anna for real.
“I just wanted to touch base about this matchmaking thing Iola is set on.”
“Yeah, I figured that was why.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I didn’t really sign up for that. Iola sort of decided I had, and I wasn’t sure how to tell her no.”
I grinned. “Yeah, same. Iola is a force of nature. No one can say no.”
She looked relieved. “Oh, thank goodness! I mean, not that you’re a bad match. It’s just, we’ve tried dating before, which I told Iola, but she was insistent we were the perfect match, and then she brought up Tucker Ellis and his husband, and how amazing love could be if you gave it a second chance…” She spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness. “But the truth is, I’m sort of interested in someone. Nothing has happened yet, but…”
“Hey, me too,” I said quickly. “This is all coming from Iola, not me. We tried it out, and we’re better as friends. I’m on the same page.”
