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He had never done that. He knew he had a lot to be thankful for and he was very grateful for it, but he never just made a list of things in his head.
“I’ll have to give it a try,” he said, wondering if he would. He thought it would feel sort of weird to be listing out good things.
“Do that. Well I should probably let you get to sleep. What time are you leaving in the morning?” she asked.
“Around nine. I’m leaving the house at eight,” he said.
“Safe travels then. Call me when you get there if you have time,” she said.
“Why?”
“Just so I know you’re safe and can hear your voice.”
Damn. There it was again. That pull that he wanted to pretend he didn’t feel.
“Will do. Text me at two a.m. if you can’t sleep. I liked this.”
“Same. Night, Max.”
“Night, Angel.”
He disconnected the call before he could overthink what he’d said but he had the feeling that Angelica was an angel.
*
Angelica and Cosimawent over to the property that had been allocated to them by the Second Start program after they closed their boutique for the day. Leslie Argent had brought keys by earlier after they’d sent back the signed contract. A new account had been set up at the local bank and both women were eager to start ordering the equipment they needed to get the project up and running.
“This is so exciting. We were so busy today I didn’t get a chance to tell you that Dad sent a bottle of his cuvee reserve to us. He said he’s proud of the both of us,” Cosima said.
“That’s great. Mom made pepperoni bread and her famous marinated olives,” Angelica said, pulling them from her large Michael Kors bag. “I suspect they might stop by later to help out.”
“That’s fine. I’m just so excited to be in the space and see what they’ve done so far. Has Max kept you informed?” she asked.
“No,” Angelica said. She’d spoken to Max when he’d landed and every night around two a.m. her time, which was four his time. But they never discussed the project. She had the feeling that as much as he’d intimated he’d be hands-on and watching her, he wasn’t going to be. He had left New York on Wednesday and was now in Chicago closing a deal there and hoped to be back in Whiskey River by the weekend.
“Reg and I aren’t a thing…it was just a hookup I guess,” Cosima said.
“Are you okay with that?” she asked her cousin.
“Um, it was sort of my idea. I mean it’s weird if we both date guys from the same company. It could get awkward. Plus my parents are coming here for the holidays and after hearing about the complications that you had with Max at your folks’ with your mom getting all excited…seemed easier for me to pump the brakes.”
She smiled over at her cousin. Pumping the brakes was Cosima’s MO. Her cousin wasn’t ready to settle down and whenever she met a guy who might tempt her into it, she ditched him. She’d like to say Reg had been the first, but he hadn’t. “Well I’m sure it will all work out.”
“Ha. You know it won’t. But that’s not important,” Cosima said as they unlocked their new building and walked in.
They’d been warned that the center was still a work in progress and that was very clear. The reception desk was covered with leftover soda cans and some boxes of construction products. As they walked through the space, they could see that the floor hadn’t been done, but the house had been dried in.
She flipped on the lights. “Well we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re supposed to mark the different areas of this space with the blue tape so they’ll know how to divide it up.”
Cosima spun around looking at the space. “I’m thinking that the test kitchen area should be in the back. I want to use the back door to get to the field behind. We’re going to put in planters and use the community garden in some of the recipes. I want to be able to explore winemaking if anyone is interested in that. I don’t think the soil here is great for growing grapes, but we could have a small test vineyard and partner with vineyards in the Hill Country. Pops is going to take a look to help us when he’s here.”
“That’s fine with me. I think that a few throwing wheels should be in the back and I want to keep some space open in case we can get that local metalworker to come and teach sometimes,” Angelica said. She was making notes as they talked. They heard the front door open and walked back toward the area to see a young person wearing jeans and a large military-style jacket. When they got closer, they could see she was a girl with a short bob on one side and her head shaved on the other.
“Hello, can we help you?”
“Uh, yeah. Sully said to stop in. I’m Sox the graffiti artist.”
“We love your work,” Angelica said. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
