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We all started laughing as Rae fell to her ass, taking a handful of dirt with her.
“That shit is not funny!” Rae kept her eyes on the bird until it flew off. “Crows are from hell, there’s a scientific study on it.”
I couldn’t stop laughing as she tried to get herself back into position on the grass.
Nora was in the process of selling her house, but she wanted her original garden to be attached to Colson’s yard, so we were helping her move the boundary line. I tried to explain to her that legally if she sold, the new owners had every right to challenge her. She replied saying she’d have it written into the sale stipulations.
What we assumed would be done with shovels turned into us kneeling around a garden bed, moving over dirt with our hands. Nora said she was worried about disrupting the balance of the garden’s energy. I withheld an eye roll and both Rae and I had started shoveling the dirt with actual shovels when Nora went in to use the bathroom.
“I get to call our next group activity,” Rae said, swiping at her forehead.
I laughed again because the notion that this was just a hangout session was hilarious. I was getting sunburned and frostbite at the same time. Oregon was weird. I guess the dirt cooled so much overnight that it was cold enough to make your fingers numb if you went digging in it.
“What are we going to do, draw on posters with markers for three hours?” Nora mocked, shifting her position by moving on her knees around the perimeter of her yard.
Rae gave Nora a glare and pointed a dirt-stained finger at her.
“You loved my posters when you were getting married.”
“Okay, before we get into another discussion about posters or weddings, I have to hear what her group activity would be,” Nora said, lifting her head until she was watching me.
Shoot, what would I do? I didn’t reallydoanything but watch the stock market, cyber stalk up-and-coming startups, and plug numbers into my Excel sheet. I also liked to spend time with the girls. I liked to shop, and Liam was still working with me on self-defense—I loved training on the heavy bag.
It finally hit me. “Baking! We would bake. Have an entire competition and everything.”
Rae watched me with a smile. “Do the girls love baking with you?”
“They do, I’ve been teaching them. I was actually kicked out of the house today because Liam is baking me a surprise with them.”
I thought about how he had come home a few days ago smiling and that burden I had seen him carry for the past few months seemed to disappear. Gunther had texted me a thumbs up after he’d visited Macon, which told me he’d pitched the offer to Liam and Liam had accepted. I was so relieved that a few happy tears trailed down my face that night when Liam sank into me and whispered how much he loved me.
He, of course, had no idea I was the one behind the offer, but it didn’t matter. He was going to be okay, and his dream was safe. I was going to take this win and tuck it away in my heart, and maybe one day far from now, when Liam’s gym had been franchised a hundred times and he was sitting on more money than he ever imagined, I would tell him what I did.
Until then, I would be taking it to the grave. Liam was too proud to accept that it was me who pitched the deal. It wouldn’t matter that Gunther had initially agreed with me that Croft Gym would be a smart choice, or that Gunther himself used to be a huge fan of Liam’s and would have made the offer himself. All Liam would see was my involvement.
Nora sat back on her heels and let out a sigh. “Well, I’d be down for a baking competition, especially if we got to eat what we bake.”
“Haley, you never told us what happened with JefferyassholeAkers,” Rae said, flicking her gaze to me briefly before focusing on the soil.
I shrugged, digging into the dirt harder than necessary. “Not much to tell. He was an asshole, and I won’t be speaking to him again.”
“Agreed. My mom refuses to serve him at the diner now, after what he said about Liam,” Rae said with a malicious snicker.
“Colson would fire him if he could, but he doesn’t technically have grounds to do so. He did give him a crappy rotation on one of the new projects, though. He also sat him down and warned him that if Haley ever set foot on another build site, that Jeffery was not to go near her.”
Both women paused their movements, their eyes set on me as a refreshing wind blew dead leaves around the yard.
Rae asked curiously, “So were you ever going to tell us you were seeing Liam?”
I stopped digging as well and sat back on my heels, staring between the two of them.
“I wanted to, but Liam wanted to wait until we told the girls. Then Cole found out, and I think he wasn’t very happy about it.”
Nora winced just the slightest bit. “Yeah, crazy thing about that, he didn’t even tell me you guys were a thing untilafterthe fight with Jeffery.”
Honestly, I was shocked too. Rae’s mouth gaped as she stared at her friend.
“Seriously?”
