“You’re the one stepping on toes. You really don’t know how it works, do you? I. Gave. My. Word. You can go ahead and come tomorrow, but I promised to help Cody and Morgan, and I’ll be buggered if I don’t show up. And the same goes for next week. You think you can’t trust your girlfriend around me? That sounds like your problem, not mine.”
Austen’s nostrils flared, and his throat bobbed. “Mygirlfriend. That’s right, she is. Stay in your lane, Walker.” He pivoted on his heel and slammed the door behind him.
I was shaking, my vision blackened with a temper I hadn’t unleashed since I was a little kid, and my muscles screamed out to bash something. Anything! Austen’s face would do. I whirled around and grabbed the first thing in my reach—my journal. With a snarl of rage, I hurled it against the door of my office with every ounce of pent-up fury I possessed.
And then my senses slowed with frightening clarity. Like feather-soft petals, I saw the yellowed pages exploding apart, then floating gently to the floor. One after another, they drifted apart, then slid into scattered disarray as they touched down.
All my thoughts, my dreams, every whimsical notion and beautiful idea that had ever come to me—blown to bits, each and every one of them. Over a jealous tantrum, more befitting a toddler than a grown man!
I don’t know what I was expecting to happen, but that wasn’t it. My knees gave out, and I just crumpled there amid the strewn pages. Alone, still, and with no idea of what to do now.
Jess
“Hey, guys! Thanks for coming!” Morgan greeted us brightly on Saturday morning.
Austen closed the door behind us, and I got my first look at the new White Pines office. It was enormous compared to the makeshift welcome room in their old barn. It was open enough for wheelchair access everywhere, and it would let in a lot of natural light. I whistled. “Wow, Morgan, you weren’t kidding. This is going to be a game-changer for you guys. You’ve done amazing work here.”
She cracked a huge smile, and then Cody walked up to put his arm around her and kiss her on the cheek. “You’re looking at the brains of the outfit right here,” he informed us, giving her a little squeeze. “She did all the layout and design. I just lift the heavy things. Hey, sweetheart, you got any more donuts I can take to the guys? Marshall looks like he could use one right about now.”
He gave her a significant look when he said it as if they both knew some secret about Marshall. I didn’t have to ask—I’d been talking to Kelli, and it wasn’t much of a secret by now that they were sort of on the outs. Kelli even planned to sell her horse, even though Morgan and I had both tried to talk her out of it. I didn’t doubt that Marshall would be in a foul mood today.
“I hid the donuts behind the counter,” she said, patting her husband on the cheek. “I wanted some to be left by the time everyone arrived.”
“No wonder I couldn’t find them earlier! See what I put up with?” he chuckled as he stuck his hand out. “Austen, good to see you again. Appreciate the help today.”
“Cody.” Austen shook his hand. “Any idea where you need us?”
“Morgan?” Cody asked. “I’ve got Marshall hanging drywall in the back hall and Dusty’s cutting the pre-measured sheet rock and trim boards out in the lean-to. Walter said he’d like to stain the trim board. You’ve got a fleet of mudders and painters coming in, but we could use a good team to put the drywall up in this room.”
Morgan nodded. “Can you guys do that? It sounds terrible, but I can’t trust just anyone with certain jobs if you know what I mean.”
“Understood,” I said with a smile. “Did you say Dusty’s already cutting our drywall pieces outside? We can bring them in now and get started.”
“I’ll go,” Austen volunteered. He rested a hand at the small of my back. “It’s going to snow like crazy all morning. You might as well stay warm and dry while I run out there.”
As he walked away, Morgan was wiggling her eyebrows at me. I caught her eye, and she puckered her lips to tease me. “You’ve got yourself quite a gallant gentleman there.”
I sighed, my cheeks and ears heating up even as my heart turned to putty. “Sure seems like it.”
Disaster has a funny way of sneaking up on you.
We’d worked quickly, slapping up the drywall pieces in rapid-fire order. By eleven, Austen and I, and a few others, had both the front office and the break room ready for the finish work. I was rolling my neck, trying to un-kink the knots that had worked their way in from lifting sheetrock over my head all morning. And then, gentle fingers probed their way into the sore places, finding and releasing the tension I’d locked in there by trying to work as fast as the guys did.
I opened my eyes and smiled at Austen. “Thanks.”
He grinned back, but his fingers didn’t stop. They dug deeper, and I winced. “Breathe through it,” he suggested. “It will help.”
It did, but I was hissing between my teeth, and my eyes were scrunched tight in pain for a few seconds. Then, magically, the tightness began to melt, and I rocked my head back and forth. “That’s so much better.”
“Good. Another minute and you’ll be good as new.”
My shoulders dropped in weary relief, and I could relax enough through his ministrations to look around the room. Everyone was getting ready to start the next job, most of them wandering around and waiting to be told what to do. Then, Dusty walked through the door, his Carhartt work coat soaked with melted snow and his face red with the cold of working outside all morning. He stepped aside as a couple of kids careened by him, then stopped dead, his eyes locked on me.
And suddenly, it didn’t feel right to let Austen give me a neck massage right there in the middle of the room.
I couldn’t say why. Maybe it was because he was the first person to actually look at me, sitting there on the receiving end of some pampering while everyone else was getting ready to start working. Or maybe it was that strange spark in his eye, something I’d never seen there before. I squirmed and moved away from Austen’s touch.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, not wanting anyone to overhear me. “That’s probably good for now.” I rubbed my hand over the sore spots as I stood up.