Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“What a great night!” Sloane said with a happy sigh as they walked through Will’s front door. “This was way more fun than I thought it would be.” She kicked off her shoes and went over and flopped down on the couch. “Sometimes I forget how amazing my family can be. So supportive. So nice. So funny. I hate that Billie and Marcus left early, but she was up at four a.m. to get some baking done. I could never do anything like that. I enjoy sleep too much.”
“Yeah. I don’t know how she does it,” he said as he kicked off his own shoes.
“And, just so you know, everybody loved you.” Smiling up at him, all she could think of was how handsome he was. “All night, my cousins were singing your praises. My brothers thought you were freaking awesome—their words—and rambled on and on and on about your knowledge of cars. I mean, I’m glad they enjoyed listening to all of it, but I started to glaze over after a little bit. Did you try any of the sliders? Oh my God, they were so freaking good!”
She was babbling and she knew it, but she couldn’t help it. It had been a great night and, for the first time in weeks, she felt completely relaxed—in a way that hadn’t directly involved Will and his bed. Just the thought of those two things had her sliding him a sexy grin.
Sitting down beside her, Will pulled her close as he wrapped his arm around her. “I’m glad you had fun. It was definitely a great night.”
“Mm-hmm…”
“The Ridge is going to become a very popular spot in town. We’ve been needing a place like that for ages.”
“Mmm…” she purred, gently rubbing her hand over his chest.
“And did I tell you? Levi apologized to me for not telling me who you were all this time. He said he honestly didn’t know it was you, so maybe it wasn’t exactly an apology, but I appreciated the acknowledgment. It’s good to know we’re all friends and can hang out together either just for fun or to celebrate something.
“Mm-hmm…” she hummed again and then sat straight up. “Oh, man!”
His eyes went a little wide. “What? What’s the matter?”
“We were supposed to be celebrating you, and we never did!” She pouted. “I’m sorry!”
Chuckling, he tucked her back to his side and kissed the top of her head. “We celebrated just fine. I told you; I can’t tell anyone about the expansion and partnership yet, but in my mind, I was celebrating. Plus, you and I celebrated plenty, and tonight was really about your family and opening The Ridge. It would have been wrong to pull the focus away from that.”
“Maybe. But the minute you and Devin announce it, we are going to celebrate all over town! Loudly!”
It was adorable how he was kind of blushing, and she wished everyone knew right now just how big of a deal he was.
Without a word, Sloane jumped up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. She was surprised that Will didn’t follow her, but she was quick. Finding the things she wanted, she strolled back into the living room.
“Nice,” he said, laughing.
“I think it makes a statement.” With a grin, she handed him a can of soda and a wine glass and then went about pouring her own soda into her glass. “It’s fizzy, cold, and non-alcoholic. The perfect end to the night.”
“Caffeine?” he teased.
“Okay, maybe not perfect, but I was going more for the fizz since you didn’t have any champagne.” She sat back down beside him and raised her glass. “To you, Will, and to your dreams coming true.”
They touched glasses, and Sloane giggled at the sound before they drank. She’d barely had a sip when Will took the glass from her hand and placed it on the coffee table. Rising, he held out his hand to her.
“As much as I love the sentiment, I’m kind of partial to other forms of celebrating with you.”
Now it was her turn to blush. Placing her hand in his, she stood and allowed him to tug her close. “Last night’s celebration was rather spectacular,” she said softly. “The champagne, the fire roaring in the fireplace, and the strawberries and fresh cream all made for a very romantic setting.”
He pulled her even closer. “Is that what you want, beautiful girl? All the romantic stuff? I don’t have a fireplace or champagne, and I can’t remember the last time there was fresh fruit in the house, but, what I do have are arms that love holding you, a big, warm bed that I can’t wait to lay you down on, and the promise to worship and love every inch of you all night long.”
“Will,” she whispered. “That was the most romantic thing ever.”
Without a word, he took her hand, and, with his eyes on her, led her to the bedroom.
As soon as he closed the door, she was in his arms and he was kissing her, and she had to silently ask herself just whose dream was coming true.
The festival had been a blast and Sunday night came way too soon. She had booked the latest flight she could, but still ended up hating it when it was time to leave.
Will had offered to drive with her to the airport in her rental car and then take an Uber home, but she thought it was crazy. Besides, she ended up having her mother with her, so it wasn’t like they would have gotten any real time alone. The drive to the airport was mainly filled with conversation about the bar, all the new babies, and the festival.
And her mother did most of the talking.
They dropped the car off and got through security at the airport, but it wasn’t until they were waiting to board that the conversation got a little personal.
“So, you and Will seem very happy together,” her mother began.
“Thanks! We are.”
“Of course, it seemed a little soon to be staying at his place instead of with your family, but…that’s just me.”
Okay, here we go…
“Mom, you know the story. I’ve been kissing Will for three years. He’s not exactly a stranger. Plus, our entire family in Sweetbriar Ridge vouched for him. He’s a great guy and this whole long-distance thing sucks. If we had to be all traditional about everything, it would take another three years before we slept together.”
Beside her, Bridget frowned. “I know I’m usually a very open and hip kind of mom, but sometimes it’s weird talking about sex with my kids.”
“Hailey and Max slept together after knowing each other less than forty-eight hours. If you consider that, I’m downright prudish.”
The side-eye she got told her that her comment wasn’t appreciated.
“All I’m saying, Mom, is that it’s not so horrible. Plus, with you and Dad being in town, plus Finn, Ben, and Kyle, Hailey didn’t need anyone else staying with her. She just had a baby, for crying out loud. Cut her a break.”
“Ben and Kyle stayed with your Uncle Ronan. I wanted to be there to help Hailey with my sweet little Layla. I don’t get to see her nearly enough. But hopefully, if things go as planned, your father and I are going to be splitting our time between Sweetbriar Ridge and Florida.” She smiled giddily. “It’s going to be wonderful!”
“So like…you’re going to buy a house here?”
“Your cousin Patrick is already doing the research for us. We just want a little two-bedroom bungalow type of place. With Hailey living here now, even if all your brothers wanted to come and visit, we’d have room for them between our two houses.”
For a moment, Sloane was fairly certain her jaw was on the floor.
“Um…what about me? What about when I want to come and visit?”
Her mother looked at her like she was crazy. “Well, obviously, I just thought you’d stay with Will. Or that you’d be moving here to be with him. After all the shacking up the two of you have done in the last month, that didn’t seem like such a stretch.”
When Sloane didn’t respond, her mother turned in her seat to face her.
“That is what you’re planning, isn’t it? Your father and I just figured that was going to be the next step. That’s why moving to Sweetbriar Ridge was going to be so easy for us. Knowing both my girls would be here was a perk!”
“Okay, I…I don’t know what to do, Mom,” she began cautiously. “I really like Will a lot. probably more than I’ve ever liked any other guy.”
“But…?”
“But…I don’t know if small-town life is for me.”
“So? Maybe Will would consider moving to Florida. Have you talked to him about it?”
“No. We haven’t even talked about him coming down to visit. Every time we talk about seeing each other, it’s for me to come here. I don’t mind it because then I get to see Hailey, but this is where Will is meant to be. He’s working on some expansion with Devin at the garage, and I couldn’t ask him to give that up.”
“Maybe you won’t have to ask him. Maybe he’ll offer. But you’re never going to know unless you open that dialogue, sweetheart. I know this is all maybe a little out of your comfort zone, but if you truly have feelings for Will, you need to work this stuff out. You can’t keep flying back here every weekend. It’s not practical.”
“Or affordable,” she murmured. “If I keep doing this, the money I’ve been putting away to buy a house is going to be gone sooner rather than later.” Pausing, she sighed. “Why did I have to fall for a guy who lives so far away?”
When her mother didn’t say anything, she got mildly suspicious.
“Mom? Don’t you have anything to say about that?”
Bridget shrugged.
“Mom,” she repeated more firmly. “Come on. I know you’re thinking something.”
The weary sigh came first. “Fine. But remember, you asked.”
“Fine. Consider me warned.”
“You’ve always taken the…lighter approach to life,” she began slowly. “Never taking anything too seriously, always ready with a joke, and you easily let things just roll off your back.”
“O-kay…I’m not seeing a problem with any of that, but I’m also not seeing what this has to do with me and Will.”
“Your friends are all getting married and having babies. Your sister—who has always been one of your best friends—also got married and had a baby.” Reaching over, she gave Sloane’s hand a small squeeze. “Maybe you chose a guy who was unattainable on some level, so you could say you tried just to pacify all of us, all the while knowing it wouldn’t work.”
“So…you’re saying I’m using Will and self-sabotaging myself? Mom, that’s insane! You make me sound like some kind of sociopath! Why would I use Will like that? He’s a genuinely great guy that I like! I was attracted to him from the minute I first saw him!”
“Lust makes us do crazy things, dear,” her mother primly reasoned.
“This isn’t just lust,” she retorted. “I enjoy just sitting and talking to Will. Except about cars. I can do with a lot less of that.” As childish as it was, she knew she was making a face at just the mention of cars.
“Interesting.”
“What? What’s interesting?”
“It’s nothing,” her mother said before shifting in her seat again. “When do you think we’ll start boarding? It feels like we’ve been here forever.”
“Mom?”
“Hmm?”
“Come on,” she whined. “Just tell me what you meant by that.”
“Fine. You made a face when you complained about Will talking about cars and you used to do the same thing when your father and the boys would talk about cars.” She shook her head. “That’s Will’s career, Sloane. If you’re going to have a relationship with him, you’re going to have to learn to stop making faces when the subject comes up.”
“I did not used to make faces when Dad and the guys talked about cars,” she argued. “That’s not a thing.”
The look she was getting once again said otherwise.
“You were the youngest. The boys were always doing stuff with your dad while you and Hailey were home with me. And I’m telling you, every time the boys went to a car show, you were openly hostile about it.”
“No, I…” Pausing, she gasped, eyes going wide. “Oh my God…you’re right! It used to bother me that they would always go to the car shows and never included me!”
“Sloane, you were just a baby when they started going, and you never showed any interest in cars.”
“I know, but…he never did anything like that with me and Hailey! There was never any event that was just for us, you know? I used to hate how Finn, Ben, and Kyle had this thing that only they got to do with Dad, and…”
“And you didn’t. Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry that I didn’t put that together sooner. You have to understand, your father had no idea how to be a real girl dad. He just found it easier to relate to your brothers. I know that’s not a great excuse, but it’s the only way I can think to describe it.”
She honestly had no idea what to say to that.
“If I can give you a bit of motherly advice?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t let something that happened in your childhood—something like your dad not including you in something—affect your relationship with Will. No one says you have to become a car enthusiast, but…your issue is really with your father, not cars. Try to remember that.”
“Flight number 1982 with service to Fort Lauderdale will begin boarding shortly,” the announcement stated.
Giving Sloane’s hand another squeeze, her mother smiled at her. “Just something to think about. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run to the ladies’ room. I hate using the bathroom on the plane. Serious ick factor. I’ll be right back.”
Sloane nodded, hating how her mother had given her a lot to think about. Taking her phone from her purse, she wanted to make sure her mobile ticket was ready. When she looked at her phone, she noticed a couple of missed texts from Will.
Will: Hey, beautiful. Miss you already. Have a safe flight.
“Aww…” She wanted to hug him through the phone.
The next was a picture of a bottle of champagne.
Will: This is waiting here for when you come back. Just FYI.
She already imagined drinking it in bed with him.
Will: Hope your mom’s not making you too crazy. I know it’s going to be super late when you land in Florida, but please just text me when you land so I know you’re okay.
He really was one of the greatest guys she’d ever met.
She just hoped she didn’t end up breaking his heart.
Will played their entire long weekend over and over in his mind. It had felt like they were on some sort of vacation. Between the night at Summit Ridge, the gatherings at The Ridge, and the festival, they’d had such a great time. They ate out at almost every meal and at the end of each day, they spent the night making love.
Best vacation ever, he thought.
Although, that wasn’t quite right. The best vacation would probably be someplace tropical where they could listen to the waves crashing on the shore and not have to worry about anything for about a solid week. He could picture Sloane in a bathing suit on the sand—and without one—with the sun beating down on her and a smile on her face.
Yeah…that would be damn near perfect.
And he made a mental note to work on that and feel her out on where her dream vacation spot would be.
Unfortunately, life quickly became less like a vacation and was replaced by an exhausting reality that consisted of work, work, and more work.
Things began to move fast on the expansion of Devin’s—and now also Will’s—business. Once they put the ball in motion and met with a lawyer to make everything legal, Sweetbriar Ridge Auto Care started garnering a lot of attention because of all the permit requests. Before Will knew it, crews were circling the building and marking out the space for the new body shop bay that would be separate from the rest of the bays.
He was putting in extra hours and although he was tired, it was a good kind of tired—the kind that left him sore and happy rather than miserable. It was very satisfying. One week of craziness turned into two and then three, and although they talked to each other every day, they hadn’t been able to pin down another trip to see each other.
And it was making him a bit cranky.
“If we weren’t so damn busy, I’d buy you a plane ticket myself!” Devin snapped earlier today. “You’re in a pissy mood and I get it, but we’re lucky that we got a contractor who could start this soon. Once things get moving along a bit more, you may have the time to take a couple of days off, but…this is part of owning a business, Will. You can’t keep whining about missing your girlfriend.”
“Yeah, easy for you to say. You get to work with your girl,” he murmured.
“Mac!” Devin called out. “Can you please talk to Will? I may strangle him!”
MacKenzie came strolling to the door of the garage bay. “Aww…do I have to separate you two?” she cooed.
“I can’t take all his whining and moping!” Devin yelled. “I get that he misses Sloane, but it’s not my fault that she lives a thousand miles away!”
“You bitched plenty when you thought MacKenzie was leaving!” Will reminded him. “And I was supportive of you! How about being a friend and not a total dick, huh?”
“Oh, now I’m a dick? How about…”
MacKenzie came and stood between them. “Okay, okay, okay, now I really am going to have to separate you!” She looked at Devin. “You need to either go work on a car or go to your office and shut the door.” Then she looked at Will. “And you? You’re coming to my office. Now!”
Will gave Devin a hard glare as he walked past him and followed Mac out of the garage, but as soon as they were in the office and the door was shut, he wasn’t quite so cocky.
MacKenzie was short, but she was a little scary to deal with.
“Okay, you are going to have to snap out of this whole sad sack thing, Will,” she said firmly as she sat down. “Sit.”
He quickly obeyed.
“It’s one thing to be a little disappointed because Sloane doesn’t live close by…”
“It’s not just that she doesn’t live close by…”
“Still talking!” she interrupted, and after letting out a long breath, she started again. “It’s one thing to be a little disappointed because Sloane doesn’t live close by. However, you are an adult, and you have responsibilities. And, need I remind you, these additional responsibilities are because you are now part owner of this business?”
“I know, but…”
“This isn’t a game, Will,” she said, but with a lot less frustration. “This is real life. You have been one of the best employees Devin’s ever had. And I can say that with confidence because he brags about you all the time.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh,’” she mimicked. “He took a leap of faith bringing you on as a partner and expanding the garage, but he’s going to seriously regret it if you don’t get your head out of your ass.”
He sighed loudly. “I just…I don’t know what to do. I didn’t think it would be this hard, you know? I didn’t think our schedules would keep us apart this long!”
“Then you’re a dumbass!” she said with a laugh. “She lives a thousand freaking miles away! What did you think was going to happen? That’s not a car ride that anyone’s going to make for a weekend getaway!”
“I know, but…”
Holding up a hand to stop him, MacKenzie leaned forward in her chair. “I get it. The timing sucks. If you and Devin hadn’t taken on this partnership, you’d probably be working some shorter weeks and flying down to Florida.”
He nodded.
“But that’s not possible now and the more you harp on it, the more frustrated you’re going to get, and the more Devin and your coworkers are going to want to punch you in the throat.”
For a moment, he just stared at her. “You’re a scary little woman, Mac. You weren’t nearly this scary when you first came to town.”
“That’s how you know I’m comfortable with you,” she said sweetly. “I can be myself and be as blunt as I need to be to get my point across. I’m not going to coddle you on this because that’s not what you need. You and Sloane are going to have to have a serious conversation because…well…sometimes it doesn’t matter how much you want something to work because…” She shrugged. “Sometimes they just don’t. Logistics aren’t on your side and it’s too new of a relationship to start asking anyone to move.”
“I think she’d move here,” he said. “She has family here, she has the potential for a job with her cousin, it just makes sense.”
“And what if that isn’t what she wants? What if she asks you to move? Would you be willing to pack up your life and move to Florida?”
The laugh was out before he could stop it. “Pfft…no way. She wouldn’t do that. She knows I just took on this partnership. Besides, this is my hometown and where my family and all my friends are!”
“Have you thought that maybe she feels the same way about Florida? That’s where she was born and raised. Why is it okay for you to put your foot down about not wanting to move, but you’re not extending the same grace to her?”
Crap.
“Will, I get that you’re crazy about her, but I think you need to take a step back and do some serious thinking.” She paused and gave him a hard stare. “But when you’re home and by yourself. Not here. When you’re here, your head needs to be in the game. Got it?”
He nodded.
Standing, she gave him a small smile. “Are we good?”
Another nod.
“Come on, let’s hug it out. We’re still friends and I hate to be all snappish with you, but you needed a little tough love.”
Getting to his feet, he gave her a hug. “I know. And…thanks, Mac. I appreciate it.”
For the rest of the day, he and Devin didn’t say another word to each other and Will kept his head down and worked on several cars. When it was time to call it a day, he ended up running into Devin in the break room.
“Hey,” Devin said. “Are we okay? Mac said she was a little rough on you, and…”
“We’re good, Dev. Really. She said all the things I didn’t want to hear but needed to hear.”
“Oh. Okay. Good. So, um…what are you gonna do?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. Sloane and I talk every night, but maybe tonight I’ll skip it. I really need to do some hard thinking.”
“Is there a reason she hasn’t come back?”
“She’s having her fair share of work-related issues. Her boss is a total ass who keeps adding a lot more work to her plate—but not the kind she wanted. Every night we talk on the phone and she gripes about it. It’s like this guy is continually having an adult version of a temper tantrum and making her do all the grunt work around the office—filing, making copies, and running for coffee for everyone—while still giving her the crap social media accounts.”
“Damn, that sucks. Doesn’t he realize how talented she is?”
“Obviously he doesn’t. But Sloane’s one of the few women in the office and it sounds like her boss is a total sexist. I hate it for her. She’s being run so ragged that she’s too exhausted to look for any freelance jobs on the side.”
“Yeah, well, living in a city as big as Fort Lauderdale makes it a little harder to make a personal contact with some businesses she might want to do work with. That’s the perk to small-town living. Word of mouth is easier. If she ever wanted to move here, it wouldn’t take long to get the word out and see which businesses needed her help. And with Levi’s help, she’d get her foot in even more doors.”
“I just don’t know if that’s something she’s willing to do.”
“You mean move here?”
He nodded.
“The thing is, I’ve already been asking around—you know, just asking a few questions and gauging interest—and it seems like there’s actually a lot of interest in what she does. At last count, I know of at least a dozen customers who would love to work with Sloane. It didn’t even take much to convince them. The only one who would require convincing is Sloane.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that, Will. You’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”
“And I will.”
Which he would put some serious effort into—just as soon as he found a little extra time to breathe.
Later that night, he didn’t skip talking to her, but he talked via text instead of on a call.
Will: Hey, beautiful. How was your day?
Sloane: Mentally exhausting. The usual. How was yours?
Will: Rough. Argued with Devin.
Sloane: Oh no! What happened?
Will: Just never realized how much work everything was going to be.
He wasn’t talking about the job, but…she probably understood what he was saying.
Sloane: I’m sure! You’re lucky that the business is already established and you’re not starting from scratch.
“Or…maybe she doesn’t,” he mumbled.
Will: So I was wondering if we can get something on the schedule to see each other.
Will: I miss you.
Sloane: I miss you too. How about you fly down this weekend? I know it will be a super quick visit because you’re busy at the shop, but…maybe? You’ve never been to Florida before, right?
Damn. He hadn’t, but if he wanted to see her, maybe he could make the time?
Will: Hang on.
Swiping the screen, he pulled up his messages with Devin.
Will: Hey. I’m not trying to be a dick, but any chance I can leave early on Friday?
Dev: Is Sloane coming to town?
Will: No. I’m gonna see about flying down to see her.
Dev: Yeah. Sure. If you can stay until noon, that will work. The inspector is coming, and you need to be there for it.
Will: Got it! Thanks, man! See you in the a.m.
Then he swiped back to Sloane.
Will: I’m cutting out of work at noon on Friday. I’ll text you my flight info as soon as it’s booked.
Sloane: YAY! Oh, this is going to be great! Go look at flights and book ASAP!
Smiling, he nodded.
Will: On it!
It wasn’t the weekend he wanted, but this was part of being in a long-distance relationship. And if he wanted to see if they really could work, she couldn’t be the only one doing all the traveling.
Putting his feet up on the couch, he got more comfortable and began searching for flights, and one thing became incredibly clear.
If he didn’t have to work that day, he’d get better flights.
But if he worked until noon, went home and showered, then drove the hour or so to the airport, he was still looking at around five hours of flight time. He wouldn’t even get to Sloane until almost eight-thirty on Friday night.
“Well that sucks.”
Then he looked at the flight to come home on Sunday and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. If he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her that day before leaving, the cost almost tripled!
“What the hell?”
Realizing that Sloane had paid those fairs twice already, it only seemed fair for him to do this.
No matter how much it didn’t fit into his budget.
Once he booked it and totaled all the taxes and fees, he groaned.
And prayed he could convince her to move to Sweetbriar Ridge soon.