Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Reid
Work on the inn was going faster than I’d expected. Almost too fast when you considered that Avery still hadn’t finalized the ownership paperwork.
It wasn’t her fault, and I know it was weighing on her, but according to William Evans, these things took time and we had only been married a week. Apparently, that wasn’t enough time to process everything.
Avery wasn’t saying much about it, but I knew it was worrying her that the paperwork hadn’t been completed yet. Not only was the inn not officially hers yet, but that meant that the trust fund that had been created for the project also had not been released yet.
Still, it had only been a week.
A week.
Avery had been my wife for a full week.
Time flies when…well, you’re working.
That’s pretty much all we’d been doing. Worked on the inn almost all day, every day with very few breaks. That’s probably why we were making such quick progress on things.
Maybe I should slow things down?
After all, the sooner I finished work, the sooner I wouldn’t have a reason to hang out with Avery all day, every day, and there was no point denying how much I was enjoying that particular perk of the job.
Sure, she was a city girl—that much was true.
But it bothered me less and less. Every morning, as I worked out the cricks and aches in my back from sleeping on that insufferable air mattress, I looked forward to seeing her bright smile in the kitchen when she handed me a cup of coffee.
Together, we’d sit on the porch steps—the swing still out of commission—and discuss the projects for the day.
We’d break again for lunch and then dinner. And the whole time we worked, we talked. I was used to working in silence, but Avery had a way of easily drawing the conversation out of me. Over painting, sanding, and the hum of the air compressor, we were learning about each other. And the more I learned about Avery, the more I liked.
The little routine we’d established was…nice.
But the best part was in the evenings when we sat on the steps, watching the sunset behind the mountains. I looked forward to those quiet moments the most.
But today, I had something almost as exciting to take care of.
Avery might still be waiting for her paperwork to go through, but mine had. The workshop was officially mine. Well, as long as I kept making payments, it was mine.
But for all intents and purposes, I finally had my own shop where I could build the high-end, custom furniture I’d always wanted to create.
I backed up the truck and trailer, packed with some of the tools I’d loaded up earlier that afternoon with Ethan’s help. My brother was as eager to get my stuff out of his shed as I was to get out of there and more than willing to help me pack up before I drove off.
My new shop space was at least five times bigger than the little shed, with giant double doors that I flung open. I stood with my hands on my hips and took it all in with a grin on my face.
“Damn, brother. Did your new wife put that smile on your face, or are you really just that happy to have a workshop of your own?”
I spun to see my oldest brother. Not even Brody’s sarcasm could dull this moment. “A little bit of both,” I said truthfully. “Thanks for coming to help. This is definitely a two-man job, and Ethan was excited to spread out into the shed.”
Brody took a look at the trailer and the heavy equipment. “Looks to me like more than two men wouldn’t have been a total waste. Let’s get to work.”
We worked for the next hour and by the time we had everything moved in, we were both exhausted. I handed Brody a beer from the cooler I’d packed.
“Cheers to you, brother.” Brody tapped his can against mine, and we both drank deeply. “This is a big deal.” He looked around the still, mostly empty space. Out of all my brothers, I knew Brody would understand what this meant to me.
He’d opened Peak to Path, an outdoors store, in the plaza a few years back. Our youngest brother, Preston, helped him get everything up and running and had even invested a small amount of savings with him. But more often than not, Preston could be found out in the mountains instead of actually working in the shop.
“I know you understand,” I said to Brody. “I didn’t think it was ever going to happen, but when this space came available, I couldn’t pass it up.”
“Lucky you had the funds available.” He shot me a look.
I tipped the can to my lips and drank deeply before responding. “Is there something you want to ask me?”
Brody hesitated, and I braced myself. Ready for a fight. If my brothers had opinions about my marriage—and I know they did—they’d kept them to themselves so far, and I preferred to keep it that way.
Thankfully, Brody shook his head and lifted his can. “Nope. I was just going to say that it’s a damn good thing Avery Walker moved to town when she did with a big project.”
I narrowed my eyes, but I wouldn’t rise to the bait. “Sure is,” I said. “In more ways than one.”
It wasn’t a lie. Having Avery come to town allowed me to buy this shop. But it was more than that—a lot more.
I wasn’t used to working so closely with someone else, at least not someone who wasn’t my brother who I could tell to fuck off whenever they irritated me. But with Avery…it was different. Not only did her consistently bright smile and optimism about every single situation not irritate me—a miracle in itself—but I liked it.
“So, how’s married life?” Brody’s question caught me off guard. “You know, we still haven’t met your wife. At least not properly.”
Shit.
“We’ve been busy.”
“With the inn. Right.”
It wasn’t a lie. But it also wasn’t a good excuse.
“Well, I guess we’ll meet her Saturday.”
“Saturday?” I almost choked on my beer. “What’s happening on Saturday?”
Brody chuckled and crushed his now empty can in his hand before standing. “Only the biggest wedding Trickle Creek has seen in years.” He raised one eyebrow with a smug grin on his face. “Craig and Lucy, remember?”
Fuck. With everything going on, I’d completely forgotten. We’d all known Craig and the entire Carlson family our whole lives. Craig was a great guy; he deserved his happiness, and Brody was right. It was going to be a huge wedding. There was no way I could miss it.
“Right.” I finished off my own beer and tossed the can into an empty bin. “I guess you’ll meet Avery then.” I hoped like hell I sounded more confident than I felt about the situation. It was going to be our first event as a married couple and the entire town would be there. It had been easy to keep up the lie when no one was watching, but…could we make it believable with all eyes on us?
It didn’t look like we had much of a choice.