Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Alexis brushed back loose strands of hair from her face, pressing her lips together in concentration. She was back in the pantry, inspecting all of the containers she’d arranged across the shelves. She’d purchased even more clear plastic organizers like the ones she’d picked up from the pub—some larger, some smaller—and reorganized many of the snacks and food supplies. It looked incredible, if she did say so herself, but she still wasn’t done.
In her hand was a bouquet of colored permanent markers, along with a sheet of paper that she’d scribbled notes all over earlier that morning. She was determined to color-code everything in the plastic bins, and she’d created what she considered to be a fool-proof system, using seven different colors.
“Sweetheart, where’s my shaving cream?” Grayson called to her from upstairs.
Alexis poked her head out of the pantry. “I moved it!” she called back. “There’s a new shelving system in the bathroom closet. It’s labeled!”
She heard Grayson groan from upstairs and she chuckled and went back inside the pantry. She picked up a stack of plain white stickers and began to write out her labels using her best handwriting.
A few minutes later, Grayson appeared in the pantry. “It does look nice in the bathroom closet, I have to admit it,” he told her with a half-smile. “What are you up to in here? I thought you finished the pantry already.”
She shook her head. “Almost, but not yet. Now that I’ve got these new organizers, I’m determined to label everything using my new color-coding system.” She held up her scribbled plan proudly.
He laughed. “You realize you just sounded like some manic mad scientist, right?”
“Shh, I’m brilliant.”
“Alexis,” he protested, taking another step into the pantry. “These bins are made out of clear plastic. You can see what’s inside of them. Why do you need to label them?”
“Because it’s necessary!” She didn’t look up as she wrote out the next label.
“Why?”
“Because it’s part of my plan.” She looked up and gave him a grin.
He shook his head. “I give up,” he teased her. “I have whiplash from trying to keep up with you. I thought we were going to finish painting the living room later today.”
“Oh, we are,” she said eagerly. “Absolutely. Don’t worry, I have plenty of energy for both.”
He chuckled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “That is definitely easy to believe.”
She grinned proudly and began to show him the work she’d done on the pantry. He agreed that it was impressive, and her color-coding plan was well thought-out.
“It just makes me so excited about having kids and hosting parties,” she said, her eyes shining, as she looked at her work.
He turned to her with a grin. “Kids and parties, huh?”
She swatted his arm affectionately. “Yes! I want to prepare snacks and baked goods and hors d’oeuvres. Cooking when you have an organized space is really a special kind of joy.”
“You’re a nut,” he told her, his tone warm and teasing.
“As long as I’m your nut.”
“Well, of course.”
“I can’t wait to host dinners like how Mom does. Last night was wonderful, wasn’t it? I mean, it’s always fun, but having Faith there made it feel especially nice.”
He nodded. “It was fun having a new person there. She really seems like a gem.”
“Doesn’t she? I mean, she is part of our amazing family.” She pretended to bow a little as he laughed. “But honestly, she seems kind and intelligent and—well, I don’t know. I guess I get the impression that she needs us.”
“I got that impression too. She seems lonely, like she needs more companionship. I never would have admitted it, but back when I was working all the time, I was incredibly lonely. I just never stopped working long enough to let myself feel it.”
She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder, feeling incredibly grateful that he’d stepped away from that life and come to live with her in Rosewood Beach. Their new life together was filled with peace and community, even though they both still liked to work hard at times and chase their ambitions.
“And she’s just been by herself since she got here,” Alexis said softly. “I wonder if she’s gotten to spend time with anyone? She and I got to talk for a little while when she came to The Salty Spoon at the same time I did, and she seemed really shy. It feels like she isn’t used to being social with people.”
“Maybe. She did seem a little shy last night too. Kind of hesitant.”
“Yes! I feel like she’s a little uncertain of herself, at least when it comes to us. She must have been an incredibly confident lawyer, or at least able to fake confidence, to be as successful as she was. But maybe she isn’t sure how we feel about her. I think we were all kind of stunned when she first showed up, and maybe she’s worried we don’t actually like her.”
“Oh, I think she knows that’s not the case now,” he said. “Everyone was really friendly last night.”
“I hope so. But I want to make sure she knows how welcome she is. I see no reason why we shouldn’t make an effort to be a family.”
He nodded. “That sounds like the right move. It may be exactly what she needs.”
She smiled at him. “And speaking of what things need, I’m going to finish these labels and then I’ll be ready to get started on the living room. You’re working from home today?”
He sighed dramatically. “Yes, until you summon me to my wall-painting duty.”
She chuckled. “Okay, perfect. I’ll see you later, handsome.”
“Bye, beautiful. Don’t get lost in here.”
“Are you kidding? Get lost in a perfectly organized space like this?”
He laughed and left the pantry. Alexis turned back to her work with a grin, and her thoughts soon returned to her cousin. She wondered how they could best show Faith that the entire Owens family valued her and were glad that she was there in Rosewood Beach.
“You had enough coffee there, boss?”
Ryan looked up and blinked as one of the construction workers passed him, grinning. He wrinkled his nose good-naturedly as he replied, “You’re right. This is my fourth cup today.”
“Come on, we’re not that hard to work with, are we?”
“Everyone else is fine, it’s just you,” Ryan joked, and the man grinned again before continuing on his way.
He liked interacting with the construction workers, many of whom liked to joke around but still did their jobs with speed and precision. The other aspects of his workday, however, were not as pleasant. He’d woken up in the middle of the night to the ceiling leaking in the motel where he’d been staying, and he’d had to switch to a nicer hotel before his work shift started. It was farther away from his job, which meant he hadn’t been able to go back to sleep before traveling out to the construction site.
He was standing in the hallway of a half-built area, and a cool breeze from the mountains wafted past him. The sun was starting to set, bathing the wooden planks of the building in a rosy hue. He felt tired in his mind and in his bones, but the closeness of such majestic nature stirred his heart and lifted his spirits.
I wish I had a chance to appreciate it, he thought with a sigh, turning back to his clipboard.
There was no time. He would be there for another hour or more, since they were working seven twelves, which meant twelve hours a day, seven days a week. He reminded himself that he still had it easier than the construction workers, who were doing manual labor in addition to some mental labor. He needed to make sure to focus so that everything ran as efficiently as possible. If mistakes were made, it meant costly repairs and valuable time lost.
He took another sip of his coffee, even though he was starting to feel jittery and light-headed. He realized that he hadn’t had any water since that morning, but he told himself he would drink some water later and went back to perusing his clipboard.
He decided to go downstairs in the building to check on the electrical work that was being done on the first floor. He wove through the working men toward the nearest staircase, wishing he didn’t have to wear a hard hat on site so that he could feel the cool breeze ruffling through his hair.
As he made his way down the staircase, he found himself thinking about Faith. He didn’t seem to be able to escape thinking about her. Ever since he’d left Rosewood Beach, she’d been appearing in his thoughts and even some of his dreams. It was almost as though he missed her, although he kept telling himself that wasn’t possible, since he barely knew her. It wasn’t as though she’d become a part of his life before he had to leave town again.
I hope she’s been able to take life at a slower pace better than I have, he thought with a wry chuckle. I hope she’s totally free to feel the wind in her hair, literally and metaphorically.
It hadn’t just been that particularly busy day that had weighed down his spirits. He’d been surprised, after returning to work, how difficult it was to get back into the groove of things. His teenage self would have been appalled to hear him say it, but he was missing the slower pace of Rosewood Beach.
He’d always wanted adventure and excitement, and his sleepy little town hadn’t seemed to be able to offer him either while he was growing up. Now that he was older, however, he knew that there was an excitement that came along with everyday human interactions, and that adventures could be found anywhere. He’d traveled enough of the country to know that the best adventures came from being with interesting people, not from being in interesting locations.
He imagined Faith being there with him, on the job. He wanted to point out to her the way one of the construction workers had drawn a cartoon onto the side of his red plastic lunch cooler. Then he shook his head. If she was trying to take things easy and give herself peace, the construction site was no place for her. It was loud and chaotic, and filled with various strong and somewhat unpleasant smells.
He made his way to where a couple of electricians were working. The head electrician looked up with a deferential nod of his head as Ryan approached him.
“Hey, boss. Here to make sure we haven’t messed up?”
Ryan chuckled. “Why else? I never trust electricians.”
“You should.” The other electrician turned to him with a grin. “I’ve got detailed photographs uploaded onto that job log that the company set up. You can check my work now in person and then double-check it later.”
Ryan’s eyebrows lifted. He knew about the job log and that there was an option for the team to upload pictures of their work, but he hadn’t given the matter much thought. All of a sudden, however, he was struck with an inspiration.
“Dave,” he said to the head electrician. “Is it easy for you and your guys to upload those photos? Easier than waiting for me to walk by before you can move forward?”
“Yeah, I’d say so. It only takes a few seconds to upload a picture,” Dave said, shrugging. “Why?”
“I’m just thinking I might be able to do a more efficient job back in an office,” Ryan said, hardly able to contain his excitement. He didn’t say it out loud, but he could do that kind of work from anywhere—even a coffee shop in Rosewood Beach, waiting for Faith Talbot to walk by.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Dave said. “It would probably be faster for us to get messages from you than waiting for you to approve in person.”
“And taking pictures is a good way for us to check our work,” said the other electrician. “I’ve caught a couple of mistakes after taking pictures.”
“See? Never trust an electrician,” Ryan said, clapping him on the back.
“Hey, I caught them!” He grinned.
Ryan finished overseeing what the electricians were working on and then went in search of the head foreman. He wanted to talk with him about what it might look like logistically for him to start working remotely, at least most of the time. After that, he would need to bring the idea to his company and get their approval. It might be a bit of a long shot, but as he walked through the partially-completed building, his heart became lighter and lighter.
Working remotely would be significantly easier on him. The building was at the stage where he didn’t need to oversee as much, and if the team sent him photos of their work regularly, he would be able to check it and prevent errors that way.
Maybe this would be an opportunity for him to start to settle into a slower-paced lifestyle. Having a bit more time on his hands certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing, even if it would take some getting used to.
Maybe he would be able to return to Rosewood Beach before Faith left after all.