Chapter 14
AVERY
The next morning, the building already feels different. There’s movement, noise—progress.
And surprisingly, I don’t mind it.
Maybe once a few of the apartments are finished, there will be more families here.
“Hey,” Max says as he walks into the coffee shop. “I’ve got what I need to fix your sink. Sorry, I didn’t get to it yesterday. I was setting things up for Talia.”
“No problem. Is she ready to take it on?” I wince. I just met her and shouldn’t be doubting her abilities. There are too many people in my life who’ve done that, and I always strive to prove them wrong.
“I think so. Do you know of somewhere in town where I can get plans printed?” He rests his forearm on the counter and leans, so I’m looking down at him for once. There’s a lock of hair that lays just over his eyebrow, drawing my attention to his beautiful eyes.
Did I debate all last night whether to text him? Yes. I typed out several text messages but deleted each one.
I have a love/hate relationship with texts. I love that I can go back and make sure I didn’t read something the wrong way, and they’re great evidence for things. But I hate the fact that I can’t understand tone, and if someone takes a long time before responding, I second guess what I sent.
I realize he’s waiting for my answer and I have to scramble for coherent words.
“You didn’t have them already?” I ask. “Or the company you work for didn’t?”
There’s a flicker of surprise on his face before he shakes his head. “I’m new to the project. I thought everything was already in the files I was given, and those were all electronic.”
“What company do you work for?”
He hesitates, then bends down to tie his shoe.
Avoiding the question?
When he stands, he says, “I work for Bauer Enterprises.”
Now I remember the logo at the top of the paper he showed me yesterday. “I don’t think I’ve heard of them.”
“It’s a smaller company under a larger one,” he says with a shrug.
I point toward the stairs. “You can head up whenever you’re ready. And thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“Do you need to give me a key?” he asks.
“No, I usually leave it unlocked.”
He blinks. “You don’t lock it?”
I shrug. “There’s not a lot of traffic up there. With the door locked downstairs, I don’t worry as much.”
“You might want to start,” he says gently. “Especially with workers coming in and out.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say. “But honestly, there’s not much up there worth taking.”
He still looks unsure. “All right.”
I watch as he steps back outside, grabs a tool bag from his car, and heads toward the stairwell.
“What’s Max doing here?” Sarah asks.
“He’s fixing my sink,” I say, focusing on refilling cups by the coffee machine. The shop is already picking up this morning, and by that, I mean, we’ve got three customers instead of our usual two by this time.
Sarah raises an eyebrow. “What is with you and sinks? He looks like a guy who spends all day behind a desk.”
Something about that comment rubs me the wrong way. “If you think he’s out of shape, you’re sadly mistaken.” The snapshot of Max without his shirt shines onto my mental movie screen.
She smirks. “So you’ve been taking stock of his assets?”
I roll my eyes. “You’re as bad as Lila. No, I haven’t been ogling the guy. I’m just saying he’s fit.”
“He’s got that energy,” she says. “Like he’s used to telling people what to do.”
I laugh. “Are you saying I don’t?”
She gives me a thoughtful look. “You do, but in your own way. And you’ve only got me to manage, not a whole team.”
Her words make me pause.
“You should sit down and have coffee with him sometime,” she adds casually.
“I’m fine. Life is simple right now. I work, I take care of Lila, and call my sister every once in a while. We’ve got a good routine going.”
“I thought your sister was heading back here yesterday. Did you go pick her up later?”
There were some flight cancellations, and by the time she got her new plan, her company called to ask her to head to Denver for work. So she won’t be here for a bit longer.”
I glance around the shop, wishing we could just get bodies in here.
Do I need to kidnap people and set them in the booths?
For some reason, that makes me smile as I think about Max and the felony conversations we’ve had.
After being a corporate lawyer, life is much safer when I don’t even tamper with a crime.
Even a signature on a wrong document can cause problems.
“So, you’d never want to date again?” Sarah asks.
I sigh, thinking it through before answering. “I won’t say never. But right now? Life is full enough. And I’ve had my share of…complicated experiences. I’m not in a rush, especially with someone who doesn’t plan to stay around for longer than a few weeks.”
And yet, I was a mess last night with the text message debate. Am I trying to convince Sarah, or myself?
Sarah gives me a sad smile. “Fair.”
“What about you?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I don’t want anything serious. My ex went to college, I stayed here.”
“Why did you break up?”
“I didn’t want to hold him back.”
I smile a little. “Sounds familiar.”
She frowns. “How so?”
I hesitate, then say, “I was in a similar situation just out of high school, except I was the one who left for school.”
It’s the first time I’ve said that out loud here, and it feels…strange. But not wrong.
“Was he your most recent boyfriend?”
“No, that was Curt. There was some drama at the company we worked for, and I was forced out.” It gets too complicated to explain that Curt is the one who did the shady thing and blamed me—only I didn’t find out until a couple of weeks later.
“He didn’t stand by you?” Sara asks gently.
I let out a small breath. “He then took over my promotion and had to move. I asked when I should start looking for places near him, and he ghosted me.”
Sara’s eyes widen. “Was he cheating?”
“No. He just wanted a different life. One where he could make decisions without factoring anyone else in.”
“Jerk!” Sarah says louder than I was expecting, and I jump.
I pause, then add with a small, steady smile, “So I built one that works for me instead.”
“You know that not every guy is going to do the same thing, right?” Sarah asks.
“I don’t though. How can two people spend so much time together and then just poof! It’s over within days?”
“Part of it is knowing what you want in life. If you have that to guide you, you’ll eventually find someone who fits.”
I raise an eyebrow, skeptical of what she’s trying to tell me.
She’s much younger than me and sounds like she has some experience.
One of the hardest parts about being a couple is how much two people can change over the course of their relationship, even if they were super compatible at the beginning.
“We can only hope, Sarah,” I say, turning to help Midge, Earl’s next-door neighbor.
Someday we’ll be able to expand to the rest of the town, but for now, I’m grateful for the customers we have. Add Pearl and Max, and we’re breaking records for our business.
My thoughts drift to Max, upstairs. He keeps surprising me, and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not.
The trick is not falling for him. But am I strong enough not to?