22. No Going Back
Sean didn’t have a clue what Branna had been doing with the women of the town, but whatever it was, it made her happy. And it was damn good to see her happy.
He hoped his secret project would make her even happier. With the help of his friends, he’d finished it earlier than expected. He only needed to do some final staining, and it would be ready.
If he could sneak away for an hour or two, it could be ready to show her later that day.
Branna finished wiping down the table at the same time he put away the final dish from breakfast. He loved the way they worked together. Everything from laundry to dishes to cleaning was better because they shared the load. Although she’d told him Tansy Cheveyo from out at Midnight Lake had offered to build them some CleanySaurs. Apparently the woman invented everything from solar panel parts to prosthetic devices like the one Marcus used, to robots that cleaned and washed dishes.
He couldn’t wait to show Branna his surprise. Well, both of them. Today seemed like the perfect day. The sun was shining, the snow was melting. Spring didn’t seem an impossibility anymore.
Life was damned good, and he wanted to make it even better. Today was definitely the day.
Branna dried her hands and smiled up at him. “Can I borrow you for a while this morning? I have something I want to show you.”
He grinned at her and took her hands to dance her around the kitchen. “You can borrow me any time you like. I’d be happy to see whatever you want to show me. Always will.” He deliberately added a lecherous leer to his voice and face, making her laugh.
“I like the sound of that, but this is something different. Something I’ve been working on with my friends.” Her face brightened further. “I have friends. Good ones. Great ones. I’m so glad we came to Phail.”
Sean laughed. “The name of the town still makes that sound ridiculous, but I agree. This town is perfect for us. What have you and your friends been working on?”
She shook her head. “I’m not going to tell you, but I am going to show you in a few minutes. You’ll have to trust me.”
“That’s easy. I always do and always will.”
“Even if I want to blindfold you?”
A bolt of lust shot through him, but her eyes showed her nerves at that question, so he leaned down and kissed her nose. “As long as I can return the favor later on. I have some really interesting ideas of what we can do with a blindfold.”
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened as she thought through the implications of that. Then her expression changed, and fun sparkled from her. “Absolutely. But this isn’t that kind of surprise. I hope you’ll like it, anyway.”
“I’m betting I will.” And he would because it was something she’d done for him or with him in mind.
“I hope so. Okay, we have to go outside for this, but out the back door.”
What was she up to?
Soon, they’d bundled up in their outdoor clothing and Jabba was bounding into the snow. Branna had covered Sean’s eyes with a scarf she’d found somewhere, and she’d navigated him down the stairs and out into the field.
She probably expected him to not know where they were going, but he knew they were heading to the barn. Not only did he have training in working in the dark, he had a map of the property in his brain and there weren’t many other places they could get walking.
What had she done in the barn?
He and his buddies planned to use it to start a brewery once they got Levi on board with growing the hops. Hopefully, he’d agree to come before the planting season.
But Branna wouldn’t be this excited about the brewery. The barn was plenty big enough for other things as well. It was a huge old space that housed both machinery and animals once upon a time.
“You okay? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.” She had her arm looped through his, guiding him through the field.
He patted her hand. “I’m fine. Curious as hell, but fine.”
“I hope you like it. Maybe I’m overstepping. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this.”
He frowned. “Okay, now I’m more than curious.” Her sigh was more nerves and less excited. “Branna, it’s fine.”
“It’s too late now, anyway. If you hate it, we can fix it later.”
What the hell had she done?
The air changed, and he knew there were other people there. Jabba barked happily and loped off, probably to greet whoever was there. A muffled laugh and some feet shuffling confirmed his suspicions. Whatever Branna had done, she’d also provided an audience.
Her nerves were vibrating, and he patted her hand again. “Almost there?”
“About ten more steps.”
He could feel her sudden stress, and prepared himself to act like it was the best surprise in the world, no matter what she’d done.
“Okay. Stop here. Turn a bit to your left. And it’s okay if I goofed. Be honest, and if I’ve overstepped, you can tell me.”
Hell, he needed to calm her down. He brought his free hand up to caress her cheek. “I’m sure you didn’t. Can I look?”
He heard her draw in a huge breath and let it out slowly. He ignored the shuffling and movements from the crowd, and it was at least ten people. But all that mattered was Branna.
He kept his eyes on her as he pulled off the blindfold and leaned down to kiss her. Then he lifted his gaze to the front of the barn.
Falcon Construction.
A gorgeous carved wooden sign hung above the barn door at the western edge of the barn, the end that had once likely held farm machinery.
“Holy shit.” She’d made him a sign to help him start a business. His business. Here in Phail. A sure indicator she wanted to build a life with him.
Sean swallowed the emotion building within him and ignored the cheers and calls of surprise. Instead, he turned to Branna and whispered. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.” Then he lifted her up and kissed the breath out of her in front of all of their friends.
* * *
Branna laughed into the kiss. She could tell Sean wasn’t pretending in order to spare her feelings. His kiss was full of love and lust and promise.
Eventually, he put her down and looked at the sign again with a huge grin. He tucked her into his side. “You had me worried there for a few minutes. This is amazing. And perfect.”
Soon, their friends surrounded them. Troy, Piper, Marcus, and the entire gang from Midnight Lake. They’d all helped her clean out the space inside this end of the barn. They slapped Sean on the back and congratulated them both.
Marcus and Troy stood on either side of the huge door. “Ready?”
Sean grinned and took her hand. “Absolutely.”
She knew there wasn’t much inside. She hadn’t wanted to move his tools, as he would obviously miss them and that would have ruined the surprise. When she and Jabba had first entered the barn a few days before, they’d found it dusty, musty, and mostly empty. A couple of pieces of old farm equipment and some crates and barrels had been the only things inside.
With the help of her new friends, they’d cleaned out the space and dusted off the old equipment. For now, they’d left everything inside so Sean could decide what he wanted to do with the space.
Except when the barn doors opened, there were more things inside the space than when she’d last seen it. Three long workbenches lined the back section. Several peg boards graced the wall above, ready for tools. There was even a large toolbox with lots of drawers to fill. She looked at Aisling and found her grinning. “We figured a construction business had to have a few essentials to begin. The workbenches are extras from the sawmill. Same with the pegboard and the toolbox.”
Branna loved how environmentally friendly their friends were. They respected the past and reused whatever materials they had on hand. “They’re amazing. Thank you so much.”
From beside her, Sean laughed. “I think that’s my line. This is fantastic.” He turned to everyone. “Thank you all for everything. I can’t wait to start up Falcon Construction.”
Piper grinned. “Your Vermont business application has been started. I’ll email you the documents you’ll need to make it official. And I’ll put it on the town’s website once you’re up and ready to go.”
Troy slapped Sean on the back. “See. I told you that Phail was the perfect place for you.”
Sean rolled his eyes. “Couldn’t keep the told you so inside, could you?”
“Not a chance. Now you’re recruited to help get the other three up here.”
“You’ve got it.”
Branna could barely contain her joy. She’d been so nervous about doing this in case he hadn’t been completely settled on the idea. He’d been adrift for years, and she’d wanted to give him a home, a place, a purpose.
He kept her hand tightly in his as they walked through the space and toured every nook and cranny. He talked about how he could best use the barn and how there was even room for an office area off to one side.
Tansy spoke up. “I’m sure we have several desks to choose from if you’d like to reuse something instead of buying new.”
Sam tugged Tansy into a side-armed hug. “But no pressure.”
Sean laughed. “I’d love to have a look at what you have. I’m a big fan of reusing and reducing our footprint on the world. In fact, I’d been planning to talk to you about the feasibility of adding solar panels to the roof of both the barn and farmhouse.”
Branna watched her friend’s face light up and knew Sean had just made himself a friend for life.
Tansy lightly poked Sam in his chest. “See. No pressure required. They’re already part of us.”
And that sounded perfect as well.
It wasn’t long before everyone left, congratulating Sean on the new business and her on the surprise. They waved everyone off and stood in the new space.
Sean wandered the area again, taking in all the new additions and the items that had been originally there. They’d closed the door against the cold air, but the windows along the top of the walls let in enough light for them to see. Jabba had even found a sunbeam and was snoozing beside one of the workbenches.
Sean lifted her hand and kissed it, a gesture that never failed to make her swoon. This warrior of a man was so gentle with her.
His smile turned wicked, and her body reacted immediately to the desire evident in his eyes. He shrugged off his jacket and set it on the worktable. Then he boosted her up to sit on the edge. He moved between her legs, and she widened to let him in.
His hands cupped her face. “Thank you. This is the best surprise I could have imagined. Thank you for your faith in me.” His voice was thick and growly and had love and desire swamping her.
“You’re easy to have faith in, Sean. You’re the most amazing man I know.”
“I love you, Branna. So damn much.” And then he kissed her until her body was squirming.
His hands made quick work of shucking her boots and lowering her jeans, setting her butt on the edge of the table with his jacket beneath her.
He rolled on a condom and slid into her in one smooth stroke. Her head dropped back, and his mouth moved to her throat as he thrust into her, making everything around them disappear.
“Let me see you fly, Branna. In this place you made for me, let me see you fly.”
And she did.