Chapter 17
“Five became ten, and ten is now fifteen, with another five will make twenty when they arrive on Monday of next week since we’re ahead of schedule,” Lottie said that morning as she and Knox had their usual breakfast together.
Knox went inside and brought out the coffeepot and a basket of muffins. “And then the final group will get here, and we’ll be filling in where we’re needed because the framing will be finished.”
She picked up a warm chocolate chip muffin.
“Yep, if it doesn’t rain. In that case, we’ll be helping out the other teams before we finish the last framing job.
I can do whatever is needed, but that doesn’t mean I like staining cabinets or putting down baseboards.
My favorite jobs are when I can get the last house framed and move on to the next site. ”
“That’s my favorite, too, but I don’t mind the rest of it. Kind of keeps my skills in those areas from getting rusty, but it looks like we’ll still be finished by Mother’s Day.”
“Kind of like reading a good book. Exciting to open the first page, and by the time the last words are read, you wish there was more. I’m going to miss you when this job is finished and I go to El Paso.”
“Me, or breakfast?” he asked.
She nudged him on the shoulder, and sparks danced all around the plate of bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits sitting between them. “Why can’t it be both?” she asked.
But vibes were all there were—other than breakfast and holding hands a couple of times. Three days had passed since that mind-blowing kiss, and there had not been another one. This business of being in a real relationship was turning out to be a lot less fun than the fake one.
“If you had to pick one?” Knox asked.
She held up a finger, swallowed the bite of the muffin, and took a sip of coffee. “I will miss the food, but also the company each morning and my partner on the job. My mind keeps playing the what-if game.”
“And that is?”
“What if you find someone else? What if the long-distance thing doesn’t work? What if that old saying about being out of sight, out of mind happens?”
“We can make it work, if we have to,” he told her. “And that game only brings worry, so don’t play it.”
“What does ‘if we have to’ mean?” she asked.
“Maybe you won’t be in El Paso. Thomas and our team have been thinking about starting their own business up in Oklahoma. They might talk you into helping them,” he answered. “That’s a lot closer than El Paso, so we could see each other more often.”
The thought of working for anyone other than her Uncle Jack put a lump in Lottie’s throat that she had trouble swallowing even with a couple sips of coffee.
“I should help Walter out for a few months until he gets his owner sea legs under him. Do you really think that we can do the long-distance thing?”
“Depends on how badly we want it.”
“Everything will be different when we leave Swan Song Estates,” she said with a sigh.
“Yes, but we have today,” Knox whispered.
“We are dating for real, aren’t we?”
Knox reached for another biscuit. “I told Tripp that we were, and I’m sure he’s spread it around the family. I hope I wasn’t wrong.”
“One kiss does not make a couple dating.”
“How many does it take?” Knox asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but more than one.”
“Okay, then…” He sighed dramatically. “I’ll do my best to save enough energy tonight to see if I can remedy that problem. But if you fall asleep in the middle of a round of hot making out, that’s on you.”
“Hey…” One of the newest single guys, Vincent, came around the side of Knox’s trailer and stopped. “I heard y’all were a couple, but I’m having trouble believing it. I thought you were saving yourself for me, Lottie.”
“You were a day late and a dollar short,” she told him.
Knox motioned toward the food sitting on the step between Lottie and him. “Have a biscuit and muffin as a consolation prize.”
Vincent reached for one of each and chuckled. “Are you as good at framing out a house as you are at cooking?”
Knox shrugged. “You can judge for yourself after you see how our team works.”
“We’re almost a week ahead of schedule, so that should tell you something,” Lottie smarted off.
No one, especially not Micah or Vincent, was going to play passive-aggressive games with Knox—not when she was within hearing distance.
She had never worked with another partner who worked as hard as he did.
His expertise and, of course, working through the night after the break-in, were what had put them so far ahead of schedule.
Vincent held up his hands with a half-eaten biscuit in one and the muffin in the other. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by saying that. I’ve already listened to Thomas and Eddie singing Knox’s praises. Are y’all going to El Paso to work for Walter when we finish up here?”
“Are you?” Lottie asked.
“Probably,” Vincent replied. “I like the idea of being in a bigger city where there is more nightlife.”
Knox shook his head. “Not me. I’ve got plenty of work waiting for me at home. With seven sisters and two brothers, there’s always something for a carpenter to take care of.”
Vincent finished off the last of his biscuit and asked, “What about you, Lottie?”
“Probably not,” she answered. “I need to be closer to my folks, and El Paso is a very long drive from here, but I will go for the summer to help Walter out that long.”
“You do know that every one of us is going to try to talk you into joining us. I can’t imagine a job without you being there, so get ready for some serious conversations. Who knows, maybe your long-distance relationship with Knox will fizzle, and one of us will get lucky.”
Lottie shook her head. “Knox is the exception to the rule. If things go south with him, then I’ll double down on my rule not to date another coworker.”
Vincent removed his cap and ran his fingers through his brown hair.
“That just means I’ll have to work harder to change your mind.
If I hurry, I’ll have time for an extra cup of coffee in the rec hall before me and my crew try to keep up with y’all.
Thanks for the food. I’m keeping the muffin for break time. ” He waved as he walked away.
Knox turned to focus on Lottie. “Do you think we won’t survive a long-distance relationship?”
Lottie shook her head. “Mama says you get out of any relationship exactly what you put into it. Even without a good make-out session these past few days, I’m all in.”
Knox wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh, really.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter. I don’t go to bed with guys I’ve only dated for three days,” she said.
“Right back at you,” Knox said. “But honey, we’ve been together about sixteen hours of every day for two weeks. If you divide that out into four hours for each date, then we’re way ahead of the normal schedule.”
“How many women have you dated for only three days?”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’d have to take my shoes off to count them all, and that would make us late for work.”
She cupped his cheeks in her hands and kissed him properly.
When the kiss ended, he whispered softly, “And that erases the memory of every one of those women.”
That kiss ignited the steamy, hot sparks that were already between them. Lottie had never believed in that old crap about friends becoming lovers.
But maybe she had been wrong.
* * *
The game, as well as a few bets, was on when they reached the building site for the fourth cabin that morning. The guys working on the outside, as well as the ones who were taking care of getting drywall up and painting, had made their brags that morning that they could keep up with them.
“I don’t care if we win or I lose my hundred bucks, but Jack is like a kid at Christmas with all the progress being made,” Eddie said as he and Gabe built trusses for a roof.
“Lottie, why don’t you and Knox go on down to cabins five and six and get the sill plates down and start building walls while we put the roof on this one. ”
“That ought to light a fire under all of the others,” Lottie said with a grin. “You are right about Uncle Jack, and if we get done early, we might have a few days to spend with our families before all you guys have to go to El Paso.”
“And it will give you time to find something closer to this place,” Eddie said. “Is there no way that we can make you change your mind after the summer?”
“Nope, not even if you offer me something up around Randlett, Oklahoma. I want to be close to my folks. See you guys at lunchtime.”
“At this rate, I’ll be home by Mother’s Day for sure,” Knox said.
“And we’ll be back in Randlett in time to help our wives get things organized to go to El Paso,” Gabe agreed with a nod. “That’ll make them all very happy.”
“For a little while.” Eddie chuckled.
Knox had never been in a long-distance relationship. Tripp often said that all three Callahan brothers had commitment issues because they would never find someone like their mother. Knox and Brodie had argued with him, but maybe he was right.
Was the heat between him and Lottie only a flash in the pan, so to speak? Would the old saying about “out of sight, out of mind” come into play after they had been apart for a few weeks?
“Do you want to cut the boards or drill?” Lottie asked.
He slipped the right bit into a drill. “I’ll do this part until you get them all laid out.”
“Then I’ll help finish the job. I bet we can get the sill plates down on both cabins before the rest of them finish putting the roof on number four.”
“Probably so,” Knox agreed, but his mind was two hours north in Spanish Fort, not at Swan Song Estates.