Page 52 of The Path To Us

Chapter Thirteen

Beau

My knee bounces throughout my time at the bank, just wanting to be done with it already. I can’t stop wondering if she was mine all along. All that time I wasted not manning up and admitting my feelings.

Luckily, it doesn’t take us long to sign the documents and before I know it, I’m walking out the door with Grant by my side.

“Well, that was painless.”

“Says you. I’m the one who just bought half a company. When I wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweats, I’ll give you a call.”

He laughs, his hands resting on his slightly rounded stomach. “You’ll get used to the feeling. Trust me, boy, if I didn’t believe in the business and know it was successful, I wouldn’t bring you in.”

“I know. And I’m grateful for the opportunity and the faith you have in me that I’m not going to send your retirement into the shitter.”

“Sounds like it’s a good thing I have enough faith for the both of us. Everything else okay? You get a house settled yet? You got everything squared away for your crews to start next week?”

“Pretty much. We’ll have to do some back and forth traveling until we get the shop set up here, but no one’s bitchin’ about it, so that’s good. They must not hate the idea too much.”

“Suppose not. They get to sit in an air conditioned cab an hour each way just to get supplies and get paid for it.”

“Very true. Soon that won’t be a problem and honestly, it’s not even a problem now. As you know, our lumberyards deliver straight to the job site so it’s not even like we’ll be traveling much.”

“Perfect. Why didn’t we do this earlier?”

Smiling, I lick my lips and look across the street before back to Grant. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights one up and I shake my head. He inhales deeply and blows the smoke away from me but doesn’t react to my head shake. I might not like it that he smokes, but I’m also not one to pass judgement on someone. We all have our vices, both good and bad. Nicotine is his vice.

“Need to finalize the house, too, but otherwise, yeah. Waiting on my old house to be officially sold.”

“You’re moving fast,” he remarks.

He’s not wrong. “Maybe I just needed a push to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.”

“Talking about moving home or finally admitting that you’re in love with Addy?”

My eyes look over his shoulder, not wanting him to see the truth that lies there. It’s a mistake, though, because what do my eyes land on? Her flower shop. The Village Florist. He looks behind him and follows my line of sight to where Addy steps outside to water some flowers that are in hanging pots on either side of their door.

“Yeah. I kind of figured as much. Maybe timing needed to be on your side.”

“My brother…”

“Chris would want you both to be happy, Beau. You know that. He would hate to be the reason you two are apart.”

I grab a quarter from my pocket and start flipping it through my fingers. “I don’t know.”

“I do.”

My head jerks in his direction. “What? How?”

“He told me,” he says, shrugging like it’s no big deal.

“Uh, I’m going to need a little more information here.”

“Remember last fall when we had that big company family picnic and I invited your entire family?”

Yes, I remember that. It was embarrassing as fuck. While most of the employees had their wives and kids with them, I had my mommy and daddy. And my two brothers. As well as Addy and Zoey. Though, to be fair, Grant also made it a surprise thirtieth birthday party for me.

It was also the day I almost got into a brawl with Derek, one of the employees, when he kept hitting on Addy. It wasn’t the first time I realized I loved her, but it was the first time I recognized how deeply in love with her I truly was. Until then, I thought maybe it was something I’d grow out of. Turns out, you don’t just grow out of love with someone.

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