Page 29 of Unveiled Wishes

“How do you know that?” I asked her, trying to keep this light.

She frowned at me. “When you’re the lead designer on the project, part of the job is to visit the construction site. You don’t want the crew to take liberties when the customer has already approved. I’ve learned a few things over the years. One being, always wear gloves.”

I hadn’t really kissed her since the morning Grace had disappeared. Meredith’s face was earnest, and I couldn’t help it. I swooped in and claimed her lips. To my surprise, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back.

Deepening it, I wanted a taste so that the next time she was hurtling insults at everyone and everything, I could remember she was still in there somewhere. This was my Meredith, the fun-loving brat I enjoyed taming. I swiped my tongue against hers.

I didn’t know how long it lasted, but eventually, she pulled back, pretending like this was normal. “Gloves?” she asked me, raising her eyebrow with a small smile on her lips.

I laughed and went to the cabinet on the far wall. Pulling out a couple pairs of gloves and some sandpaper, I closed it, setting them on the counter. I turned towards Meredith, but she’d silently moved so that she was standing right next to me. Grabbing the gloves, she slipped them on and waited.

“I’ve never done this before.”

I wanted to make a wisecrack about how sanding wasn’t the only thing I wanted to show her, but I refrained. We weren’t in a place where she’d accept the words as a joke. Instead, I grabbed the supplies and reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away from me as I laced our fingers together. Once we completed it, it would be hers.

“Here.” I handed her a piece of sandpaper. “You want to sand with the grain of the wood, making small circular motions.”

She looked at me and then looked at the paper in her hand. I watched as she made circles with the paper in the air, trying to figure out what the best way to follow my instructions was. She was cute, but I hid my smile and said nothing for fear she’d stop.

“Okay, I’ve got this.” She walked to the front of the desk, laid the sandpaper down, and when it scraped the wood, she jumped back from the sound. Meredith looked lost, with a blank stare on her face.

“This is easy. You’re going to ace it,” I told her, wrapping an arm around her waist and taking a step forward towards the desk together. “You ready?” I asked her. I wanted to check inwith her because if being too close to me was a problem, I’d take a step back to save her.

“Yes.” She wiggled her whole body, mentally preparing for the task. When we were dating, I’d often seen her do a little booty shake. When I had asked her about it one day, she had explained it was her way of getting rid of bad juju. She wanted to nail this on the first try, and I was proud of her.

I held her close to me as I reached for her hand holding the paper. Together, we made small circles, sanding one of the wood slates of the rolltop. After a few minutes, I took my hand off of hers, but I didn’t pull away. I didn’t want to, but I knew this wouldn’t last. I gave it a few more minutes, kissed the top of her head, and went to the back of the desk. Laying on the dirt floor, I worked on the legs. The scraping of the sandpaper was the only noise in the room.

We worked contently for an hour before she asked me about my club history.

“I just realized I know so little about you,” she said, quietly. “We burned hot and forgot about the rest.”

I thought about that for a second. From the time I had seen her on the dance floor, I’d imagined being her groom. She was mine, and I had made sure that I reminded her every chance I got so that no one would take her away from me. However, it had been physical, not emotional. I doubted she knew much about me. Thinking about it, I only knew the basics about her.

“Some of this is ancient legend,” I started with. I sanded some more, collecting my thoughts. “My mother and father were high school sweethearts. They were born in a small town nearby and had never ventured beyond a fifteen-mile radius. They were too young when they got married and my dad couldn’t provide. He didn’t have any skills, and my mom didn’t want to lack for anything.”

“So, then, what happened?”

She was listening, and my heart raced. “Fake it until you make it. My dad decided he was going to be a carpenter, but he couldn’t complete projects accurately or on time.”

“He didn’t know how?” Her head popped up over the back of the desk. Meredith’s eyes were wide as she looked down at me. “Didn’t anyone complain?”

“Sure, they did, but my dad was a con artist. He could talk his way out of anything, so they would complain, and he’d sell them more of his shit.”

“He never got caught?” She was leaning over the top of the desk, invested in my story.

“Not really. He got beat up a few times, but that was more for his womanizing ways than his blatant lies. I like to eat, so when I was old enough to help, I learned as much as I could. The complaints slowed, and my dad was making his deadlines. No one realized it was me putting in the work.”

“What happened then?” she said, watching me, and I laid on my back so that I could look up at her.

“They had nothing when I came along. My dad knew of the club, and he told my mom that he was going to patch in. The club takes care of its own, and he thought the money would roll in. He didn’t realize that you actually have to live the lifestyle. Brotherhood. Loyalty and honesty.”

“What did your mom say?” Her eyes didn’t leave mine.

“My mom thought she was going to live this glamorous life, and the first time she came to the club for a party, she hated it.” I had been a baby, but I’d heard the story so many times that I could picture it.

Meredith’s head dropped back down, and the sanding sounds quickly picked up above me. I didn’t know if it had been too intimate, and she had gotten scared or something else. I went back to sanding, not asking as long we were still good. “If she hated the club, how did you get here?”

“When I was fifteen, my mom had had enough. She started dating a rich investor, and when he left, she went with him. My dad didn’t waste any time. He hung around the club every chance he got.”

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