Page 80 of Mr. Infuriating

Something I thought I’d worked through but the more I talked with my brothers and nephew, I realized the wound had still been there, festering.

So, in that regard, my brothers’ visit had been helpful. But when it came to Gretchen, I ended up feeling worse. Maybe, in part, because I hadn’t been completely honest with how I felt about her.

But by the end of the afternoon, I came to the conclusion that she and I had been a fling, nothing more. And it was in both our best interests to steer clear of each other.

Hence, the reason I made Rick deal with her.

That didn’t mean I didn’t pounce on Rick the second he walked through the door Tuesday morning.

“How’d it go with Gretchen Wainwright?”

I hadn’t divulged how exactly I’d convinced her to take possession of the majority of the cabinets over the weekend, so I couldn’t act like she and I were on a first-name basis.

“Fine.”

Fine? What the fuck does “fine” mean?

“Did she say anything to you?”

“I didn’t even see her. When I pulled up to the house, the garage door started to go up, but she wasn’t anywhere in sight. I saw where you’d put the other cabinets, so I just put the ones I had next to them. I noticed the door go down as I drove away.”

“And she didn’t come out to talk to you?”

He cocked his head and looked at me like I was stupid.

“I literally just said I didn’t see her.”

“Right. Right. I just wanted to make sure there weren’t any problems.”

“Did something happen this weekend that would have led you to believe there would be?”

I replied quickly, “No. No. There were no problems. It was fine. Everything was fine. No problems.”

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“You okay, boss?”

I took a deep breath through my nose.

No, I’m not okay. I’ve slept like shit the last two nights, and when I am awake, all I can think about is her.

I offered my foreman a weak smile. I knew I sounded like a crazy man. Probably because that’s how I felt.

“All good. The lumber shipment should be here at two, so make sure you’re around to doublecheck the quality when they offload it.”

I didn’t wait for his reply, just slid my safety glasses down from where they’d been on top of my head, turned the miter saw back on, and prayed I was able to focus enough to keep from losing a finger.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Gretchen

Once my students left for the day on Friday, I congratulated myself for making it through the week without breaking down at school.

The nights, on the other hand… those had been tough.

Things were the worst after I’d put Jake to bed and would have time to sit and think about my time with Gabe.

Eventually “thinking” gave way to “stewing”.

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