Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“If you’re not going to use it, I will,” Ida adds with a sassy wink.
“You could be his mother.”
“But I’m not his mother, honey,” Ida retorts. “Not even a little bit.”
I smirk and carry the finished bouquet of lilacs to the cooler.
I have no plans to use that phone number. But, I can admit to myself, I’m not sorry that he’s coming back later to work on the security here at the shop.
CHAPTER TWO
CHASE
Iset up a makeshift shop on the family ranch the day after Erin, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, asked me to make her an arbor for her wedding. She wants it made out of some of the recycled wood from the old barn on the property that she’s going to have rebuilt and converted into an event space to rent out for weddings and parties, so the arbor would be a piece that the business offers guests to use for their events.
The whole family agrees that the new business venture is a great idea, and I especially love that she wants to reuse as much of the old wood as possible. The barn collapsed in on itself long before I was born, and it’s just sat there, in the middle of a grazing field for cattle. There are several other smaller buildings, also no longer in use, around it. We never considered using any of it for anything. In fact, when we were kids, Dad thought about tearing it all down but never did.
Erin saw it this past spring and had the great idea of turning it into a business. With the gorgeous views of the mountains as the backdrop, I have a feeling that the space will be booked solid year-round.
My brother, Remington, mentioned to his fiancée during one of our family dinners that I like to build things in my spare time, and Erin batted her green eyes at me and talked me into building her pretty much whatever she wanted for the wedding. She’s been amazing for my brother and his kids, and I adore her. She knows that she has me wrapped around her tiny little finger.
No, the event space definitely won’t be ready in time for next month’s nuptials, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t make it work with a tent, and we can bring in whatever Erin wants to make it pretty for her.
Right now, I have to build this arbor, which is a fun project. Or would be, if I had the right shop to do it in.
I have a small woodworking space in the two-car garage at the house I rent in town, but it’s nowhere near big enough for this project. Plus, the wood I’ll use is on the property. It doesn’t make sense to move all of it into town and then move it back out here again.
So, I took over my brother’s garage.
Remington and Erin, along with his two kids, live in the big farmhouse on the ranch. The same one that our parents owned and raised all five of us kids in. Remington took over the ranch from our dad a few years ago, and when our parents built a smaller, more manageable house for themselves on the property, Remington moved his family into the farmhouse.
But for now, I’m using his garage.
And even that isn’t really big enough for what I need.
“How’s it going out here?”
I turn to see Rem standing just outside the open garage door, his thumbs in his pockets, watching me work.
“Slower than I’d like.”
“Why is that?” He saunters in, picks up a hammer, and flips it around in his hand as he watches me measure a board and mark it with my pencil.
“Because I don’t have enough space.” I glance up at him and see his shit-eating grin. “Why are you so fucking chipper?”
“Life is damn good right now, that’s all.”
I shake my head and measure again. “I’m happy for you, Rem. I really am. Erin’s the best.”
“She’s worried that we won’t get it all done and thinks we should move the date out until spring so we have more time to do everything.”
“I figured,” I reply with a nod. “I was just talking about that with Summer at the flower shop yesterday. I also told her that there’s no way in hell you’d go for that.”
“Fuck no,” he confirms, his voice mild. “I’m marrying her next month. Whether it’s in a field of grass or at the courthouse, I don’t care.”
“She cares,” I remind him. “And all of her family’s coming in from Seattle. All of her very famous family. So, we’d like to give them something pretty to look at while they’re here.”
“The mountains are just fine,” he grumbles and then shrugs. “Anyway, you said you need more space to work in? This garage isn’t tiny.”
“This arbor is going to be big. The bar she wants me to build is also good-sized. And who knows what other odds and ends she’ll want. So, yeah, I need more space, but this is bigger than my shop in town, so I’ll make do. I’ll have to run home later to get more tools and bring them out here.”