Tara claims she’s coming for a visit at the end of summer. I won’t hold my breath, but I also need to be prepared for how that will affect Cutler.
River
Nice of her to show up whenever the fuck she feels like it. This would be a good time to get her to sign something. Make custody official. I can draft something up.
Hayes
She should definitely sign something. She hasn’t had anything to do with him since the day she left. And she doesn’t contribute financially either, so it doesn’t seem like a lot to ask for.
Yeah, it’s just that things have been going smoothly, and I hate to rock the boat. She goes on the defense when she feels pushed into a corner.
Romeo
She put herself in the fucking corner. Take your shot. You’ve done everything for that boy, and she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
King
I’m with Nash on this one. Why rock the boat? She’s letting him do it all on his own. Why start a fight when you don’t need to?
Agreed.
River
Because the law is the law. It doesn’t matter if she hasn’t done anything up to this point. She is his mother, and she could come around anytime she wants and demand things. I’m not saying she will. I’m just saying that it wouldn’t hurt to have her sign something saying she does not want to pay child support or have any rights to her child.
Hayes
Agreed. The world is a cold-ass place. People are shitty. I say make her sign something.
King
Hello, Sunshine. <sun emoji> The world isn’t all bad, Hayes.
I instantly thought of the conversation between Cutler and Emerson. The name he’d decided to call her was so fitting. Even when she tried to keep to herself, there was just this bright light that she exuded.
Sunny.
Hayes
Well, it sure as fuck isn’t all good either, so you need to be prepared for the hit before it comes.
Romeo
That is something I always do as a fighter. Not a bad idea to take that approach in life.
I wasn’t really coming here for legal advice. Just letting you know she may be coming to town, and Cutler may mention it to you. <head exploding emoji>
King
Did he tell you guys that the good doctor next door brought him and Cutler a little care package? Sounds like a little DROMANCE in the making.
She brought Gatorade for Cutler. And what the fuck is a dromance?
King
A doctor romance, you dicksicle. A.K.A. a dromance.
Romeo
Is that a romance book thing?
King
Nope. I think I invented it. But I will sure as shit be telling Saylor about it. Who doesn’t love a good dromance?
River
Someone who isn’t dating a doctor?
Hayes
Someone who doesn’t like dumbass wordplay?
Romeo
Someone who married a coffee shop owner?
Someone who is not dating his kid’s doctor. I’ll meet you at the site in twenty minutes, dicklicker.
Kingston and I had a big day ahead of us with the renovation. Flooring was going in, and this was when things started to come together.
River
Think about what I said, Nash.
All right. You can draft something up if she actually comes to town. I can try to just get her to sign it and keep things light. I can at least bring it up.
Romeo
Preparing for the punch is always smart.
Hayes
Fuck yeah. The rug can be pulled out from beneath you at any time. Remember that.
King
You cynical fuckers are bringing me down. See you soon, Nash. I’ll grab coffees for us at Magnolia Beans. They are a lot more upbeat over there, and after this riveting conversation, I need some time with the ladies. <winky face emoji>
River
Stop being so dramatic. Are we still coming to your place this weekend for the Fourth of July barbecue, Nash?
My house on the water had a great view of the fireworks, and Cutler was looking forward to having a party.
Yep. Hot dogs, brewskies, fireworks, and some lake time. I think we could all use it.
Romeo
Beans and I will be there. Will we be inviting the good doctor next door? I still haven’t met her yet.
Well, I always let all the neighbors know, seeing as they’ll all see us out there. So, I’ll mention it to her, but I doubt she’ll come. She likes to keep to herself.
King
When she’s not delivering care packages to you. <winky face emoji> Saylor and I will be there with Dandelion.
Kingston and Saylor had a goldendoodle that they treated like their child, and they took her everywhere with them now.
Hayes
I’m off this weekend, so I’ll be there.
River
Ruby and I could use some downtime. Looking forward to it.
I set my phone down and made my way to the renovation site. It was going to be a long day, and I was ready to make some progress on this project.
Once we were there, I spent all my time putting out fire after fire, so to speak. There was a leak issue in the men’s restroom, and the flooring that we’d chosen didn’t match the existing flooring. So now we were having to add another coat of stain to darken them up. The front door that Kingston had built at his shop was about an eighth of an inch too big, so we’d have to shave off the edges of the drywall to make it fit.
“Hey, Nash.” Lucille and her husband, Dave, strode through the large opening where the front door would go once we fixed the issue.
“Hi. How’s it going?” I asked.
“Well, we’re anxious to get the doors open,” Dave said, raising a brow. “It costs me a small fortune every day that this place isn’t open. And there still seems to be a lot of work to do here.”
“Correct. We gave you the timeline, and we’re on track to finish in three weeks, as planned. We’re on schedule, so I’m not sure what the problem is?”
“The problem is that we’d like to open the doors sooner than planned.” Lucille raised her chin and her brow all at the same time in a move meant to intimidate me.
It didn’t work.
We had a timeline, and we were sticking to it.
It wasn’t uncommon for clients to get impatient once we were in the middle of a project.
“Listen, we need to get this right, and we’re on track to do so. But you can’t change the timeline when we’re three weeks out. It doesn’t work that way.” I shrugged.
“We’re manifesting it,” Lucille said, her tone harsher than I’d ever heard it. “And when you manifest, you don’t have to get permission. It just happens.”
I used my hand to cover my mouth to keep from laughing because this was the first time I’d heard this reasoning when it came to changing the timeline.
“I can respect you putting all the positive mojo out into the universe, but that’s not how construction works. We have every single minute of the workday thought out for the next three weeks, with a full team of guys working long hours at the site. All the manifesting in the world is not going to get the job done any sooner.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“That’s disappointing. So, I’m going to ignore what you’re saying and count on the doors opening in two weeks.” Lucille stormed off, and Dave groaned.
“Sorry about that. She’s just stressed about money right now, so she’s got it in her head that if we open sooner, all will be good. But we’re fine with the timeline as you have it. I just wanted to make sure we were on track,” Dave said.
“If nothing major comes up, we should be good to go. I’m sorry we can’t get you in here sooner. We’re doing the best we can to get it done on time.”
“I hear you, and that all sounds good. Thanks, Nash. It’s really coming together, and I’m very pleased.”
Just then, Lucille snapped her fingers from a few feet away. “Let’s go, Dave. I can’t manifest when I’m standing in the middle of a construction site.”
She whipped around and stormed off, growling at a few of the guys as she walked back outside.
Kingston walked over to me and did his typical dramatic shiver. “Yikes. I replace that woman terrifying. She always looks so pissed off.”
“Yeah, I do notice the way you always run to the bathroom whenever she stops by. Thanks for that, by the way.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re just much better at handling that kind of shit. I would have agreed to up the timeline, and that wouldn’t be a good thing. So… you’re welcome.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s convenient. Are you ready to get the door in?”
“Yep. I just need your help to lift it.”
“Let’s do it.”
We spent the rest of the day tackling one thing after another, and I was relieved when I got to the camp and picked up my boy.
I should have been concerned when his camp counselor told me she’d try to stop by our Fourth of July party. Cutler loved to invite everyone in town every time we had a get-together.
“I thought I told you that you needed to ask me before you invite people to things,”
I said as we drove toward home.
“Yeah, but she’s real nice, Pops. She gave me an extra cookie at snack time.”
I shook my head as we pulled into the driveway, and my head snapped in the direction of my neighbor’s house. Emerson was out front in those damn jean shorts, bent over, planting flowers.
Cutler was out of the car and running that way as Winnie sprinted in his direction.
“Hey, what did I tell you about waiting for me before you jump out of the truck?” I grumped.
“Sorry, Pops! I want to say hi to Sunny and Winnie.”
Emerson turned our way, pushing to stand and brushing her hands off to free them of the dirt.
“Hey,” she said, as my son ran into her arms like they were long-lost family members. “How was camp?”
This fucking kid and his attachments to certain people.
Beautiful women seemed to be his thing.
He rambled on and on about all the things that happened at camp, and I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for him to take a breath.
“Pops, did you tell Sunny about the fireworks party?”
Did I not just tell him that he wasn’t allowed to invite people without asking?
I cleared my throat and shot him a warning look. “I haven’t had a chance to do that.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m not supposed to ask people to come to the party without talking to Pops first.”
She smiled. “My parents had the same rule growing up, and I swear my brothers never listened. Everyone in town would show up at our parties, and my mom would get so aggravated with the boys. She finally just stopped fighting it and took on a the-more-the-merrier philosophy.”
“I like that.” My son glanced over at me, his hair disheveled from swimming in the lake at camp and his cheeks a little pink from the sun. No matter how much sunscreen I put on this kid, he still got tan everywhere, but his cheeks were always rosy. “The more the merrier, Pops. Did you hear that?”
“I did. I’m standing right next to you.” I chuckled. “And of course, you like that. You aren’t the one throwing the party.”
Emerson’s jade-green eyes locked with mine. “I’m guessing he’s just the entertainment?”
“Something like that,” I said, as Cutler started running around the yard with Winnie. I scratched the back of my neck and squinted up as the sun was shining down on us. “You’re welcome to come. It’ll be a good group.”
Why was I fucking nervous? I didn’t get nervous around women. Not usually, at least.
Maybe I was prepared for her to turn me down.
Again.
“What exactly is a fireworks party?” she asked.
“It’s a Fourth of July party. Good food. Good drinks. Good people.”
“Sounds like a good time.” She smiled. “It’s probably always wise to have a doctor present with fireworks.”
“Ah… so you’d be coming as a professional, then?”
“Seems like the neighborly thing to do.” She smirked. “And how can I turn Cutler down?”
Well, you shut down that kiss with me fairly easily, didn’t you?
“I’d be curious to see if our Magnolia Falls parties are as good as your Rosewood River parties.”
“I’ll definitely let you know. What can I bring?”
“A medical kit and a zipper to stop my kid from inviting everyone in town.” I smiled because she was so damn pretty.
“Don’t be mad at him for inviting me. I am your neighbor, after all. I would have seen the festivities going on.”
“Not mad that he invited you, Sunny.” I started walking backward toward my house. “Just mad he didn’t let me do it first.”
“That was a little flirty, neighbor.”
“I try.” I threw my hands in the air before turning to my son. “Come on, buddy. I need to get dinner going.”
“Aww man, Pops. Winnie and I are having fun. Can’t I stay out here a little longer?”
“I’m moving to the flowerpots on my back porch, and I can keep an eye on him if you want. I wouldn’t mind the idea of wearing Winnie out right now. And she’s bored watching me plant flowers. You’d be doing me a favor.”
“Fine. Just until dinner. And stay away from the lake. You know the rules,” I said. I wanted to invite her to eat with us, but she’d made it clear that she didn’t want to complicate things.
She’d agreed to come to the party.
And for whatever ridiculous reason, I was on cloud fucking nine about it.
I doubted I’d be watching the endless fireworks that Kingston had purchased for us, as I had a feeling I’d be staring at my sexy neighbor all night.
Because regardless of whether or not she ever wanted to cross the line with me, if she was around, my eyes were on her.
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