In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes (The Queen’s Cove Series Book 3)
In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes: Chapter 44

“THE BARNFIELD COMMUNITY center project should wrap up early December,” Gurneet continued the next morning. Fifteen of us sat around the conference table, reviewing the status of all our projects.

I smiled at her. “Great. Nice work.”

She shot me a confused expression.

“What?”

“You smiled,” Zara said, narrowing her eyes at me. “What’s going on with you?”

I laughed. “What do you mean?”

Everyone exchanged glances.

“Did you and Aiden body swap?” someone asked and everyone laughed.

I rolled my eyes but my grin stayed. Every time my mind wandered back to last night with Sadie, my chest warmed.

Last night changed my life.

There was a light knock at the door of the conference room and Emmett popped his head in with a grin.

“Hey, everyone. What’s going on?”

“Holden is smiling at people,” Zara answered.

Emmett laughed. “Weird. Mind if I stay?” he asked me, taking a seat.

I shook my head. “Not all at.” He probably wanted to speak to me after the meeting about something.

As the next project manager reviewed her project, I tilted my head side to side, stretching my neck. Last night, Sadie and I fell asleep in the blanket fort and I woke up with her cuddled up into my chest, breathing softly and looking so fucking perfect, like an angel. My neck and back were stiff from sleeping on the floor but I wouldn’t change a thing. I saw the flicker of hesitation in her eyes when I suggested we go upstairs to my room. One step at a time.

Spending time with her last night made my solitary, quiet home feel like our own world. I loved having her there.

Her expression before she came as I buried deep inside her replayed in my head and I bit back a groan. She was so fucking perfect. She was made for me in every way and I hoped I was for her too. After last night with her, I understood intimacy.

“Holden?” Emmett’s voice jarred me from my daydream and I blinked.

“Hmm?”

He grinned at me and gestured around the table. “Were you going to announce the news we got this morning?”

My stomach tensed. Emmett still checked his email from time to time, and all the business development emails were automatically copied to him. I wasn’t planning on telling everyone yet because I hadn’t figured out what to do about it. The second I read the email, dread pitched in my stomach.

“As you all know, I was in Victoria this past week in negotiations for the twelve apartment buildings which will contribute to affordable housing on the island.” My throat knotted. “We received the contract this morning.”

“That’s great news,” Aiden said, beaming. “That project is huge.”

My stomach churned with misery.

“You must have wowed them,” Gurneet added.

“Somehow, he charmed them.” Emmett grinned. “The project should secure work for the next four years.”

I should be thrilled. Four years of work for the company meant more security for the staff. Affordable, environmentally responsible housing for the community benefited low-income families. Our work was exceptional so the apartments would be safe and high quality.

The job benefited everyone. Good things all around.

So why did it seem like this was the worst thing that had happened to me in months?

It hit me. Because of Sadie.

No more weekend adventures. No more time at the inn, teaching her to knock down walls and figuring out how to turn Katherine’s old side table into a bathroom vanity. No more forest walks.

This was going to be so much fucking work. I already had a full plate. Balancing the inn and work was already a struggle, and this would tip the balance. Something had to give.

My phone call with Sadie flickered into my head, just before the tree fell on the inn. I wanted to make space for good things in my life. I wanted to make a change, but I didn’t know how.

Maybe this was how. I glanced at Aiden across the table, chatting with Emmett. Panic streaked through me at the idea of handing this massive responsibility to him.

Aiden ran smaller projects all the time with no issues. He understood the importance of our safety procedures and I’d never had an issue with him ignoring them. He cared about his work and his crew. How would he grow in his career if I never gave him bigger projects?

This project was bigger than anything he’d ever tackled, but Aiden had never let me down. Besides, I wasn’t giving up control of the company. I would still be checking in daily with him, making sure the project was on track. I’d make regular site visits.

I only had a few months left with Sadie and if I wanted to make the most of my time with her, this is what I had to do, even if it fucking terrified me.

“Hey,” I called to Aiden as everyone began standing and leaving. “Do you have a second? You, too,” I added to Emmett.

“You bet.” Aiden sat back down with a curious expression.

I took a deep breath, forcing air into my tight lungs. Emmett sat back and watched with interest.

“I’d like you to run the new project,” I told Aiden. “If you’re interested.”

He reared back with a big, beaming smile. Ken doll, I remembered Sadie saying, and my mouth twitched.

“Yes.” He blinked. “I would love to.”

I nodded once. “You’ve been doing good work.”

We talked for a few minutes about the project, the team he wanted to use, and the schedule before he headed out for lunch. Emmett pivoted his chair back and forth, studying me.

“What?” I snapped my laptop closed and stood.

His grin hitched and he leaned back in his chair. “That was unexpected.”

“Don’t get any ideas. I’m still not interested in bringing on a partner.”

A sharp laugh burst out of him. “Yeah, I figured. You’re a stubborn control freak.” He tilted his head as if something occurred to him. “But I guess that was before Sadie.”

My heart squeezed. “Yeah.” I shrugged. Why hide it, especially from Emmett. “Things are different now.” I cleared my throat. “Thanks for picking her up last night.”

He waved me off. “It’s nothing. I’m glad she was okay.”

I nodded and ignored the twisting tension in my chest at the memory of what happened. “Yeah. Me too.”

“So.” He raised his eyebrows at me, eyes glittering. “She’s staying with you now?”

I grinned and his eyebrows went higher.

“Interesting,” he said, smiling back at me. “Very, very interesting. You’re in a pretty good mood today.”

I smiled back at him with a shrug. “Just happy she’s safe.”

“I bet.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.

“I like seeing you like this,” Emmett said, rubbing his jaw and studying me. “And I like Sadie. Everyone does. She doesn’t put up with your bullshit.”

I scoffed. “What bullshit?”

“When I run down Main Street in the evenings, I don’t see your office light on.”

“I go to the bar until she closes. I still work at home some evenings.”

He tilted his head. “As much as before? You spend every weekend with her.”

“Not as much as before,” I admitted. “I like working at the inn. It reminds me of the old days.”

His expression turned solemn and guilty. “Before I left.”

I shook my head. “Long before you left. When we first started the company. Do you remember that first house we did?”

He grinned and his head fell back. “Oh, god. That project.”

It had been problem after problem. The walls ended up having asbestos. The foundation was cracked. There was a surprise oil tank from the fifties buried in the backyard, leaking toxic oil into the ground.

When the project was finished, though, and I had wandered through, noticing how much brighter the interior was with all the skylights, admiring the view from the new windows and balcony, it was all worth it.

The family had been thrilled to move back in. The project was personal.

I studied Emmett. “I don’t want you to feel guilty for going after what you want.”

He leaned forward, concern all over his face. “The same goes for you. What do you want?”

I hesitated.

“Sadie,” I admitted. “I want Sadie.” I blew out a long breath.

“Is she…?” Emmett trailed off, waiting.

“Is she what?”

He weighed his words. “Are you two on the same page?”

I shook my head. “We’re not even in the same book. She has a whole new life waiting for her back in Toronto. She isn’t staying.”

He frowned. “Shit.”

I folded my arms over my chest. My gut twisted at the thought of her leaving.

Emmett stared out the window, thinking. “That doesn’t mean you couldn’t show her what it would be like.” He flashed me a roguish grin.

A thousand images flashed through my head at once of what things could be like if Sadie stayed. Us walking through the forest together, me carrying a baby on my back in one of those baby backpack things. Celebrating our anniversary with a weekend away in Victoria. Her cuddled up to me in the living room in front of the fire, drinking tea and listening to music.

Sadie was unsure about commitment, so I had to do everything in my power to show her how good our life together could be.