Hotshot and Hospitality by Nora Everly

Chapter 29

Garrett

Time passed while I spent every day cooped up in my father’s office instead of working at the inn. Even though he had been training me to take over, the sheer amount of work he did on a daily basis was unreal. It was much more complicated than running jobsites and supervising labor. I was now in charge of all aspects of Monroe & Sons and it took every bit of my time. I couldn’t afford to mess this up; too many people depended on me for that.

My father would be here soon to meet me for lunch so I could get him up to speed on what he’d missed since my mother was finally going to allow him to talk about the company. However, I doubted that my mother would let him start working again anytime soon, if at all. I had the feeling his retirement would come sooner than either of us had expected.

I missed seeing Molly every day at the inn. It had become a physical thing, a dull ache that sat in the middle of my chest and never went away. The uncertainty of our un-dating combined with not knowing when I could see her again was no longer exciting, it was no longer anticipatory. It was making me miserable. I couldn’t wait to just be with her. We snuck in a few overnights at the inn or my cabin and we spoke every night before bed and texted throughout the day, but it wasn’t enough. My heart grew desperate as it broke into pieces. I needed more.

“Hey, Dad is on his way.” Barrett poked his head into what would probably be my office very soon. Barrett’s office was next to this one. Essie, my father’s long-time secretary, had retired a couple months ago, and my mother had been handling her duties until we could hire a new one.

“Okay, thanks.” I sat back in Dad’s chair to take in the room. I’d been coming in here my whole life and the thought of it becoming mine was bittersweet. A goal I’d had for my entire life was close to being accomplished, but a massive life change went along with it, and not for just myself.

“You okay? This last week has been insane.” Barrett stepped inside and took the seat across from the desk.

“I will be once everything settles down.”

“If it settles down, you mean. It can get pretty crazy here sometimes.”

Our heads turned at the tap on the open door. “Hello, boys! Your daddy is waiting for you in the dining room, Garrett. It’s time for your lunch meeting.”

“Later, Barrett.” I stood up to head to the dining room, kissing Mom’s cheek as I walked past her.

Dad sat in his usual spot at the head of the table. “Come on, grab some tea and sit down. We have a lot to talk about,” he said with a smile.

They’d picked up takeout from Daisy’s, but not what Dad usually ordered. No cheeseburgers, no fries, no pie. I saw green salad topped with chicken and veggies and a container of soup. “Mom made you order that?” I asked in what I hoped was a neutral tone.

“Nope.” He grinned. “I’ve got a list of stuff I can eat and I’m sticking to it. I have four boys, five grandbabies, and the most beautiful wife in the world. I’m not ready to leave y’all behind.” He looked great, back to his normal happy self.

“And you’re okay with that? We were worried you’d fight the changes.”

“I might be stubborn, but I’m no fool. I have a lot to live for. And that leads to what I have to talk to you about, Garrett.”

“Okay.” I sank back into my chair as fear I hadn’t even realized I had been holding on to left my body. We were here and almost back to normal, so maybe everything would be okay after all.

“I’m cutting back on work. Stress played a big role in what happened. I love this company, so much that it didn’t feel like a job. But I can admit I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I took everything on myself and it was a bad choice that I paid the price for. I don’t want that for either one of us, so until I fully retire, we’ll run the company together, you and me. We’ll come up with new ways to run the business so that after I retire, it will never fall one hundred percent on you. We’re going to learn how to delegate. Balance is the key, all the stuff your momma always talked about over the years—taking weekends off, evenings off, leaving the work at the office—it’s all important, and she was right. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you. So,” he said as he shoved a Daisy’s bag my way, “here’s your salad. Let’s eat and discuss how this is gonna work. Family first, son.”

“Family first,” I repeated with a grin. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, and I’m glad I’m still around to show you how much. Don’t take a minute of your life for granted, not ever, Garrett.”

Molly flashed through my mind as did the fact that she didn’t have this. The relationship I had with my parents was my guide to how I wanted to be, the blueprint for the life I had always wanted to live for as long as I could remember. Her parents were great, loving people but their tragedy—her dad’s battle with cancer and her mom’s all-encompassing grief—colored most of her childhood and her entire adult life, leaving her without the touchstone I had taken for granted.

“I won’t.”

“Good, because I want you to think about moving into the house. Your momma wants to live in the Bandit Lake house. She said she wants to downsize, but really I think she wants to keep me away from the office.”

My jaw dropped. “What?” I breathed.

“You don’t have to sell your cabin. Keep it for getaways and such. Maybe with Molly? How’s that going?”

“Uh . . . fine, I think.” None of what was between Molly and me had ever really been a secret, no matter how much she wanted it to be. “You’re sure you want me to move in here?”

“Yeah, it’s going to be yours one day anyway. Might as well get used to it now. And there’s plenty of room for kids, as you know. I’m sure Stan will like it too.” He grinned at me. “I wouldn’t mind a few more grandbabies. And now that I’ll be working less, I’ll have plenty of time to spoil them rotten.”

“Grandbabies,” I repeated as an image of Molly, rounded with my baby inside of her invaded my thoughts. The phrase “meant to be” ran through my mind and just like that I wanted this house immediately. I saw us here together so clearly; I wanted us to make this place our own. I wanted to plant her inside and fill it with kids. Could I make her see what I saw? Would she ever understand that life changes could be exciting instead of something to fear?

“Is the inn still on schedule with Chris in charge?” he asked, wrenching me out of my meandering thoughts about Molly.

“Yes, they’ll wrap it up by the end of the week. Landon and Leo are planning a party to celebrate.”

“Good. Seems like you did just fine when I was gone. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks. I think I did all right. But I’m glad you aren’t retiring just yet. I never realized exactly how much went in to running this place.”

“By the time I officially retire, you’ll have it down to a science. So, I was thinking I’d like a bit of time in my office to get up to speed. Maybe you should go check on the inn and see for yourself how it’s going.”

I laughed. “Or check on Molly? Did Mom tell you to send me out there?”

“Maybe.” He chuckled. “But it’s a good thing. Maybe you should go check on your girl and forget my clumsy attempt to do your mother’s dirty work.”

“Solid plan. I’ll take you up on it.”

He tossed me a set of keys. “I know you never wanted one before, but since you’re stepping up, you should have a company truck. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Breakdowns were getting old. Plus, I couldn’t drive a wife and kids around in a beat-up old truck.

* * *

Molly

With a disgruntled shove, I closed the drawer on my desk and scooted back in my chair. I was miserable. Missing Garrett was a large part of it, but I refused to think too hard about why. I was in an odd pattern of denying half of my feelings so I wouldn’t destroy the other half. Going on like this might make me go crazy. Obviously, I had fallen for him, but even more obvious was the fact that it terrified me.

Everything ends.

Bill’s heart attack proved how fragile life could be. But that shouldn’t stop me from living my life. I needed someone to shake some sense into me or teach me how to lose the irrational fear that everything would come crashing down if I let myself. Maybe my brain and my heart were not in alignment, just like Jordan said.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I almost fell out of my chair. It had to be Garrett. He’d been texting me every day after lunch since our first un-date.

Can we meet at your place?

I texted back a quick, “yes.”

“I’m taking a break, Landon!” I shouted and dashed for the front door of the inn.

“Okay, transfer the calls to my cell phone. I’m about to head into the rose garden,” he shouted back from somewhere near the front door

“Done! Thanks!” I shouted as I passed him on the porch.

I did my best not to make a fool of myself by running full out across the grounds to my house. I managed to keep it to a brisk power walk, and I was only slightly out of breath when I reached my front door. I unlocked it and stepped inside, intending to take a quick peek at myself in the mirror by the door before he got here. But I got stuck there instead, I didn’t know myself anymore. The face that stared back at me looked different—a mixture of happy and hopeful that was foreign to me.

“Molly! Are you in there?”

I flung the door open. My breath quickened and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him standing there. This was the feeling I wanted to hold on to, the one that kept me going no matter what else popped into my head to make me doubt it. My past and the future were all mixed up in Garrett now. And I couldn’t seem to sort it out.

“Guess what?” His smile was bright white and gorgeous as he rushed forward to sweep me in his arms. He turned me in an excited circle and buried his face in my neck.

“Your dad is finally back to work with you?” I guessed.

He pulled back, still smiling. “Yes, but that’s not all.”

He looked so happy. The joy in his eyes was glorious and I wanted to be part of it. “Look at you! Tell me everything.”

He told me he would run the business with Bill. He told me about his company truck and that he would be moving into the house in town. He told me so many wonderful things that he wanted me to be part of. But each bit of news was like a brick being added to form an insurmountable pile. Engagement, wedding, marriage. Moving into the house in town, babies, being Garrett’s wife someday. I didn’t want any of it to feel like a weight on my shoulders, I wanted those bricks to build us a home.

I needed more time. But I would not run away. I would stay right here and talk this out with him.

His hands drifted up my body to cradle my face. “I have to tell you something. I want you to know that I’m falling in love with you, Molly. I think on some level I’ve been falling for years. Please don’t freak out over this. Not telling you was beginning to feel like a lie, and I don’t want to ever keep anything from you—”

“Oh! Garrett, I—I feel like I—I, I . . .” LOVE YOU!

He placed a gentle finger to my lips. “Shh, you don’t have to say anything right now. I just couldn’t keep it inside anymore. I had to let you know how I felt.”

I nodded as I looked up at him. Why couldn’t I say it?

Why was I stuck like this? What I felt for him was more than I had ever felt for anyone. I had been wandering around in an all-encompassing life daze for so long that the clarity of his words shining down on me was blinding. But I couldn’t see my way through the swirling mass of emotion to reach it.

I love you too was locked inside my heart, refusing to come out. The words were pounding, beating, dying for me to say them. But I just stood there, wide-eyed and tongue-tied as he cradled my face in his big hands. He smiled, sweet and soft and everything I ever wanted. “Molly, baby. It’s okay. I told you I could wait. Hush.” He placed a gentle kiss on my lips.

“Okay . . .” I breathed. I had become overwhelmed by so many things; I couldn’t pick one to focus on.

“But I did want to talk to you about something else,” he said. “This secret we’re keeping. The un-dating. I want you to go with me to the party tomorrow as my date. Can we do that? Will you be my date tomorrow night, Molly?” His smile shifted to the side as he waited for an answer.

“Are you sure we’re ready for that? Your dad isn’t one hundred percent yet and everyone will be there—”

“Isn’t it time we think about the toll this is beginning to take? I get that we’re not exactly lying, but erasing the truth from my daily interactions is hard. You are the biggest part of my life, and no matter what I say to the contrary, everyone seems to already know what’s happening.”

“Okay. I get that, I do. I really do. Can I, um—” Disappointment flashed across his face before he hid it. Quite suddenly I remembered him offering to go with me to the sixth-grade dance as my date. At the time, I had thought nothing of it. We were just two friends going to a dance together. The look on his face just now was the same as the one he’d tried to hide when I’d danced with someone else. I don’t even remember who it was; all I could ever remember when I looked back was the sadness in his eyes. Sadness I put there and would probably keep putting there if I didn’t wake up.

He took a step back, letting me go.

Don’t let me go.

“You know what? It’s too soon. I can see that now. We can meet there. No one needs to know anything yet. I promised I could wait for you to be ready, and I pushed you. I need to get back to the office. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He spun on his heel and left.

It was unlike any goodbye we’d ever had, and I hated it. The tables had turned—this time he was the one to run.

It hurt.

I died a bit inside when I realized I was finally feeling what I had made him feel so many times before.