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It beats sitting at home pining over someone I can’t have, though.
“I need to make a few changes to the diagrams for the second floor and then print the final copies. I’ll have it on your desk by tomorrow morning.”
Elijah gets to his feet, and I have to talk or fill the space somehow before he asks me about Phoebe and how we danced a little too long and a little too close all night.
“How’s my brother?”
He snorts and leans against my doorframe. “The one who’s enjoying the first day of a month-long honeymoon?”
“Ha. I’m sure that guy is fine.” I shake my head and get to my feet. “No, the one you had to carry up those damn concrete steps after the wedding.”
“Yeah, a little help would’ve been nice.” Elijah scoffs, but his face softens instantly. “He’s tucked into bed with a fluffy blanket and enough electrolyte drinks to keep him hydrated for the rest of the year.”
“Thanks for looking out for him.”
“Always.” Elijah’s face twists into a small smile before he ducks out of my office.
It seems like my brothers have everything sorted out. It’s a weird feeling. Usually I’m the one putting out fires or making the peace, but no one needs me.
My sister Mila and her husband Tobias are doing well—well enough they thought it was completely fine to tell everyone they’re trying for a baby. Thanks for letting me know you’re getting cream pied by one of my best friends every night, sis.
My youngest brother, Beau, is living with his platonic soulmate, being pampered like a princess as he nurses a hangover. He can get away with not coming into the office until he’s better. Elijah will take on whatever workload he has to in order to keep Beau cozy.
Liam and Felicity are literally embarking on a month-long trip around the states to see all the places they’ve wanted to see but have been too busy to visit.
And where does that leave me?
Sitting in my office on a Sunday, tweaking some diagrams before sending them to a client. Answering the emails my assistant, Gwen, forwarded to me.
Sometimes I feel like this isn’t my dream anymore. And then I wonder if it ever was my dream. In the beginning, I fought Liam about moving to San Francisco, even though he showed me the numbers he’d run, proving California would be a better place for us to start. I wanted to stay in Washington. I wanted to let my roots keep growing where they were originally planted, but that wasn’t his dream.
We had a shared dream for Trees of Steel, but I was happy to keep it in Clover Creek. Obviously, Liam’s vision about exponential growth was correct. We wouldn’t be as successful if we had started out in our small town.
But now, I’m not so sure we need to keep going like we are.
Everything I’m doing on this CAD software could be done by someone else who wants to be here. Someone who enjoys the nuance of getting a blueprint just right.
I’m in this weird in between place where I know I’ve outgrown Trees of Steel, but I’m not sure what I would do if I wasn’t here.
I save the diagram and hit the print button, my mind heavy with the future and what I’ll say to Phoebe when I finally have a chance to message her.
An error message flashes across the computer screen, and I try it again.
Nothing.
Peeling myself out of my chair, I stare at the printer for a few seconds before I remember the rebooting sequence.
Two copies of the plans shoot out before I can cancel the second. I roll them up, my mind elsewhere as I head to Elijah’s office.
Right outside his door, my phone buzzes, Phoebe’s name flashing across the screen.
We normally keep our conversations to text. My pulse thunders in my ears as I answer, diagrams forgotten.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Ben.” Her voice takes me back to last night, and I hate knowing she’s thousands of miles away.
I breathe her name and debate begging her to come back to Clover Creek. Or to let me move to Connecticut with her.
