AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Looks good.” He nods.
“And this is one I found of you and Marie,” I say, holding my breath. I hadn’t told Tanner I found this one, and as I watch him look at it, his eyes widen.
“Where did you get this?” He looks at the image intently, a small smile on his lips.
“In one of the boxes. I thought it was a nice one.”
“I’m just a kid. But I can remember this moment. It was just after I helped her build out some garden bedswith leftover barrel wood.” Leaning closer, he kisses my cheek. “I like that you already have a picture of me in your place.”
“I wanted you on my wall. You were a big part of my aunt’s life and now you are a big part of mine. Now we have to take some new pictures to add the wall. Make some memories together,” I tell him, and he is quiet for a moment as he looks between me and the photo and back again.
“Oh, baby girl… I can’t wait to make more memories with you…” he says roughly. I stare at him for a moment, barely blinking, then his hand comes up and brushes my cheek. “You need to promise to call me before you fall asleep tonight and call me the minute you wake up. Please,” he confirms, his tone softening, and I nod.
“I promise.”
48
VICTORIA
Lacy looks at me with wide eyes, and Jasmine scoffs like I am being ridiculous.
“How many different businesses are you planning on doing?” Lacy asks, incredulous. I am grateful that she is here. With her mom sick, she can rarely get time away from her caring responsibilities. As it is, she needs to leave soon. Jasmine’s the only one who will be spending the night with me.
“Well, Marie’s Place won’t be booked all the time, and even then, it may not be a huge moneymaker. Working with Griffin is really what I want to do, so I think that will be what keeps me busy the most. But Gertie’s Goat Milk offers a great side hustle, an opportunity to give something back to Kevin and his family. His mom is a teacher, but she seemed excited to expand on her hobby of soapmaking, and who knows? If it becomes a success, then I can expand it into my interiors work or something like that.”
Excitement bubbles in my chest as I think about the possibilities.
Now that the house is almost complete, I am ready for what life in Whispers will look like for me. But the fear is what has been consuming me and I hate it. Ever since I moved here, I have had nothing but new opportunities present themselves, not only by way of a new job and new business, but also love. If I can just find out who is trying to harm me and get them behind bars, that would certainly make me sleep better at night.
“I can give you some rose petals. You could see if Kevin's mom can make rose-scented soaps or something? I could sell them in the shop,” Jasmine offers, and my smile widens.
“That would be amazing!”
“We could put it in our gift shop at the distillery too. I am sure Tanner won’t mind…” Lacy says, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Oh, I think Tanner would do anything for our Victoria,” Jasmine says.
“What are you implying?” I ask coyly.
“Tanner has been this town's most eligible bachelor for years. I have never known him to even date a woman around here. Then you show up, andbang! You are literally together twenty-four seven,” Jasmine says accusingly, and I giggle.
“So, are you two serious?” Lacy asks, a little more reservedly, and Jasmine takes a large sip of her wine, watching me.
I take a moment to look at them and swallow. “Yeah. We are. He told me he loved me, and I said it too. He is itfor me,” I admit, and Lacy breaks out in a wide smile. Before I can get too deep with my feelings, I jump up.
“I’m going to go take off this face mask,” I say, smiling. “Then we can chat some more and put on a movie.”
“I will get some more wine,” Lacy says, standing to go to the nonexistent kitchen that currently holds a few bottles of red and the pizza boxes from earlier on a foldout table, since Griffin's team have gutted it. The new joinery will be installed tomorrow, and I can’t wait to get this house completed.
“I am going to go outside and see if those good-looking men want a coffee or something,” Jasmine says with a laugh, jumping up too.
“They must be starving. I never see them eat,” I mention as I scrunch my face. This mask Jasmine made me put on to relax me is now very dry and tight on my face.
“Leave them to me!” she hollers, then grabs her coat and walks out the front door, and I run up the stairs, needing to move.
I hit the bathroom and close the door, filling the sink with hot water and grabbing a washcloth. I start to scrub my skin, but it isn’t really working.
“This is stuck on my face!” I yell out to them as I scrub so hard it almost hurts and my skin turns red. I grab some face oil and refill the sink with renewed hot water and massage the oil on my face. Luckily, it already works much better, and I sigh in relief.
