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“You kicked her out of her own house while you were building it.”
Chase laughs and glances down at his boots. “Son of a bitch, I hadn’t thought of that. Yeah, she’s turned the tables on me. She’s got her girls down there helping. Should be open next week, finally. She wasn’t happy that she had to spend the entire wedding season working out of the nursery when she was supposed to be in her shop months ago.”
“Why the holdup?”
“They ran into issues, of course. I warned her that construction is almost never on time, but I was sorry to see that I was right. She did do a good job of keeping the crew in line.”
“Good for her.” I nod, and then we turn when we hear a truck coming up the driveway. “There they are.”
Jake parks next to me, and he and Russ hop out and fetch their poles out of the back.
“Hey, Uncle Chase,” Jake says with a nod. “Thanks for letting us fish.”
“You never have to ask,” Chase reminds him. “Just come on out whenever. Hey, Russ.”
“Hi, Mr. Wild,” Russ says and then turns to me. “Hey.”
“Hello. Jake, I’d like a word.”
“Fish aren’t going to catch themselves,” Jake begins, but before he can breeze past me, I catch his elbow and pull him with me over to the wraparound porch that looks out over the lake.
“Have a seat.” I gesture to one of the outdoor chairs, and Jake lowers into it. “Jake, I’m sorry.”
That has his head coming up in surprise. “What?”
“I’m sorry,” I repeat. “Why did you think I wanted to talk to you?”
“I figured you were going to make me apologize for being rude.”
“You weren’t rude.” I frown down at the deck. “You weren’t super happy, but you weren’t rude. I’m the one who owes you an apology. I didn’t mention to you that Polly slept at our place last night, and then you walked into the two of us having breakfast at our spot.”
Jake’s throat works as he swallows hard, obviously fighting to keep his emotions in check.
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine, buddy. You and I agreed that we’d test that table out together.”
“It’s just a table.”
“Jake.”
His lip wobbles at that single word, and I feel like a complete asshole.
“I don’t know why I’m even acting this way,” he says and brushes angrily at a tear on his cheek. “It’s just a stupid table.”
“I missed you, too,” I say softly. “And right before you came in, I told Polly that I was excited for you to join us. I’m sorry that you were taken off guard. I didn’t mean to do that to you.”
“I know.” He blows out a breath and wipes his eyes again. “I guess it surprised me, that’s all. I figured we’d have our first breakfast at the table today, but instead, Polly got to do that, and maybe I’m just being pushed out of the way.”
I gape at him. “What? Pushed out of what way?”
“I’m probably a pain in the ass,” he continues. “I mean, sure, it was fine when it was just the two of us and everything, but now you’ll want to be with her. I get it. She’s nice. I’ll be eighteen soon, and then I’ll be out of your way, so?—”
“Stop. Fucking. Talking.”
I’m so damn frustrated that I have to stand and pace the goddamn porch.
“I don’t even know where this is coming from. You were all for the trip to Paris. Everything seemed fine until you came to my office this morning.”
