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As I held her gaze, the air around us came to life, shimmering with electricity. It wasn’t simply a physical draw to her. There was something emotional threading through it.
I cleared my throat. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s my pleasure. I actually kind of like babies. They’re cute and uncomplicated.”
Tish burst out laughing. By the time she stopped, there were tears in her eyes.
“I wasn’t trying to be funny,” I pointed out.
She shrugged. “Maybe not, but I get your point. Babies are uncomplicated in some ways. I was laughing because the last year or so has been the most complicated time of my life. I feel like I kind of finally settled into something resembling sanity within the last month or so. Even though I’m glad to be back at work, I feel a little guilty.”
The sound of her stomach growling interrupted us. I smiled at her. “Sit down and eat.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Griffin
“Oh, my God,” Tish moaned in between bites. “This is so good.”
I finished chewing before taking a swallow of water. “It is.”
Upon Maisie’s advice, I had gone with the variety option. In this case, that turned out to be collard greens with ham, which were freaking amazing, the cheesiest mashed potatoes I’d ever had in my life, crispy fried chicken, and fried okra.
“I hope they do this one more often,” she said after she finished another bite of the cheesy potatoes.
“I would eat this every night,” I said, meaning it.
Tish smiled over at me. She had filled me in on what happened at work. One of the construction workers had fallen and broken his arm. She had wanted to make sure all the loose ends were tied up before they left the hospital.
“I’m so grateful I could get a hold of you. Graham’s daughter Allie, who’s in college, helps out whenever she can, but she was out of town.”
“Oh, that reminds me. Madison and Graham stopped by with Allie on the way from picking her up at the airport. I think they thought I was breaking and entering. Apparently, that’s how Graham and Madison met,” I said with a chuckle.
“Oh, I’ve heard that story. Nice of them to stop by. Allie is awesome. They’ve been so helpful since I moved here. Thanks to Rhys giving me a few contacts when I moved here, I already have a really good support network.”
“You can thank yourself. Rhys always said you were his best assistant. He wanted to support you taking this position.”
“Either way, I appreciate his help. I think Rhys’s new assistant is going to be great. He might be more efficient than me.”
“Rhys is pretty happy so far. Haven assures me it’s going well.”
I eyed her for a few beats. “Are you glad you moved to Willow Brook?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tish
I set my fork down and took a swallow of water. “I am. It’s been a big change, but then coming to Alaska was a big change. When the expansion position opened up, I wanted a chance to have more responsibility.”
Unspoken was the fact I’d been pregnant when I moved. That truly wasn’t the reason I left, but I found myself explaining anyway. Maybe I needed to say it aloud for myself, as much as to explain it to Griffin.
“Do you judge me? I shouldn’t have kissed you that night. It makes it seem like I was dating two people. I hadn’t seen or heard from him for almost two months at that point.”
Griffin shook his head. “Stop worrying about that. We kissed once, and you made it clear that you were worried about the complications of working for my brother. I suppose I should ask how you feel about that now.”
“Conflicted,” I answered honestly. “Rhys isn’t my direct boss here, but it’s still your family’s corporation.”
“I don’t work there though.”
“But you will at some point. Isn’t the plan for you to take over at the brewery?” I asked.
