“Pfft,” Cam waves away my words. “And rob you of the chance to write the second half of your book in a remote destination, like a legitimate moody author? I would never.” She taps the top of my head. “I expect you to have greasy hair as your fingers fly over the keyboard. You’ll be wearing flannel. And a beanie. A fire roaring in the fireplace. Can you build a fire?” She makes a bare-teeth face. “Or would you rather not? You’ve had enough fire to last a lifetime, probably.”
My head tips sideways. “Are you done?”
She sighs heavily and reaches for the door handle. “I suppose.”
Inside, rubber mats have been laid out in the entrance to accommodate for the rain. Cam and I stamp our shoes on the mats. Ruby shakes, and I wince as a spray of droplets coats everything around her.
A young receptionist watches it all from behind a desk, his mouth quirked up in mild amusement.
“Hello,” I say to him, feeling mildly perturbed at being watched while I navigate this unfamiliar territory.
He grins, revealing a row of crooked bottom teeth. “You must be from the valley.”
Humor replaces my irritation. “What gave it away? Our ineptitude with an umbrella?”
His gaze hops between my and Camryn’s feet. “More like the fact it’s raining hard and you both wore sandals.”
Camryn leans into me, laughing. “Busted.”
“Is it ok that she’s here?” I point down at Ruby. “I didn’t want to leave her in my car.” As I say it, I realize I’ve forgotten my purse in the car. Between the downpour and the small town, it’s probably not at risk for being stolen.
The receptionist flicks his wrist. “It’s fine. We love dogs. She has to stay up front, though. No animals in the wood shop.”
I nod. “Got it.” I lead Ruby to a dry rubber mat a few feet away and instruct her to lie down and stay.
Cam approaches his desk, hand extended. “I’m Camryn Burke. This is my sister, Avery.”
“Mason,” he says, pointing at himself. “And I believe you”—he points at Camryn—“have an appointment to see how the arch is coming along.”
Mason takes us back, past his desk and down a short hallway, to a door with a window in the top half. I follow behind my sister, repeating the pep talk I gave myself the whole two-hour drivehere, which was very short and went like this:Be happy for her, you’re ok.
“Through here,” Mason says, stepping aside to usher us through the open door. We step into a cavernous room, and every direction I look holds some kind of treasure. Elaborate chairs, doors, benches, wall décor. Power tools hang from pegboards, along with screwdrivers of all shapes and sizes. In one corner sits a sawhorse with a sander on top, and a chain saw on the ground beneath it. An office is on the opposite wall, and a man walks from it. He looks like a much older version of Mason.
“I’m Joel Humphrey,” he says, introducing himself. Camryn introduces us, and we each shake his offered hand.
Mason heads back the way we came, and Joel takes over. He welcomes us to his shop and tells us a little about his work and his process.
“Now, let’s see what you came here to see,” Joel says, rubbing his hands together. His excitement, though endearing, is nowhere near Camryn’s. Her arms are crossed and she’s rubbing her forearms, a sure sign she’s trying not to come out of her skin.
We approach a tall object covered in a white sheet. Joel grips the fabric and yanks, dramatically revealing the half-finished project beneath.
The scent of cedar swirls around us. The arch, fastened at the joints by rough-looking metal pins, towers above my head. Joel tells us it is eight feet by eight feet, and points out the carvings in the wood.
“When it’s done, both posts will match.” He nods at the bare wood on the other side.
Camryn claps and rises on her toes, bouncing. Her grin takes over her face. She’s looking at me, expectant. “Do you love it?”
I gather up everything I have in me, including all my memories of my own special day, and fit it into a tidy box. “It’sincredible,” I answer. I don’t know why it hurts. I mean, I know why, but I don’t knowwhy. I’m past all that. I’ve moved on. I’ve lived on my own and adopted a dog and even had a whole new relationship.
Though, that ‘whole new relationship’ wasn’t exactly successful. Hudson ended things a month ago, blaming my preoccupation with a ghost as his reason. I can’t say I fault him. Or that he’s wrong.
Still, my reaction irritates me. I want to claw into my chest and capture these infuriating emotions and toss them in a blender. I want to be nothing but happy for Camryn and Dani. I don’t want my happiness for them to be punctuated by any holdovers from yesteryear.
It’s because of Hudson. I’m certain of it. I’m…raw. If we were still together, I probably wouldn’t feel this way. Being single again is like taking a step backward, and I’ve already taken enough of those.
“Would you like to meet the man who’s been working on it?” Joel asks. “Usually I do these custom pieces, but I hired help a few months ago and he’s every bit as good as me.”
“Yes, definitely,” Camryn responds. She smiles at me, and I smile back. I am dying on the inside, but I’ll never show it.
