He nods. “Yeah, but I’m throwing the old one out and starting new. Reed is in my pocket now, and if he’s going to approve whatever I put in front of him, we’re doing it our way.”
“Our way?”
He only grins. “You’ll see.”
He gently pushes me away, directing us back to the house, and slaps my ass as we walk. “Now go call the guy to come fix your water wheel.”
I walk backward a few paces. “Yes, sir.”
“Evie,” he groans.
I give him my best grin over my shoulder.
When Luke isable to schedule me within a few days, an immense sense of relief falls over me. The water wheel is going to be fixed by someone who cares. Someone who will respect the history of it and do his best to preserve it.
He shows up with a grin on his face, greeting both of us easily before turning his attention to his work.
And I swear, his pupils dilate as he takes in the damage. He runs his hands along the wood and extracts the broken pieces, then tests the movement of the wheel in the water. He checks the broken pieces of wood against the materials he brought along in his truck and lets us know it’ll likely be a few hours before it’s up and running again.
And when we finally get the call that he’s all done and we should make our way back to the barn to take a look, Ryder is tugging his shoes on before we even hang up. He holds my jacket out as I slip my arms inside and nearly bowls me over as we leave the bungalow.
When we get to the barn, Luke is grinning like he just won the lottery. He gestures to the fully functioning water wheel that miraculously no longer creaks or clicks as it moves.
“Restored perfectly,” he says. “I swear, sometimes these old guys have minds of their own. They break down every once in a while, but it seems like theywantto be back in working order.”
“It actually looks like it’s spinning smoother,” I say, grinning up at Ryder.
“Great work, man,” he says, reaching out to shake Luke’s hand.
“Thanks for calling me. I was really excited about this one. I ended up doing a lot of research on water wheels—I’ve done a couple old windmills, some old horse carts. But never something submerged in water like this. Did you know this town used to essentially run on water mills? They have a lot of hydroelectric dams that have taken over as a main power source, but there was a point in time where water wheels just like this were the norm here. Really incredible history, and from what I can tell this was probably one of the originals. Just beautiful work,” he says, running his fingers gently along the wood as it spins quietly in the running water.
I can’t help my grin. “I’m so happy you were able to work on this. It’s such a relief to have someone who appreciates the history of it. The other guy who was going to… well, I would have been worried the whole time that it would end up inworseshape.”
Behind us, there are footsteps on the stairs—presumably Sana and Rohan coming to check out the voices.
His gaze follows the water wheel as it turns. “I always find restoration work like this to be a little bit like time travel. I don’t know when your grandfather put this all together, but today I got to take a few steps in his shoes. Use the same wood, treated in the same way. Put together the puzzle of how this thing works, albeit for a different end goal.” He shakes his head, wiping his hands on a rag tucked in his pocket. “A truly immersive, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
I can’t help my laugh. “Can I have you write my marketing materials?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t mind me. Most of the work I do is with antiques, and while I really appreciate the historythere, too, it’s something totally different to take on something like this.”
Sana and Rohan appear from the other side of the barn, waving as they approach.
“Well, thank you for taking on the project with such reverence,” Ryder says. “Evie gets violent when you disrespect the water wheel.”
“Oh!” I nudge him with my elbow. “I only pushed you in the stream once.”
“Twice,” he says. “And the third time at least involved some manipulation on your part.”
I glare at him.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
I turn back to Luke as Ryder focuses on Sana, the two of them having some silent conversation that involves a lot of head nodding and raised eyebrows.
“Hey, are you alright here?” Ryder asks me, his voice low in my ear.
“Yes, you’re interrupting my documentary anyway,” I tell him, patting him on the arm.
