“Yeah, for a minute. Then he ogled the waitress.”
She let out a sigh. “I hate that he’s like this now. Just ignore him. Because if he tries to pull something on you, I swear I will kill him myself.”
“Thanks, Rambo. I’ll be fine. Jake’s here, too.”
“Aww, Jake. Why don’t you date him?”
“Too many little-brother vibes there to suit me. Any cravings?” I didn’t know much about babies or pregnancy, but the cravings thing fascinated me.
“So far, I’ve lived off of Taco Bell. The thought of eating beef makes me dry heave, but put it in a tortilla and hand it to me through a window, and I’m drooling just thinking about it.”
“Sounds amazing. The only thing edible in this entire town is fries. Is Cade there now, or is he studying somewhere?”
“He’s currently heading to the store to feed my cravings.”
“This early? Wait, you were awake when I called?”
“It was the nausea, okay? I was about ready to roll over and go back to sleep.”
“Such a whiner. What’s Cade getting you from the store?”
She hesitated. “I’ll have no smug health judgments from you. The heart wants what it wants. And Cade’s heart desperately wants my stomach full without me puking.”
“Ice cream and pickles?”
“Too cliche. Cheetos and hot fudge.”
“Together?”
There was a long pause before Kelsey breathed, “Good heavens, I never thought about them together. That sounds amazing. Mostly, though, I just want a ginormous jar of hot fudge that I can shove down my throat.”
“Atta girl.”
My heart was pacified enough that Kelsey’s intentions were honorable that I hung up to let her try and sleep a bit more.
5
Logan
Monday morning was my crew’s first official day of work on the site. Chase had been down to Eugene a month earlier and had hired a local crew to clear and level the ground as well as do the footing and concrete work. The skeleton crew he sent to Eugene for the summer was not random, though it worked out that none of us had families. We were all hands-on at every stage and each of us had our specialties. Briggs was the framing expert. Javier and Carl oversaw the Sheetrock and texturing. Trevor and Ronnie handled electric and HVAC. Frank Robbins (though retired) was coming in to do the plumbing for us as a favor to Nate. And I was the trim and cabinet guy.
Today, we were framing—one of my favorite parts of the whole process. I loved seeing the design of a plan start to take shape. The office was about 2,000 square feet with a reception and waiting area, a hallway with a large gym on one side, and three patient rooms on the other. The end of the hallway was a staff lounge and meeting room as well as a storage room.
“Hey, boss, someone's here to see you,” Briggs said.
I wasn’t sure why the first person that came to my head at this news was Tessa Robbins. I was a little startled at how quickly my thoughts went to her. It must have been the residual effects of her rejection the other night. She had no reason to be here, but I couldn’t help hoping to see her face as I made my way over in front of the concrete slab to where Travis had pointed.
It wasn’t Tessa’s face that greeted me. But it wasn’t that far off.
A tall, blonde man, who looked as if he’d grown up on a steady diet of protein shakes and pushups, was leaning over, examining the concrete, when I stepped down onto the dirt next to him.
“Nate. How’s it going?” I held out my hand and was relieved when he smiled.
“Good, Marten. You?” He gave my hand a firm shake. So far, so good.
“What do you eat, a whole weight room, for breakfast now?”
His eyes narrowed, evaluating me with a quirk of a smile. “Have you evenseena weight room since high school?”
