“Sort of fixed. I mean, yeah, things are better, a lot better, but you know I’m still working on stuff,” I explain. He nods. He knows I started seeing a therapist.
“So, take her to the family farm. I’m sure your family would love to meet her. Make it special. Don’t you have like an old cottage property out there?” Kasen asks.
I do. I talk about the farm with him from time to time. My great-grandparents built this little stone cottage by a pond on the property for my great-great-grandmother. But no one really uses it anymore. My grandparents had fixed it up as a guesthouse, but when they retired, they decided to live in a bigger house on the property. I lived in it for a few months after selling my house before I moved to the apartment.
It’s a small cabin with a single bedroom, small bathroom, and one big living space. Although it does have a large porch along the back that overlooks the pond and some rolling hills. I walked out there with my mom the other day after our talk. We sat in the rocking chairs and talked for hours.
“What if…you made it like a little weekend getaway spot for the two of you. You could build one of those bookshelves with the rolling ladder thing and add a desk. That way, no matter what she ends up doing, she’ll have a spot to write if she needs it,” Kasen says.
“How am I going to do that? I have like forty-eight hours,” I say with a groan.
“Uh, damn, you're thick as fuck. Hello? You have three friends right here,” Gray says.
“Four,” Fletcher says as he walks into the room from where he was mixing dip for the chips.
“Three and a half. I can be there after my shift,” Bray says from the doorway.
“Fuck it. OK. Let’s do it,” I state, because now I feel under a time crunch. I sure as hell hope Jocelyn likes this, and I hope I can talk her into staying with me. I need her, and I feel like she needs me, too.
Jocelyn
I slump into a chair. We’ve been poring over books for hours. “This is impossible,” I state. Roxy and Drew exchange a look. They’ve been weird all day, but I’m too tired to figure out why. Maybe I’m overthinking things.
“OK. Let’s start from the beginning,” Roxy says as she sits down. We’re at the little book club nook in the back of the store with books sprawled out on a table. Drew sets his book down, too. It’s been just the three of us for two hours.
“What does he like?” Drew asks.
I glare at him. “Drew, you’ve known him longer than I have.”
“Right. OK, football, video games, the gym, cozy mysteries, and billionaire romance,” he rattles off.
“What about fixing up the bench?” Roxy suggests.
“It’s park property,” I point out. “I’d probably have to get a permit or something.”
“Where else does he like to go?” Roxy asks.
I frown as I remember a conversation we had a while back. His cottage by the pond. Has he gone there recently? Could I fix it up for him? Maybe I could build him a custom gaming station or something. Or a little gym?
“Well, I have no idea how to get there, but he has this cottage at his parents’ property,” I start. There’s another look between Roxy and Drew.
“What?” I finally bellow. They both look at me wide-eyed.
“Nothing, just…yeah, he’s talked about that before,” Drew says.
“Oh,” I reply, feeling silly for thinking they are conspiring behind my back. What would they even be conspiring about anyhow?
“I’ve been there once. I made Hutch take me to a farmer’s market because I wanted to get fresh corn,” Drew says. “The cabin’s cute. He showed it to me.”
“Yeah, but I think they are renovating it or something,” Roxy interjects.
Drew pauses and then smiles. “What if we buy him a he shed?”
Roxy and I both stare at him. “A what?” we say in unison.
He sighs. “It’s like a she shed but for dudes.”
“What’d he want that for?” I ask.
