He leaned forward a little and grabbed a napkin and a pen to start sketching out his plan. In only a few minutes, he had a rough drawing showing me exactly where the foot traffic could be diverted, a reasonable spot for a parking lot, and spots where signage would actually help instead of being a distraction or making things worse.
It was remarkably simple, which was likely exactly why our overpaid designers and engineers hadn’t thought of it.
I found myself nodding along. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“You sound surprised.” His lip quirked up in a sly smile.
“I’m not,” I said honestly. “I should have known you’d have the perfect solution for this.”
“Paper plans and drawings don’t always translate into real life,” he said. “Especially out here.”
I couldn’t disagree with that. But instead of saying so, I reached for the jug and topped up our glasses. Despite every reason I had not to, I was enjoying my time with Preston.
It had been a long time since I’d gone out for beers and just…relaxed. And even longer since conversation had flowed so easily. The fact that it was with Preston of all people was a surprise. But I wasn’t going to question it.
The more we talked, the easier it got.
We were almost finished with our second glass when I leaned forward. “Thank you for today.”
He sat back in surprise. “The mud?”
“Yes. And no.” I nodded and shook my head at the same time. “For all of it.” I swallowed. “I know you hate?—”
“I don’t hate you, Jess.”
“Oh.” I blinked hard. “I don’t think… Well, I wasn’t going to…I’m glad you don’t hate me,” I fumbled over my words. “But you do hate the development proposal.”
He nodded.
I stared at my glass for a second before the next thought slipped out. “It’s all Trevor’s idea. The development, I mean,” I added quickly. “It’s mostly his vision.”
Preston stilled. It was slight, but enough that I noticed.
“I mean,” I rushed on, “I’m involved, too, of course.”
“You invested in it, right?”
Of course he knew. It was a small town, where everyone knew everything. Besides, it’s not like it was a secret.
“I did,” I admitted. “I had some savings, and my parents helped me cover the difference. It felt like…” I let my thoughts drift off. I didn’t owe him an explanation about why I’d chosen to invest everything I had into Timberstone. And I definitely didn’t need to tell him my parents hadn’t justhelped me cover the difference.It was more than that. A lot more.
I swallowed hard. Putting my savings on the line was one thing, but my parents’ entire retirement fund? Well, that was another thing altogether. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me nervous. But Trevor had convinced me it was a solid risk and would easily double our investment. That kind of money could give my hardworking parents the kind of retirement they deserved.
“You must be pretty confident in the project then.”
I nodded. “I am.” I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt, because the truth was I was starting to have questions. Not that I was going to admit that to Preston. “But I still think it’s important to have due process,” I added quickly. “This committee is a good idea. The urgency to get everythingpushed through…that’s all Trevor. It’s just the kind of guy he is.”
I waited a beat before I continued, almost as if once I’d started talking, I couldn’t seem to stop. “He’s like a freight train that’s picking up steam.” I glanced down at the ring on my left hand before I could stop myself. “Once he gets an idea in his head… Well, I mean, he’s like that with everything.” I blew out a breath and shook off the doubt that continued to creep over me every time I thought about the wedding. I closed my hand and tucked it out of sight under the table.
I waited for Preston to jump in with some smart-ass comment. To say,I knew it.
He didn’t.
Instead, he said, “That sounds heavy.”
It was such an unexpected and simple response that it nearly undid me.
“I haven’t said any of that out loud before,” I admitted. “But itisheavy. And it’s starting to feel like a weight that might crush me if I’m not careful.” So much for not telling him anything. I couldn’t look at him as the words spilled out of me. “It’s just that everything is tied together now. The projects, the wedding…the whole business. Sometimes it feels like if I pull the pin on one thing, all of it will fall apart, and it will be my fault. But I don’t know how I feel anymore.”
