He grunts in response, turning around and walking away. Why does that hurt so much?
I don’t care about some mechanic that happens to work at the garage I bought. I’m here for Lucy, Roman, and I hope Sawyer, too. I’m here to bring us back together—not to soothe an employee’s ego.
For the next three days, Benji and I avoid each other.
On my fifth day in Woodvale, I walk down Main Street and spot a familiar redhead arranging flowers outside a shop. Nadia’s wearing a pastel blue apron, treating her flowers with care that borders on reverence.
I call out her name, and my heart warms when she smiles wide at me.
“Rae! How have you been?”
“Great,” I lie. My days have been tense, torturous affairs. Benji and I mostly just give each other the silent treatment while I try to make sense of the garage’s books. Sawyer still hasn’t resurfaced, and Lucy is in the middle of moving her life and her two-year-old kid across the country.
It’s…not ideal.
Nadia hooks her arm into mine and leads me inside her shop. I take a deep breath when I step inside, letting out a low groan.
“I miss gardening. Smells amazing in here.”
“Remember Willow from the Blue Cat?” Nadia says, smiling.
“The wedding planner?”
She nods. “The one and only. She and her husband have an event space up at the Black Estate. She’s been wanting to redo the gardens. I told her you’d done some landscape design, and she wanted to meet up and talk to you about it.”
My heart squeezes. My eyes prickle.
If Nadia notices, she doesn’t show it.
After dealing with Benji’s hostility and Sawyer’s silence, having someone be simply friendly to me feels like a breath of fresh air. A lump forms in my throat, and I manage to nod.
“That would be incredible.”
“When does your sister arrive, again? I know you told me when we were at the bar, but I was so stressed after that wedding that I could barely even remember my own name.”
“A week from Sunday.” I smile.
“She’s going to love it here,” Nadia says, then asks me to help her move a few heavy potted plants. We spend a few hours in the shop together, laughing and talking and making plans to meet up over the weekend.
For the first time in a long time, I just relax and enjoy myself. It’s nice to have a friend. It’s nice to be around plants. It’s nice to not be worrying about my family falling apart and the weight of the world crushing my narrow shoulders.
The next day, I meet Nadia and her friend Willow for coffee. I know Nadia is introducing me to Willow as a potential client for landscape design, but it feels much more friendly than that. We sit in a café next door to a small storefront that has the words Woodvale Skydive emblazoned above it.
I nod to the sign. “Is that popular around here?”
Willow laughs, flicking her long, blond hair over her shoulder. “Oh, yeah. I have to stop Sacha from jumping out of a plane every single weekend. Doesn’t help that Finn and Kit are so charismatic they could be cult leaders. Ever since Esme—Kit’s sister—came to town last year, the whole business exploded.” She takes a sip of her caramel latte, putting it down and reaching for the bowl of sugar across the table. I arch my brows when I see her putting three heaping spoonfuls into her already sweet drink, but say nothing. My black coffee somehow tastes even more bitter when I take a sip.
“Have you ever done it?” I ask, staring at the sign.
Willow shakes her head. “No way. I have enough thrills organizing people’s weddings.”
“Tell me about it,” Nadia groans. “I want to erase the last one from my memory. Having a midweek wedding was hard enough—but having to fly flowers in from South America, too? Nightmare.”
I smile, settling into the plastic chair and enjoying the sun’s rays on my skin. I’ve only been in Woodvale for a little less than a week, but my heart is starting to open up. Whether it’s the pleasant shops, the friendly people I’ve met, or just the faint feeling that things might work out, I feel dangerously hopeful.
Hopeful enough to be disappointed if things go south.
The girls ask me a thousand and one questions, and Willow and I make plans to visit the Black Estate. I tell her I can draw up plans for the gardens. I haven’t designed a garden since doing my parents’ grounds, and the thought of having another project makes excitement bloom inside me.
Then, the thrill dies. The skydiving center’s door opens and Benji walks out.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him in anything other than mechanic’s overalls, and my goodness, he’s breathtaking. The sun glints off his hair as he slides sunglasses over his fine, long nose, his jaw tensing as he sweeps his eyes over the street…
….and straight to me.
His features harden. Even though I can’t see his eyes, I know they’ve turned to stone. Nadia waves beside me, calling him over, and I want the earth to open up and swallow me whole.
I just wanted one day away from the garage. One day away from his gaze. From his hostility. His hatred.
But he’s here, ambling toward us with an arch in his brow.
“Benji!” Nadia exclaims. “Are you going to the airfield?”
He grunts, nodding. “Got to take a couple of people up.” His eyes swing to me. “Glad to see you’re making yourself at home, Montgomery.” He nods. “Ladies.”
“Benji, are you free to talk over some of the arrangements for your sister’s surprise party?” Willow smiles at him. “I want to make sure we have everything figured out well ahead of time.”
Benji tears his eyes away from me and turns to Willow. “Sure. I can swing by your office on Monday.”
“Sounds good.” She smiles.
Benji throws me one last venomous glance, then stalks away.
When he gets in his car and drives away, Willow lets
