Page 42 of Love for a Lifetime

He couldn’t make any major moves until after the wedding. He’d made a promise to take Anna, and he’d follow through with it, but he needed a plan to show Olivia how he felt.

10

DAWSON

Dawson leaned back in Beau’s office chair and watched through the large window as Asa and Jacob sanded the paint off the Porsche 911. Jacob was running the sander, and his dad pointed to spots he missed every once in a while.

It was incredibly boring–much like the rest of the longest week of his life.

Adjusting his now-healed leg on the desk, Dawson looked over his shoulder at Beau who was clicking away at a desktop computer on the other side of the small room. “Is David coming for the painting?”

“He’ll be here next week,” Beau said without taking his attention from the spreadsheet on the screen.

“Jacob is gonna love that.”

Lyric’s dad loved restoring classic cars as much as Jacob, and the two had bonded over the Porsche Dawson had picked up a few months ago.

Typically, half the fun was in the fix-up, but sitting on the sidelines wasn’t so bad when he got to see Jacob enjoying it so much.

It wasn’t much fun being commanded to sit and do nothing per the doctor’s orders. Dawson let out a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Will you stop being so loud?” Beau grumbled. “I’m trying to focus, and numbers are hard without distractions.”

“I’m so bored. I can’t sit anymore.”

“When do you get to go back to work?” Beau asked.

“I’ve been doing light duty all week, but paperwork gets stale in a hurry.”

Beau turned around, finally giving up on the spreadsheet. “What about the goats?”

“I think they’re actually tired of me. I stayed at the barn all afternoon yesterday. I filmed twenty Instagram reels.”

“I can’t believe people actually watch your goat videos,” Beau said as he stood and checked on the sanding going on in the garage.

“Oh, people love them. Those little guys are hilarious.”

Beau kept his attention focused out the window. “Sometimes, I think I should give up the garage and just make stupid videos for the internet.”

Dawson let out a big laugh. “You would suck at social media. There’s a reason I manage your Blackwater Auto platforms.”

Beau widened his stance. “I need some help.”

Dawson threw his hands in the air. “Hello. You have a helper who is willing to do anything to get out of this chair. Put me in, coach. I’m ready to play.”

“I need a full-time employee. I have to quit working seventy-hour weeks and paying the other guys so much overtime.”

Dawson pointed out the window into the garage. “That’s your man, right there.”

Beau scoffed. “I’d hire Jacob in a heartbeat if it was legal. He still has at least four years.”

“Had any prospects?” Dawson asked.

Beau was a hard worker, but that strength turned into a weakness when he worked himself into the ground on a regular basis.

“Not really. It’s hard to find people who want to work these days.”

Dawson jerked his thumb toward the garage where Jacob was sweating through his T-shirt. “I still think that guy is your best bet.”

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