Page 84 of Long Hard Road

“Too fucking long,” I muttered before forcing a smile. “Have fun. I’ll see you soon.”

I wasn’t just saying that for her benefit. I was reminding myself that she wasn’t leaving me again. At least not for good.

“I love you,” she whispered again before slipping away.

“Damn,” Chase said as we watched Madison and Harper laugh about something before piling into Ronan’s truck. “She just ripped your heart right out of your chest and pranced away like it was no big deal.”

“She stole my heart a long time ago, man. But at least now I know she’ll keep it safe.” I punched his arm when he rolled his eyes. “You’ll understand someday. You can’t avoid falling in love forever.”

He grumbled something and walked away. It was a typical Chase reaction except that his grumble wasn’t as dismissive as usual and I swore that I heard him say, “Trust me, I know.”

A confession like that normally would’ve given me a reason to ask some questions, but I didn’t have time for that right now. I was hosting a spontaneous Sullivan gathering in my new house which meant several hours of chaos and a potential for mayhem.

Evan was shouting something about an accident with my liquor stash and Lily was on the porch asking where I kept my paper towels. With a sigh, I headed inside.

29

MADISON

“It’s perfect.” I smiled and did a slow spin. “It actually looks just like the pictures.”

“You can put an office back there and have the workshop right there.” Harper pointed to the far wall. “Those huge windows at the front will be perfect for showcasing individual pieces.”

“Do you think Nate will like it?” I asked, nervously twisting my fingers in the hem of my sweater. This whole thing had been an impulse.

Once I’d decided to move back to Crestwood, I had started formulating plans. I wanted Nate to know that I was there to stay. I enlisted Kaylie to help me research the area for the perfect property for one of my plans. It turned out to be the same building where Harper had her bookstore. The whole structure had three storefronts and six apartments on the second and third floors.

One of the storefronts, the one where we currently stood, was unleased. It was this part of the property that had won me over instantly. I’d had Kaylie work with a local realtor to reach out to the owner. The building hadn’t been for sale, but I knew the owner would change their mind when I made an offer nearly double the market price.

“He’s going to love it,” Ronan said, eyeing the large room. “It’s about damn time Nate had the space to work properly. That barn he uses on the ranch is cold and damp most of the time. Not ideal for woodworking.”

“It’s perfect,” Harper agreed, squeezing an arm around my shoulders. “When are you going to show him?”

“Tomorrow. I wanted to see it for myself first.” I smiled as I pictured Nate’s beautiful furniture around the room. “Now I just have to convince him that this is a good idea.”

“A showroom for his furniture? With a huge workspace connected to it?” Ronan laughed. “If he doesn’t see how smart this idea is, he doesn’t deserve you.”

“He needs this,” Harper agreed. “He can’t just help out on the ranch forever. He has too much talent for that.”

Ronan edged toward the door. “I’m going to grab the beer and pizza. I’ll meet you girls at the truck in about ten minutes.”

“When are you starting on the renovations?” Harper was scanning the room as if she was plotting wall colors and flooring.

“Not for a couple of weeks. I want Nate to make those decisions since this space is going to be his.” I nudged her arm. “But if you want to make changes in the apartment or your store, we can talk about that anytime.”

“I think I’m going to like having you as my landlord.” She immediately launched into a list of potential improvements while trailing behind me as I did a full lap of the space.

We were at the back of the space when the front door opened. “It hasn’t been ten minutes,” Harper said. When I heard her gasp, I whirled.

“Hi, Madi.”

“Drake? What are you doing here?” I was stunned by seeing my manager standing in a building in Crestwood. “Did something happen to Kaylie?”

“You left me again.” His shoulders twitched as he took a step forward. “You were supposed to stay in Los Angeles.”

“I told Kaylie that I was coming back to Crestwood. Didn’t she tell you?” I was beyond confused. Drake was my business manager and he worked with Kaylie to coordinate my schedule. There wasn’t a lot of reason for us to interact directly and certainly no reason for him to track me down in Crestwood.

“He’s not good enough for you,” Drake snarled. “Why can’t you see that?”

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