Page 31 of All Because I Found You

“I could listen to him talk all day.”

There was no reason for Ryder to be jealous of Gene and his sexy accent, but a touch of envy tugged at him.

“You’ve mentioned him a bunch of times. I assume he helps you run the farm.”

So he had mentioned Gene to her. “He does.”

“Has he been doing it long?”

“Before I was born. He was my dad’s best friend. He used to help on the weekends, pitch in whenever my dad was in a bind and needed extra hands, but after… after the accident, I had no idea how to run a business, so he quit his job and came on full-time to keep the business going. My parent’s legacy would have been gone if it wasn’t for him.”

“And you didn’t even invite him in for dinner,” she said with a laugh.

“I invite him over for dinner all the time. Trust me, he’s not insulted.”

“Okay good. So can we eat? I’m starving.”

“Dig in.”

Chapter 10

Raelyn started her day at the barn. It was T-minus ten days until the wedding, and she had so much to do. She had called all the venues that had already been booked, explained the situation, and they helped her best they could to revamp the entire wedding. She took a sip of coffee—her second cup for the day, and it wasn’t even nine am—then held up different pictures she had sketched, trying to decide on placement for the seating chart, the donut station, the dance floor, the bar, and the tables.

The guest list was modest at a hundred attendees. Still, Raelyn was starting to wonder if the barn was big enough for all her plans as well as the people. Panic ran through her veins, attempting to consume her and send her spiraling into a complete freak out, but she couldn’t let that happen. Not when there was only ten days left to figure this mess out.

After this wedding, she was taking a much needed few days off. The beach had been calling her name for weeks and she hadn’t found a moment to get there yet. The closest she got to a beach trip was hanging out on Ryder’s property in her beach chair.

She loved her work, but she also missed the days when she was younger, no cares in the world when she could go to the beach any damn time she wanted. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Something that didn’t seem like a lifetime ago, though, was her crush on Ryder. He was a totally different person than who he was in high school, but there was still this undeniable attraction she felt toward him. Except now he knew her name, and she even swore that if Gene didn’t knock on the door yesterday, he might even have kissed her. Her lips tingled at the thought.

She imagined Gene wasn’t used to Ryder having company, especially the female kind. For some odd reason, that made her feel extra giddy.

Not having the time to be distracted, she pushed Ryder from her thoughts and got back to holding up her sketches and making new ones. It was a system that worked for her. She was a visual person and needed to see everything laid out in front of her. Drawing the barn and labeling the areas, helped bring the overall picture together.

Her cell rang, and she balanced the sketchpad in one hand and answered with the other. “Hey Cind, what’s going on?”

“Just confirming we’re still on for tonight for the fundraiser.”

“You bet. You still want to meet there?”

“Definitely. I don’t know what time Zane will be getting in from work. Depends what train he makes, so better safe than sorry that you go ahead of me. Besides, I know you’ll want to make your rounds and lend a hand.”

Raelyn loved fundraisers and anything that had to do with them, but she was living, eating, breathing this wedding. “I have a ton of stuff to get done first, so we’ll see.”

“You okay? You sound a bit… off.”

There wasn’t much Raelyn could get past Cindy. She knew her too long and too well. “I’m just trying to stay calm. You know me. I have everything planned out to a T and with the hurricane and losing this venue and having to basically start over with not enough time…” Then there was Ryder and her growing desire to find little excuses to go see him. One of which she had safely tucked in her planner

“It’s been a lot,” Cindy said.

“Yeah.”

“You’ve always been a stickler for making plans and sticking to them, but you’ve also always been really good at pivoting when life throws you a curveball. It can be stressful, and you’ll feel like you can’t do it, but Rae, if anyone can pull this off, it’s you. Don’t doubt yourself now.”

“Thanks, Cind. I needed that pep talk.”

“I’ll send you my bill.”

---