Page 11 of In the Works

Vic crossed the room, reaching me in a matter of seconds. She squared her shoulders with mine. Lowering her head,Victoria let her hands rest on my soft biceps. “And this is why I need your help. Convince her to make me a custom dining table, and I’ll make it worth both of your time.”

I opened my mouth to fight her. “Victoria…”

She raised her finger, letting it gently rest against my lips. “I beg you not to give me bad news.”

The moment her finger met my lips, a jolt of electricity pulsed through my body.

Before I could reply, she smiled at me. “I hired you because you know people around here, and you’re damn good at your job. Do me a favor, just ask her if she’ll do it, and show her this.” She pulled a folded envelope from her trouser pocket and passed it to me.

I opened it and gawked at the number written in the contract. “Fuck.”

“It’s a hard offer to refuse.” Vic smirked.

“No kidding.”

Victoria took in a deep breath. “Hopefully, it’s proof to both of you that I’m willing to pay for the things I really want. No price is too high. Whatever she asks, I’ll answer it.”

I couldn’t stop my eyebrow from raising. Surely it was an exaggeration. But with a figure like that on the table… maybe it wasn’t.

7

SARAH

After I putaway the envelope, Victoria gave me a copy of the house's blueprints and a lookbook of design inspiration. I flipped through the lookbook as I waited in the parking lot of Cricket’s. The bar was quiet, but the Friday crowd was just starting to arrive.

The pages of the book were thick, printed at a professional shop with true color match. Victoria’s vision had been honed by years of immense wealth: nothing was out of her reach.

Except, maybe, Brianne Shaw.

I knew – probably better than anyone – that Bri could have made it big in the sculpting world. But she was determined to leave it all behind. And who was I to stop her?

Before I could get too lost in thought, Robin’s truck rolled up next to my minivan. She waved at me through the car window as she turned off the ignition and hopped out of the truck.

Getting out of my own car, I greeted Robin with a hug. “Zo didn’t want to come?”

Shaking her head, Robin laughed. “No, the last thing the pregnant lady wants is to be full of pee, unable to drink, and surrounded by drunk assholes.”

“I can’t argue with that.” I laughed, picturing my sister’s annoyed face.

We tossed open the thin door to Cricket’s, letting a flood of country music pour onto the street. Despite all of New Winford’s recent changes, Cricket’s was still the only bar in town.

Robin waltzed up to the bar and waved down Kyle as we took our usual seats by the door. It kept us cool as the night wore on and meant an easy escape if either of us had met our threshold.

Kyle made his way over, wiping the bar down as he approached. “Good to see y’all. What can I do you for?” Chewing on a piece of gum, he eyed us while we considered our options.

I tried not to laugh at his douchey affect, knowing that he was a sweet guy at his core. “Just a pint of whatever you have on tap will do.”

“Same here.” Robin nodded.

I slid my card to Kyle for him to open a tab. Grabbing the card, he made his way back to the taps and started getting our drinks.

Robin leaned back in the stool, looking at me through the mirror behind the bar. “So, what’d you think of the house?”

I sighed. “Just as pretty as I’d imagined.”

“It’s a real charmer.” Robin shook her head. “Just wish I’d gotten my hands on it first.”

“Like you don’t have enough going on.” I laughed at her. She and Zoey were always looking for a new project, but parenthood was going to hit them like a freight train. A wonderful, rewarding freight train, but a freight train nonetheless.

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