Page 32 of Never Fall Again

“Pleasure to finally meet you.” There was a look of welcome in Connor’s smile, but also something Landry couldn’t quite put her finger on. It wasn’t wariness. More...contemplativeness. Like he knew something about her that she didn’t know herself. She’d almost decided she’d imagined it when she caught Cal giving his brother a look she recognized. It was the one that said “I know what you’re doing, and you’d better stop it.”

Connor clearly wasn’t intimidated by his taller and youngerbrother. “You should know that you’ve been the topic of quite a bit of discussion, Ms. Hutton.”

“Oh?” Landry tried to keep her focus on Connor, but she could feel Cal’s tension from two feet away.

“Abby talks about your Eliza all the time.”

“But...wait.” She pointed to Chad. “Abby’s yours. Right?”

“She is. But we live next door to each other,” Chad said. “Our kids treat both houses as their own. And Abby’s a chatterbox.”

“She gets it honest,” Connor said with a pointed look at Chad.

“I’m not denying it.” Chad grinned, and Landry thought the conversation had settled into safer territory—until he kept going. “Of course, Cal here isn’t exactly quiet as a church mouse. He’s been telling us about your house, and it sounds like the plans for your build are coming along nicely.” Chad’s expression was less speculative than Connor’s had been, but it held a question, as if he were waiting for her to confirm or deny something. What that something was, she didn’t know. Although she assumed it had something to do with Cal.

A quick look told her that Cal was all but grinding his teeth together. His jaw was so tight, it was probably a good thing his cousin was a dentist. Cal definitely didn’t want her to know whatever it was his brothers were hinting at.

Despite her determination not to think about it, she hadn’t forgotten his comment from the other day. The one about her being pretty. Was it possible that Cal had a, well, they were too old for crushes, but maybe Cal liked her? Surely not. He was young. Attractive. Well-educated. Successful. He probably had a girlfriend in Asheville or Greenville. At least, that’s what she’d assumed.

All this flew through her mind in a flash, but before she could respond to Chad, Bronwyn spoke up. “That’s what we’re here to discuss with you.”

The teasing light left Chad’s and Connor’s eyes, and Cal turnedto face Landry, concern darkening his features. “Is something wrong?”

“No! We just, well, we have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal?” Chad’s eyebrows threatened to reach his hairline as he repeated the words.

“Not that kind of proposal, you moron.” Bronwyn swatted Chad’s arm. “I’m here as CEO of The Haven to officially ask you if SPQ Construction would build us a brand-new Favors.”

Landry had never seen three men react in exactly the same way as the Shaw brothers did. It would’ve been funny if it hadn’t been so serious. They straightened, cocked their heads to the side, and studied Bronwyn like she’d just told them she was a werewolf, but they didn’t need to worry because she would never harm them or their families.

They made eye contact with each other and by some unspoken signal, elected Cal to be the spokesperson. “Beep, your family hasn’t hired SPQ since your uncle left the business when we were kids.”

“I’m aware.” Bronwyn’s tone held a touch of frost.

“What’s changed?”

“What’s changed is that I’m the decision-maker for this business now. I’m tired of substandard work or paying out the rear for quality work that has to drive in from out of town. We’re friends. Our parents can carry on being childish if they want. But we have the opportunity to be better.”

“Okay.” Connor stretched out the word but added nothing further.

Bronwyn plunged ahead. “Landry and I had already been working on a design for Favors. We have the plans. We know where it needs to go. An architect has already signed off on everything. We were going to put it out for bid after the first of the year. But now we need it built yesterday. I don’t want to put it out for bid. I want you to build it.”

Connor, Chad, and Cal looked at each other, then back at Bronwyn. “We’d be happy to build it,” Connor said, his voice a low rumble that held an emotion Landry suspected was pride and relief. “But”—he looked at Chad, who gave him a grim shake, and then at Cal, who frowned—“our schedules are packed.”

Cal focused on Landry. “Your house is my next project. It will take us at least four months, maybe longer with weather.” He shrugged. “Can you wait until after the first of the year?”

“We don’t want to,” Bronwyn said.

“I get that, but I don’t see how to fix this.”

“We have that figured out.” Six vivid blue eyes landed on Landry. And then three heads shook, almost in unison. “Hear me out.”

“You’re going to say to build the store before your house.” Chad’s mouth thinned into a grim line.

“Bronwyn”—Connor’s pride had turned to consternation—“you can’t be okay with this.”

“I wasn’t.” Bronwyn raised her hands in a placating gesture. “We’ve argued about it since Thursday. But she’s very determined. And as much as I hate to admit it, she has a valid point.”

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