Page 22 of Finding Chloe

“Race ya,” one of the guys yelled.

Laughter drifted through the air as Matt, Ryder, Jason, and I raced to King’s Ranch. Already my body felt lighter. I’d barelywanted to acknowledge how stressed it was making me as each day passed without a location. Yes, I wanted a good grade attached to this event, but I really wanted Alex to have the wedding of her dreams.

“So, what do you think?”

I held my breath as I waited for Thomas, Declan, and Alex’s thoughts. As soon as I’d made it to the ranch, I beelined for Thomas’s office. He made a few calls, cut his last meeting short, and two hours later, we were through the gates of Blake’s property.

Blake immediately said yes when I told her about my idea. She never even gave me the chance to ask the entire question. Her excitement bubbled over and gave me hope that this could work.

We were all standing in the tall grass with the sun hanging low in the sky, painting the perfect backdrop for my vision. There was no way they couldn’t see how special this spot was.

“How much of the space do you think we need?” Declan asked, scanning the field with a calculating gaze.

“I’m not sure, but most of what you see now. I was thinking of putting a few other tents farther away so we have changing rooms. The large tent will have the dance floor, and we can extend it out further with a bar.” I waved my hands around, pointing to each area. It wasn’t the easiest to describe when we were only staring at an overgrown field, but I needed to get them to see it too. I knew it was perfect.

While I’d waited for Thomas to finish his work, I’d grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and did a rough sketch of what I was thinking. Later, I’d flesh it out and have a professional visionboard for them. That was always my favorite part—creating the vision and going through it with the client. Seeing it all laid out made my chest buzz in excitement, and once the ideas started, I couldn’t turn them off until it was everything we wanted it to be.

Declan frowned.

Crap. Did they not see the potential? Maybe I shouldn’t have shown them such a crude drawing. I bit my lower lip, worry sitting like lead in my gut. “I’ll draw it up when we get back. Seeing it completely laid out on paper might help.”

“I’d see it better if the land was cleared.” Declan turned to Thomas. “Let’s have the guys bring the mower over and set a few of them to clear the space. If it doesn’t work out, no harm, no foul. Everything will grow back.”

“All right. see if any of your guys want to help. I’ll have Matt put it on the schedule.” Thomas turned to me. “When can you have the sketches?”

“I can do them when we get back. Give me a couple hours.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be waiting for you in my office.” Thomas grabbed Alex’s hand and tucked her under his arm as he approached the trucks. We’d opted to take the ranch vehicles over the horses. It made more sense on this terrain.

The blood pounded in my ears, and my chest fluttered with hope. If they liked my idea, then I had one of my most challenging tasks accomplished in less than a week. It wouldn’t always be like this, but it felt good to have something go easy.

Twenty minutes later, I found myself sitting in front of my computer, downloading the layout of the land on the country clerk’s website. I’d turned the dining room table into my workstation, since Jessie didn’t have an office in her house. My sketch was going to be a really rough estimate, since I couldn’t get a proper view of the property. I didn’t think they would mind, but I wanted to give this drawing a more professional feel. Researching the land had proven harder than I had thought.

“Are you almost done?” Hunter’s voice drifted over me. I sighed. His hands settled on my shoulders, and he squeezed. “You’re tense. Did it not go well?”

“It went fine. I’m just having trouble sketching it. I’m probably being too hard on myself, but I need to make sure this is good enough when I present it. How’d you find me?” Even as focused as I was in my project, it still registered how easy this conversation with Hunter was going. It was like no time had passed and we’d never spent the last few months apart.

“Jessie told me where you were. Are you still free for dinner?” he asked.

I glanced at my watch. “I need another thirty minutes.” When we got to the ranch, everyone broke for dinner and agreed to meet at the big house after to go over the layout.

“You done?”he asked when I put my pencil down.

I rubbed the back of my neck and winced. “I did the best I could.”

He rose from the seat he’d hung out in for the past thirty minutes. I loved how he didn’t rush me or make me feel like I was inconveniencing him for not being ready to go when he showed up. My brain felt like mush, and I needed something to think about even for a few minutes.

I knew just what to talk about.

I swung my hand out and smacked him on the chest. “When were you going to tell me about Kyle?”

“Soon?” Hunter laughed, rubbing his chest. “I was going to tell you tonight, but it seems you already know.”

“It’s kind of hard not to be filled in on the gossip, but you had no idea I knew. Were you just going to throw me in the deep end and see what I’d say? A heads-up would have been nice.”

Guilt sparked in his gray eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.” His mouth opened and closed, as though he was trying to find the right words. “That weekend meant everything to me, and I didn’t want to scare you off. I wanted to ease you into meeting Kyle and see how that went.”

He wasn’t wrong. The whole situation was new to me, and I had no idea what to do about it. “Even though I sort of understand, I’m still mad at you.” I pointed my finger at him and huffed out a breath. I wasn’t truly angry, but he needed to know he couldn’t keep secrets.

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