Page 61 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

Her car was still in the driveway when he left around eight. Some light beamed from her apartment window through the gray day.

Hope filled him. She hadn’t left. He wanted to rush over there and see if she’d been able to figure out what she needed and wanted.

But it had been less than ten hours since she’d asked him to leave. He had to respect her need for space. He prayed for her and drove to one of his almost-completed custom homes on the south side of Kalispell, strapping on a belt and helping the guys with some finish work. His heart was heavy and his work slower and not as precise as usual.

His mind spun with all things Sloan.

He realized he’d have to talk to the homeowners building on White Pine River and help them find another property. It was too much to deal with today.

“You all right, boss?” Frankie asked.

“Head’s a mess,” he admitted.

“Why don’t you take a break and get outside? There’s a break in the rain.”

Rhett smiled at the kid telling his boss what to do, but he only nodded. He stood and stretched, undid his tool belt and set it down, and walked out onto the wide front porch. The sun was breaking through and a rainbow shone in the east clouds. The big Montana sky was beautiful with dark gray, light gray, pink, and peach contrasts.

He leaned on the porch railing.

What was he going to do if Sloan left and never came back? He couldn’t force her to be with him but she was the ray of light through the clouds for him.

Closing his eyes, he prayed for patience, for strength, and for Sloan. He always thought he could just work harder and be successful, but there was no work he could do to fix this one.

A black truck pulled up. A Chevy. Josh. What was his friend doing here?

Josh jumped down and waved, a wide grin splitting his face. He rushed around, opening his passenger side door. Rhett couldn’t see Sandy through the darkened windows and the lifted truck. It was kind of his friends to come try to support him. Did they know the extent of what had happened last night?

Josh strode around with an exquisite dark-haired lady on his arm. She wore a flannel jacket, a blue patterned fitted knee-length skirt, and sky-high heels.

Rhett straightened away from the railing as the sun backlit her. He couldn’t see her eyes or read what she was feeling. “Sloan?”

“The locksmith never made it with her keys,” Josh called. “So Sandy and I helped out.”

What had Sandy done? She wasn’t even here.

“Thank you,” he told Josh. He’d praise his friends forever for bringing Sloan to him.

He rushed down the steps and toward them. Josh released her and backed away, striding back to his truck. He jumped in and drove off.

“You didn’t leave?” Rhett asked, stopping in front of her.

She shook her head.

“Because of the car?”

“Because of you.”

Rhett framed her waist with his hands and turned her away from the sun’s glare so he could see her deep-brown eyes. They were warm and full of him.

“I’m sorry I flipped out last night,” she said softly.

“Oh, Sloan. That was a nightmare, and nobody would blame you for flipping out. Did you … figure out what you want?”

She nodded and read his T-shirt aloud as his heart raced out of control. “I didn’t become a contractor to fix your crap for free.” She smiled and then she slowly unbuttoned her flannel jacket.

“Sloan?”

She pulled it open to reveal a T-shirt that had a traffic control sign that readRhett Stopped Working. He Already Captured Sloan’s Heart.

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