Page 142 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

His voice trailed away at my grin.

“Rain check then.” I bounced up to give him another kiss. “Go and impress your new boss, and I’ll come and find you later. Maybe I can get in the front seat of the fire truck and toot your horn or something?”

That earned me a slap on my arse, forcing me to yelp as I scrambled back into the shower. Rhett didn’t leave immediately, standing in the doorway and watching me scrub myself clean.

“What?” I asked as I bent down to grab the shampoo.

“It’s all coming together, babe. Your dream, your vision. Take a moment to catch your breath and enjoy it.”

I blinked, considering his words long after the point that he left the bathroom.

The kitchen was insane.

“Not that thick!” Nan said to Garrett.

The two of them had a massive pile of chopped onions before them, the air making my eyes water.

“They need to be reasonably thick, otherwise they’ll burn on the barbeque,” Garrett countered.

He’d been initially a bit intimidated by Nan, and she was wary of letting him into her precious kitchen, but the two had developed a strange kind of camaraderie.

“If you keen them thin, they caramelise and it develops all the sweetness in the onions.” Nan held up the peeled onion she was about to cut. “These are lovely. I grew them myself.”

“Caramelisation happens at low temperatures.”

Knives were stabbed into chopping boards and they both went to square off on what would no doubt be yet another battle about food. I cleared my throat and entered the room.

“Look who decided to get up!” Nan came over and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Morning, darling. Are you excited? I could barely sleep a wink last night. I’ve been up since before the sun rose, baking fresh bread.”

“We had that bakery order,” I replied.

“Cancelled that.” She waved her hand. “The bakery is never going to be able to beat my bread.” As if to make a point, she sliced off a couple of pieces and handed it over, laden with bacon and eggs she had been frying on the stove. “Now get that into you. If today is like the local show, you won’t get a chance to take another bite all day.”

“Hey.” Garrett shot me a sidelong look as I walked over to his side of the kitchen island. Those dimples popped as he smiled. A soft, lingering kiss was pressed to my temple, then he pulled me in close. “Tell me how to deal with your grandmother, because the woman is a menace.”

“Heard that!” Nanna shouted as she went back to slicing onions.

Before I could answer, the door opened and in came my parents.

“Hello, love!” Mum said, bustling over as she carried bags and bags of supplies. “Morning Grace, Garrett. Got all the sausages you ordered.”

“Fancy ones from the butcher at the central markets.” Dad dropped his burden onto the kitchen bench. “Vegan ones from the vego place.”

The three of them started talking about grilling and proper temperatures as Mum rushed to my side.

“How’re we feeling?” Her hands went to my shoulders as she looked me up and down. “Nervous? Don’t be. Mandie’s GoFundMe thingo is going great guns. She’s already raised a couple of hundred thousand dollars.”

You can say a lot about my sister, but bad at marketing wasn’t one of them.

“Nervous?” I took a moment, my awareness turning inwards. Was that what this jittery feeling was? It didn’t feel anxious, though. We’d set ourself goal after goal the entire time we rebuilt the shed, and we’d smashed each one of them. This was just the finishing line. Get people in the door, involve the community, and see if we could raise a bit more money. “No, I’m…” Garrett stopped arguing with my family, somehow knowing this was the moment when he needed to focus on me. With a gentle smile, he nodded. “I’m happy, Mum.”

Oh no.

Her eyelashes fluttered frantically, her cheeks turning bright pink.

“Oh, Katie…”

“Mum.” I held out a hand. “Mum!”

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