Page 63 of Choosing You

Unfortunately, life quickly became less like a vacation and was replaced by an exhausting reality that consisted of work, work, and more work.

Things began to move fast on the expansion of Devin’s—and now also Will’s—business. Once they put the ball in motion and met with a lawyer to make everything legal, Sweetbriar Ridge Auto Care started garnering a lot of attention because of all the permit requests. Before Will knew it, crews were circling the building and marking out the space for the new body shop bay that would be separate from the rest of the bays.

He was putting in extra hours and although he was tired, it was a good kind of tired—the kind that left him sore and happy rather than miserable. It was very satisfying. One week of craziness turned into two and then three, and although they talked to each other every day, they hadn’t been able to pin down another trip to see each other.

And it was making him a bit cranky.

“If we weren’t so damn busy, I’d buy you a plane ticket myself!” Devin snapped earlier today. “You’re in a pissy mood and I get it, but we’re lucky that we got a contractor who could start this soon. Once things get moving along a bit more, you may have the time to take a couple of days off, but…this is part of owning a business, Will. You can’t keep whining about missing your girlfriend.”

“Yeah, easy for you to say. You get to work with your girl,” he murmured.

“Mac!” Devin called out. “Can you please talk to Will? I may strangle him!”

MacKenzie came strolling to the door of the garage bay. “Aww…do I have to separate you two?” she cooed.

“I can’t take all his whining and moping!” Devin yelled. “I get that he misses Sloane, but it’s not my fault that she lives a thousand miles away!”

“You bitched plenty when you thought MacKenzie was leaving!” Will reminded him. “And I was supportive of you! How about being a friend and not a total dick, huh?”

“Oh, now I’m a dick? How about…”

MacKenzie came and stood between them. “Okay, okay, okay, now I really am going to have to separate you!” She looked at Devin. “You need to either go work on a car or go to your office and shut the door.” Then she looked at Will. “And you? You’re coming to my office. Now!”

Will gave Devin a hard glare as he walked past him and followed Mac out of the garage, but as soon as they were in the office and the door was shut, he wasn’t quite so cocky.

MacKenzie was short, but she was a little scary to deal with.

“Okay, you are going to have to snap out of this whole sad sack thing, Will,” she said firmly as she sat down. “Sit.”

He quickly obeyed.

“It’s one thing to be a little disappointed because Sloane doesn’t live close by…”

“It’s not just that she doesn’t live close by…”

“Still talking!” she interrupted, and after letting out a long breath, she started again. “It’s one thing to be a little disappointed because Sloane doesn’t live close by. However, you are an adult, and you have responsibilities. And, need I remind you, these additional responsibilities are because you are now part owner of this business?”

“I know, but…”

“This isn’t a game, Will,” she said, but with a lot less frustration. “This is real life. You have been one of the best employees Devin’s ever had. And I can say that with confidence because he brags about you all the time.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh,’” she mimicked. “He took a leap of faith bringing you on as a partner and expanding the garage, but he’s going to seriously regret it if you don’t get your head out of your ass.”

He sighed loudly. “I just…I don’t know what to do. I didn’t think it would be this hard, you know? I didn’t think our schedules would keep us apart this long!”

“Then you’re a dumbass!” she said with a laugh. “She lives a thousand freaking miles away! What did you think was going to happen? That’s not a car ride that anyone’s going to make for a weekend getaway!”

“I know, but…”

Holding up a hand to stop him, MacKenzie leaned forward in her chair. “I get it. The timing sucks. If you and Devin hadn’t taken on this partnership, you’d probably be working some shorter weeks and flying down to Florida.”

He nodded.

“But that’s not possible now and the more you harp on it, the more frustrated you’re going to get, and the more Devin and your coworkers are going to want to punch you in the throat.”

For a moment, he just stared at her. “You’re a scary little woman, Mac. You weren’t nearly this scary when you first came to town.”

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