Page 42 of Choosing You

Then the two of them started talking baby stuff again and Sloane decided to take that as her chance to step away and find Will.

Awkwardly, she made her way through the crowd and found him standing in the corner talking with her father.

Oh no…

Letting out a long breath, she made her way over to them with a bright smile on her face. “Hey! There you are!” Hooking her arm through Will’s, she smiled at him and then at her father. “Hey, Dad! The place looks amazing! Good job!”

“Well, it was a group effort, but I’m definitely pleased with the results,” Kevin Donovan said with a smile of his own. He looked completely happy and relaxed, and Sloane took that as a good thing. “I was talking to Will while we were waiting for you to finally join us, and he was telling me about some of the cars he’s worked on. Very impressive!”

Now she braced herself for the car conversation that was going to make her want to jab something pointy in her ears.

“It’s nothing compared to the artistry you created here,” Will said, moving his arm so it could wrap around her waist. “I remember what this place looked like before you and your team came in. You took a blank space and made this feel like an old-time tavern. The woodwork is amazing, and the shine is almost blinding. Seriously, I never thought it could look like this. I brought some tanks here to Max a few weeks ago and even though everything was in place, it wasn’t completely finished.”

“That’s when the proper work begins,” her father said proudly. “But you know that. You put a car back together and do all the structural and mechanical stuff, but it isn’t until the paint is on and it’s waxed within an inch of its life that you know it’s done.”

Beside her, Will nodded. “It’s such a thrill knowing you built something with your own hands.”

“Exactly!” her father agreed loudly, clapping Will on the shoulder before looking over at Sloane. “I like him! He’s a good one. And if you moved here to Sweetbriar Bridge, you could keep an eye on this place for me until your mother and I decide to retire here.”

“What?” she cried. “When did you decide that?”

“We haven’t decided,” he said with amusement. “But…that’s what I’m thinking. Or maybe we live here part time and be one of those snowbird couples that spend the winter down in Florida. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Honestly? She was too stunned to respond and was saved from it when her mother came over and introduced herself.

“Hi! You must be Will! I’m Bridget Donovan!” she said giddily as she shook Will’s hand. “It’s so nice to meet you! Sloane only recently told us about you and…well…you can imagine, we couldn’t wait to meet the man who made this one stop running around aimlessly!”

“Mom!” she hissed, but no one was listening.

“Kevin, the local newspaper is here and they want to talk to you, Ronan, Max, Marcus, and John. They’re going to head upstairs to Max’s office so they can interview you without so much noise.”

“Fantastic!” He glanced around. “I thought I saw Shane and Kate. Grab them and bring them up for the interview! Let them see that we might not have the Donovan name above the door, but we’re going to be just as popular!”

“It’s not a competition, dear,” her mother said as she led her father away.

“Oh my God,” she moaned, hiding her face against Will’s arm. “I am so embarrassed.”

Kissing the top of her head, he carefully wrapped his arms around her. “That’s what parents do. And nothing they said was terrible.” When she looked up at him in disbelief, he grinned. “Your dad’s a nice guy! We talked a lot about cars and the bar and…” He shrugged. “There was nothing embarrassing that you need to worry about.”

“You mean other than how my mother thinks I’m running around aimlessly?” The groan was out before she could stop it.

“Come on. Isn’t that what our twenties are for? We’re all just running around trying to figure shit out. Personally, I think it’s awesome that you maybe stopped running around because you found me.”

Her heart raced at his words. God, it would be so easy to just say yes to all of it: moving to Sweetbriar Ridge, being with Will, doing what…

Everyone expects me to do.

Sloane never went the traditional route with anything in her life. She hated conforming and hated being put in a box. But more than anything, she hated the feeling of being just like everyone else.

Independence was important to her, and so was being unique. If everyone was moving here, didn’t that just make her a sheep following the herd? Running around aimlessly was fun because she never knew what to expect, and that’s what made her life interesting. Looking around the bar she saw a ton of people having fun. They were all laughing and smiling, but ultimately, they were all doing the same things—hanging out at a family bar, out on a date night with their spouses, and hanging out with the family. Sure, it was fun once in a while, but she had a feeling with this many Donovans in one place, it would become the norm. Hailey already mentioned how she and Max had dinner with all their cousins once a week.

I’d lose my damn mind…

Sure, she was already having dinner at her parents’ house every Sunday, but it was only their immediate family. Could she handle hanging out with fifteen family members every single week and listening to them all talk about baby stuff and home decorating and whatever else married people talked about?

“Hey, isn’t that one of your cousins waving us over?” Will asked, breaking her out of her reverie.

Looking up, she spotted her cousin Ryleigh and her husband, Ryker, and they were waving them over. “Yup.” It would be rude to ignore them, so she led Will across the bar to introduce them.

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