Page 7 of When It Reins
“Nothing,” Thea responds, smiling warmly at me. “We just want you to be happy.”
“Yeah.” Annmarie nods. “Of course that’s all we want.”
I open my mouth to question them more, but Annmarie interrupts. “All right, down to business. We have an hour before opening, and I want to chat about how to expand the back patio for more space.”
The conversation starts to flow about work, and I have to push aside all the doubt and unease from my sister’s words earlier. Somehow, I have a feeling she was going to say something I wouldn’t like, which, of course, is something Annmarie has a knack for doing.
Now, they’ve seamlessly moved onto other topics, and my brain is divided between listening and worrying about what she was going to say.
“Okay, this sounds like it could be feasible. Do we want to get a contractor out here to get it started?”
Thea’s question pulls me back in, and I clear my throat. “Should we ask Graham Trevors? It’s not his usual, but he did redo Felicity’s house and did an amazing job.”
“Good idea. I’d rather hire local, anyway.”
We jot down everything in our notes and compare what kinds of things we want to see this year. It is February, so there is still the chance of snow to come until at least May up here, sometimes even June at our elevation, but having a plan makes the work easier.
“Are we expecting a crowd tonight?” Thea asks. Since having Colter, we’ve rarely made her work weekends, and especially not as many nights.
“Not too bad, though I did hear from Amelia there is a decent sized group on a business retreat at The Lodge,” I say, referring to the manager of the large resort a little further upthe mountain. It was slowly but surely becoming a must-see destination.
“Okay. Well, we should have Mitch back tonight, so that will be good timing,” Annmarie says, and I feel my heart stop cold.
“Mitch is back?” My voice is almost monotone, but I can’t help or stop the question from spilling from my mouth.
“Yep. He texted he would be back to work tonight.”
The girls keep chatting, but my mind checks out completely. Thoughts run through my brain faster than I can keep up.
I can’t keep having this reaction to the man who doesn’t want me.
This has to stop.
5
mitch
Beingon the road on and off again for two months was something I was used to. It was easy. There were no thoughts, no one bugging me, just work and riding.
It was a feeling I missed. Seeing other landscapes, having ample amounts of time to think about life, and not having anyone around to nag me.
I didn’t ride alone. Cheat, another member of the club, came with me, but that was fine because the guy kept to himself. Definitely chattier than I was, but knew me well enough to know he wasn’t going to get a full conversation out of me.
Heading into the clubhouse, we walk right into the war room, ready for church. It is a Saturday, but it is an emergency meeting that got called last night.
Good thing we were already pretty close to home.
I was happy to be on the road, but there was also a pull that had me wanting to come home a few times.
“Good. You’re back,” Mick says, welcoming us home. We get some cheers and pats on the back. A job done and done well,with no one coming home with injuries or tragedies, is a good day.
“Now that you are, let’s get into it.” Mick nods at his VP, Loki, and Loki launches into the newest issue at hand.
I lean against the wall and listen intently.
“We’ve got a company coming in and trying to buy some houses out from under people. A couple of families have already lost their homes due to the company buying the tax liens on the properties. Something they couldn’t afford.” Loki’s fist clenches. “They’re heartless, man. They have no concern for what they’re doing to our community. Only interested in the land underneath the homes.”
“So what do we do?” someone asks, and I don’t bother looking up, listening without engaging, as I do on most occasions.
