Page 109 of Only Forever

“Yeah.” Juniper nods in agreement as she joins us along with the rest of my sisters. “If you quit, then there isn’t a problem with dating your boss.”

“Except I won’t live anywhere near White Bridge when I find a new job.”

“Wait. What?” Ashlyn screeches. “This is not how the grumpy boss romance books end.”

“As I’ve previously indicated, my life is not a romance book.”

She snorts. “Yeah, it is.”

“You’re going to move away?” Aspen asks with her mouth hanging open.

“I don’t think you can criticize me since you lived in Dallas for a decade.”

Ellery blows out a puff of air. “And why did she live in Dallas? Because she made a stupid decision about a man, too.”

“Are you saying I’m making a stupid decision? You think I should change careers?” I purse my lips. “I’ve worked entirely too hard to develop my career. I don’t plan on changing my career path at this juncture.”

“Hold up! Everyone calm down.” Juniper waves her arms around as if the motion has the ability to calm people. “There’s an easy solution here.”

“If you’re going to say long-distance relationship, I disagree.”

“But Maverick is gone half of the year and we make it work.”

“Because Winter Falls is his home base. When I find another job, the location of the job will be my home base. And Beckett’s here. A long-distance relationship can only work if one of the people in the relationship is willing to move at a future moment in time, and I can’t ask Beckett to move. He’s the CEO of the company.”

“What about telecommuting?” Ashlyn asks. “The clients I narrate books for are nowhere near Winter Falls.”

“I don’t think I can supervise the construction of a wind farm or new sewage system from a distance.”

“But there must be a solution,” Aspen says.

There isn’t. I’ve spent the past week trying to figure out a solution and I’ve come up empty. If I can’t figure out a solution, I don’t know how they can. And, since there is no possible solution, I do not wish to speak of the situation any longer.

“Here.” I shove the card I bought Juniper at her. “It’s a subscription to National Geographic. Dr. Blue mentioned you’ve been stealing his copies.”

“Thank you, but I haven’t been stealing National Geographics from anyone. And I certainly wouldn’t steal them from the family doctor of Winter Falls.”

“I stole them,” Ashlyn admits.

Juniper stares at her. “Why would you steal National Geographics?”

“My desk was wobbly and National Geographic was the perfect thickness.”

Aspen giggles. “Who expected her to say she’s been cutting out pictures of naked tribespeople?”

“Why would I cut out pictures of naked people when I have a stud at home who strips for me whenever I ask him to? And I ask him to strip a lot. I’m thinking of having a stripper pole installed in our bedroom. Do you think Cole could handle the construction?”

“Cole is an architect, not a handyman.”

“Speaking of Cole.” Aspen points across the field to where he’s running around the goat enclosure. He appears to be chasing a goat that has fabric hanging out of its mouth. While Cole runs after the animal, Lyric, Rowan, and Maverick shout encouragement.

“Are they cheering on the goat or Cole?” Ashlyn asks.

“I don’t care. The goat has Willow’s blanket.” Ellery marches off to handle things. Ashlyn and Aspen follow her.

“I’ll be right there,” Juniper hollers after them.

“You should go,” I tell her. “You’re the animal expert.”

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