Page 69 of Making New Plans

We looked up to see Sal standing a few feet away, her hands clasped over the head of her cane. Her smirk told us her sharp eyes missed nothing. I let go of Hunter’s hand and clutched my bag instead.

“May I?” she asked, pointing her cane at the bench.

We nodded and scooted to the side to give her room. She grunted as she lowered herself onto the bench next to Hunter.

“Sal? You okay?” Hunter asked, his brow furrowed.

She waved him off. “I’m old. Shit happens.”

“You didn’t jump on one of those bikes, did you?” he teased her.

Her grin flashed bright. “You know I did. Ran that old coot Bud off the road.”

“Sal!”

“What? Cheryl paid me ten bucks to do it and promised to come to my Uffda classes this week.”

I hid a smile, watching the two of them. An unconventional relationship, to be sure. One that no doubt still had some holes. But it appeared to be doing both of them some good.

“Now, what were you two cooking up over here?” Sal asked, casting pointed glances at the open binder in Hunter’s lap.

I had the wild urge to snatch the binder away from her prying eyes, but Hunter tilted it away from her first. He glanced at me with a question in his eyes, as if asking permission.

I sighed. “Well, you might as well know, Sal, that we have some ideas about destroying the old house at Pine Grove.”

“Oh?” She didn’t look perturbed in the least.

“Yes, I—we—want to build cabins in its place,” I said, my voice growing smaller as I spoke.

“Show me,” she demanded.

I nodded at Hunter to let her see the binder, and he handed it to her. She flipped through the pages much quicker than Hunter had and handed it back to him.

“Excellent. You should start the demo tomorrow. I know a guy with access to any tools and machines you might need.”

Both of our mouths dropped open.

“Tomorrow?” I choked out. “But what about permits or permission or inspectors or—I don’t even know!”

“We’re not prepared for it,” Hunter added, more succinctly.

Sal thumped her cane in the dirt, leveling her hawk-like eyes at him. “Let me handle it. Like I told you before, that place is as good as yours. I’ll handle any legal bits that come up. And I’m guessing you’ll have your pick of help.”

Carter and Owen chose that moment to wander by singing a vaguely familiar drinking song, leaning on each other. Wyatt was trying to corral them, looking half annoyed, half amused, with his phone out filming them.

Hunter chuckled. “Once they sleep it off, I’ll talk to the guys about it.”

I rolled my lips inward to keep from smiling. He had “guys” now, and I found that incredibly endearing.

Then my heart sank when another thought occurred to me, and I hated to bring it up when Sal and Hunter seemed so ready to move forward with a plan.

“Um, I’m not sure we have the funds to do all of this right now.”

Sal sent me an appraising look. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m investing in these plans.”

My mouth dropped open for the second time. “You can’t be serious, Sal. These aren’t even real plans, just ideas! We have no real idea what we’re doing yet!”

She leaned forward, fixing me with a look so heavy I felt pinned to the bench. “Sometimes, Chloe, life has a better plan than you do. And that’s when you just go with it.”

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