THE BOXING WORKOUTS were always challenging, but Drew had a feeling there was something else driving Jasper. His friend went after the bag like it was the enemy and only he could defeat it. The punch combinations were lightning fast, and hard enough to break bone.
Cade watched him, a worried frown drawing his brows together. “I’m not sparring with him,” he muttered. “Bethany would kill me if I came home with a black eye or split lip this close to the party.”
Drew had no reason to worry about his face, but he wasn’t eager to spar with Jasper, either.
Jasper stayed on the bag another five minutes, his blows sounding like machine gunfire. He finally stepped back and dropped his arms to his sides.
He was dripping sweat and barely able to catch his breath. There was a look in his eyes Drew had never seen before—something bleak and lost. No, not lost—gone forever.
“Want to talk about it?” Cade asked.
Jasper unfastened his gloves and pulled them off, then he walked to the refrigerator and pulled out three bottles of water. After tossing them each one, he said, “Wynn found out I was friends with Hunter and she ended things.”
Jasper didn’t talk much about his personal life but he’d mentioned Wynn’s strict rules when it came to her son. Hunter wasn’t to know that Wynn and Jasper were involved. Drew knew that shortly after Wynn and Jasper had started seeing each other, Hunter had approached Jasper. The two had become friends.
Cade sank onto the floor mat and opened his water. “Let me get this straight. You’re friends with her son and that’s bad?”
Drew and Jasper sat down. Jasper shrugged. “She didn’t want me involved with Hunter at all. She’d made that clear from the start. I guess I always knew this was going to happen.”
“You okay?” Drew asked. He knew how bad he felt now that Autumn was gone. For Jasper, it had to be worse. He’d lost Hunter and Wynn.
“I will be. I knew the relationship wasn’t going to last. It couldn’t. Not with Wynn’s ideas about Hunter. She didn’t want more than we had.”
“Did you?” Cade asked.
Jasper thought for a moment. “No. Sometimes I think about being in a real relationship, but that’s not going to happen. It can’t. I saw too much in Afghanistan. Things got broken and they can’t be fixed.”
Drew didn’t know enough about Jasper’s background to agree or disagree with what he’d said, but he couldn’t help thinking that the human spirit was amazingly resilient. Jasper had changed since he’d first moved to Happily Inc. He was less reclusive, he had friends, he’d been seeing Wynn.
“I’m sorry,” Cade said.
“Me, too,” Drew told him.
“Thanks, but I’m okay.”
Drew looked at the battered boxing bag and wondered if that was true. He had a feeling even if it wasn’t, it would be, with time.
Cade looked at Drew. “My mom’s being weirder than usual. I think she has something planned at the bank. About the chairmanship. Consider this a heads-up.”
“Thanks, but I can handle whatever Libby has going on.”
He was more concerned about Silver. Specifically his mother approaching Silver. Things were good right now—he didn’t want anyone messing with what he and Silver had. He wanted...
He realized he wasn’t sure what he wanted—not completely—but he did know he’d already lost so much with her. No way he was going to lose any more.
* * *
THE SMALLER OF the trailers had been delivered and it was perfection on wheels. Silver went over every inch of it, loving how Walter had executed all their ideas. If she could have wrapped her arms around the remodeled trailer and hugged it, she would have. She settled on hugging Walter.
“You’re the best,” she said. “Thank you. The craftsmanship is amazing. I couldn’t be happier.”
“I’m going to have my wife call you the next time I make her mad,” he told her with a chuckle. “You can explain to her that she’s lucky to have me so I don’t have to sleep on the sofa.”
“Give her my number.”
She handed him the check for the final payment and was honestly too happy to even mind the decrease in the company’s bank account.
When Walter left, she practically danced around the trailers. There were three. Three! She had an empire and right this second, it felt magnificent.
It took her about two hours to load the smaller of the trailers. When she was done, she ran her hands up and down the outside of the trailer, then sighed happily and locked it up. Wynn would secure the gate to the parking area before she left so the trailers would be perfectly safe. That evening, Silver would probably drive by to double-check on everything, but only because she was excited and not because it was necessary.
She returned to her retail space and sat on one of the sofas. After the disastrous bachelorette party, she honestly wasn’t sure what to do next. She hadn’t booked anything—she just couldn’t face the prospect of another hideous party. Not that she didn’t like the local police force, but she would much rather go months and months without having to call them to shut things down.
She got out her laptop and opened her spreadsheet program. She entered in the cost of the remodel, how much she paid in rent each month and the average profit she and Drew had come up with, based on the assumption there was no physical damage to the space. The numbers were exactly what they had been before. It only took a handful of parties a month to make a tidy profit. Using her retail space for the parties made financial sense.
She and Drew had already talked about the three trailers. Georgiana would take one, they’d promoted another bartender to take the small one and she would handle the third. Drew would be available to help deal with any issues.
But that was a short-term solution and she knew it. With three trailers, she needed three full-time employees—one for each trailer. The rest of the staff could be part-time. She should be managing things, not pouring drinks. Drew couldn’t be expected to keep every weekend night open in case he was needed. She should be booking events, handling ordering and prepping the trailers for each reception or party. And if she was doing all that, did she really want to also be throwing bachelorette parties?
Her lease with Violet allowed her to sublet the space. She already had the trailers and her supplies stored at Wynn’s business. When her friend had expanded to the current location, she’d had more room than she needed. Silver’s rent check had made the move possible. Silver knew there were several small offices in the back that weren’t used. Why not rent one of those for a nominal sum and lease out this space to someone who would use it? Financially she would come out the same and she could focus on the part of the business she really liked.
While the idea made sense, she had to face the uncomfortable reality of having a business partner. The decision wasn’t hers to make alone. Not that she was worried about what Drew would say, but there was someone else involved. Still, she had her three trailers and that was definitely worth having to talk things over with Drew.
* * *
SILVER’S CONFIDENT MOOD lasted until one-thirty on Saturday afternoon.
“We can’t do this,” she said, trying not to sound as panicked as she felt. “Don’t take this wrong, but you’re not ready. Worse, I’m not ready.”
Drew and Georgiana exchanged a look. Georgiana spoke first.
“It’s going to be fine. I’m handing the big Alice in Wonderland wedding at Weddings Out of the Box. You know if I get into trouble there, I can ask Renee for help. She probably has three extra people stored in a closet somewhere that she’ll whip out to deal with the crisis.”
Silver nodded slowly. “She is frighteningly organized. You’re right. It will be fine.” She looked at Drew. “But you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re a novice. Who’s going to make sure everything goes all right?” She pressed a hand to her writhing stomach. “We shouldn’t have booked three weddings right away. What if the small trailer hadn’t been ready on time? What if this is a disaster?”
She thought she might be stressing a little too much and that Drew might be offended by her obvious lack of faith in him, but instead of getting upset, he chuckled.
“I think I like you this way.”
“What way?”
“Off balance. You’re always so confident.”
Was that how he saw her because honestly, she didn’t feel confident about anything.
He opened the tablet he was holding. “My wedding is small. Only fifty guests. The cocktails are premade and chilling in the two-gallon containers. The only other choices are beer and wine. Even I can open a wine or beer bottle. I have two people helping me because I’m new. I’m to get there at five and leave at eight, although I suspect the party will go on without me. The bride and groom are bringing their own water and soda. It’s all good. You need to breathe.”
“I’m breathing.” Maybe a little too fast and shallow, but she was breathing.
“Okay,” she said, glancing at her watch. “I have to go set up.” Her wedding was early. A three o’clock ceremony with a reception going from three-thirty until whenever, although her services had only been requested until seven. The bride and groom had a limited budget and wanted a big blowout party. They were having both the ceremony and the reception outside in the park. The families had gotten together to make the food themselves. The bar was easy. Beer and margaritas. Silver had all the blenders in her trailer, along with two hundred margarita glasses, a couple of dozen cases of beer and two crates of limes.
“Then we’re good,” she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. “Okay, I’m heading out to set up.” She looked at Georgiana and Drew. “Call me if you need anything.”
They exchanged a look, then both nodded.
“We’ll be fine,” Georgiana promised her. “Go have fun.”
Fun when there was so much to worry about? Not that she was going to tell them that.
Silver drove to the edge of the park. Vehicles weren’t allowed past a certain point. She and the bride and groom had discussed the best place to position the trailer. She carefully backed the trailer into its spot, then rotated the solar panels to catch the sun’s energy. Once that was done, she began her setup.
At two, the rest of her staff showed up. By the time the wedding started, they were ready for three hundred guests to descend. As the groom kissed his bride and everyone applauded, Silver began popping the tops off bottles of beer. The margaritas—both frozen and on the rocks—were in glasses and on trays ready to be offered to guests. Water and soda bottles sat in galvanized tubs filled with ice.
There was the usual twenty-minute crush while everyone got their first drink. Silver was pleased that her guess on how many would go for margaritas versus beer had been dead-on. By four they were down to a steady stream of customers. That would continue until they were ready to shut things down.
The reception was a boisterous, happy affair with lots of dancing and laughter. No one threw anything or started screaming. Even the kids were well behaved.
Right on time, Silver and her crew started cleaning up. They loaded empty bottles into crates and put them in the back of the truck. Silver would drive them and all the others over to the recycling center Monday morning. The tables were wiped down and stored, along with the trays, blenders and dirty glasses. At seven-thirty, she pulled out of the park and headed back to Wynn’s place to stow her trailer.
She hadn’t heard from Drew, which wasn’t surprising. There wasn’t great cell reception up at Honeymoon Falls. She debated waiting for him, then decided to go check on Georgiana. Her wedding was about the same size as the one Silver had staffed, but it was more fancy.
She walked in to find the party in full swing. Everyone looked more happy than stressed, which was good. The Alice in Wonderland theme played out in red, black and white. All the food was labeled Eat Me. There were decorative rabbits everywhere, along with huge playing cards. The tableware was all oversize or undersized, which must have made dinner interesting.
Silver walked over to the trailer.
“How’s it going?” she asked Georgiana.
“It’s been good. We’re doing fine—people are drinking the usual amount. No one’s thrown up.”
“Always a plus.”
Georgiana smiled. “The bride’s father refused to walk her down the aisle. Apparently he hates the groom. He and the bride’s mother had a massive fight in front of everyone, but it’s fine now. One of the groom’s cousins has irritable bowel syndrome and insisted one of the bathrooms be hers alone. That didn’t make Renee happy. They settled the problem by giving her the bathroom in the bride’s room.” Georgiana shrugged. “You know, the usual. I have it handled.”
“I can see that.”
Silver excused herself and walked around. As Georgiana had said, the wedding was going well. Before she got back to the trailer, Drew joined her.
“Checking things out?” he asked.
She stared at him. “You’re back. How did it go? Everything okay? Is the trailer okay? What did you think?”
He grinned. “This worry thing is so interesting. The wedding was fine. Forty people who hiked up to the falls rather than drive. It was very outdoorsy and nice and we left when they decided to go skinny-dipping. The trailer is back in its happy home.”
Silver took a deep breath, her first in hours. “Thank you. So we did it.”
“We did.” He put his arm around her. “Now what do you say we leave these people to their very odd reception and let Georgiana do her job? I have a bottle of red wine waiting at my place, along with a very nice cheese and meat plate I ordered. We’ll eat, we’ll drink, we’ll talk and later there will be sex.”
She laughed. “You do know how to entice a girl.”
“Not just any girl,” he told her.
If only that were true, she thought wistfully.
They told Georgiana they were leaving. Drew said he’d gotten a ride with one of his helpers so they went to Silver’s truck and headed for his place.
It only took a few minutes to open the wine and set out the cheese plate. Silver grabbed plates and crackers and they carried everything to the table in the corner. It was only after they sat down that she realized she was exhausted.
“That was a long day,” she said. “Good, but long.”
He poured them each a glass of wine. “I agree. But it was way too much. We’re going to have to hire someone for each of the trailers. You can’t manage everything going on and run an event. Not every weekend.”
She’d been thinking the same thing herself. “I know. I hate to give up control, but you’re right. I can be a backup person in an emergency, but otherwise, I need to be handling the logistics and booking events.”
She tried to sound upbeat as she spoke, but it was difficult.
“What?” Drew asked.
“Everything is changing so fast,” she admitted. “I’m happy about the expansion and this is what I want, but now suddenly I’m stepping away from the day-to-day operations to be in management. It’s going to be an adjustment.”
“We could hire a general manager and you could still handle one of the trailers.”
“That doesn’t make sense. I know the business better than anyone. If I have any big management questions, you can answer them.”
He touched his chest. “You’re saying you trust me and my expertise?”
He was joking—she heard that in the tone of his voice and saw it in the smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. But she didn’t see the humor in the question, probably because her faith in him was a whole lot less about his career and a whole lot more about who he was—and the fact that she loved him.
She’d been doing her best to avoid that truth, but it wouldn’t stay hidden forever. She loved Drew. She didn’t know what that meant or if it changed anything, but it was now a part of her.
She sighed. No, it had always been a part of her. The difference was now she was willing to acknowledge it.
“You have some very small amount of expertise,” she told him. “I plan to exploit that for my own gain.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Let me know when you have time to do interviews,” she said. “We’ll get in some candidates. In the meantime, I’ll work up the budget with us bringing on two more employees.” She sliced some cheese and put it on her plate.
“We have to talk about the retail space,” she told him. “I ran numbers again and they’re exactly what we expected. We can make a nice profit from the parties, only...”
“Not your thing?” he asked.
“How did you know?”
“The first party would have been off-putting to anyone. You never expressed any interest in expanding the services offered, only in offering the same services to more people. There’s a difference. You like what you do and you want to do that. Hosting bachelorette parties and rehearsal dinners isn’t a natural expansion.”
She appreciated that she didn’t have to explain herself. “But we spent all that money. The whole space is refurbished. We bought stripper poles.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Not every expansion works out exactly as expected. Better to cut our losses and move on. Can you sublet the space?”
She nodded. “I checked my lease already and it’s perfectly fine. With rents going up in town, we should about break even.”
“Sounds like you have your answer.”
“You sure you’re okay with the decision?”
“Absolutely.” He held out his wineglass. “All right, partner. Problems solved?”
“They are.”
He was so easy to be with. So easy to love. Funny how long it had taken her to see that.
“Admit it,” she teased. “Buying into my business was the best decision ever. The hardware store isn’t going to be nearly as exciting.”
Something flashed in his eyes, but before she could figure out what he was thinking, the emotion was gone. He smiled.
“You’re right about the hardware store, but I’m starting to think I could really get into the dry cleaning business. There’s just something about all those clean clothes.”
“Now you’re scaring me.”
“Really?”
She laughed. “No. Not really.”
Although knowing he had possession of her heart was its own kind of terrifying.
* * *
“FANCY,” NATALIE SAID as she walked into Silver’s retail space Tuesday at noon. “I like the stripper poles. I’m not sure I could dance around one, but I like them.”
Silver was hosting the girlfriend lunch at her place. She’d pulled the sofas into a loose circle. She’d set up a taco bar along one wall and had flavored herbal iced tea in one of her drink dispensers.
The rest of her friends arrived. Bethany handed out the Bride’s Posse T-shirts, then everyone went to fill their plates for lunch. When they were seated on the sofas, Pallas leaned back in her seat and sighed.
“No offense, Bethany, but this is the last royal party I’m throwing for you. Do you know your father texts me every single day? He does. I get royal texts. The man adores you and wants everything to be perfect. It’s sweet but so annoying.”
Bethany wrinkled her nose. “That’s my dad.”
“Pallas is exaggerating,” Renee told her. “I think it’s wonderfully challenging. As for the next party, don’t worry about it. By then Pallas will be busy with her new baby and I’ll handle it all.”
Silver looked at Bethany. “What next party?”
“I have no idea.”
Carol smiled. “She means a baby shower.”
Bethany held up both hands. “No and no. I mean, sure, I want kids, but not for a couple of years. I want to enjoy being married to Cade first.”
“Me, too,” Natalie said. “Only Ronan, not Cade. I’m not like you two.” She pointed at Carol and Pallas. “No babies for moi until at least our second anniversary. Now that I’ve found Ronan, I want a little just-us-two time before we start our family.”
“The Mitchell men appear to be very fertile,” Silver murmured. “Make sure you’re on really good birth control.”
Everyone laughed. Well, everyone but Wynn, who only smiled. Silver glanced at her.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. I agree. Birth control is important. You want to control when you get pregnant.”
Pallas’s eyes widened. “OMG, are you telling us you’re pregnant? Does Jasper know?”
Wynn practically choked. “No. No! I’m not pregnant. Trust me, I’m not pregnant. In fact...” She looked at them, then back at her plate. “You’re going to find out anyway, so I might as well tell you. Jasper and I broke up.”
“What? No.”
“What happened?”
“Are you okay?”
“Was he stupid? Sometimes men are stupid.”
Wynn held up her hand to stop the barrage of questions. “It’s no big deal. Our relationship was always casual. I only had one rule and that was for him not to get involved with Hunter. I found out he and Hunter were hanging out behind my back. He lied to me about the thing I told him was most important, so now I can’t trust him and it’s over.”
“Just like that?” Natalie asked.
“It was my only stipulation. He couldn’t respect my opinion, so yes, it’s done.”
Silver knew Wynn had her reasons, but breaking up with Jasper like that sounded a little arbitrary. “Was he mean to Hunter?”
“No, nothing like that. I’m sure if you ask him, he’ll tell you he was just stepping in to be a substitute father.” Something flickered in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t have said anything except you all knew we were seeing each other. I figured I’d just tell you and be done with it.”
Carol looked at her. “I can’t figure out if you’re upset or not.”
“I’m not. I knew it wasn’t going to last. I never wanted anything permanent. I don’t miss him. He was just a short-term fling.”
“He can short-term fling me anytime he wants,” Renee said. As soon as the words were out, she flushed. “I’m sorry. I only meant to think that.”
After a second of silence, everyone laughed. Wynn reached over and patted her hand.
“You go for it. I won’t mind at all.”
Renee shook her head. “I’m not exactly the go-for-it type, but he is handsome and sexy.” She flushed again. “Not that I’ve really noticed.”
“Of course not,” Pallas said. “I have to say, Renee, the more I get to know you, the more I like you.”
“Thanks. I feel the same way about all of you.”
Bethany grinned. “I’m liking this lunch. We’re getting some really juicy bombshells. Wynn dumped Jasper. Renee has a crush on Jasper.”
“It’s not a crush,” Renee protested. “It’s whatever is less than that. A mild interest.”
“He’s free now,” Natalie teased.
“We’ve already discussed my inability to quote unquote ‘go for it.’ Can we please change the subject?”
“I think Millie and Dave had sex,” Carol said.
It took Silver a second to piece together the couple. “You mean giraffe Millie and giraffe Dave?”
“Who else? I really hope they’re doing it because I would love a giraffe baby. Of course we won’t know if she’s pregnant for months.”
Pallas looked at Carol. “We could all be pregnant together. That’s so sweet.”
“Giraffes gestate about fourteen or fifteen months,” Carol said. “We don’t want to share that with her.”
Pallas shuddered and touched her stomach. “No, we don’t.”
“Pregnant giraffes,” Natalie said. “That’s so nice.”
“She’s weakening,” Silver murmured. “Just wait. She’ll be pregnant by the end of the year.”
“Not happening,” Natalie said firmly.
Conversation moved on to other topics. Silver joined in even as she kept an eye on Wynn. Since making her confession, there was no sign that anything was wrong. Was Wynn really over Jasper that quickly? Had their relationship really been that casual for both of them?
What must it be like to be able to move on that easily? Something she would never know. If Drew left or walked away from her, she would be devastated. She’d spent the last decade unable to get over him. There was no reason to think she would ever be able to recover and move on. When it came to Drew, she was well and truly stuck—for life.