Chapter Eighteen
Nick didn’t even make it across the Napier County line before his cell phone rang. He sighed and hit the hands-free button on his steering wheel.
“Where did you put the can of wood polish?” Raleigh asked without preamble.
“It was empty. I threw it out. Why?”
“The bar needs another coat.”
“No it doesn’t,” Nick told him. “I went over every centimeter of it before I left. It’s fine.”
“It looks like shit, and I’m going to have to redo the whole thing before Mrs. Pain in the Ass McGrath comes down tomorrow morning with her fancy TV people.”
“It’s fine,” Nick reiterated. “Eve said it was perfect.” Or rather, she’d texted him. She hadn’t actually spoken to him in the two weeks since he’d told her he thought they should cool it. Every time he saw her from a distance, he reminded himself that it was good she wasn’t coming near him, wasn’t talking to him, because he’d have found himself on his knees begging her to forget what he’d said, asking her to give him another chance, swearing his undying fealty, or whatever the hell it was King Arthur’s boys did.
“She’s a nice kid, but she doesn’t know dick about carpentry,” Raleigh said. “I’m telling you right now, if we don’t add another coat, it’s gonna look like shit and we’re not gonna get paid for this job.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Eve had sent the last payment already. All that was left to do was for Raleigh to clean up the last of the odds and ends they’d left behind. Nick probably should have done it himself, just to get some…closure, or some shit, but frankly, every day he’d been at Blue Mountain and not been able to talk to Eve, to see her smile, smell her, touch her—each day had been worse than the last. So much so that when an employee had pulled up to the tasting center with the first delivery of bourbon bottles, Nick had considered snagging one for himself. He hadn’t thought of actually drinking in years, and to have that thought pop up at this stage of the game scared the shit out of him. It was time to leave.
Besides, it was almost time for Mom to start moving stuff into her classroom, and he’d promised her he’d be there.
So he was on his way back to Knoxville, to the place he hoped he’d be able to find his serenity again. He had a bad feeling, though, that he was going to have to put in some hard time before he got back to a place where he didn’t long for a certain dark-haired Tinkerbell.
“Well, I’m gonna go get another can of that shit and go over it one more time anyway,” Raleigh finally said.
“Fine.” It wasn’t necessary, but it wouldn’t hurt anything, either. And if it gave Raleigh something to do, all the better.
“You sure you won’t come back home and stay until after that big shindig they’re having?” Raleigh asked. “That little gal of yours could probably use a date.”
“No, Dad. I’ve got to get home to Knoxville.” He wasn’t sure if he was reminding Raleigh, or himself, that Tennessee was his home now, not Kentucky. He didn’t bother pointing out Eve wasn’t his little gal, and since she hadn’t come around for the past couple of weeks, she probably was more than happy to have anyone else in the world as a date than him.
“Listen, I’ve got to go now. Traffic’s getting heavy,” he lied. “It sounds like you’ve got everything under control there.” He hung up, but in spite of his encouraging words, had a bad feeling about leaving Raleigh to finish up the Blue Mountain job. It was no doubt more about his own unfinished business there, though.
Eve couldn’t put off going to the tasting center during daylight any longer. For the past couple of weeks, she’d managed to wait until Nick left for the day before she went down to check on things and to help set up the gift shop with Lesa. But now, she needed to go in and make sure the supplies were all ready for the party, and that it was spic and span for tomorrow morning’s grand unveiling before the local news. Sometimes those segments were released over a broader audience, and Blue Mountain could use the exposure, not just for their business, but for the fundraiser.
Besides, if Eve was honest with herself—and she’d worked long and hard to try to be upfront about her feelings—she couldn’t take not talking to Nick one more day. She’d kept away. She’d forced herself to stay out of his orbit for as long as she could, but knowing he’d be gone in a day or so was like a ticking time bomb. It was a long shot, but she had to talk to him one more time. To see the way the light played with his hair, to bask in his smile. Even if it hurt six million times worse when he rejected her all over again, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t at least put herself in a place where he could talk to her if he wanted to. In case he’d changed his mind.
Nick’s truck wasn’t parked in front of the tasting center when she pulled the golf cart around to park it, but that wasn’t unusual. He usually rode with Raleigh, or Raleigh rode with him. Not that she’d watched for him every day of the past two weeks or anything.
She nodded at the landscaper, who was spreading the last of the mulch around the new bushes near the front porch of the tasting center. The new rocking chairs gleamed and waited for guests to sit a spell while they admired the rolling hills in the distance. A mockingbird called from atop the little ornamental maple next to the steps.
The place had turned out better than she’d imagined. Better than her dad would have imagined. Lorena hadn’t even had much to gripe about when it came to the building. All of that was due to Nick and his diligent work. He’d followed the spirit of the project through to the last detail. When they had the David and Jamie McGrath Open Barrel Fundraiser in two days, it was going to be the highlight of everyone’s season; she just knew it. Lorena would collect more money than she imagined and do more good for more people. Not all due to Nick, of course, but he deserved a huge part of the thanks. If he hadn’t agreed to help her in her hour of need, she wouldn’t be looking forward to this grand opening party so much.
Country music was playing on the old boom box on the bar when Eve went inside, but only Raleigh was in the main room, fussing with something next to his toolbox.
“Hi, Mr. Baker,” she said.
He jumped. “Oh, hello, Miss Eve. I was just getting a few things together before I put one last coat of polish on things.”
“Another coat?” she asked. “Isn’t that gilding the lily? It already looks great.”
“I’m just not satisfied yet,” he told her. “I’ll just give it another once-over to make sure it’s good.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say, then. She looked through the open door to the gift shop and didn’t see anyone there.
“He left,” Raleigh said. “He decided he was done here and scurried back to his mama just a couple of hours ago.”
A tsunami of disappointment knocked her back a step, but she forced herself to hold on to some dignity and said, “That’s too bad. I wanted to thank him for his hard work.”
Raleigh snorted. “Whatever.”
She looked closer at the old man—his expression was tighter than she’d ever seen it. A muscle ticked in his jaw. He was devastated that Nick was gone. She wasn’t alone in her loss, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
Nick and his dad hadn’t managed to bridge their differences after all. She’d have thought working together so closely might have allowed Nick to put aside his resentment for the way his dad had messed up his childhood, and that Raleigh might have been able to see where Nick was coming from—why he’d felt he’d had to live with his mom and not stay to help his father in his business.
“Well, then, I’d like to thank you for doing such a good job,” she said, though it sounded lame.
“No problem. Thank you for keeping your mother out of our hair.”
“I just wanted to check and make sure everything’s ready for tomorrow’s big media unveiling.”
“It will be in a couple of hours,” he told her, holding up a big can with a brush sticking out of it. “I’ll finish this up and clear on out.”
There was really nothing more to say then, was there?
Her phone buzzed with a message from Allie.
Come on, we’ve got to get to the salon.
Of course. Allie had managed to provide one last Lorena distraction—a spa night so she didn’t spend the last night before her big party driving everyone crazy with last minute details. By the time they got home tonight, their mother would be massaged and facialed and mani-pedied into total relaxation. At least until first thing tomorrow, when the news crew arrived.