Chapter 5
Bryson
“It’s not a secret if it’s known to three people.”
~ Rowan O’Sullivan
“Damn, that’s beautiful,” I breathed as I turned onto my parents’ drive.
I hadn’t been able to fall back to sleep after getting back from the bar a couple of hours ago. I’d lain down, but every time I closed my eyes all I could see were big golden eyes, a perfect turned up nose, and the most kissable lips I’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. Kelsi’s image was burned into the retina of my brain. It reminded me of the time I was bored while my sister and mom were shopping and I stared directly at a light bulb and tried not to blink. For hours after that, every time I closed my eyes all I could see was the outline of the bulb.
After my sleepless night and Kelsi goggles, my vision was fuzzy. But even through my bleary sight I appreciated the vibrant colors of the sky as the sun rose in the distance. Yellows, blues, purples, and oranges all reflected off the backdrop of pillowy clouds.
There was only one thing I liked about being up at the asscrack of dawn, and I was looking at it. Sunrises. I’d always had a thing for them.
My affinity originated from my time growing up in Ireland. Before moving to America, I’d spent my summers on my grandparents’ farm. Without fail, Grandad would get me up at four-thirty to start work. I hated it, not the work or spending time with Grandad; I just hated getting up that early. But the bright spot of my morning, literally, was when the sky would begin to lighten and Granny would ring the bell for us to come in from wherever we were.
When we got there, she’d be waiting on the porch with a steaming cup of coffee for Grandad, a cup of hot chocolate for me, and a cup of tea for herself. We’d all sit together, enjoy our drinks and watch the sunrise. Before we’d head back out to the pastures or the barn or wherever we were working that day, Granny would kiss the top of my head and impart a bit of wisdom, like, “Always appreciate the beauty around you.” Or she’d lift her arms and declare that “It’s the little things in life that are the most beautiful.” Or she’d hug me tightly to her and say, “Beauty is all around us, you just have to remember to take the time to look at it.”
As a small child, I’d had no idea what she’d been talking about; I’d just enjoyed the break from work and the hot chocolate. I hadn’t appreciated the breathtaking scenery surrounding me. But now, as an adult, her words held much more significance, as did the time that I spent with my grandparents on their porch. Some of the best conversations I’d ever had happened in those early morning hours.
Most people assumed the greatest perk of working in the bar was the women, but it wasn’t. At least not for me. For me, it was the hours. When I didn’t have anything else going on, I didn’t have to get up before noon. That was ideal for a night owl like me, but it didn’t lead to catching a lot of sunrises. For the last three weeks, I’d seen more of them than I had since I left Ireland and I knew I’d be clocking quite a few more before this project was over.
I pulled up beside a black truck with Briggs Construction written on the side. I’d gotten to the point that I’d had to call in reinforcements and so of course, Sawyer Briggs was the first person I thought of. There were several other builders in the area, but Sawyer was the best by far.
I’d barely come to a full stop before Goliath was sitting up, whining, and scratching at the passenger side door handle. I was scared one day he was going to figure out how to open the damn thing.
“Don’t bark,” I warned firmly as I leaned over him and pulled the handle.
As soon as the door swung open, he jumped to the ground and let out a loud bark announcing his arrival.
I shook my head. He’d gotten in the habit of doing that. The first morning we’d arrived he’d done it out of sheer joy that we were here. My mom heard him and brought out bacon that she’d been making. My parents’ house was one of Goliath’s favorite places to go, primarily because my parents spoiled the big goofball rotten. They called him their “granddog.” They had pictures of him, lining their hallways from the time he was a puppy to full-grown and even had a stocking for him at Christmas. When we had our weekly family dinners, Goliath got his own “special plate” of food my mom cooked especially for him so he wouldn’t feel left out.
For a few years now my parents had been dropping not so subtle hints that they were ready for grandchildren. Both Jade and I had the same answer: they might have to wait awhile.
Jade’s sole focus for the past couple of years had been finishing her MBA. She dated casually, but I didn’t see her settling down anytime soon. And after Ashley left, I think my longest relationship hadn’t lasted longer than a month or two. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in finding the one and starting a family, I was. I just hadn’t met the girl.
As I got out and rounded the back of my truck to grab my tool belt, Kelsi’s face once again popped into my head. Unlike the image that had haunted me last night, this time she was standing in front of me, smiling up at me, wearing a white dress. The sight had me grinning like a fool from ear to ear. It also distracted me, so I didn’t hear Sawyer walk up behind me.
“You always this happy after a break-in?” His voice startled me, and I jumped.
When I turned, I could see that he found my surprise amusing. “You heard about that, huh?”
“Saw Hud over at the Spoon.”
It didn’t surprise me that Sawyer knew about the break-in so soon after it happened. What did surprise me was that he was asking me about it. Sawyer Briggs was kind of a living legend, of sorts, around Wishing Well. He was known for a lot of things. His massive size, he stood tall at six foot six and was built like a mountain. He was the oldest of the nine Briggs siblings. He notoriously got into bar fights before he’d even graduated high school. He was pretty much pseudo-famous for being an all-around bad ass.
What he wasn’t known for was talking.
In fact, in all the twenty-two years I’d known him he’d probably spoken under a hundred words to me that could be classified as “small talk.” He was a man of very few words.
He continued, “He told me to keep an eye on the kid, make sure he didn’t get into any trouble out here.”
“You don’t need to worry about him.” I was more than capable of keeping an eye on Milo. I might not be a professional contractor like Sawyer, but I would never be so stupid as to put the kid in any kind of a situation where he could get injured. “I’m not letting him near the power tools.”
“I don’t think that’s what he meant.” Humor sparked in Sawyer’s tone.
I waited for him to continue but he just stared at me silently, clearly entertained. If I wasn’t so off-balance from seeing Sawyer Briggs acting like a gossipy schoolgirl, I might be irritated. But instead, all I could feel was fascinated that there might be an Invasion of the Body Snatchers situation happening.
Still, in the spirit of wrapping this conversation up before Kelsi and Milo got here, or worse, my parents overheard some of it, I asked, “What did he mean?”
He smirked. “I think he thought you might be distracted by other things.”
Ahhh.
So, Hud noticed my reaction to Kelsi and he’d felt the need to mention it to Sawyer. I was just going to assume that half the town knew by now and the other half would know by lunch. Rumors had never bothered me, especially when they were true, and this one was as true as they got.
I knew that Hud and Sawyer didn’t honestly think I’d ever endanger the kid. This whole thing had been about her, the girl that took my breath away. They were right. Kelsi Robbins was all kinds of distracting and I planned on getting as distracted as I possibly could by her.