Page 65 of No Going Back

“It’s too late now, anyway. If you hate it, we can fix it later.”

What the hell had she done?

The air changed, and he knew there were other people there. Jabba barked happily and loped off, probably to greet whoever was there. A muffled laugh and some feet shuffling confirmed his suspicions. Whatever Branna had done, she’d also provided an audience.

Her nerves were vibrating, and he patted her hand again. “Almost there?”

“About ten more steps.”

He could feel her sudden stress, and prepared himself to act like it was the best surprise in the world, no matter what she’d done.

“Okay. Stop here. Turn a bit to your left. And it’s okay if I goofed. Be honest, and if I’ve overstepped, you can tell me.”

Hell, he needed to calm her down. He brought his free hand up to caress her cheek. “I’m sure you didn’t. Can I look?”

He heard her draw in a huge breath and let it out slowly. He ignored the shuffling and movements from the crowd, and it was at least ten people. But all that mattered was Branna.

He kept his eyes on her as he pulled off the blindfold and leaned down to kiss her. Then he lifted his gaze to the front of the barn.

Falcon Construction.

A gorgeous carved wooden sign hung above the barn door at the western edge of the barn, the end that had once likely held farm machinery.

“Holy shit.” She’d made him a sign to help him start a business. His business. Here in Phail. A sure indicator she wanted to build a life with him.

Sean swallowed the emotion building within him and ignored the cheers and calls of surprise. Instead, he turned to Branna and whispered. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.” Then he lifted her up and kissed the breath out of her in front of all of their friends.

* * *

Branna laughed into the kiss. She could tell Sean wasn’t pretending in order to spare her feelings. His kiss was full of love and lust and promise.

Eventually, he put her down and looked at the sign again with a huge grin. He tucked her into his side. “You had me worried there for a few minutes. This is amazing. And perfect.”

Soon, their friends surrounded them. Troy, Piper, Marcus, and the entire gang from Midnight Lake. They’d all helped her clean out the space inside this end of the barn. They slapped Sean on the back and congratulated them both.

Marcus and Troy stood on either side of the huge door. “Ready?”

Sean grinned and took her hand. “Absolutely.”

She knew there wasn’t much inside. She hadn’t wanted to move his tools, as he would obviously miss them and that would have ruined the surprise. When she and Jabba had first entered the barn a few days before, they’d found it dusty, musty, and mostly empty. A couple of pieces of old farm equipment and some crates and barrels had been the only things inside.

With the help of her new friends, they’d cleaned out the space and dusted off the old equipment. For now, they’d left everything inside so Sean could decide what he wanted to do with the space.

Except when the barn doors opened, there were more things inside the space than when she’d last seen it. Three long workbenches lined the back section. Several peg boards graced the wall above, ready for tools. There was even a large toolbox with lots of drawers to fill. She looked at Aisling and found her grinning. “We figured a construction business had to have a few essentials to begin. The workbenches are extras from the sawmill. Same with the pegboard and the toolbox.”

Branna loved how environmentally friendly their friends were. They respected the past and reused whatever materials they had on hand. “They’re amazing. Thank you so much.”

From beside her, Sean laughed. “I think that’s my line. This is fantastic.” He turned to everyone. “Thank you all for everything. I can’t wait to start up Falcon Construction.”

Piper grinned. “Your Vermont business application has been started. I’ll email you the documents you’ll need to make it official. And I’ll put it on the town’s website once you’re up and ready to go.”

Troy slapped Sean on the back. “See. I told you that Phail was the perfect place for you.”

Sean rolled his eyes. “Couldn’t keep the told you so inside, could you?”

“Not a chance. Now you’re recruited to help get the other three up here.”

“You’ve got it.”