Page 50 of Chapel Bend
“I want great-grandchildren,” Grandma announces, and Cullen moves to stand.
“I’m out of here.”
“Okay, okay.” I reach for his arm, laughing. “We’ll stop. No more talk about pretty girls and babies, I promise.”
“What else should we talk about?” Grandma wants to know as Sunny returns with red baskets full of food and big chocolate shakes. “Well, this will feed me for a week.”
“Don’t worry, we have to-go boxes if you need one,” Sunny says with a wink before hurrying off to help another customer.
“I bet you can put all of that away,” I say before I take a bite of my burger. “You’re a little thing, but you’ve always had a good appetite.”
“I’m going to give it a shot,” she says, rubbing her hands together. “Thanks for this, both of you. I’ve needed to spend time with you.”
“We should make it a weekly date,” I suggest. “A weekly lunch, just the three of us.”
“I’m in,” Cullen says, and it looks like Grandma might cry.
“I would love that.” Then she takes a bite of her burger.
By the timeI get to the chapel, they’re putting the finishing touches on the last window, and Rob’s standing out on the sidewalk, his hands on his hips, watching.
“Wow, it looks great.” I offer him the cup of coffee I got for him from The Grind because I know it’s his favorite.
“They were idiots,” he says in that no-nonsense way he has, accepting the coffee with a nod. “Is this decaf?”
“Yes, because it’s three in the afternoon, Rob.”
“You’re as bad as my wife.”
I laugh and go to inspect the work before signing the paperwork that says the job was done to my specifications. The crew packs up to leave, so Rob and I head inside.
“Wow, it’s so much brighter in here!” I turn a circle, shocked at just how much light is coming in through the windows.
“It’s definitely much better this way,” Rob agrees. “I see you’ve started to frame in some rooms. Why don’t you have the crew come in and help you? We can bang this out pretty quickly if we all work together.”
“I can’t afford you guys.” I shrug when he just stares at me. “I can’t afford to pay you what I normally pay you for our regular jobs. Besides, I can get it done myself. It’ll just take some extra time.”
“Fuck that, June. Jesus, I’ve been with you since you started this company. You can ask for favors, you know.”
“This is a business, Rob.”
“Are you saying that we’re not friends?”
The hurt in his voice brings me up short, and I shake my head. “Of course not. I definitely consider you a friend, and I trust you implicitly, but that isn’t what this is about. I just don’t feel like it’s right to ask you to help me for free.”
“You tell me when you’re working on this place, and if I have the time, I’ll come give you a hand. I know some of the other guys would, too. We care about you, Boss. You don’t have to do this by yourself.”
Damn if that doesn’t make me emotional.
“Well, thanks.”
“Don’t start with the waterworks,” he says, but he’s smiling, and his voice is calm. “You plan on moving in by spring?”
“Christmas.”
Rob lets out a snort of disbelief. “And you weren’t going to ask for help? Are you a glutton for punishment? When did you plan to sleep?”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” He doesn’t laugh, so I shrug. “I don’t know, Rob. I’ve been excited to build my own home, you know? I’d like to be in by Christmas so I can have my own tree decorations without having to wait a year for it.”