Page 38 of Before Forever
“Well, I didn’t want it to happen either, buddy!” I roared, pouring all my fury into the destruction of another clump of weeds.
I pulled until there were no weeds left. While I had enough raw emotion pulsing through me that I could have weeded every garden bed on the property, I wasn’t used to that kind of work, and my arms were getting sore.
Instead, I stormed into the house and blasted some Alanis Morissette. With a chilled bottle of wine in hand, I climbed into a hot, steamy bubble bath. The first night I was there, I got accidentally trashed on a few bottles of wine. I decided it was about time to do it again. It wasn’t like I had a crew of workers or Derek who would be ringing my doorbell first thing in the morning.
I shook my head and took another swig, sinking deeper into the bubbles. I couldn’t believe that the very guy I turned to in hopes of having a good time and getting over Evan ended up being just as big of a liar as he was. Only this time, it felt worse in some ways. True, Evan’s lying broke my heart and shattered my vision of our perfect future together. But Derek…Derek’s lie and everything that followed not only hurt me, it also put my job and my home…myrealhome back in New York, in jeopardy.
“I might as well just stay here forever,” I groaned to myself. “Before long, I won’t have a job, so I won’t be able to pay rent on my crappy little post-break-up apartment in New York anyway.”
My back slid down the slick sides of the tub until I was completely submerged underwater, the only place where I could hide from it all, even if only for a few seconds. By the time my skin was pruning, I had finished off the bottle of wine. But a deep sadness started creeping in. One that had me missing my mom and feeling terribly homesick all at once. I tossed the empty bottle into the bathroom garbage can, wrapped up in my fluffy white cotton robe, and crawled straight into bed.
* * *
The next morning,after cooking a good breakfast with toast, eggs, and fresh orange juice, I felt a little better. No less angry and no less hurt, but I took a few deep breaths and felt patient enough to think through some kind of game plan. I sat at the kitchen table with my hands spread out in front of me, staring down at my phone.
I told myself to focus on what you can control, inhaling, exhaling.
The work on the lake house had to be finished no matter how long it took. It was non-negotiable, whether I sold it or not. No one could keep living in it the way it was. Not even me. And while I would have loved nothing more than to fire the Mullins brothers and sign the whole thing over to a new company, they were the best in town. It would cost a fortune to bring in someone else, and I had already dumped a bunch of money into what was done so far.
I had no choice. I needed to be a big girl, suck it up, and make this work.
The phone rang three times before he answered. “Mullins Handymen.”
“Is this Keith Mullins?” I asked.
“Yeah. Who’s this?” His voice was gruff, and he sounded a lot grouchier than his brother.
“This is Melody Hart. Your company has been doing some work on my mother’s lake house in Mullin’s Cove.”
As soon as I said it, the lightbulb went off. How had I never noticed it before?
“Hey, wait a minute. Is there any connection between your last name being Mullins and the street I live on?” I asked him.
“Yep, sure is,” he replied. “That old road winds all the way around the lake. It was named after our grandfather in honor of the fishing he used to do out there. He ran a marina and tackle shop on the edge of town, renting out boats to the tourists through the summer. My brother still lives in the house our grandfather passed down to him. On the other side of Mullins Cove, across the lake from you.”
My mouth dropped. I looked out the window, across the lake. I couldn’t believe I never realized how close Derek lived.
“You two are just full of surprises, aren’t you?” I grumbled.
“Come again?”
“Nothing. Listen, speaking of your brother,” I sighed. “He informed me about just how long this job is going to take. I’m not happy about it, but what choice do I have at this point? I’ll sign off on the new estimate. As long as someone else can oversee the work.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Oh, you don’t want that, ma’am. I know he’s not as good-looking as me and some of the other guys, but unfortunately, he’s the best we got. Besides, I’m buried in another job at the moment and wouldn’t be able to supervise it myself.”
“Surely you have someone else who can do it,” I protested. “I’ve seen as many as fifteen guys working in here at a time before. You’re telling me none of them can walk around and do what Derek does?”
“Not as good as he does it,” he insisted. “Besides, he’s the most familiar with the progress of everything and what’s left to be done. Bringing someone else on at this point is only going to slow us down and drag the job out even more.”
I closed my eyes with an exasperated groan. “Of course. That figures. Anything to keep me trapped here. This is like a nightmare.”
“Come again?”
“Nothing,” I huffed. “Fine. Derek can finish it. Just promise me that if there are any more changes to the timeline, you’ll see to it personally that I’m actually informed this time. It turns out your brother isn’t too trustworthy when it comes to that kind of thing.”
“Yes, ma’am. You got it.”
I hung up the phone and wondered, why didn’t he seem more concerned about everything I had just said?