Page 13 of How Dare You
I was wrong. This is more disturbing. His text is a glaring reminder of why I can’t allow myself to get involved with someone at work again. I told Rhett I have a rival and I could lose my business because of her, and I can’t fool myself into believing he’d forget. I never gave him Trina’s name, but it’s a small enough city that he’s undoubtedly figured it out. I’ve suspected for a while that he works on her jobs too, and now I have confirmation. She can’t find out how well her threats to my business are working. This is not great. I let my read receipt speak for itself and put my phone on Do Not Disturb.
Chapter 4
Rhett
Emery fell asleep on my chest.
-From Rhett’s Most Important Things notebook, August 6th
“Heard anything from Crystal lately?” Bradley asks, adjusting his golf bag around his shoulders. It’s the first time I’ve heard her name in months, and it stuns me for a moment. My mom and sisters don’t even ask about her anymore. At my surprised expression he adds, “Isis keeps giving me shit for coming home without any meaningful updates about your life.”
“I thought she never liked Crystal,” I laugh, shifting the weight of my own bag.
“She didn’t,” Bradley answers, a smile lifting his thick black mustache. “That’s probably why she’s checking, making sure no one’s trying to get you to move back to Texas.”
“Haven’t heard a word since the day she moved out,” I answer. “Honestly, I doubt she even realizes I live out here.”
“That’s kind of messed up, isn’t it?” My friend asks as he checks on his baby girl, Emery, in her stroller before we walk over to meet our friends at the first tee.
“Not really.” I come around next to him, squatting low to smile at the baby. “She hasn’t heard from me either. It’s easier for both of us to move on if we stay out of each other’s lives.”
Crystal and I were supposed to get married later this summer, but she called it off after I quit my structural engineering job. We’d been talking about it for a long time, how it ate at me that I didn’t believe in the work my company did. I was uninspired, and I spent every day helping billionaires hoard wealth. Crystal felt like it was unavoidable, no matter what work I did it wouldn’t matter. When I couldn’t take it anymore and quit to come back to construction, she called off the engagement saying it wasn’t realistic to expect her to be with someone like me, who gives up on his responsibilities. I hadn’t realized how much of what she loved about me had to do with my job and the security she believed came with it.
Working with my hands again— building things, fixing things— feels right. A lot of my clients probably fall into the wealth-hoarder category now, but at least this way I’m taking some back, and I enjoy the work. I meant what I said to Devon a couple months ago in a pool a few hundred yards away from where I now stand. I don’t know if anything I’ve ever done matters. But at least now I’m free to try to find something that does.
“Isis will be happy to hear that, I guess.” Bradley shrugs as we approach the first tee where Hector and Brian are already waiting. They both greet the baby first, who coos happily in her stroller as they comment how nice it is that she’s joining us for the round.
“She likes going on walks and sleeping in the stroller,” Bradley says, looking down with adoring brown eyes at the baby. “Would be a shame not to bring her.”
By the time we reach the back nine, Emery is no longer happy to sleep in the stroller, and we’re all taking turns holding her between swings.
“You planning on coming to the opening for Luke and Allie’s bar next week?” Hector asks, passing the baby back to me.
“I’ll be there helping out during the day, but I’m watching this little darling at night so Isis can make the party,” I answer, tugging the baby’s yellow shirt down where it’s started to ride up around her little round belly.
“Well, damn. We were hoping to have a few drinks with you.” Hector smiles, lining up his shot. “Can’t give you a hard time about babysitting, though.”
I wait until he’s done with his swing to respond, “I’m sure you’ll see me at the bar often enough once it’s open. Don’t worry.”
“What’s the latest on your big project?” Brian asks me when he and Bradley catch up with us and we head toward the green.
“Making good progress. It’s slow going because I’m trying to handle as much as I can on my own, but I’ve got all the sticks up. Clay tiles are coming in next week for the roof. Outdoor shower’s coming in clutch.” I point across the group to Brian. “Still grateful to you for suggesting it.”
“When do you think you’ll be ready to show the whole thing off?” Hector asks.
“It’ll be a while yet. My days are filling up with work I actually get paid for, so I don’t get to spend as much time on it as I’d like,” I answer, shifting Emery in my grip so she can reach the bill of my hat that she’s been grasping for.
“Do you get to work with Devon much?” Hector asks, and for a moment hearing her name in this company catches me off guard. I forget that everyone’s connected. Hector and Brian are regulars at Turbine Café, the coffee shop Allie owns. Bradley met them when Allie hired him a little while back, and we’ve been golfing with them once or twice a week since. I should have expected them to know Devon, but this is the first time her name has come up.
“A good amount, yeah,” I answer, after a pause I hope no one noticed. “We worked together a lot for Allie and Luke’s remodel, and there are a couple other projects we’re both on too.”
“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Brian asks with a fatherly sort of pride in his voice. He and his husband retired in Palm Springs some time ago, and I’m finding they enjoy fitting into a mentorship type of role with the younger people in town. It’s common for me to hear people put Devon down behind her back, so it’s a refreshing change when he continues the positive tone. “I’m always so impressed with her. She’s got a magnificent eye for design and tough skin too. It took a lot of guts for her to start Friday West with everything she’s up against.”
I want to ask what he means by the last statement, but I imagine it has something to do with the designer Devon told me she could lose her business to, and I doubt she’d appreciate me bringing it up. “Devon’s extraordinary,” I say, forgetting to mask the awe in my voice.
Brian’s smile is knowing, but thankfully he doesn’t push the conversation further.
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