Page 123 of The Last Goodbye

“Hey,” Gracie said. She set Clover down after scooping her up in a hug. She turned to give me one as well. “Thanks for coming over today.”

“Of course. I don’t need to be at the restaurant until tonight. I worked late last night, since Briar had to fly out to New York unexpectedly, so I got everything prepped ahead of time.”

“Yeah, she texted me that she had to leave on short notice,” Cutler said as he came through the French doors from the backyard. He gave me one of those half bro hugs and clapped me on the back. “She said she might be gone for a few days and wanted to make sure I could be at the new location more often while she was gone.”

I tried to mask my surprise. She’d sent me a short text this morning after I’d tried calling her. It gave me very little information, and it didn’t sit right with me. I knew this woman well enough to realize that something was up. It was her way of telling me she didn’t want to talk about it right now.

“Interesting,” I said. “She stopped by the restaurant yesterday and just said that there was a work emergency, and she had to leave immediately to go deal with it. I tried calling when I left work, but with the time difference, I assume she was sleeping. And I tried to call again this morning, and she didn’t pick up, but she texted and said she was in a meeting, and she’d fill me in later. There’s something going on—I just don’t know what it is.” I rubbed my face as I glanced over at the couch to see Clover giggling as she sat next to Meatball and showed him her favorite stuffed animal.

“It’s been one day, brother,” Cutler said with a smirk. “Give her some time to figure it out.”

“I think whatever it is was very unexpected,” Gracie said, the corners of her lips tugging up in a smile. “We had such a great day when we went dress shopping, and she seemed really happy. So it’s probably just something work related, and she’ll tell you all about it later today.”

“You’re probably right.” I moved to their large table and set my bag down. I pulled my notebook out and took a seat, and they did the same. “I think I’m just more on edge the closer we get to this project being finished, because our future is completely up in the air.”

“So what’s the plan, dude?” Cutler asked.

“We’re just going to figure it out as we go,” I said with a shrug.

It was a shit plan, and we both knew it.

Hell, maybe this was her way of pulling away, knowing it had to end soon anyway. Maybe she wasn’t up to fighting for us the same way I was.

But I fucking wanted this. I wanted us. I couldn’t imagine a world that didn’t include her, and I was losing my mind over it.

“The best things are worth fighting for, you know that, right?” Gracie said, her gaze softening as it met mine. “There were times when I didn’t see how Cutler and I were going to make this work, and then we spent that time apart, and it actually cleared everything up for us. It will either tear you apart or make you realize you can’t live without one another. Everything becomes crystal clear when you’re faced with losing what’s most important to you. So this is a conversation that you need to have with Briar. You can’t just say you’ll figure it out when you get there, because that day is right around the corner.”

“Agreed. It’s time to figure it the fuck out, brother.” Cutler clapped me on the back. “I can tell she’s struggling with it, too.”

I nodded. I knew they were both right. I’d been wanting to go there with Briar, but we just kept avoiding it. Having the hard conversations was tough, and we’d put it off for far too long.

Always joking about how this would run its course, how we’d be ready to say goodbye when the time came—nothing about that was true. In the meantime, I’d been falling in love with this woman, and now I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

“You’re right. I’ll do it when she gets back.” I sighed and added, “Okay, let’s go over this menu for your party. How many people are you expecting?”

“We’re thinking just close family and friends,” Cutler said as he winked at Gracie. “We’ll have family coming in from Cottonwood Cove, Magnolia Falls, and Rosewood River. And then the people we’re close with here in Blue Sky Bay.”

“We’re thinking around sixty-five people,” she added.

“All right, that sounds good. And we’re doing it here in your backyard, right?”

“Yes. We’ll rent tables and chairs and do it right out here.” She smiled as she glanced out the window. “And then the wedding is going to be at the new property.”

Cutler and Gracie were planning to build their dream home together. They’d purchased a large lot on what I would consider the most premier piece of land here in Blue Sky Bay, with perfect views of the mountains and lake, while still being a short walk to downtown.

“It’s a great spot for a wedding,” I said, since I was also catering that event.

“Yes. It’s almost done being leveled, and we won’t break ground on building until after the wedding,” Cutler said. “We’re having a big portion tented, and we’re bringing in portable bathrooms. We’ll have a full kitchen area set up for your team to use. There’s still a lot of planning before it happens, but we’ve got things underway.”

“And we’ll say our vows right beside the lake, and when we build our home and raise our family there, we’ll always remember the spot we made it all official.” Gracie sighed, a big smile on her face.

“Yeah, that spot is going to be perfect. So first we need to get the menu set for the engagement party, and then we’ll focus on the wedding next.”

Clover walked over and climbed up to sit on my lap. “You know I’m the little flower lady at the wedding.”

“The cutest flower lady I’ve ever seen,” Gracie said with a chuckle. “I’m taking you next weekend to look at some pretty dresses.”

Clover clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait to find the prettiest dress. I’ve never been to a weddings before.”