Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Cole filled me in on some of the other changes as we drove toward the inn. I already knew a lot of it since I’d created and maintained their website. But I still liked hearing him talk about everything, maybe because I’d missed him and his cousin so much.
As we passed through Donovan’s Mill, Cole looked over at me and grinned. “Text Brady that you’re coming.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t he busy cooking?”
“Yeah, but just text him. Please?”
I didn’t see the point when we’d be there in minutes, but I did it anyway. There was no reply.
As we rounded one last bend, I sat up in the passenger seat, eager for my first glimpse of the inn in quite some time, but there were so many cars around it looked more like a parking lot than the little inn that could.
But Cole bypassed the mass of cars and drove over the grass, parking behind the garage. A figure stood there, one that had me scrambling for the door handle before the truck had even fully stopped.
“Brady!” I jumped out of the cab of the truck and then flew into his arms.
“There’s my girl,” he whispered in my ear as he held me tight.
All I wanted to do was to take these two men by the hand, lead them away, and spend the rest of the night by their sides, but I knew this was their big moment. They’d worked hard to get the inn to this point, and they were needed inside.
And so was I.
From the moment I stepped inside the familiar lounge, there was so much to do that I didn’t even have time to be sad for the time apart from my guys. I served appetizers. Talked up the various packages the inn offered. Emptied trash cans and cleared away dishes. I even showed one little girl who’d come with her parents how to play MouseTrap.
And in all that time, I never saw Gideon. Sandy mentioned that he was downstairs serving drinks at the bar, which was news that suited me just fine. I could stay upstairs, and he could stay downstairs.
Until Brady came up to me with worry on his face. “We’re almost out of red wine.”
I grinned at the concern on his earnest face. “People can have white even if doesn’t go with the food you made.”
“We’re almost out of all wine, I should have said. Can you please go down in the basement and get some?”
“To the bar?” I asked, horrified.
“No, the actual basement. The unfinished part on the other side of the laundry room. That’s where we keep the extra bottles.” He obviously sensed my hesitation. “Please, Lila, you won’t have to go anywhere near the bar. There’s such a crowd down there he won’t even notice you.”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t say no to Brady. “What kind of red?”
“Any kind. Two or three bottles if you can carry them.”
“All right.”
“Thank you,” He said fervently. Then he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
I couldn’t help grinning as I made my way down the stairs.
Brady hadn’t been lying. It was very crowded down in the rec room. People were playing pool and dancing to the very loud music. I saw a crowd around the bar out of the corner of my eye but I didn’t even glance that way.
Instead, I slipped through the dancers until I got to the door to the laundry room. It was a relief to close the door behind me and shut out some of the noise. To my surprise, both the washer and dryer were on, and I couldn’t imagine why the guys would be doing laundry during a party. Then again, maybe a drunk partygoer had spilled a drink on themselves.
I strode to the end of the little hallway that housed the washer and dryer and opened the door to the unfinished part of the basement. I’d never been here before, but luckily, there was a light on, so I didn’t have to grope for a switch in the dark.
I stepped inside and looked around as the door swung shut behind me. There was a jumble of old furniture including several tables stacked on top of each other and an old leather couch. There were so many boxes stacked to towering heights that I didn’t know how I was going to find the extra wine.
And then a figure stepped out from behind a stack of boxes. “What are you doing here?” I asked at almost the same time that Gideon did.
Since Gideon made no move to answer, I did. “Brady sent me down here to get some wine, but he can get it himself.” I whirled to the door.
“He sent you to get wine?”
“Why is that so hard to believe,” I asked with my hand on the door. “Is it because I’m such a disappointment I shouldn’t be trusted with that task?”