Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
One day while working in the office, filing away some papers from a recent acquisition call, Carter came out of his private office to get something from the fridge and nodded at me at the file cabinet. I nodded back and realized he was walking over to me with a grin on his face that said either he had something for me to do or he was about to ask something uncomfortable in the name of family.
“How’s the Henderson paperwork?” he asked.
“It’s done, just filing it away,” I said. “Mr. Henderson was surprised you ended up adjusting the offer to give him more money.”
Carter shrugged.
“Price of that kind of lumber went up, and he owns half of Franklin Mountain. If I want his continued business, I need to make sure he knows I’m looking out for him.”
“Well, he was very happy when I went to see him. After he realized we weren’t changing the offer to give him less, that is,” I said.
“Yeah, I figured he’d be happy. Went up three percent. With his property, he’s looking at extra millions over the years.”
“I saw. I did the math for him.”
“Hah,” Carter said, opening a soda and leaning against the counter. “So, I had a question that didn’t pertain directly to trees.”
“Sure.” I sighed internally. Here it comes, I thought.
“You and Beth Ann,” he said. “Still going strong?”
“Yes.” I didn’t really want to elaborate much, but then I realized if I didn’t talk to my cousin, who would I talk to? “It’s gotten pretty serious.”
“I got that. You two have been together now since you moved down here, practically.”
“Just about,” I said.
“And yet you haven’t brought her to any of the bonfires,” he said. “You’ve missed quite a few of them yourself. To the point where some people don’t believe you actually exist.”
“Oh,” I said, nodding. “Yeah, well, about that…”
“It’s getting weird.” Carter slapped me on the shoulder in a fatherly kind of way. “Are you not sure about her? Is that what’s going on?”
“No, no, it’s not that. Hell, I am surer of her than I ever was of Charlotte.”
His eyes widened as he took a sip, the grin returning.
“Really now,” he said.
“Yeah. I just… you know. The way things went down with Charlotte, I wanted to be absolutely sure before I brought her around everyone and started making big declarations.”
“Hang on a second,” Carter said. “Big declarations? No one said anything about big declarations. I just think you should bring her to meet people. She deserves to make some friends down here too if she’s planning on staying.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think of it that way, that’s true.”
Carter regarded me for a moment. “Do you think big declarations are coming imminently?”
“No,” I said. “I mean, yes. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Thanks for clearing that up for me, bud.”
“I just… bringing her to the bonfire is a big deal for me. It’s like introducing her to my family, you know?”
“She’s met me,” Carter said. “And I am your family.”
“You know what I mean,” I said.
He nodded, taking another sip.
“I do, I get it,” he said. “But if this thing is real, it’s time. You don’t want to wait too long and give her the impression that it isn’t what you really want.”
I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t. He was right. All those old insecurities and worries, they were manifesting themselves into being too hesitant. But there was nothing that I was actually hesitant about when it came to her. I loved her. I knew I loved her. And it was time for everyone to know.
Cutting out of work a bit early, I stopped for one errand and then headed over to Beth Ann’s. Usually, I would go straight over to the house to start tinkering and would text her that I was there. Often, she would come over with something for dinner, and we would eat and chat, then get to work on whatever project that day was.
The house itself was almost done. I had been staying over there when I wasn’t in her bed in the trailer, and when I did stay there, she was usually with me. This time, however, I didn’t go to the house. I went right to the trailer and knocked on the door. Beth Ann answered it cautiously, giving me a curious look when she saw it was me.
“You have a key,” she said leadingly. “Did you lose it? Why didn’t you call me? Oh God, did you lock your keys and phone in the truck again?”
She was trying to withhold a laugh, and I grinned. I had done that twice now, once early on and another time just a couple of weeks ago. I shook my head.
“No, I just wanted to formally ask you to go with me somewhere.”
“Where?” she asked.
“Just go get ready to go out,” I said.