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Which is a good thing because he was right. Sitting on my screen is a new message from Carter. A message that makes my heart pound wildly in my chest.

Bryce told me some of the plans you guys came up with. It all sounds great! If you ever find yourself needing a reason to stay in Columbia, I think you found one.

I look up at Bryce, waving my phone toward him. “Are you two sharing a brain cell or something?”

He shrugs, taking a drink of his beer.

Rolling my eyes at Bryce, I then text Carter back.

Bryce told me some of the plans you guys came up with. It all sounds great! If you ever find yourself needing a reason to stay in Columbia, I think you found one.

I thought the reason for me to stay would be you? Is that not enough of a reason?

If you want to stay, you know how happy that’ll make me. It’s up to you, though. If you go back to Charleston, we’ll make it work.

That’s the thing, though. Eventually, I’d move my life here if things work out between us. Carter can’t come to Charleston because of the club, but I can move. There’s work for contractors everywhere, but would I really want to go from working for one company to another?

“All I’m saying,” Bryce’s low voice breaks into my thoughts, “is that there are a lot of reasons for you to stick around, Kat. If you want to. Plus, we’re kind of big on chasing dreams, so you know you’ll have support.”

Josie and Mia are both being suspiciously quiet, but I can tell they heard him that time. Neither one says anything, but not in a way that makes me feel unwanted. No one in this group is going to force me to do anything I’m not ready to do, but they are going to make sure I know I have the support I need, and that means everything to me.

“No one knows what the future will bring,” I say, a little louder to make sure the two eavesdroppers can hear me.

“Ain’t that the truth.” Bryce tips the neck of his beer bottle toward me before taking another drink.

April2024

Friday comes quickly, which is aided by the massive to-do list I have for the club. I arrive even earlier than I normally do that morning, ready to tackle the day by prioritizing the tasks before us.

“I don’t know what else needs to happen, but we need to get the wiring in the main pool done today.” I’m standing on the deck talking to the electrician, Dave, while some of the other guys are making sure everything is ready for the installation of the new pool set for Monday morning. “This has been delayed long enough and it can’t wait any longer. I refuse to let this be the reason we fall behind.”

Dave nods, looking down at his phone. “That shouldn’t be a problem. I think we can have it done by lunch, boss.”

My phone buzzes on top of the clipboard in my hand. I glance down and frown at the screen. Why on earth is my mother calling me?

“Do you need to get that?” Dave asks.

“Yeah.” I look back up at him. “Let me know if you guys need anything from me to make this happen, okay?”

Dave nods, waving me away as he yells out to one of his guys. Knowing I have a good crew who are more than capable of doing their jobs, I step off to the side to answer the call. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

Her laugh echoes in my ear. “That’s a strange way to answer the phone, Katrina. Why on earth would anything be wrong?”

I let out a shaky breath, allowing my fear to fade away. “You don’t call me that often, Mom, so it worried me.”

“Well, now you’re just being dramatic. I call you all the time.”

“What did you need, Mom?” I ask, deciding not to argue with her over this. We’ll always see things like this differently. “I’m at work.”

“They can live without you while you talk to your mother.”

If I tried something like that with her, she’d go into a fit about how people die when she’s distracted. Then again, what she does has always been more important than anything I have going on.

Bryce approaches me, seemingly about to ask me something. When he sees I’m on the phone, he hangs back. Wanting an excuse to end whatever this call will be as soon as I need to, I shake my head and wave him forward. I hold up two fingers, signaling this call will be over soon. “I’m really busy, Mom.”

His eyes widen comically, but he doesn’t run away. Instead, he patiently waits for me to finish and I’m grateful for the excuse his presence gives me if I need it.

“I just spoke with William,” she says, tersely. I mentally curse. I should have known this conversation was coming. “What do you think you’re doing, Katrina? How dare you end the relationship and break that boy’s heart.”