Page 67

“No, absolutely not. Carter, you’re less than two months away from Trials. I’m not going to be the reason you’re not training the way you should. Nadine and I can handle this. I honestly don’t have that much stuff.”

I relent, not because I like the plan, but because I want to make sure I give Katrina the space she needs. Her relationship with Will was stifling, he was always wanting to know where she was and to be the one fixing her problems, but that’s not my style. Yes, I want to be there to support her and help her, but I can also recognize when she needs to do something for herself, by herself, and I respect that decision.

Which is how, a couple of hours later, I found myself in the empty living room of Bryce and Josie’s house. Mia, Kat, and Josie were off adding sticky notes to things, marking what we need to get rid of and what was staying; Bryce and I were standing in the living room, waiting to be pointed in the right direction.

“We’re going to need to find a new contractor.” Neither one of us had brought the topic up since Kat and I arrived, but I know we can’t put it off any longer. “What about the design? Do we have the right to the design anymore?”

Bryce nods. “Yeah, that was part of the stipulations I set forth.”

“Wasn’t that whole thing blackmail?”

Bryce shrugs casually, like the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. “That’s the world of business, Carter. It’s full of blackmail.” My brow arches because who was this man? Certainly not my kind-hearted best friend. He groans, busted. “It’s more karma. He lives for making other people small. I thought he needed a taste of his own medicine.”

Bryce is struggling with what he did, worried he caused someone harm or alienated someone from their family. I know him well enough to know the thoughts running through his head, but he can’t ruin what was already ruined, and I want to make sure he knows that. “So, we have the design. We’ll have to talk to Kat and see if there’s anyone she can recommend.”

His eyes light up at the thought, which sets me a little on edge. That kind of look in his eye either means he has a great idea or he’s about to do something stupid. Again. “I have a great idea for that.”

My arms cross over my chest, eyes narrowed at him. “I’m listening.”

“So, you know how Kat quit her job and will be wanting money?”

“Obviously,” I reply dryly.

“What if we hire her? She already knows the plans like the back of her hand. We’d be giving her the money instead of someone we don’t know, and the subcontractors she hired aren’t barred from working with us or her. I asked Carl.”

It was a good plan. A great one, in fact. I’m kind of mad I wasn’t the one to think of it first. I know it’d take a lot of stress off Kat’s shoulders and Carl seemed loyal to her. If she got him to stay, I think he’d get the rest of the crew to sign on, too. “That’s a great idea.”

“Right?” he asks, grin brightening. “When we walked through the house a couple of weeks ago, I told her she’s good enough to branch out on her own, whether it’s working on houses or on businesses. I stand by that, and honestly, there’s no one else I’d want to trust with the project.”

“I agree.” I nod. “We’ll talk to her about it when she gets back down here.”

“Talk to who about what?” We both turn to see the girls walking back into the room, Mia leading the group with a dark eyebrow arched. “What were you two talking about?”

“Kat, can we talk to you for a minute?” Bryce asks.

She looks at me, worry about what it could mean reflected in her eyes, so I give her a reassuring smile. “Sure, what’s up?”

Part of me wants to suggest we go into another room. I don’t want Kat to feel pressured to say yes to this if it’s not something she wants. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk about her plans for the rest of her life. Between the activities that transpired last night and her rapidly texting Nadine through breakfast, there just hasn’t been time. Maybe she’s not even sure she wants to do this anymore. Maybe she has a different career path she wants to go down. Of course I’ll be there to support her, whatever decision she makes, but I don’t want her to feel pressed into doing something simply because she feels like she owes us.

“Would you continue to be our contractor?”

Bryce asks the question so simply, no one is sure how to process it.

“What?” Kat questions, looking from him to me, face scrunched up in utter confusion. “I don’t work for Dalton Enterprises anymore and you fired them.”

“Right, but you still have all the licenses you need to be a professional contractor. Carl already told me he’d stick around to help you finish it. You know the plans like the back of your hand. We already have the money we were going to pay Dalton Enterprises for the rest of the project. We’d rather give it to you.”

“That is such a great idea!” Josie squeals, clapping her hands together.

“I don’t want you to feel like you owe me something,” Kat explains, looking from Bryce to me. For the most part, Josie and Mia have stepped back from this conversation, allowing us to conduct the business we need to, because this conversation is business, not friends, or a couple making plans. “You don’t owe me anything, either of you. I will understand if you want to find a bigger firm. I have some in the area I can recommend for you.”

Bryce is already shaking his head. “That’s the thing, though, Kat, we don’t want to work with a bigger firm. We want to continue working with the kick-ass contractor we’ve been working with because we know she’ll do the job right and do it well. It doesn’t matter that she’s not tied to a major firm anymore. We want her to finish what she started.”

Kat’s gaze drifts over to me. “What do you think about all of this?”

“I’m firmly with Bryce on it,” I reply, trying not to let my emotions get ahead of me. It’s not like I don’t realize what this would mean for her, for us. She’s staying, at least for a couple more months. “You’ve done a really incredible job, Kat. What do you say?”

She nods, eyes bright with joy. “Yes, of course I say yes!” Bryce relaxes, and I know I’m feeling the same way. “I’ll want to do this properly. I think we should have an updated contract with the new terms outlined and everything. It has to be legitimate.”