Page 107 of Brewing Up My Fresh Start

“You don’t look fine. You look like I do when I break Mom’s favorite coffee mug.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it? When I break something important, Mom says I have to fix it or replace it. Can you fix the thing you broke with the lady?”

The question shouldn’t be that hard to answer. But sitting in my sister’s kitchen, surrounded by the domestic chaos I’ve spent my adult life avoiding, I can’t think of a single reason why fixing things with Michelle should be impossible.

“I don’t know if she’ll let me try.”

Tyler nods with satisfaction. “You won’t know until you ask. That’s what Mom always tells me.”

My phone rings while I’m loading my duffle bag onto the motorcycle. Scott’s name flashes across the screen, and my stomach drops with the certainty that this conversation will make everything worse.

“Reed, where onearthare you?”

“Charlotte. Why?”

“Because the investors want to meet tonight to decide whether we keep the Twin Waves contract.”

I sit down on Amanda’s front steps, motorcycle keys heavy in my hand.

“Grayson, they’re using Norris as leverage against you. Either you prove you can control the Michelle situation, or they replace you with a person who promises fewer complications.”

“The Michelle situation isn’t something to be controlled. She’s not a complication—she’s what makes the project worth building.”

“Try explaining that to investors who think love is a business liability.”

I look at my motorcycle, loaded and ready for the four-hour ride back to Twin Waves. Back to Michelle, who probably hates me. Back to Norris, who’s currently threatening everything she’s built. Back to investors who think partnership is a weakness.

“What if I choose Michelle over the investors?”

“Then you lose the biggest contract Reed Development has ever landed, and probably your reputation in commercial development.”

“And if I choose the investors over Michelle?”

“Then you prove everyone right who says you’re incapable of putting relationships before profit margins.”

The impossible choice hangs in the morning air like humidity you can’t escape. Except this time, I understand that running away isn’t an option. Michelle is facing David alone while I’m sitting on my sister’s front porch, paralyzed by professional indecision.

“Scott, what would you do?”

“I’d fight for the woman who makes me want to build things that matter instead of just things that sell.”

The answer hits me with the clarity of morning coffee after a sleepless night. “The grants aren’t complications. They’re protection against exactly the kind of predatory development that destroys communities instead of building them up.”

“Now you’re thinking like a man who’s found something worth fighting for.”

“Set up the meeting. I’ll be there.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“That Michelle Lawson’s preservation funding is exactly what makes this project worth building. And if they can’t see that, they can find another developer.”

I hang up and find Amanda standing in the doorway with a travel mug of coffee.

“Sounds like your thinking time is over,” she observes.

“The investors want me to choose between Michelle and my career. David Norris is positioning himself as the solution to their concerns about community complications.”