Page 24

MARLIE

SIX WEEKS LATER

“Mara, can you grab the phone?” I ask her over the noise of my sewing machine.

I’m working on a few new concepts that I’m hoping make my sketch come to life.

So far, it’s been tough going. I’ve literally scrapped this damn thing two times.

If the third one isn’t the lucky charm, I’m going to call it quits.

Which I probably should have long before now, but I’m not a quitter.

They say life is what you make it, and no truer words have ever been spoken.

Tanner and I have been inseparable. Where one is, the other is usually not far, unless we’re at work.

It’s one of the things we have in common—we’re both hustlers, busting our asses to make an honest living and learning how to take time out away from work, too.

Luckily, that’s happened a heck of a lot more lately.

We’ve both firmly stuck to the no working weekends and have even managed to sneak away a couple of times for a three-day weekend, even if it’s just a quick airplane ride into the next state to explore the sights.

“Hey, Marlie, it’s Keller. I asked if I could take a message, but he said it’s important.” My mind spins a thousand different scenarios.

“Thanks.” She hands me the cordless phone and returns up front. With spring here, the shop is open much more during the day. Which is where she’s been working the most. We probably need another employee before too long, especially if we want to take a vacation while the other is gone.

“Hey, Keller, is everything alright?” I ask immediately.

“Hi, yeah, it is. I mean health wise, yeah, but I’m in a bind. We’re all scattered everywhere. Mom and Dad are on vacation, and I’m stuck in freaking Gainesville longer than I expected. I hate to ask you this…” he trails off.

“Don’t ever hesitate to ask anything unless it’s to bury a body. That is not for me.” I make a joke to try and calm his nerves down.

“Nothing like that. Are you able to pick up Jace from school? Tanner added you to the list the last time he picked Jace up.” They have a system in place when their parents aren’t around, so they must be getting hammered in the work department.

“Not a problem at all. I’ll pick him up and take him back to Tanner’s.

” Yes, we both still have our places. Right now, it works for us.

Tanner’s house sits on an acre and is more secluded than mine.

It’s a give and take. One day, we’ll land on a permanent residence, but I think we’ll keep both houses in the long run.

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver, sis.”

“Anytime, Keller.” We hang up. Excitement brews inside me at spending the afternoon with one rambunctious little boy. I already know it’ll be filled with baking cookies, shooting water guns at one another, and lots of giggles.

“Everything okay?” Mara asks.

“Yep, Keller needs me to pick up Jace. So, since I’m leaving in a little bit, feel free to close down when you want.” Our hours aren’t always consistent. It somehow works for us, and I’m thankful to not be on time constraints when it comes to the sales area.

“Sounds good.” Mara leaves. What Keller doesn’t know is that last week, when it was Tanner’s turn to pick up Jace, I went with him and got a look at what Leena was talking about.

It also helped that his schoolteacher is absolutely gorgeous and even asked about Keller.

It had me calling Leena the moment I could and had us coming up with an idea to set the two of them up.

I grab my phone to shoot a text to Leena, letting her know Operation Keller and Alana is a go, then I return to my work until it’s time to pick up Jace.

All the while I’m excited to tell Tanner.

After all, it was his idea to begin with.

We won’t tell Keller that, though. If we did, he’d probably take Tanner’s head off, and that wouldn’t work well with the news I have planned to tell him tonight.