Page 50 of One Small Spark (Love in Sunshine #4)

THIRTY-FIVE

WREN

I am a good girlfriend, I tell myself like I’m my own self-help audiobook. This is not overstepping. This is just the right amount of stepping.

Acting on my impulses isn’t always the best move.

Every time they backfire on me, I swear I’ve learned my lesson.

And yet, here I am, back at Moonlight Lodge with just a few days left to go before the gala/big bike trails presentation.

If the women in book group have taught me anything, it’s that sometimes meddling makes life better for everyone.

I should probably let them know that at some point. Far in the future.

Usually when I walk through Moonlight Lodge’s swanky lobby, I’m carrying pies. Today, it’s just me and my adrenaline, urging me to rush in swinging my sword of righteous indignation.

Some of that urge to go in guns blazing fizzles when Charlie’s mom spots me from behind the front desk. Because that’s also Shepherd’s mom. I’ve never been nervous around Emily Callahan before, but I might have a lil sweat going on this time. Her mom radar could clue her in about Shepherd and me .

She beams, though, in perfect customer service mode. “Wren. It’s good to see you.”

“Same to you, Em—I mean, Mrs. Callahan.” Smooth.

She smiles over my little flub, even though I usually just call her by her first name. “What can I do for you?”

“Is Charlie available?” My first instinct was to head straight for the barn, but I don’t want to get in trouble for nosing around the lodge without a guide. And my favorite guide happens to have no idea I’m out here.

“She’s in the barn getting everything finalized for our big event on Friday. Do you want me to call her down?”

“I can meet her there, if that’s okay.” I’d rather do this in the relative privacy of the barn. It might get messy if I have too much of an audience.

She gestures at the hallway that leads outside. “You know the way.”

“I do. Don’t worry, I’ll be back on Friday with your pies.”

Emily just laughs. “I’ve never had a doubt about Blackbird’s delivering when they say they will.”

Aww. She is the nicest. I hope she stays that nice after she finds out I’m dating her son.

I walk the short path from the main lodge out to the barn. Déjà vu hits me when I move to open the door. Leo’s probably with Charlie. That’s what I hoped when I came out here, but if I catch those two kissing again, I’m going to seriously question their work ethic.

Thankfully, when I pull the door open, they’re on opposite sides of the room. Charlie catches sight of me, and her face does this weird grimace. Like she wanted to smile but then panicked.

“Hi, Wren.” She moves closer, weaving between the fancy white tables set up throughout the space like a pro. “Is everything okay with our order for Friday?”

“All good. I’m not here about that. ”

A more natural expression overtakes her face. “Thank goodness. What’s up?”

“I know you’re busy, but I need to talk to you. It’s about Shepherd.”

Her smile crumples again. “Oh, gosh. He said it was no big deal, and now he’s not even talking to me about it? I’m going to call him right now and get this out in the open.”

She pulls her phone from her pocket, but I rush to stop her.

“It’s not about that, either. And obviously, I don’t even know what that is. I’m just saying…it’s not about whatever you’re thinking.”

Charlie freezes, phone in hand. “He told you.”

“No, he didn’t say anything.” I glance away, hoping to get this over with ASAP. “I might have been here, too.”

Charlie’s shoulders slump, but Leo grins like a cat who just cornered a mouse. He has zero concerns that I saw him kissing his best friend’s sister. “What were you doing out here with Shepherd on Thanksgiving?”

Just racing him on the bike he fixed up and falling asleep cuddled against him on his couch. Don’t make a big thing out of it.

I won’t give satisfaction to his gloating question. “Unless you want to explain what you two were doing in here on Thanksgiving, I don’t have to answer that.”

“Oh, I’ll tell you.”

Charlie smacks his chest. “You won’t.”

He takes her hand and holds it to him. “I’ll tell everybody.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you think it is.” And yet, the woman’s smiling.

This is getting way out of hand. “Please, let’s focus on Shepherd.”

“Yes, Wren. Let’s focus on Shepherd.” Leo couldn’t sound any more like a hypnotist implanting a trigger word if he tried. I’m pretty sure the next time I say that name, I’ll wind up clucking like a chicken.

“Take it down a notch,” Charlie tells him. “I want to know what’s going on.”

Leo sobers infinitesimally, but they both turn their focus on me.

Right. What I came here for.

The thing is, this isn’t easy for me. I would go to bat for my family in a heartbeat.

Same with Hope, my oldest and truest friend.

But outside of that tiny circle, I don’t have any other ride-or-dies.

I’ll have to lay a lot of personal cards on the table to get through this big request. That’s not the type of risk I usually take.

But for Shepherd, I’ll do anything.

“You know about the trails expansion he’s working on, right?”

They both nod. At least they know some things. I don’t have to start from scratch.

“He has to give a big presentation at a town hall meeting to try to get the project approved.” I don’t want to say anything about his panic attacks yet. I have no idea if that’s common knowledge and won’t be the one to reveal it. “It’s a thirty-minute speech in front of at least a hundred people.”

From the surprise on Charlie’s face and Leo’s low whistle, they already know about Shepherd’s anxiety.

“Why hasn’t he told us about it?” Charlie asks.

“Because it’s this Friday.” Their stunned expressions are morbidly satisfying. This isn’t their fault, but I’m still inclined to blame them that he felt he couldn’t speak up. He needs to know his family supports him, even when their goals don’t perfectly align.

“He knows you guys are committed to your gala.” I stop for a second to really admire everything I didn’t pay attention to last week.

It’s a gorgeous space. I can almost see all the wedding cakes Tess will deliver here.

“But this presentation is really important to him. The trails could do a lot for Sunshine’s tourism and businesses, not just his.

It’s a multi-million-dollar project that’s resting on his shoulders. ”

I played it cool when he went over the money side of it in the presentation the other night, but I had no idea bike trails were that expensive.

“It’s going to be a massive undertaking, all because Shepherd had the vision to make it happen.

I think you know it’s hard for him to be in the spotlight like this, but he’s going to anyway because it’s that important to him. ”

But it’s not a selfish endeavor. I’m pretty sure he’d do something similar even if he wouldn’t stand to gain anything from it, simply because he wanted to help out.

"Shepherd thinks he has to be some kind of lone wolf, but that’s not who he really is.

He stands up for other people and defends them and supports them.

He’s there for everybody else. He’s a pack animal.

” I pause to take a breath. “And it would mean a lot to have the people who love him be there for him, too. If his sister and best friend?—”

“And parents.”

I spin around to see Emily and Nick Callahan in the open doorway. Somebody went a little crazy with the WD-40 because that thing is silent.

My heart races into my throat, but I can’t stop now. “And parents. If all of you could be there, it would let him know how much he means to you, too. And maybe it would steady him when it’s hard for him to speak in front of a crowd.”

“I can’t believe he offered to do that,” Leo says.

“I don’t think offered is the right word. But he’s following through because people are counting on him. I know you’ve got an important event here Friday. But I want to make sure you remember how important Shepherd is, too. ”

Emily and Nick join us in the middle of the barn.

“And Shepherd is important to you, too?” Emily’s got too knowing a look in her eye to accept anything close to a denial.

And why would I want to deny it? Shepherd Callahan is steady and loyal, funny and smart. He can be a pain in my butt, too, but I wouldn’t want him any other way. So what if I’m not used to sharing my love life with people? I never had anyone worth sharing before.

I nod. “He’s the most important.”