Page 41 of Rise After Fall

“Oh. Well, I’m not sure when I’ll be done. I’m sort of at the mercy of Isley since she’s driving,” I tell her.

“If not, I’ll see you back at home,” she says.

I agree, and then I walk back to my office to check the reservation log.

Just out of curiosity.

Once I have the answer I’m looking for, I lock the office door and head outside.

I’m standing by the mess hall when Isley’s car pulls up.

She rolls down her window. “Hi, Zoey. Sorry I’m running late. I swear I can buy an entire new wardrobe on Monday, and by Friday, nothing fits.”

She and Langford are expecting their first baby together.

“It’s fine. I’m not pregnant, and I have the same problem,” I tell her as I climb in the passenger seat and buckle my seat belt.

Kinley Adams.

I roll the name around in my mind the entire ten-minute drive to Appalachian Ridge Brewery.

I have no idea why it bothers me so much. She was perfectly nice when we met.

Too nice.

“You’re awfully quiet. Was it a busy day at the resort?” Isley asks.

“Uh-huh.”

She slides her eyes to me.

“I’m sorry. It was a busy day, and I haven’t slept well this week. There was a bear and milk,” I rattle off.

“A bear and milk?” She looks at me like I’m already drunk.

I laugh. “A couple of the guys left food on the porch, and a black bear decided to have a snack. I came out and ran right into it.”

“Oh my God, that must have been terrifying.”

“It was. Thankfully, Morris was able to scare it off.”

She shakes her head. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Why’s that?” I ask.

“There’s nothing those Tuttle boys can’t handle.”

“Spoken like a happy wife,” I muse.

“Happy wife, happy sister-in-law, happy daughter-in-law—all of the above. Of course, it wasn’t always that way.”

“You were an unhappy wife?”

“No, no. Growing up, the Tuttle boys and my brothers were sworn enemies, and I was a brat and fully on board with the feud. Then, I moved away, and when I came back, Langford and I both ran for mayor, which caused more tension, and that tension turned into something else that scared the shit out of me, but also excited the hell out of me. Weston was single then and living with Langford and Tucker, and he can be a rascal. They all wore me down. Anyway, it all worked out in the end,” she says as she rubs her bump.

“Clearly,” I agree.

“They can be a lot. Intense. Passionate. A little arrogant. But in the end, they’re just a bunch of momma’s boys with big hearts.”