Her Best Men

“Figured as much,” I said. “Now come on. We got a family reunion to rest up for tomorrow.”

“Anyone invite Katie to it?” he asked.

“Andrew and I both did. So, we’ll see if she shows.”

“Think she will?”

I drew in a deep breath as I leaned against the door of my car.

“I think we’re all hopin’ she will. She’s been missed, and it’ll be good to have her back if she does show.”

“Like old times,” Caleb said.

“Like old times,” I agreed.

CHAPTER 9

CALEB

I still couldn’t believe Dylan and I had walked away from two hot girls last night. Settling down? Was Dylan serious? Out of all of us, he was the one that was the most closed off to that idea. None of us knew why, but it didn’t stop us from accepting that fact about him. That was how he’d always been. He fucked women, treated them well, but never let himself – or them – get attached. He’d floated through all his years like that, and suddenly he wanted to stop and settle down?

There was something else going on, but I didn’t know what.

Everyone from the wedding party was checked out. Whitney flew back to the city. Lizzie went back to whatever party hole she lost herself in when she wasn’t working, and Katie was off to talk with her landlord. I was hoping she could get things straightened out, even if one of us had to talk on her behalf. I didn’t know why I was so worried about it, but I hoped things would work out for her. Her presence was already missed around the resort, however. I found myself looking around for her more times than I needed to be, and I caught Dylan and Andrew doing the same thing.

It had been nice having her back, and I knew we were all hoping she’d show up for the family reunion that was coming up.

I was finalizing all the stuff we needed for this new installation. I settled on a blueprint I thought would be the most beneficial for us, outlined all the animals we should have at that resort, had basic sketches of all the rooms to offer people, and even outlined all the activities and spa treatments we should have. I wanted to do something a bit different in South Carolina. I wanted to offer a few things none of our other resorts had at this point. If we could garner a customer base on the East Coast, that opened massive potential in a market we could rule. I was jotting things down last minute before I walked this stuff over to Dylan, but as I came out of my office I ran into a familiar face.

“Katie?” I asked.

“Hey there, Caleb.”

“What are you doin’ here? Didn’t you check out this mornin’?” I asked.

“Yeah. Went to have the first round of talks with my landlord.”

“How’d it go?” I asked. “He gonna give you back your lease?”

“It’s not quite that simple, but he’s working with me. He’s already got a renter for that apartment, so I’m signing another lease for an apartment in the complex. Same layout, same space, just moving over to another building.”

“You know if you need help, all ya gotta do is ask,” I said. “But I’m glad he’s workin’ with you.”

“Me, too. He felt for me. Apparently, his son went through the same thing last year. Cut off a wedding, so that played in my favor. But after I walked out of the office, I wanted somewhere to go, and this was the only place that came to mind.”

“Can’t stay away, can ya?” I asked.

“It’s beautiful here. I’m surprised any of you guys can go home after working at it all day.”

“Trust me. You can after dealin’ with all its maintenance and plannin’,” I said. “Listen. I gotta get this stuff to Dylan real quick. If you wait here, I’ll be right back and we can take a walk or somethin’.”

“I’d like that. Sure. I’ll be right there.”

I raced to Dylan’s office and didn’t bother knockin’ on his door. I slid everything into his mailbox before I raced back down the hallway, anxious to spend some time with Katie. She was smilin’ at me as I walked toward her, so I went with my gut. I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up, swingin’ her around as her giggles filled the hallway.

“Come on. There’s so much more you haven’t seen of this place,” I said.

“I loved my stay here, even if the circumstances were odd,” she said.