“I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. Liam railroaded me.” And since he was taking on all of the repair work, it wasn’t in her to deny him much.

“Good for him. Back porch margaritas soon,” Autumn promised.

“You’re on.”

The man himself was standing at the counter.

“Are you here to escort me to make sure I actually make it to the job site?”

“It’s the only way I can be sure you won’t go disappear somewhere to brood.”

“I’m not brooding.”

Liam’s brows jacked up.

“I’m not. I’m dealing with obnoxious things, like insurance and bills and taxes and all the crap nobody tells us about when we’re kids in an all-fired hurry to grow-up. That’s not brooding.”

“Then what is it?”

“Adulting.”

Molly laughed and put an arm around her. “I believe that should officially be a word. Now why don’t you let me take over the adulting for the day and go with Liam to work on the playground. And when it’s finished, do something really radical and play on it.”

Riley’s instinct was to list all the things she should be doing instead, but the fact was, she’d made all the calls, filled out all the reports, done inventory. There was absolutely nothing else she could do now but wait. If she didn’t do something to keep busy, she would fall into a brood. Her mood was bleak enough without going there.

But that didn’t mean she wanted to be trapped in Liam’s truck even for the short drive to the park.

“I can drive myself.”

Jessie piped up, “Actually, no you can’t. Your mom came to borrow the car. She said you’d said it was okay, so I gave her the key while you were on the phone earlier.”

She’d said no such thing.

I will not lose my shit. I will not lose my shit. Riley mentally counted to ten and reminded herself she didn’t look good in orange.

“Then I guess I am riding with you. Let me get my purse.”

~*~

“Just a little bit higher.”

In tandem with Judd, Liam shifted the slide on his shoulder.

“That’s it,” Mitch said. “Hold what you’ve got, while I bolt this bad boy in.”

The work day was drawing to a close and the new Waldrop Park playground was almost assembled. Across the way, Liam could see Riley laughing with Miranda as they threaded the blocks of the tic tac toe game onto pipes. Her cheeks were flushed with heat and maybe a little sunburn. It was the first time he’d seen her smile since the flood, and the sight of it hit him straight in the gut.

“You want me to dump the water cooler over your head?” Judd asked.

“What?”

“You keep looking over there like that and the new playground’s gonna catch on fire.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.” Judd chuckled and stepped out from beneath the finished slide.

Jesus, he had to get himself under control. What he really needed was a chance to corner Riley to talk to her. Although Liam was starting to wonder if that was the best approach. His last attempt to do that had been a disaster, and she was so stressed out and defensive these days, he wasn’t entirely sure she’d listen.

Tags: Kait Nolan Wishful Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net