Tangle (Dogwood Lane 2)

I, HALEY RAYNOR, PROMISE NOT TO FALL IN LOVE AND CLING TO TREVOR KELLY.

“Fair enough.” He sticks out a hand. “Deal?”

I lay my palm in his and ignore the way my body sings at the contact. “Deal.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

TREVOR

That looks really good,” I say, walking around the deck to get another angle at Matt’s handiwork. “I can’t believe you built this on your own. That’s some skill you have.”

The deck is almost the same size as the first floor of the house. Despite its massive proportions, each board is laid perfectly. Each nail pounded to the top of the wood. It’s an amazing study in craftsmanship, one I know Dad will love.

The early-morning sky is bright, the air crisp. The combination makes me feel alive as I stand beside Matt and breathe in the smell of pine.

He leans against the rail and surveys his work. “Thanks. Projects like these are my favorite.”

“Pains in the ass?”

He laughs. “Well, sometimes. But I love the big-scale stuff with all kinds of pieces that make you really buckle down and dive in.” He glances to the side of the house, smirking as he takes in Penn having a discussion with a six-panel door. “Any fool can hang a door.”

“You know,” I say, “when I first met Penn, I wasn’t sure how things were going to play out.”

“Same.”

I laugh, turning back to Matt. “I really like him. He keeps things fun around here.”

“Pretty sure that’s the only reason Dane keeps him around some days.” He shakes his head. “I’m kidding. Penn’s a good guy. We’ve been best friends a long damn time.”

“You guys remind me of me and my brother. Jake and I are close in age and have wanted to work together our entire lives.”

“That’s awesome. We did not.”

I chuckle. “Well, we did. Jake is older, so he got to run the construction side of things. I’m the smarter one, so I took over the financials and engineering elements. Can’t imagine working with anyone else.”

Matt follows me down the steps and onto the lawn. “Dane and I took over for our father. It just sort of happened. One day Penn showed up and didn’t leave, and now it’s just what we do. Some days I want to kill them both, but that’s probably normal, I reckon.”

We stop on the top of the hill and take in the view. The evergreens mix with the last flush of fall colors in the peaks and valleys below, and I wonder what it would be like to wake up to this. When Dad first said they were building a house here, I thought he was crazy. I told him he’d lose his mind in the middle of the country. I think I might’ve been wrong.

“I bet you can see a hundred miles every direction,” I say, my voice carried away by the breeze.

“Probably.” Matt takes a pack of gum out of his back pocket. “You sticking around this weekend? A bunch of us are getting together at my house to watch football and shoot the shit. You’re welcome to come, if you want.”

“Thanks,” I say, taking the proffered piece of gum. “I have to head to Nashville for my dad’s retirement party, actually.”

Haley’s face pops into my mind, and I fight off a little bubble of irritation about leaving. I’ve grappled with the annoyance since last night, when I remembered Dad’s retirement party as I was looking up places to take Haley to dinner tonight.

As if my brother senses my weakness, my phone rings in my pocket. I pull it out to see Jake’s name.

“I need to take this,” I say to Matt. “The deck looks great.”

He points at me as if to say, “Okay,” and heads toward Penn.

I swipe the screen. “Hey,” I say. “What’s happening?”

“Not much. Natalie gave me this week’s checks to sign. I’ll just say I have a lot more hesitation signing them when I know you haven’t seen them.”

“They’re fine. Natalie sent me a spreadsheet this morning, and I went through it.” I pause. “She’s good, you know. You can trust her.”

“I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have my blood.” He sighs. “Anyway, what’s happening at the Love Nest?”

I look over the valley again. “Dad’s got a helluva piece of property up here, Jake. You really should see it.”

“I’m losing you, aren’t I?”

I laugh. “No. I’m just standing on what feels like the top of the world and thought I’d relay that. You know, to make you jealous.”

“I’m green with envy.”

“Better than blue from blue balls.”

“True enough,” he says. “Speaking of misery, Liz RSVP’d to Dad’s party today.”

I hold my forehead with one hand and pretend he didn’t just say that. “Did the caterer add those little potato things we talked about to the menu? I reminded Natalie about it this morning.”

Jake’s laughter spills through the line. “Are we not talking about Liz?”