Unbelievably, Christy missed the whole exchange.
I composed myself and said, “Oh, I got the approval.”
Trip and Wren traded grins.
“But I’ve had a really long day, so…”
“Yeah, us too,” he agreed.
“Think I’ll shower and go to bed.”
“That’s cool. We’ll see you tomorrow. Back to work, I’m afraid. I wanna finish the access road before we start on the cabins.”
“Sure, whatever. I’ll call Granville. I haven’t worked on the drawings since Thursday, so it’d be a waste of time to see him.”
“Sounds good. Have a nice night. See you in the morning.”
Christy and I walked toward the bungalow in silence. We were happy to see each other, but my chest felt ready to burst with excitement. I wanted to sweep her into my arms and tell her everything. I wanted to spend my life with her, have kids with her, grow old with her!
I took a deep breath and did my best to hide my emotions. Christy deserved a proper proposal, not an impulsive one because I couldn’t contain myself. Besides, I was sticky, sweaty, smelly, and gross.
I opened the door and followed her into the cool of the bungalow.
“I’m glad you’re home,” she said. “Well, not home-home, but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, me too.” I dumped my backpack in the corner of the bedroom. I wanted to open it and check the ring, but I couldn’t. Then I looked around for a suitable hiding place, but I couldn’t do that either.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh? What? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’m fine,” I said. “Just tired from the drive.”
“Oh, okay. Then I’ll leave you alone.”
“No! Don’t,” I added in a calmer voice.
She smiled, relieved and a little amused. “Do you want company in the shower? I took one earlier, but… I don’t mind.”
“Thanks, but I wanna take a cold one.”
She shivered involuntarily.
“Right. By myself. Besides, you know how you get after a hot shower.”
“Mmm, all sleepy,” she agreed.
“I won’t be long. Then we can talk while you do your lotions and potions. I like that, like watching you.”
Her cheeks turned pink with pleasure.
“And then I need to remind you why we’re together.”
“Oh? Do I need reminding?”
“Over and over… for the rest of our lives.”
* * *
The quarry road took two days to finish instead of one. Trip and I worked on it while the girls went back to their regular jobs in camp, although “vacation” was a better description during the week.
We finished clearing the road and then decided to take advantage of the Bobcat and brush cutter while we had them. We used the chainsaw first, and I felled several larger trees around the quarry rim. Then I cut them into manageable logs, while Trip dragged them downhill with the Bobcat and a chain.
Once we finished with the trees, he used the brush cutter to clear and widen the track from the base of the quarry to the top. I hauled debris down to the pile of logs. Finally, we shifted several of the smaller boulders away from the site where we planned to build our deck.
“What do you think about a floating dock?” Trip said. “Nothing extravagant, only twenty or thirty feet. Long enough that we can dive off the end.”
“Or tie up the raft and use it as a sunbathing platform,” I added.
“Good idea.” He surveyed the site. “Keep the Bobcat for a while, too. It’ll make things easier, starting with an auger attachment to dig holes for the deck footers.”
“And for the diving platform,” I agreed. “Hold on, that won’t work. The topsoil’s pretty thin up there. Do they make rock drill attachments?”
“Sure. Have to go to Spartanburg to get one, though.”
“That’s fine. We’ll need it to anchor the platform.”
“So… you’re serious about that?” he said.
“Christy is.”
“She really wants to jump? From up there?”
“Dive,” I corrected, almost absently. “Any idiot can jump off a cliff.”
“Not this idiot,” he laughed. Then he eyeballed it. “That’s… what? Fifty feet?”
“More like thirty-two. Well, thirty-three, but who’s counting?”
He gave me a funny look.
“Ten meters.”
“Whatever.” He grinned and changed the subject. “So… have you decided when you’re going to pop the question?”
“Not yet. I’m working on it.”
“Lemme know if you need any help.”
“What?” I laughed. “Another sewer float?”
“Aw, c’mon, you gotta admit… that was brilliant.”
“Yeah, it was. I still owe you, though, and payback is hell.”
He shrugged and grinned. “What’re friends for?”
“You can say that again. Anyway, let’s finish up. You ready to head back?”
“Yeah. I have some invoices and paperwork I need to go over with Susan.”
“And I still have a ton of drawings to finish for Granville.”
“Is he ready to sign off?”
“Yeah. On the bathhouse and new RV site. Probably next week for the cabins.”
“We’ll have to celebrate when he does.” He eyed me sideways. “When’s Christy’s friend get here?”
“Brooke? On Sunday.”
“Wren says she’s ‘sort of’ a swinger?”
“She wants to try. You know how it is.”
He nodded. “And… um… between you and me, Wren’s a little jealous.”
“Of Brooke?”
“Duh! Who else? She’s been acting weird all week. Nothing crazy, but you know how she gets snippy?”
I nodded.
“Well, I finally put it together. She’s jealous.”
“She doesn’t have anything to worry about.”
“Still, you know how she is. So I’m gonna play it cool for a while. With Brooke, for sure.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Hey,” he laughed, “I’m not a total horndog! But still… Wren said that Christy told her that Brooke—” He paused, listened to what he’d just said, and laughed. “God! I sound like those girls in high school.”
“A little, yeah.”
“Anyway, Brooke’s a redhead, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And gorgeous. What… an eight or nine?”
“More like a ten,” I admitted.
“I was afraid of that. Don’t tell Wren, but I kinda have a thing for redheads.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Besides, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m not gonna screw it up.”
“No.”
“Still… a redhead? And a ten?”
“Just play it cool, like you said.”
“Yeah. But do me a favor.”
“Sure, anything.”
“Maybe you can pay a little more attention to Wren, especially while Brooke’s here. She… um… kinda feels neglected. She’d kill me if she knew I was telling you, but… you know.” He shrugged. Then he thought of something and grinned instead. “I thought Wren liked to be the center of attention, but Christy has her beat.”
I frowned as the conversation headed in a new direction. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Just that Christy’s been calling the shots lately.”
“So?”
“Hey, I’m cool with it. Besides, Wren says it’s what she does. She manipulates things from behind the scenes.”
“And…?”
“And… nothing. I’m just saying. Christy’s calling the shots. No problem. But Wren’s feeling neglected. And a little jealous of Brooke. That’s all. I thought… maybe… you know… you could show her a little extra attention. You know how she feels about you. Hell, I feel the same, almost. You’re my best friend, practically my brother. You know that.”
“Yeah.”
“And we have to keep our women happy.”
“True.”
“So… I’m gonna play it cool around Brooke. Besides, it’ll help with Christy, too. She already thinks I’m too full of myself.”