Page 10 of From Grumpy to Forever
And possibly—a husband.
The sooner the better.
Chapter Six
Reid
My workshop space was cramped and crowded with the tools I’d acquired over the years. My wish list for tools was much, much longer than what I actually had on hand.
The problem was quality tools cost money. Money I didn’t have.
You’d have plenty of money if you stopped getting fired.
I could hear my twin brother’s voice echoing in my head. But Grayson didn’t think about things the way I did. He never had.
He didn’t see the way the newcomers were ruining our town. To him, every new person moving to Trickle Creek was a new customer. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about the way things were changing; it just didn’t bother him the way it did me.
The last thing I wanted was for Trickle Creek to turn into another soulless tourist town. It had already happened to so many of the small towns that were a little closer to the city. The city folk moved in and took over, as if it were their own personal playground to do with what they liked.
Sure, some of them were decent people who were just looking for an escape from the city and respected the small-town life. But far too many of them wanted all the conveniences of the city, only in the mountains.
They threw their money around, changing things just enough to drive out the small mom-and-pop shops, bringing in the drive-thrus and corporate, soulless stores that transformed the unique, character-filled town into a mini version of the city.
I’d be damned if I was going to let that happen to Trickle Creek.
Things had already changed too much. The Carlson family was beloved in town for boosting tourism when the mines shut down and hundreds of people lost their jobs. Under Michael Carlson’s leadership, a ski resort and golf course were built, along with a large lodge and condos that brought a lot of attention to our little town. And with that attention came the tourists. And the money.
Truthfully, the changes did save the town, but now things were swinging too far. There had to be a compromise of some sort. Couldn’t it be possible to have tourism while still preserving everything that made Trickle Creek special?
I wished I had the answers. But I didn’t, so I turned my attention back to the project at hand. With my hands on my hips, I took a step back to assess the stack of wood I had.
Or, more specifically, I tried to take a step back before tripping over a stack of boxes my brother had piled up.
With a grumble, I only barely caught myself before falling on my ass.
The shed was too small to be a proper workshop. Especially when I had to share it with my brother Ethan and his brewery equipment. And I did have to share, because technically the shed I used as my workshop sat on his land and belonged to him.
A small detail that had never been a problem when Ethan and his daughter Quinn were living in the city. Ethan had given me free rent in his place and use of the shed as long as I took care of the property. But now, since the divorce was finalized, Ethan and Quinn were moving back to town.
Not only was I going to have to find a new place to live, I needed a real workshop space. The tiny shed was okay for small projects, but not the bigger furniture pieces I wanted to focus on.
And I had my eye on just the right spot on the edge of town that had just posted for sale. It was a great location, and there was even a little room that would be ideal as a showroom for completed pieces to prospective buyers.
It was perfect.
Except for the price tag.
Which meant that, like it or not, I was going to need to find some secure source of employment.
Avery’s cute blonde head popped into my mind.
Working at the inn would be a big job. No doubt it would pay well. And there was the added benefit of working closely with Avery.
Just thinking of the overly optimistic and undeniably sexy woman made me shake my head. Yes, the woman could fill out a T-shirt, and the memory of the way her ass had fit perfectly in my hands when I boosted her into the window had given me something to think about every night while I lay alone in my bed. But her eternal optimism and over-the-top energy would drive me crazy if I worked for her.
Never mind the fact that it was never a good idea to sleep with your boss, or want to sleep with your boss.
And all of that was a big if anyway, considering I’d been a first-class asshole to her the other day.
