6. Wyatt
Chapter Six
Wyatt
Rosie blinked at me. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty shade of pink, and I wanted to lean through the window and kiss her. I knew that wouldn't fly, so I simply waited.
"I have," she finally said, which surprised me. I had expected her to dodge. "I don't know how to do this. I'm staying in the extra house on my dad's property because he needs a little help right now, so?—"
I paused, considering our options. "Locals' night is tomorrow at the winery. Find me there. We'll figure it out."
She held my gaze for another long beat before nodding. "Okay."
I walked away, with energy and anticipation humming through my body.
Griffin threw a quick smile my way. "So what exactly are you planning to do about Rosie?"
Even though Griffin knew we had married in a drunken haze in Vegas, even though he knew I kind of had a thing for her and had for years, even though he knew I was in love with her—because, apparently, I'd fessed up to that when I'd been all doped up from anesthesia after the stitches—he knew I had no clue about what to do.
"You have no idea." He was teasing, but his gaze sobered after a moment.
"I definitely don't," I said flatly.
I let out a sigh as I turned and finished adjusting one of the valves on a tank in the brewing area. When I straightened, I glanced around the room. I had resisted coming home. Not because I didn't love Fireweed Harbor. I did. And I loved my family. But we'd been through some shit together growing up. The collective worship of our oldest brother Jake, who had died over a decade ago, had grated on me. It wasn't even a conscious choice, more that life had naturally drawn me away and offered a convenient excuse.
I was of the mind that when you came from a really small town like this, going away for a little while sometimes made the most sense. Sometimes you needed to understand what you were missing.
When the opportunity had come up to take over the brewing management, something I enjoyed, I was glad to come back. I couldn't have planned the timing, but finally, most of the truth had come out about our brother.
The brewing room here felt like mine. It was a place where I could lose myself in tinkering. I turned and took a few steps, resting my hips against the table and curling my hands on the edge.
"Well, you've already made the commitment," he pointed out. "Now you just have to convince Rosie it's worth keeping."
"I know. What's the plan for when you'll start with the crew here?" I didn't want to keep dwelling on Rosie.
Griffin was taking a position on a hotshot expansion crew based out of here. "Jack is keeping me up to speed, and it looks like I'll be able to get started in the next few months. It's not sure that the crew will stay based in Fireweed Harbor, though. Jack plans to switch to the local crew if the state moves it to Willow Brook."
"Well, if you end up in Willow Brook, you'll be near Archer and Chase." I was referring to our cousin and half-brother who lived in that small Alaskan town. "You know Kenan's going to lean on you heavy to work for us," I added.
Griffin's lips quirked at the corners. "I know. I'll make that call when I'm ready."
Just then, as if on cue, Kenan came striding through the doorway. "Hey, guys."
"Hey, hey," I replied, just as Griffin asked, "What's up?"
"You guys have a few minutes? I could use some help unloading a few things that came in for the restaurant."
I pushed away from the table just as Griffin began walking toward Kenan. "At your service," he replied.
We walked with Kenan down the hallway. "What do you have for the restaurant?" I asked as we turned into the employee break room.
"Fiona is making some improvements in the kitchen. We've got a crew coming over to install some things today, so we shut down for the morning," he explained.
"We need to hustle then," I replied.
Moments later, we were hefting the new kitchen equipment from where it had been deposited just outside the building on a pallet. A crew was moving swiftly to get things installed.
"Is there a reason you chose to do this on a Wednesday?" I teased lightly.
Kenan shook his head. "No, other than it's when it got delivered, and we didn't want to leave it outside. The guys assured me they would have it installed and ready to roll in time for a late opening for lunch. Fiona has everything prepped for locals' night already."
Blake happened to come walking into the kitchen and caught the tail end of our conversation. "Because she always does," he offered.
Kenan grinned over at him. "She always does."
Just then, our sister McKenna walked into the kitchen from the back hallway. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "That is a shiny stove."
I chuckled as I straightened from setting it down. Kenan and I carefully adjusted it. "Who moved everything last night to make room in here?" I asked.
"We paid the crew to stay late. They wanted to. They're all motivated because they want this new stuff," he explained.
Within about a half hour, we had carried in two new grills for the line cooks and the new oven for Fiona's baked goods. Everybody pitched in and helped. Fiona and David arrived in the midst of it. David was our longtime chef and had handed over chef duties to Fiona about two years ago to focus solely on the administrative part of managing the restaurant. He was extra busy these days as we were opening up a brewery and winery in the Willow Brook area where our half-brother and cousin lived.
We collectively high-fived when it was finished. McKenna rested her hands on her hips as she smiled at me, literally beaming. "I am so glad you and Griffin are back home."
"Yeah?" I teased with a grin.
"You know it!" she said before throwing her arms around me in an impulsive hug.
Blake pulled me into a backslapping hug for good measure. When I stepped back and glanced around at my siblings, I couldn't help the smile that formed. It felt good to be here.
All of us had been scattered for a period of years, including college, life, and so on. Once Rhys made the call to relocate the corporate headquarters back here, most of us gradually returned, except for me and Griffin. I had been thinking of coming back. After McKenna had opened up about what had happened with Jake, it felt like I didn't have to keep that secret for her anymore.
I still experienced twinges of guilt, but maybe I could find a way to banish those.
"You'll be at locals' night tonight, right?" Blake prompted as we began to filter out of the room.
"Of course. Isn't it required?" I teased.
Kenan chuckled at my side as we walked down the hallway toward the break room. "It's a soft requirement, but it's worth it."
"No argument from me. Good food, good drinks, and plenty of friends and family."
"And you can catch up on the local gossip," David added as he followed us into the break room.
"I don't care about the gossip," I said.
"You are the gossip," Blake announced.
"Me?"
"You and Griffin. You're new to town," he replied.
"Uh, we grew up here," I pointed out.
David waggled his brows. "That's not the point. You recently moved back, and you're both single."
Griffin happened to walk in from the back door just as David replied. He caught my eyes but didn't say a word.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not looking."
I was very much not single. But aside from me and Rosie, only the doctor I'd confessed to in my loopy state when I got stitches and Griffin knew. If Rosie found out he knew, she'd be beyond furious.