One of the Good Ones (Strawberry Inn Book #1)

Chapter 21

HARRISON

I’m dead-ass tired after working a full twelve-hour shift for the third day in a row, but I have to suck it up because I promised Angela that I would be there for dinner tonight so I could meet her brother while he was in town. Since he still lives in California, he is not here that often. Her relationship with her brother is close so the two of us meeting is really important to her. The last time he was here happened to be the same time I was back in Omaha moving. 

A past version of myself would have avoided meeting the family of a girl I was dating. I also would have put work and myself first, not thinking twice about canceling a dinner date. Angela wasn’t just a girl I was dating, she was so much more. It was a bit too soon to be saying that crazy “L” word, but it was undeniable that my feelings were heading that way. I promised myself that this move would be a fresh start to do things differently and so far I’m dedicated to just that. No longer will I put work before my personal life. I’m not going to ignore my professional life, I have a very important role in this community. I’m going to put forth the effort to make both parts of my life work together.

So even though my feet can barely carry me, I climb out of my truck and make my way to Angela’s cottage with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a six-pack of beers in the other. Angela told me that her brother was on an IPA kick so I bought a variety pack at the local gas station that had different IPAs from all over the state. I wasn’t trying to suck up, but it couldn’t hurt to bring a gift to soften the blow of dating his sister.

“Hayes, what are you doing here?” I was surprised to see Blair’s son coming around from the side of the cottage as I approached. He was just tucking his phone into his back pocket, wearing an expression that I couldn’t quite read.

“Miss Angela invited us over for dinner too. Mom said you were going to be here.”

“I didn’t realize she had invited you guys as well. That’s great, the more the merrier, right?” I nudged him in his shoulder and he smiled just a bit. “What were you doing out here if everybody else is in there?”

“My dad called. I didn’t want to bother anybody so I came outside.”

“I see. Everything okay between the two of you?”

“Yeah, it's cool. He was telling me about his last trip to Japan and the new player he’s trying to sign. Dude is supposed to have a killer arm and LA is looking at signing him.”

“Why do you look like something is going on then?”

“It’s nothing.”

Hayes begins to walk away, but I tuck the bouquet under my arm and grab his forearm with my newly freed hand, “Hayes, I know you don’t know me all that well, but if you need somebody to talk to, I’m always here. Your mom is great, but sometimes a teenage boy doesn’t want to talk to his mom about something. If I’m being blunt, you’re looking like you’re hiding something right now.”

“I don’t want to make a big deal about this because my mom will freak out if I tell her.”

“That’s…an interesting development. Did something bad happen?”

“The opposite, actually. Dad’s going to try and come home over my Spring Break so we can spend some time together. My grandma and grandpa have been asking him to visit for some time now and he wants to bring his girlfriend so she can see the vineyard and here he grew up.”

“I see. That sounds like a really good thing. Why do you think your mom is going to freak out?”

“What if she gets hurt seeing Dad with another woman? It is different when it is just in passing in an airport terminal or the background of a video call. This would be right in front of her face.”