Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,4
to them, leaving him desperately short-staffed. “There were days when this first started it looked like a million ants were scurrying over the rooftop.”
“Speaking of ants, there was the time when you all decided to bike over to Red Rock for a picnic and set your blanket on a harvester ant colony.”
Jake bent down and scratched his ankle, remembering how bad the bites had burned. “Yeah. And you made us all bike home and sprayed us off with a hose in the yard.”
“No point bringing misery into your house. Those ants get pissed if they get disturbed.”
The roar of a loud engine surpassed the sound of construction and Jake rolled his eyes. “Olivia has taken to driving Anders’s car since she got back off vacation. Honestly, the way she drives my truck should have been warning enough to Anders to not let her anywhere near it.”
“Chris,” she cried, stepping out of the low-seater sports car. His sister’s long wavy hair, so much like his own, was tied up in an elastic, and the white T-shirt and red capris she wore showed off her summer tan. “How are you?”
Chris grinned. “I’m good. But more importantly, let me see this sparkler I’ve heard so much about.”
Liv offered Chris her hand, flashing the engagement ring Anders Berg, her hockey-playing boyfriend, had slipped on her finger during their summer vacation to visit his parents in Sweden.
“Geez, I’ve got a crane over there can help you lift that thing. Come here.” He tugged Olivia into a hug. “I’m so happy for you.”
“You should feel sorry for Anders,” Jake said, playfully. “Now he has to put up with the way she drives his baby for the rest of his life.”
Olivia slapped his shoulder. “I’m a good driver, I’ll have you know.”
Jake shook his head. “Hmm. By the roar of the engine as you pulled into the lot, you don’t know how to shift down properly.”
“Hah. Funny. I’m here to set some stuff up for the wedding event tomorrow. Call me if you need anything.”
Jake watched her head into the building.
“Alright,” Chris said. “I’m going to head home. Marianne hates if I’m late on a Friday. Says it’s date night. Like we don’t sit and eat and watch TV together every night. See you tomorrow.”
Chris walked to his car and climbed inside.
Jake sighed. The days blurred together. Tomorrow was Saturday, but he’d worked pretty much every Saturday, and Sunday, for a year. When they’d found out the events hall hadn’t been included in the insurance policy, their father had taken out a loan to compensate all the weddings cancelled with short notice. When he’d passed away weeks later, they’d realized the loan had left the distillery on the brink. Then, Jake had launched Dyer’s Medallion, his own gin distillation, and it had taken off in a huge way but without the right amount of equipment to produce it they struggled to meet volumes. They’d needed the money, so he’d worked. Every goddamn day and hour that he could to help right the ship.
He was tired. Really fucking tired. He looked over to the new distillery taking shape. More equipment that ran in parallel equaled more capacity every hour, which equaled more production every day, which equaled a light at the end of the tunnel of showing up before seven every morning like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.
He’d taken one step toward the truck, when the world moved in slow motion. Chris put his arm out of the window to wave, pulled out into the road, and was then swept from view by a truck, a large roar of scraping metal and horns trailing after them.
Jake sprinted to the gate and looked down the road where Chris’s car was trapped between a brick wall and the large truck. Steam hissed from under the hood. He ran to the other side of the car, pulling his phone from his pocket.
He wasn’t a doctor, but he didn’t need a medical degree to see Chris was unconscious, slouched against the slowly deflating airbag. A quick look at Chris’s injuries made him gag. He stepped back and took a deep breath. It was a good job Chris was unconscious because his knees and lower legs were a mess. The truck driver was moving gingerly in his seat but gave Jake a nod.
Once the emergency services were on scene, he called Marianne. When she didn’t answer, he left a voicemail with the details and asked her to call him. Then he called Cassie.