A month later...

I'm back to cutting and moving trees more now than we did in December. Dad said he needed to talk to me today so after we finished.

I left Noah and Ben to finish up at the nursery and I headed for the tree lot. I pull up and see dad outside looking at the trees.

"Hey, dad!" I said walking over to him.

"Hey, Jace! Just the man I wanted to see. Let's go into the office." He said.

I followed him inside but I already knew what this was about. Willow and I had talked about this last month at the cabin.

"Have a seat son," Dad said.

"What's going on dad?" I said sitting down.

"Jace I just can't do this much longer I'm tired and you do such a good job keeping up with the ledgers and how many to ship out and all that. I want to give you first dibs on the business." He said.

"I knew this was coming dad and this is our family business and I will be glad to take it over. But I need help on how you get the sales. I may still need you for that part." I said.

"I can do that. You and Noah make me so proud and I know he will continue to help you." Dad said.

"Without a doubt. Umm, I have been thinking Noah needs a car, and well Willow and I have been talking about getting him something." I said.

"Oh wow, what were you thinking?" Dad said.

"I saw a white Toyota Tacoma down the road at that car lot and I think that's the one," I said.

"Son that's very generous of you. I know Jordan has a car but Noah just can't seem to afford one." Dad said.

"I know and I want him to have a way to work without having to depend on me or Ben," I said.

"Sounds good and I'm sure he will appreciate it. So umm when do you want to take over?" He asked.

"Whenever you are ready to say you're done. I will need your help but you won't need to be here we can hire people and well don't worry I got it under control dad." I said.

"Let's get some signs up about hiring and once all that's in place I'll hand it over to you." He said.

"Sounds good. Well, I'm going to meet Willow for lunch, and then we are going to go buy that truck." I said standing up.

Dad walked around and hugged me and then I left to go meet my beautiful wife.

I pull up at the bar and I don't see her car but I walk on in and hold two fingers up to Ross. I look over at our booth and she's sitting there.

"How did you get here?" I ask.

"Edward dropped me off so we can go to that car lot after lunch." She smiled.

"Sounds good. So umm I talked to dad and he's wanting me to take over and I said yes. So after we hire a few more helpers I will be ready to go and he's going to continue to help me with sales." I said.

"Oh, Jace! I'm so happy for you." She gets up and walks around to my side of the table and hugs me.

Ross brings our food over and halfway through eating I looked up and there stood Jackie at our table.

"Before you guys say anything I need to say something." She said.

Willow and I looked at each other and then at her. "Go ahead," I said.

She sits in the booth across from us. "Look I won't take up much of your time but I want to apologize to the both of you. I was a complete fool and I've been in rehab a while and I know what I did wasn't right. Now I want to concentrate on my husband and kids." She said.

"I really hope that therapy and rehab helped you, Jackie," Willow said.

"I've always been nasty to you and I think it's because I was jealous of how pretty and likable you are and because well Jace only had eyes for you and I lost focus on what I already have." She said.

"Rodney is a good guy and he deserves a good wife Jackie," I said.

"I know! I heard you guys got married and I want to say congratulations and I wish you nothing but the best." She said.

"Well we wish the same for you Jackie and I accept your apology," Willow said.

"Apology accepted Jackie," I said.

"Thanks, guys! I appreciate it. See you around." She got up and walked away.

"What the fuck just happened?" I laughed.

"Well it's hard to believe but that Jackie was likable. I hope she continues on this path." Willow said.

I leaned over and kissed her. "You always see the good in people. Let's go get my brother a truck." I said.

We pay and head over to the car lot and buy Noah the truck I wanted and Willow said she would drive it to the house and we can invite him over and surprise him.

She shocks me all the time. Who knew she could drive a stick shift. I mean besides my dick.

I follow her home and she texts Jordan asking them to come over for a pizza night. We put the truck in the garage so they wouldn't see it. We also invited Casey and Jon and Ben over but they couldn't come and well Ben had a date.

Just as the pizza arrived Jordan and Noah pulled up. I opened the door for them smiling. "Hey Bro!" Noah said.

"Come in guys!" I said carrying the pizza to the table.

"Dad told me you are taking over and I'm so excited for you Jace. I hope your an easy boss to work for." He laughed.

"I'm a slave driver!" I chuckle.