Rocky Ground

by Kaylea Cross

  “You were rude, Mom,” Ella said, surprising her, and the hurt, almost disappointed expression on her little face pierced Tiana. “I think you hurt Mac’s feelings.”

  Tiana barely withheld a snort at that. It would take a lot more than that to hurt a guy like “Mac’s” feelings. A built, good-looking and charismatic guy like him would have no trouble finding a woman to hook up with when the urge struck him. She had no time for that kind of mentality, and certainly didn’t respect it. Nor did she trust his motives.

  “Honey, I didn’t hurt his feelings,” she insisted. “Now let’s eat our cupcakes and get going so we can show Aunt Lizzie our place and the trail to the lighthouse before it starts to get dark.”

  To her credit, Lizzie waited until Ella was tucked into bed that night before pouncing on her. “Okay. What was that about today in the café?”

  “What do you mean by ‘that’?”

  Lizzie gave her an impatient look. “You were outright rude to that gorgeous, friendly hunk of a Scotsman, despite him making every effort to get you to be nice to him.”

  “If he wanted me to be nice to him, then all he has to do is leave us alone.”

  “Why? He seems great. And Ella clearly adores him.”

  Ugh. “I don’t want to encourage him, and I don’t want him to get any closer than he already is.”

  Her aunt’s coppery eyebrows rose. “Why ever not? Lord, Tia, if a man like that ever showed any interest in me, you’d find me doing the opposite of freezing him out.”

  “I didn’t—” Okay, she kind of had. “It’s…complicated.” She busied herself in emptying the dishwasher, not wanting to get into it.

  Lizzie was beside her in a flash, putting away the silverware as she continued. “Honey, I’m gonna tell you something because I love you.”

  Oh, God. Here we go.

  “Don’t sigh like that.” Her aunt gave her a level look. “No one knows better than me how you grew up and what happened to you before you moved out on your own. I know what kind of guts that took. I also know what’s happened since, and why you’ve sometimes got that chip on your shoulder, especially where men are concerned.”

  Tiana internally winced. A chip on her shoulder? Is that how she came across—cold and bitter, a man hater? “So you’re basically saying I’m being a bitch.”

  “If that’s how you usually treat Aidan and any other man who gets too close now, then yes.”

  She stopped and faced her aunt with an accusing frown. “Ouch.”

  Lizzie shrugged. “Hey, if I won’t tell you like it is, who will?”

  True. She sighed and leaned back against the edge of the counter, crossing her ankles. “You saw him.”

  “I sure as hell did,” Lizzie said with an enthusiastic nod. “I had a full-on hot flash when he first walked through that door.”

  She would not smile at that, dammit. “Well, I’ve been there and done that. Guys like him. And that was before I dated the alcoholic and the pedophile.” She shook her head, shaken and angry at herself all over again. “Did he seem like a predator at all to you?”

  Lizzie looked perplexed. “Who, Brian?”

  “No, Aidan. Because I can’t tell anymore—my internal radar is either nonexistent or completely whacked when it comes to men.” She’d been going to therapy about it, and though she had clarity now about why she might have chosen toxic men in the past, she wasn’t convinced she could identify them going forward and wasn’t going to risk it.

  “Oh, stop.”

  She lowered her voice, making sure Ella wouldn’t overhear. “No, I’m serious. I’m a disaster magnet. And twice now Ella’s suffered because of it. I won’t let it happen again.”

  Lizzie shook her head. “Well there’s nothing wrong with my radar. Or Ella’s, for that matter.”

  That was true. Ella hadn’t liked Brian right from the start. But she’d connected with Aidan instantly.

  “And so, I can tell you with one-hundred-percent certainty that the man I met today is no predator. I’d stake my life on it,” Lizzie continued.

  “I would’ve staked my life on Brian not being one, either.” Worse, she’d staked Ella’s on it, and been wrong.

  Her aunt gave her a sympathetic look and took Tiana by the shoulders, her eyes earnest. “Baby, you’re scared. Can’t you see it?”

  Tiana broke eye contact, unable to hold her aunt’s gaze. It was true. She didn’t trust herself anymore, or her instincts when it came to men. “Can you blame me?”

  “No, not for being scared.”

  Man, she hated that she was behaving this way because she was scared. That was no example for Ella.

  “But after all we’ve gone through, since when do you and I let fear dictate our lives?” Lizzie squeezed Tiana’s shoulders, bringing her gaze back up.

  “That’s true,” she admitted slowly.

  “It sure as hell is. Now.” She let go and gave Tiana an encouraging smile. “What’s really going on with you? Deep down inside. Tell me.”

  Lizzie wasn’t going to let her wriggle her way out of this. Her aunt had called her on her behavior and now Tiana had to answer for it.

  She heaved a sigh and relented. “Okay, fine. I guess the truth of it is, I’m technically angry at myself, not Aidan. And I’ve been…” Pretty much a cold bitch where he was concerned. “A little cold to him because he’s befriended Ella. Because I’m scared—” Ick. “—that he might be bad news and I just can’t see it yet.”

  Her aunt nodded. “And?”

  Man, Lizzie could still make her feel five years old. “And treating him as guilty without proof is wrong, and now you’ve made me feel bad,” she added in a grumble.

  “Honey, you were already feeling bad. You just needed to admit the root cause to yourself.”

  It was true. And it didn’t feel good. She didn’t want to be that way or have people think it of her. “Yeah,” she muttered.

  “No matter what you’ve gone through, it’s not fair to treat him like the enemy when he’s been nothing but kind to you and Ella. And besides, you’re friends with the people he’s closest to here. He even fought alongside two of them overseas, he said.”

  Also true. “With Beckett and Jase.” Both former Green Berets. Beckett had been captain, and Jase one of his sergeants. She trusted them completely.

  “Well, there you go. And wasn’t Beckett the one who confronted Brian and punched him in the face that night?” her aunt continued.

  “Broke his nose and split his lips open,” Tiana said with a savage smile. “I wish I’d been there to see it.” That whole night was a complete nightmare, except for that part. If Noah hadn’t held her back, she would have added to the damage on Brian’s disgusting face.

  “Me too. But if Beckett hired Aidan, then doesn’t it speak to the kind of person Aidan is?”

  “Yeah,” she admitted grudgingly. Jase and Beckett wouldn’t associate with a bad person. And they would never have allowed Aidan to get close to Ella if they thought for a moment he might pose any kind of threat to her. They would have warned Tiana a long time ago and intervened on her behalf. That’s just the kind of men they were.

  Lizzie raised her eyebrows again.

  She heaved a sigh, squirming inside. “Okay. Okay, fine, you’re right. He’s not the enemy. So what am I supposed do about it? Because I’m not interested in dating him, or anyone else.” Not for a damn long time, anyway. If ever.

  “That’s such a waste, but it’s your decision. In the meantime, just apologize—in person.”

  She grimaced, her wounded pride writhing in a sea of discomfort. “Oh, God.” Anything but that.

  Lizzie nodded and laughed softly. “Yep. And after you do that, maybe try explaining a bit about why you’ve been the way you have with him. Or even your background, if you think he’s receptive to hearing it. You might just be surprised at his response.”

  She doubted it. And no way in hell was she telling anybody about her background. Least of all a man like Aidan. “All
right,” she agreed, picking up a tea towel to dry off one of the glasses still wet from the dishwasher. “I’ll apologize next time I see him if the opportunity presents itself.”

  Her aunt glowered at her. “If? That’s lame, Tia. No, that’s straight-up chickenshit.”

  Tiana made a face, feeling all kinds of defensive now that her insides had been laid open for scrutiny by the person she looked up to. “That’s the best I can promise right now.” She wasn’t going to search him out and give him the wrong idea.

  “All right, I’ll take it. Now come on, give me a hug and let’s go open a bottle of wine and put a movie on.”

  Tiana embraced her, exhaling. “I still love you even though you just lectured me like I’m a little kid. And I don’t want you to go on Friday. A week with you isn’t long enough.”

  “I lecture you because I care, and because I’m older and wiser. And no problem, I’ll just cancel my bucket list cruise through the Panama Canal, South America and Antarctica and lose the fifteen grand I spent,” she deadpanned.

  “Good.” Tiana wasn’t sure what she hated more: the idea of Lizzie leaving them again, or apologizing to Aidan MacIntyre’s handsome face.

  Chapter Four

  Four days later, Aidan left his third meeting of the afternoon twenty minutes late and jumped in his SUV to race to the next—this meeting at one of the heritage homes they were currently renovating on the other side of town. He detested being late, but the homeowner he’d just finished up with had needed extra time to go over everything and it couldn’t be helped.

  One of their construction crews was already on site when he arrived. They’d removed the rotten old front porch and had started framing out the addition that was going on the kitchen. If they maintained this pace and didn’t run into any major problems or surprises, they might just finish up on schedule.

  He grabbed his clipboard from the passenger seat and checked his phone on the way to the front door, mentally juggling his schedule. The job was fast paced and kept him busy, but he thrived when it came to logistics and organization. It was a big reason why Beckett had wanted him to come on board and take over as project manager after he’d let Carter go last year.

  Their top electrician was up on a ladder installing new wiring in the ceiling they’d opened up. “Hey, Mac.”

  “Everything going okay?” Aidan asked him.

  “Every job has its quirks and challenges,” the man said with a smirk as he threaded the new wires through a hole he’d drilled in the ceiling joist. “But so far, this one’s not giving us that much trouble.”

  “That’s what I like to hear. How are the lads getting on upstairs?”

  “Dunno. Been too busy to check on them.”

  “I’ll go up there now.” Hammering from above said they were keeping busy.

  Three of the guys were having a grand time demo’ing the vanity and counter in the master bedroom. They’d already knocked out two walls and installed load-bearing beams to shore up the ceiling for what would become the new master suite. “Lads. How goes the battle?”

  “We’re finally winning,” the youngest one said with a grin, his face and hair covered in a layer of beige-colored dust. “It ain’t pretty, but we’re winning.”

  Holy hell. They’d hacked the poor vanity to bits with their sledgehammers, leaving one hell of a mess behind.

  “There was no other way,” the senior guy told Aidan. “It’s like they built this thing to be bombproof.”

  He studied the carnage, noting the giant holes in the walls that would all have to be replaced rather than just filled and sanded. “How much longer until you’re done and cleaned up in here?” Because now he’d need to have new sheetrock installed, then have it mudded and taped before the cabinet guys and painters could do their jobs.

  “Should be able to finish by tonight, maybe.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe?”

  “Okay, by tonight.”

  Aidan withheld a sigh and nodded. “Fine, but none of you leaves until it’s done and cleaned up. I need to have new sheetrock installed first thing in the morning.”

  It would still screw up the timeline for the trades he had scheduled for the bathroom, and it would definitely add to the budget. And as project manager, he got the enjoyable task of informing the homeowner that their bathroom wouldn’t be finished by deadline, and oh, by the way, it’s going to cost more than what was stipulated in the budget.

  All part of the glamor of being project manager, but he didn’t mind. He could handle stress. A necessary trait to do what he’d done in the military. And he was a people person, so it worked for him.

  Although the job wasn’t something he’d ever considered taking before Beckett had called him up that day, it suited him. It paid well. He didn’t get shot at and his life wasn’t in danger. His hours were pretty much eight-to-six with some overtime thrown in here and there when things needed to get done, but he mostly got the weekends off and Beckett was a fair boss.

  Aye, he could see himself staying on long-term. He’d like to. Unfortunately that wasn’t up to him, because it all depended on whether the extension on his work visa came through.

  He went to another job site on the east side of town next. After dealing with some problems that inevitably cropped up with renovating an old house with an equally old foundation, plumbing and wiring, he finally drove home.

  The rental he lived in was actually Noah’s. When the sheriff had moved into Poppy’s house next door, he’d offered his place to Aidan. Aidan had been looking for a place of his own, and since the location, timing and price of the rent had been right, he’d taken it.

  He parked in the carport and was just getting out of his vehicle when his cell rang again. This time it was his lawyer. “Have you got good news for me?” he asked, starting for the door.

  “Well, not exactly.”

  Aidan didn’t like the sound of that. “They ruled against us?”

  “Worse. They rejected the appeal outright.”

  Oh, shite. Now what? He unlocked the door, disarmed the security system and stepped into his mudroom, toeing off his boots and going straight to the kitchen. “So that’s it? There’s nothing else to be done?”

  “I’m looking into a few things. I wanted to set up a meeting with you. Are you free to come in for a meeting this Friday? I’ve got a colleague of mine involved in your case. I want to go over your options, and make sure we’ve got a plan going forward.”

  No, he had a thousand things to juggle on Friday. But he had to make time for this. “What time?”

  A heavy feeling of disappointment hit him as he ended the call a few minutes later. He loved Crimson Point. Liked his job, his coworkers.

  And he also liked Tiana Fitzgerald.

  Unless his lawyer pulled off a miracle, his time here was almost up. He wouldn’t be able to work in the U.S. again without attaining permanent residency first, and who knew how long that would take, or even if it would happen?

  He stood at the kitchen sink gazing out at the tidy backyard. How had this happened? His lawyer had been so sure the denial would be overturned.

  He looked down at his phone, still in his hand. Though he didn’t want this to be the end, that’s the way it was looking right now. And much as he didn’t want to, Aidan had to inform Beckett that he had to hire a new project manager.

  ****

  Beckett wrapped up his own meeting with a sense of deep satisfaction. By securing the new contract on another heritage house for next spring, the company now had guaranteed work for the next year-plus. And with word of mouth continually spreading about their work, he was even getting calls from up and down the coast. The way things were going, he’d have to bring on more admin staff and might even need to open up another office in another city on the coast to handle the growing volume.

  Those were the kinds of problems he liked having.

  It was almost six. Sierra would be finished at her clinic soon. One of his many faults was that he tended to er
r on the side of being a workaholic. Lately he’d been making a more concerted effort to knock off work at a consistent time each day so he could have dinner with his wife, trusting Jase and Mac and the rest of the management team to keep everything clicking along smoothly.

  He wasn’t really a romantic guy, but he tried to show Sierra every day how much he loved her and so far she hadn’t complained. He’d almost lost her, and he never wanted to take her for granted.

  When he spotted the neon open sign glowing in the flower shop window as he came up the street, inspiration struck. He’d get a bouquet and surprise her with it and—

  He jerked the wheel to the right and slammed on the brakes when the small rock in the middle of the road suddenly moved. What the hell was it?

  He got out, pausing when he heard the faint little cry coming from it. A kitten?

  Frowning, he walked over to it, realizing even from thirty feet away that something was very wrong. The little gray ball was the size of his palm. Way too tiny to be on its own out here, let alone away from its mother. Its eyes were barely open.

  He crouched down to pick it up, half-afraid he would hurt it, it was so small. “What are you doing out here all alone?” he asked it. It didn’t appear to be injured, as far as he could tell. He tucked it inside his jacket to keep it warm and looked around, then walked to the edge of the ditch to check, just in case.

  “Hell.” More tiny, young kittens. All crawling around almost blindly on a small ledge above the open ditch.

  He climbed down and rescued them all, tucking them inside his jacket with their littermates. “Where’s your mom, guys?” A mother cat wouldn’t leave her babies for long, right? Maybe she’d gone out to hunt. Or maybe—

  His gaze caught on something lying at the edge of the shoulder near the flower shop.

  No. The mother definitely wasn’t out hunting.

  He turned away and climbed out of the ditch, pulling out his phone to call Sierra while the kittens mewled and wriggled against his shirt. “Hey, I’ve got kind of an emergency situation here,” he said when she answered. “A whole litter of orphaned kittens I just found at the side of the road.”