Thor flashed her a sympathetic smile as she went over to Justin, but then Jenny barked something at him and he turned away. Crowe’s girlfriend wasn’t even going to let her talk to him. She knew she’d never be able to repair her relationship with any of them. They’d firmly stuck her in the rich bitch category and weren’t about to let her out of that box.
“I cannot believe we’re trying to do this while Rachel McHughes is having a photo shoot done on the property,” Delilah groused as she stacked another tile that Thor had dislodged from the McHughes’ pool area on Monday.
Thor rested his rented electric chipping hammer on his thigh and wiped at his face with a handkerchief. The sun had not reached its apex for the day yet, but the physical work made him sweat regardless. He wished he could stop for a quick dive into the sparkling blue water of the pool, but he had too much to accomplish. Not to mention, they had quite a crowd around them, most of them milling around more than actually working, exclaiming about the view over the cliff or the beauty of the house behind them. “She’s not in charge of the property. Don’t confuse the poor woman with her father or stepmother.”
“Defending her now, are we?” Delilah unscrewed her bottle of water and drank half of it down. Droplets of sweat were dripping down her temples.
He used his handkerchief to wipe her face.
“Ewww, it’s all sweaty.” Delilah batted the cloth away.
“It’s all I’ve got, but you don’t want sunscreen dripping into your eyes and I know your face is coated in it.”
“I wish I could work with sunglasses on but they give me headaches when I look down.” Delilah sighed. “Let’s get back to work.”
The magazine photographer came up to them, looking irritatingly cool in a white romper. She lifted her camera and fired off several shots of them and their equipment without asking permission.
“Hey,” Rachel said, racing across the tiles. She had on a straw sunhat and was also in white, a short tank dress with a flirty skirt.
He imagined lifting her skirt to see what was underneath as she stopped and pointed at the photographer.
“Look, the swimming pool area shouldn’t be in the shots. You aren’t authorized to take pictures of these people.”
"I like the muscles on those tile removers,” the photographer said, turning her upper body and clicking away at Crowe. A couple of feet away from her, he tackled the far end of the tiles, his father sweeping up debris in his wake.
The television show’s assistant producer came up to them. The back of his then neck had reddened, burning in the strong summer sun. “You’re wasting your time. They won’t be signing releases to be in your magazine. Can’t you see we’re filming here?”
“Maybe they would want the publicity?” Rachel ventured. “We could ask for releases.”
“This isn’t an article about a renovation,” the magazine reporter snapped. “Shoot your assignment.”
The photographer walked away in a huff. Rachel hadn’t liked her taking pictures of the California Gold cast without permission, but she empathized with the photographer’s reaction to the rudeness.
Rachel hovered as Crowe turned his machine on again and took up the rest of the row of tiles, Delilah stacking and his father sweeping up. “What are you going to do now?” she asked.
“We promised not to do any more than we had to,” Crowe said. “Justin is our best at metal detecting, so we’re going to have him run the metal detector over each row as we pull it up. It’s a natural grid pattern.”
“And until you find some kind of artifact, you won’t know if you’re at the 1931 level?”
“Justin and I did as much research as we could last night,” Thor told her. “The greenhouse was torn down in the late 1940s. A pool went in soon after.”
“So it’s not likely they needed to smooth out the area too much, since it would have already been flat from the greenhouse,” Rachel mused.
“Right. Hopefully we won’t need to dig.”
“I wonder if my father would rather have some digging than see the pool come out,” Rachel said.
“You need to do a cost-benefit analysis,” Crowe said, letting their father take his chipping hammer. “The pool versus the jewelry.”
“It’s become a power struggle, I’m afraid,” Rachel said. “How much longer will the tile removal last?”
“It’s going to take all of today and tomorrow if we have to take everything out. You’re going to lose this area for the rest of the summer. Concrete needs a month to cure properly and then the tile has to go down again.”
Thor watched Rachel’s mouth drop open. “I hadn’t thought of that. I think we’ll have to leave it dirt until they go back to Kenya, do the restoration in the fall.”
“Fine with me,” Crowe said. “We’ll contract that part out. You don’t want us doing concrete. So far we’ve only broken one tile, so we’re competent as the removal crew.”
Delilah sneezed. The dust level had been rising steadily as they worked. She shook her head and took a running leap, then jumped into the pool.
Thor grinned. “How about a ten minute break?” He grabbed Rachel’s hand and pulled her forward. Before she could protest, he jumped into the pool, pulling her along with him. He’d gone in the deep end, eyes open. Her hair floated around her face. He let go of her hand and wrapped his fingers around her arm, then pointed up.
Both of them broke the surface at the same time. Rachel hit the water with both hands, splashing water at his face.
“Jerk!” she yelled, but she was smiling.
“You know you needed that,” he said. “It’s not like you’re posing for photos.”
She pushed wet locks of hair off of her face. At the other end of the pool, Delilah was already at the ladder and climbing out.
“Why’d you do it?” Rachel asked.
“I wanted to see what was under your dress,” he admitted, just to see how she’d react.
“It’s more of a cover up than a dress. I have a bathing suit on.”
He kicked back a foot and stared at her chest. “It’s blue. I can see it now.”
“Yeah, cotton is see-through in the water,” she said, deadpan.
“I’m sorry we’re wrecking your backyard. It’s a pity, such a beautiful spot.” Soaking her hair had exposed her perfect bone structure. Rachel was gorgeous now and still would be at seventy.
“I’m sure it will be even lovelier when it’s restored,” she said. “My father will make it so.”
“Where are you going to swim when he sells?”
“There’s a pool and spa at my condominium complex.”
He remembered. “Nothing like this.”
“No, but it’s his life, not mine.”
“Your birthright.”
“What does that mean, these days?” she asked. “Yes, someday I’ll inherit whatever is left, but my father can do what he likes until then.”
“This property has been in your family for so long, though. And your life is here in Laguna Beach. You ought to have it.”
“Maybe it’s better to break away. I’m just treading water, no pun intended. Almost thirty, no family of my own. I should get a real job and figure it all out.” She stared at him defiantly, as if daring him to agree with her.
“Thor,” Delilah called from the edge of the pool. “We need to get back to work.”
“Have you noticed that the Craft sisters want me to stay away from you?” Rachel asked.
“They aren’t in charge of me,” Thor said. “But why don’t you make friends? Just like you, they’ve been here all their lives. Money or not you have plenty in common with them.”
“They are awfully prickly.”
“So are you, Rachel McHughes.” He splashed her gently. “At least some of the time.”
She stared at him for a moment, like she wanted to say more, then pressed her lips together, before swimming to the edge of the pool. Instead of going to the ladder, she levered herself up, showing off the strength of h
er upper body, then walked toward the cabana, not looking back, dripping a trail behind her.
At three p.m., Richard McHughes appeared on the patio and called a halt to the worst of the noise-making. Thor was glad to secure their equipment and be done for the day. Justin was still at the metal detecting project, but the rest could take a quick dip in the pool while he finished his search. The rest of the cast took turns showering in the cabana and changing.
When Thor came out, the last to shower, everyone was standing around a spot just south of the pool. Crowe was kneeling in the dirt, using a handheld metal detector and crumbling dirt through his hands, a camera operator at his back with the camcorder pointed down.
“What have they found?” Thor asked Delilah.
“A metal button and a couple of bottle caps,” she said. “No coins or anything.”
“Can we date them?”
“I’m not sure it’s worth the bother,” she said. “We know they would be older than the concrete pad, which went down in the Fifties.”
“Part of it,” Rachel said, coming up. “We know that’s not the original pool, so the shape has been changed over the years.”
“Nothing to get excited about,” Crowe admitted. His brother had gone from clean to lower legs covered in dirt again.
“What a project,” Rachel said. “I guess it’s all going to have to go.”
“We’ve got another full day to put in on the tiles and concrete,” Crowe said.
“We’ll, let’s wrap for the day if it’s okay with you. I made a big platter of sandwiches and I have chips and salsa set out, too. I thought you’d be starving.”
Justin’s eyes lit up. “My turn in the shower. Save me some food.” He slapped the top of the metal detector into Thor’s hand and jogged toward the cabana.
“I’ll break it down,” Thor said. “Ditto on the saving food.”
The others went toward the bar area while he worked. Rachel came up to him with a plate.
"Do you have a compulsive need to feed me?" he asked, picking up a skewer of fresh pineapple and strawberries. “I could have made up my own plate.”
"Do you have a compulsive need to buy women drinks?" she countered.
"Only the pretty ones." He sucked a juicy piece of pineapple into his mouth.
“Oh look, Delilah is coming toward us,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “Think she wants to make nice?”
“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “But make friends, Rachel. I’m going to get something to drink.” He fastened the metal detector’s storage bag.
He eyed Delilah as she walked past him. “Be nice. I’m getting tired of girl drama.”
“Excuse me?” she said, stopping dead on the dirt.
“Your rudeness hasn’t escaped Rachel’s attention any more than Jenny’s has,” Thor said. “We’re on her family’s property. Be nice.”
“She’s not a nice person.” Delilah’s tone bordered on sulky.
“It’s not like she’s a bully. What is this, jealousy? It’s not her fault she was born to this.”
“She insulted my sister.”
“And she went out of her way to try to apologize. I admit she isn’t good with words sometimes, but I’m starting to think she means well.”
“She’s attracted to you, and she’s using her money to buy us food to get your attention,” Delilah said.
“In that case, she could just buy me food and leave the rest of you out of it,” Thor said. “Think about that. Go make nice, even if it’s just a temporary truce, okay?”
He stomped over to his brother and reached around him for a can of beer. His father jostled his arm, getting drops of condensation on his California Gold T-shirt. “Enjoying the ladies fighting over you?”
Thor swore under his breath. “I just want everyone to get along. I would never date Delilah.”
“Why not?” Crowe asked as he grabbed a can, too.
“We’re in each other’s pockets enough anyway, between the show and your relationship with her sister. Also, she isn’t my type, so it wouldn’t work.”
“Rachel does look the part,” his father mused. “Your first love all the way back to second grade was a brunette.”
“Really?” Crowe asked, the skin around his eyes crinkling with laughter.
“I remember your mother telling me about it,” Beau said.
“Good grief,” muttered Thor, sneaking a look at the two women, who were probably discussing him. At least they were out of earshot. They’d probably become BFFs by ripping him apart. He hadn’t exactly been a prince to Rachel McHughes himself.
When his father finished the story of his second grade love, a girl he could not even remember, he admitted, “Flirting with Rachel irritates me.”
“What do you mean?” his father asked.
“I don’t even like her but we seem to end up flirting.”
“Maybe deep down you actually like her,” Crowe said.
“It could just be the surface stuff in the way,” their father said. “Her family money, her prickly father. Jenny and Delilah.”
The beer pooled uneasily in his stomach. “So what do I do?”
Crowe shrugged. “Ask her out.”
“We tried a date and it was a disaster.”
“Try it again,” Crowe said, putting the cold bottom of his beer bottle on his forehead. “She's in your head.”
“Don’t wanna,” Thor muttered.
Their father spotted Justin coming out of the cabana and walked over to him.
“I doubt you’d have pulled her into the pool if you weren’t attracted to her. I saw you checking out her breasts earlier,” Crowe said.
“I am hot for her,” Thor said. “Not gonna lie about that.”
“Then scratch the itch. She obviously wants to. You know how that changes the dynamic. If it works or it doesn’t after, whatever, right? You got it out of your system.”
“Is that how it happened with Jenny?”
“No, man, she rejected me after. Going to bed with her made it all worse, for a little while at least.” He punched Thor’s arm.
Thor rubbed the sting of the punch away. “Then why give me that advice?”
Crowe emptied his beer then set the bottle down on the bar. “Because it’s sex, man. You need to get laid. Summer in Laguna Beach, right?”
“Right,” Thor said. “But she’s a little fragile, I think.”
“She wants you.” Crowe said. “It’s so obvious. Rich, gorgeous, horny. You’re the pickiest dude alive if you turn that down.”
Thor laughed. “I’m going home. See you much too early tomorrow.”
By Wednesday afternoon, they were finished removing the tile and the concrete. Justin completed the metal detecting at five p.m., not finding anything of any significance.
“Three days and nothing to show for it,” Crowe said, disgusted.
“I don’t know. We ripped up the McHughes property pretty good,” Thor said, sitting next to his brother. They’d taken off their steel-toed boots and socks so they could dip their feet into the pool. Around them, instead of the pristine brown and amber tiles, was a sea of damp dirt. Delilah had talked Jenny into returning for the third day of work, saying her eyes couldn’t take the dust any more.
At this point, they had not been authorized to remove the pool. At a lunchtime meeting, McHughes had said he needed to think about what to do next. He’d already scheduled to have a new spa put in the next week.
“I think McHughes is more interested in redesigning his back yard than us finding the jewelry now,” Thor said.
“Maybe this was his plan all along. A free demo,” Justin said. His forehead was sunburned.
Thor splashed his feet in the water. “Then he should want us to take the pool out.”
“You’d think.”
“I bet you he’ll hire someone to do it the day he returns to Kenya,” Thor said. “Just wait us out and do it.”
“Then we’d better figure out where else that jewelry is,” Crowe said.<
br />
“Now that Justin is done with the metal detector, he can get back to the research,” Jenny suggested.
“For sure. I have to go up to Los Angeles tomorrow and meet with Roger. We’re going to talk about the footage and decide how many episodes we have at this point if Roger decides to cut the cord.” Crowe screwed up his mouth.
“Do I get tomorrow off?” Thor asked.
Crowe narrowed his eyes. “If I say yes, what are you going to do with it?”
Thor shrugged as he saw Rachel appear on the back patio.
“Can’t keep your eyes off her, can you,” Crowe said.
Rachel’s sundress was so low cut that he could see the sides of her breasts. She was small and firm enough to pull off the look, a B cup, maybe. He itched to untie the string that must be holding up the top of her dress. She couldn’t have a bathing suit underneath it. There weren’t enough strings.
He jumped up from the pool before his brother could see that the dress was starting to tent his jeans.
“Hey, Rachel,” he called, trying to get to her while she was still out of Crowe’s earshot.
“Any luck?” she asked, stopping.
He shook his head. “None. Time to regroup, both for us and your father. I guess we’re going to have to meet about it Friday.”
“So what are you up to?”
“Thought I’d take you out to dinner, if you want.”
She crossed her arms, blocking his view of her breasts. “Oh?”
“Sure. You keep buying us food. I’ll return the favor.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Who else is going?”
“Just us if you can get rid of the others.” He smiled, cunning like a fox. “I’ll take a quick shower and change. If everyone else is gone by the time I leave, we’re good.”
“Make it a long shower,” she said slowly. “I’ll do my best.”
He enjoyed a long soak under the oversized shower head in the cabana bathroom, stretching his arms, shoulders, and back. When he was loose and relaxed, he dried off, then put on a fresh T-shirt and a pair of white shorts which were the only thing clean in his closet that morning. Crowe had plenty of time to corral his troops and depart. When Thor walked into the seating area of the cabana, Rachel was sitting on the sofa alone, a huge antipasto plate on the linen ottoman that doubled as a table.
Laguna Beach: That Gold in Laguna (Kindle Worlds Novella) (A Charisma Series Novella, The Ericksons Book 2) Page 8