“What do you want?”
She sucked her lip on one side, trying to get a handle on how she could apply all the angst she was feeling right now into the story scene she was working on.
“Lilly, knock knock. Do you know what you want?”
She was startled when Trent touched her arm and only then did she realize he’d been talking to her. “Oh, sorry,” she said, just as her stomach growled like a lion, causing the teenage girl behind the counter to grin. “I guess I’m so hungry my hearing is off.”
Trent chuckled. “This is the place to fill it up and make it happy. Lisa here can sure help you out.”
“I sure can. Just fire away when you’re ready. Our po’ boy sandwiches are amazing. And the shrimp baskets are a favorite too.” The girl smiled briefly at Lilly and then returned her adoring gaze to Trent. “You want your usual, Trent?”
Lilly glanced at him as he smiled back at Lisa. “I do. I’m a sucker for the po’ boy.”
Lisa nodded and batted her eyes. Lilly could practically hear the poor girl’s heart pounding with love and adoration. Who could blame her?
“I’ll have what he’s having then. If he likes it that much, it must be good.”
Lisa nodded. “You won’t be disappointed. I’ll turn this in and they’ll bring it to you. Go ahead and grab your drinks over there.”
“Thanks, Lisa. You do a great job.”
“Thanks. I try. I love this job.”
Lilly hid her smile. She had a feeling that because Trent lived close, he probably came in here often to eat and that was a job bonus the girl was obviously been thrilled about.
They grabbed sodas and Trent held open the door for her. She brushed by him and was immediately reminded by her pulse spiking that she was not oblivious to her contractor either.
“Trent! Hey bro, come over here,” a good-looking guy called from a green picnic table by the railing. He had dark, short hair nearly covering one eye and a smile that she was certain could break hearts. He waved them over.
“Jake, what are you doing here?” Trent led the way over to where the guy sat.
He stood as they reached them and smiled at her. “Hi, I’m Jake. His brother. I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting you.” He held out his hand. “I was just finishing up my shrimp basket and now I’m glad I ate slow.”
“This is Lilly, BJ’s sister.” Trent grunted and sat down across from him and she did, too, as Jake sat back down.
“No kidding?”
A young man came out and set their baskets of food on the table in front of them and then headed back inside after telling them to holler if they needed anything else.
“So you’re the long-lost sister who lives in the trees.” He grinned.
“Yep, that’s me.” She laughed.
“More than you know.” Trent slid her a wink.
She realized he was giving her the opportunity to talk for herself instead of saying more than she might. “I’ve just moved to town and bought the lot at the top of the hill there. In the trees.”
He grinned. “I saw BJ earlier and he didn’t say anything about you being in town.”
“I haven’t told him. I’m telling him tomorrow.”
“He’ll be surprised.”
“Yes, I’m hoping you’ll help me with that surprise and not mention it to him or Olivia.”
“Sure. Your surprise is safe with me. Besides, I have an all-day dive set up tomorrow, so by the time I get back to town the secret will be out.”
“Oh, you own the dive shop. BJ told me one of you did. I couldn’t remember which one.”
“That’s me. I love it. Can’t get any of my brothers to come into the business and help me out, though.” He shot Trent a teasing glower and then looked from Trent to her with obvious speculation in his eyes. “So what brings you two to be hanging out together?”
“Trent’s my neighbor and he’s just agreed to build a treehouse for me.”
“No kidding? You’re building a treehouse up the hill from Trent?” Disbelief rang in his words.
She nodded. “It’s going to be great.” She picked up her sandwich and took a bite.
He gave a low whistle. “That, I will have to see. A treehouse up the big hill, cool.”
Trent set his sandwich down and picked up a french fry. “We’re going to do some drawings and see where she wants to go with it. I’m squeezing it in between jobs.”
“Sounds like a plan. So are you giving up your work with the parks?”
“I actually gave it up already. I’ve been writing part-time for years and went all in a little over a year ago.”
“Writing? What?”
“Like you would know,” Trent said, and she heard the teasing in his voice.
“Hey, I read. I like John Grisham.”
“I write romance. And I am about to start some cozy mysteries. My characters aren’t as calm, cool, and collected as John Grisham’s characters are.”
“If you bought the top of that hill, you obviously don’t need them to be.”
She smiled. “They do all right by me.” She thought about that statement as she glanced out across the white sand to the blue water ebbing and flowing in timeless motion. Her books did more than all right, and she was still in shock about how people loved to read her stories. Even more shocking to her was that she could write about love since she’d closed her own heart off to love the night she’d lost her parents. That cold, horrible night that she’d realized just how much it hurt to love and lose.
That she could write about love in a way that touched people’s hearts sometimes baffled her. But then, love in her books was make-believe. It was safe. And in her books, everything always worked out right.
In real life, that wasn’t always so. And maybe that was why she was so good at what she did…pretending was far easier than the truth. Some people believed loving was worth the risk of losing.
She didn’t. Not anymore. So she would stick to writing. Stick to creating stories that she controlled the endings to. Stick to writing happily-ever-afters that made her and her readers smile.
Yes, she’d come here to start a new life in Windswept Bay…to be closer to BJ, because she had finally reached a time that she was drawn to trying to open up, to being close again. But she was going to keep walls of protection around most of her heart. Walls that no one could penetrate.
“Well, I need to head out. Nice meeting you, tree girl.” Jake shot her a wink that made her smile.
“Nice meeting you too. Come see the house any time.”
“Will do. Later, Trent.”
They watched him leave, striding off the deck and toward his truck.
“He’s nice. Y’all don’t look anything alike, though,” she observed.
“He and his brother Max aren’t our blood brothers. They were our best friends and when their parents died, they came to live with us. Later, Mom and Dad adopted them. We’re all really close.”
The fact that Jake and Max had lost their parents snagged her attention. “They lost their parents?”
“Yes. It was really a hard time.”
“How?”
“A car wreck. Jake and Max were actually at our house when it happened. It was tough.”
“Yeah, I hate that for them.”
“Me too. But, well, you know, they’ve made peace with it. It’s just taken time.”
She forced herself to smile. “I’m glad. And glad y’all are close.”
He smiled at her and ate a french fry. “So, let’s talk about this house of yours.”
“Yes, let’s do.” She pulled her thoughts back to her treehouse and smiled. Just thinking about her unique living quarters filled her with good vibes. “I know it’s going to be fantastic.”
And it was. Coming here was going to be fantastic…it was. She needed this.
She did. She just had to stay focused on why she had come.
Chapter Four
It was nearly seven when they climbed back on the
Harley and headed back up the hill. Lilly was a bit of a mystery to Trent. She had chatted nonstop about her treehouse and what she wanted, declaring that she wanted him to use his creative ideas in the space. But then, right before they’d packed up and left the restaurant, a couple on the beach had seemed to snag her attention and she became quiet. Almost distracted.
The moment they pulled up to her trailer, she hopped off the motorcycle and handed him the helmet. “I’m excited about the treehouse. I can’t wait. You just let me know whatever I need to do and I’m ready. But, I need to go inside and work. I…something I’ve been working on all afternoon just hit me back there at the Shrimp Shack and I really need to get it down on my computer.”
“Sure. We have a rough design and I’ll head back and work it out then show it to you tomorrow.”
“Great.” She was already backing toward the blue egg.
“You’re going to be okay up here? Do I need to help set anything up for you?”
“Thanks, but I’ve got this. I’ve been setting up camp for years. Besides, I’ll be moved into the cabin tomorrow. I’m excited about expanding my workspace in there.”
He laughed as she bumped into the trailer and shot him a grin.
“I’m sorry, I get distracted when I start thinking about something good in my book.”
“Looks that way. All right, talk to you tomorrow.”
She gave a little wave, yanked open the creaky metal door and ducked into the interior of the blue egg.
That was different. He could only imagine how eager she had to be to get out of that thing. And she’d been living in it for years. That was something.
She was not a girl who required much.
Nope, no doubt about it: Lilly McCall was unique.
He drove home and parked the Knucklehead inside his garage and then closed the door and entered his house. He hooked his key on the keyring holder beside the back door, preoccupied as he headed into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Opening it, he glanced around his fairly spacious home and thought of Lilly and her blue egg. She needed space. He moved down the hall to his small office—that had to be bigger than the entire space she was cramped up in right now.
Thinking about her made him smile as he turned on his computer. One thing was an absolute—this project wouldn’t be boring.
Ever since he’d been released from the Navy SEALs, he’d been working on remodel jobs. He liked working with his hands but he loved taking a tree and creating a unique living space around the limbs.
His sisters had asked him to take on the remodel job of the Windswept Bay Resort when they’d decided to take it on after their parents had retired. Thankfully his sisters had understood when he’d turned them down and not pressured him to take on the job. It would’ve been a long, drawn-out project to be on for over a year, and it could possibly go for a little longer. It was a good-sized job and they had a really good man take over the job.
He just didn’t want big, extensive projects. He wanted smaller jobs and treehouses were his love. And it had happened by accident when a client he was doing a bathroom remodel for on his ranch had, on a whim, decided he wanted a guest house built in a tree. He’d asked Trent to build it and that had started his passion for treehouses.
He opened up his drafting program and started to work.
He had thought about expanding the business and actually advertising what was till now a hobby. He just wasn’t sure whether demand would be great enough, so for now a hobby worked.
The treehouses he’d built so far had ranged in prices from no-nonsense, bare bones homes to a more extravagant commercial guest quarters used as a bed-and-breakfast. Prices ranged from twenty-five grand to his largest, which had been about three hundred grand. That job took him six months but Lilly needed something soon, so he hoped mid-list was okay with her. It would have to be sufficient on their limited deadline and he felt confident, given her personality, that she would be fine with that.
He thought about her. She wanted nice and she told him that she wanted whatever he thought within the tree was unique and creative and would give her a view of the ocean. She wouldn’t want extravagant but unique and he was determined to give that to her. He tried to do that for all his clients.
Ideas started to flow as he began work. It would be unique, like Lilly.
Quirky. Creative. Distracted. Distracting. Beautiful. Curvy, womanly, sweet…Lilly.
Lilly beat the keys of her keyboard in a loud rap, rap, rapping noise. The words were flowing and she’d written most of the night. She loved it when the words came like this. At this rate, she’d finish this story in record time. Her shoulders ached and her head throbbed a little bit. A knock on her door rattled her, pulling her from the zone. Not that she wasn’t able to jump right back into the story. She’d never have gotten anywhere with her writing if she hadn’t been able to jump in and out of the word count zone. But still, she had been on a roll and she’d hoped hiding out up here in the hill side would give her peace to do her work.
She frowned when the knock came again.
“Lilly, are you in there?”
Trent. She glanced at her watch and gasped. It was eleven. The last time she’d looked, it was six a.m. It hit her then that she had to take a bathroom break. “Be right there!” She jumped up and instantly slammed her head against the cabinet above the tiny fold-down table that acted as her desk. Rubbing her head, she pulled open the door to the tiny bathroom that was not much bigger than the bathroom on a commercial airplane. She squeezed inside. This was her least favorite part of her tiny home. And she had to admit that now that she had a bigger place on the agenda, she was more than ready to retire her little home in exchange for one with a regular-sized bathroom. Moments later, teeth brushed and a brush raked through her curls, she admitted that until she got a shower and doused the masses with water there was nothing that could help the wild-looking woman who stared back at her. So, ignoring how bad she looked, she grabbed a bottle of water from the small, ancient refrigerator and opened the door. Trent stood with his back to the door as he stared across the clearing toward the tree that peaked above the others in the distance. Her tree.
When he turned to face her, she was reminded immediately what a handsome man he was. Her heartbeat kicked up its pace, letting her know that the attraction of yesterday was still strong today. She promptly ignored it. This was about a treehouse and that was that.
“Sorry, I was working and had to tend to a few things. Good morning.” She hoped she didn’t scare him off but the way his eyes widened momentarily told him he was startled by her appearance.
“Have you been writing all night?”
She took a long drink from the bottle and nodded. “I’m on a roll. The story is going great and I try to work as long as the words flow when that happens. It’s one of the reasons I finally let go of my park service work—so that I could go with the flow when it happened. I loved my work with the national parks service and when I no longer needed the income, I gladly just volunteered. But I really enjoyed my last year of just immersing myself in my writing.”
“I can’t see that being good for you on a long-term basis.”
She didn’t point out to him that it wasn’t his business to wonder such a thing. “I get my rest when I want to.” She looked around at the forest around her and then at the small cabin. “I’m moving in there today, though. I’ve about had all the cramped up that I can take.”
He eyed her tiny trailer with a skeptical expression. “I can’t imagine living inside that tiny place for more than a short weekend.”
“I’ve done it. But you have to remember that I take all that outdoor stuff in my truck out and make an outdoor living space. And when I was working at parks, there are lodges and places I can hang out so I mainly use it as sleeping quarters. And sometimes sleeping quarters come with the job, if I opt to take it. Like at Yosemite. I stayed in one of their small places with a roommate they assigned me.”
&nb
sp; “You must have loved it.”
She thought about it, thought about how it reminded her of her dad, made her feel close to him because their time as a family spent in the summers working at Bahia Honda State Park in the Keys had been some of her fondest memories. It had also given her the opportunity to be unattached.
“I did. It served its purpose.”
“I see. Well, I have your plans, if you want to look?”
“Oh, I can’t wait. I’d invite you in here to show me but it would be like we were trapped inside a sardine can.”
“It’s okay. I’ll use the tailgate of my truck.” He strode to his truck and pulled down the tailgate. He laid papers out and Lilly moved close to look.
Her arm brushed his and a shiver of awareness raced through her, distracting her for a moment. But then she saw his drawing.
She gasped. “Oh, Trent, I love it.” There were about five feet of stairs that led up to a walkway that wound through a few trees, and then more stairs that led up to a shorter walkway and then a few more stairs that led up to the landing of the treehouse. There was a note on the page that the water lines would run along the side of the landing up to the treehouse for the plumbing The exterior looked like glass and wood, with double doors onto the deck. The interior was open and there was a nice-sized bathroom and bedroom, and the kitchen and living space were connected. It all worked beautifully.
“You are a genius. It’s beautiful. Now I see why you took so many photos yesterday. It’s beautiful but fun…I love the way it curves around the tree and the office on the second floor is perfect.” Unable to stop herself this time she hugged him. “Thank you. I am so happy.”
Only after she had her arms wrapped tightly around him did she realize what she was doing. She stepped away quickly and tried to ignore the buzz of butterflies she felt at touching him.
“I’m glad you like it. I have to finish up a job tomorrow and then I’ll get started on it. How does that sound?”
“Absolutely fantastic. And now, I better dress and head over to find BJ and Olivia. I hope he’s not out on his boat somewhere so that I can tell him I’ve moved into town.”
With This Wish (Windswept Bay Book 9) Page 3