by Anna Paige
This woman continued to amaze me. "Yes, ma'am."
I CHECKED MY watch as we started back toward the path. "We need to hustle. The crews will be back any minute."
Ali came to a stop, looking guilty. "Actually, I sent them home for the day." She glanced around worriedly. "I um, wasn't in the mood for spectators when I got here, so I told the crew leaders that I was shutting everything down for the day." The corner of her mouth turned up slightly. "Everyone cleared out in five minutes flat. I guess none of them wanted anything to do with an agitated, crying woman."
I chuckled at the remark, but my chest tightened knowing how humiliated she must have been. I grasped her hand and brought it to my lips. "I'm sorry to have put you through that."
She leaned into my side and let me wrap an arm around her. "I'm sorry I didn't let you explain. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
We reached the end of the path and turned toward the driveway, stopping in our tracks when we spotted Spencer's truck there beside mine. Ali pulled away and frowned, as we both scanned the area.
Out of nowhere, Daniel came running from the front of the house, laughing as he bounded over to us. "Hey, Uncle Clay." He held his hand out for his customary high-five and watched Ali from the corner of his eye, looking suddenly shy.
I turned to Ali. "Ali, this is Daniel." Looking back to the blushing boy, I said, "Daniel, this is my friend Ali."
He peeked up at her from under his lashes and held out a shaky hand. Ali met my eye and grinned. She had a fan. She took his hand in hers and crouched down to his level. "It's very nice to meet you, Daniel." She glanced around. "What do you think of this place? Pretty cool, huh?"
He beamed up at her. "Yeah, Gran told me there's a lake where I can go swimming, and I forgot to ask but I bet there are fish there too. I hope there are. I like to fish."
She smiled at him and nodded. "So do I."
He looked mystified by that. "You like to fish?" He glanced at me like he wasn't sure. "Do you bait your own hooks? My mom doesn't like to touch worms. Dad says worms shouldn't bother her since she's a nurse and spends half her time wiping people's asses."
"Daniel!" Vanessa's voice rang out across the yard, causing him to spin around in fear. Thankfully he had his back to us as Ali and I cracked up at his statement. He waited as his mom approached, his posture that of a man standing before a firing squad. She pointed at him as she descended the small incline. "What did I tell you about using grown-up words?" I could tell she was fighting for composure as she stepped around him and offered her hand to Ali.
"Excuse my son; it's not entirely his fault. His father is a bad influence." She swept Ali with an appraising look. "I'm Vanessa, daughter of Gran and mother of potty-mouth." She dropped Ali's hand and glared at Daniel as she lit a cigarette.
Ali smiled at her politely. "Ah yes, the nurse." She gave the cigarette a pointed look and laughed.
Vanessa glanced at me wryly. "You've obviously spent a lot of time with Clay. He's been on my case for years to quit and loves to point out the irony of a nurse puffing on a cancer stick." She smiled at Ali. "One of these days, I might even listen."
I frowned as I looked around. "Where are Gran and shithead... er... Spencer." I looked at Daniel and cringed, mouthing 'sorry' at Vanessa.
She looked between Ali and I. "They're having a little chat..." There was a loaded pause then, "probably about the house or something."
"Uncle Clay, did you know Uncle Spencer ran into the door at your cabin?" Daniel announced. My eyes flashed to Vanessa. "He had blood all over his shirt from his nose, so Gran made him take one of yours. It bled for a long time but now it just looks puffy."
Vanessa placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, buddy. Let's go check out the lake. We can see if we spot any fish swimming around in there." She held my eye as she ushered him away, giving me a sad smile. She knew how close Spencer and I have always been. Was she disappointed in me? I knew I was.
Just as Vanessa and Daniel turned to walk away, it occurred to me that she didn't know about the tree.
Shit!
I spun on my heel and called out to Vanessa, not wanting her to discover the tree the way I had. My mom had been her sister and I couldn't let her go to the lake without preparing her for what she'd find.
Gripping Ali's hand, I walked over to them and dropped my voice, not knowing how she would react. "Before you go down to the lake, there's something I should tell you about."
"You mean Rebecca's willow?" She took in my stunned expression with a lopsided grin. "Gran told me about it months ago."
"She what? How did she know about it?"
Vanessa told Daniel to go on ahead but to stay away from the water until she got there, watching him hurry down the path she smiled and turned to me. "Gran found it back in January. She and her cronies were bored one afternoon and decided to scour Google Earth looking for nude beaches." She grinned at Ali, who was chuckling. "They thought they'd be able to see some naked hotties if they looked long enough. Typical Gran. Anyway, after a while they gave up, and she started looking at places she'd been, locations that stood out in her memory." She shrugged and tipped her head toward the lake. "Eventually, curiosity got the better of her and looked this place up on the map. That's when she found the tree. She told me it was enormous and beautiful. Said it was time to bring this place back to life. That's around the time she started talking about building the house."
I couldn't believe she never told me about the tree.
She just sent me out here without any warning.
I'd have been pissed off about it if it weren't for the mess I'd made of things today. I couldn't really call her out for not telling me when I'd done something far worse.
Vanessa excused herself to check on Daniel, leaving me to clean up my mess.
After she had vanished down the lake path, Ali and I climbed the hill toward the house. Construction was coming along nicely though there was still a long way to go. The weather forecast wasn't good, heavy rain expected pretty much all damn week next week thanks to a slow-moving tropical depression creeping up the coast, so that was sure to bring things to a crawl. While bad weather sucked for the project, the idea of having lazy afternoons at the cabin with Ali sounded like heaven.
We heard voices off in the distance and watched as Spencer and Gran made their way to his truck talking quietly amongst themselves, their backs to Ali and me. Spencer hopped into the back of his truck and opened the large toolbox, meeting my eye over the diamond-plate lid. He glared at me stonily as I approached; Ali was clinging to my arm as I went. His nose was horribly swollen, and his upper lip matched its purplish tint.
Fuck.
He didn't speak to me as I stopped beside the truck. I'd purposely chosen the opposite side from Gran in hopes that I could avoid her for a few more moments. His expression shifted to a pleasant smile as he looked over at Ali. "Hey there, Ali. Nice to see you again." He looked guilty as he said, "I'm sorry for the scene you walked in on earlier. I want you to know that none of that was about you."
I couldn't help wondering if he'd said that to keep himself from looking like an asshole or if he was trying to defend me. Not that he owed me a damn thing after how I'd acted. I waited to see if Ali snipped at him over his earlier comment, but she just smiled up at him sweetly. "I know. Clay and I talked everything out." She looked at him and back at me, her voice pleasant, but her expression stern. "Now it's time for you two to talk." She stood on her tiptoes and peeked over the truck bed at Gran before turning to me. "I'm going to go introduce myself, maybe take a walk with Gran and you guys are going to make this right." When Spencer looked like he wanted to argue, she cleared her throat and interrupted him. "Please come down here so I can talk to you without getting a crick in my neck."
He jumped down and put his hands in his pockets, avoiding her stern expression and reminding me of Daniel when Vanessa caught him cussing. I barely fought back a smile.
He was wearing my favorite shirt. He could have
taken any shirt in the closet, but he went straight for the one he knew I liked the most. The jackass.
That shirt was the softest most comfortable thing I owned, and I'd been picturing it on Ali for weeks now, just the shirt – nothing else. Dammit. Seeing him wearing it ruined the whole fucking fantasy.
Ali looked between us and using that take-charge tone in her voice that always got me hard she continued. "Look, I realize that men are emotionally constipated but you two need to get it together and work this out. So you're both pissed off..." She caught Spencer glaring my way and pinned him with a withering stare, "All I can tell you is get the hell over it and act like grown-ups. Friendships like yours are worth fighting for, so you better damn well do it."
I couldn't hold back my smile any more when Spencer cowered slightly under her gaze, eyes hilariously flashing to the door of his truck as if he was contemplating a quick get-away.
She turned that look on me, and I kind of wanted to tell Spence to leave the door open for me if he decided to make a run for it. Ali rose on her tiptoes and briefly kissed my lips saying soft enough so only she and I could hear, "And do it without any more bloodshed, okay?" She winked at me and rounded the truck, taking an incredulous Gran by the hand and escorting her to the far side of the house as she introduced herself. A minute later, I heard the sound of Gran's laughter and couldn't help smiling.
Spencer watched them disappear around the front of the house with a blank expression. He turned back to me and furrowed his brow. "Shit. I think I might love her too."
Just like that, we were smiling, and I knew there was a chance I could fix things. I felt like I could breathe again for the first time since hearing the knock at my door this morning. "Careful, I'm pretty protective of her in case you haven't noticed."
He cocked his head and gave me a 'no shit' look, reaching into the bed to close the toolbox. "Ya think?" He flipped a thumb toward the house. "You sure you want the two of them hanging out? You never know what Gran might say."
Only Spencer would still be worried about the guy who just punched him out. "I'm not stressing it. Gran is wide open, but she knows what she can and cannot discuss when it comes to my personal business." I gave him a tentative smile. "But thanks for being concerned. I wouldn't blame you if you hated my guts after everything that's happened."
He blew out a breath. "Honestly? I wanted to crack your skull for a while there, mostly while the blood was pouring down my face. But after I calmed down, I realized what you'd said." He studied me. "You meant it, didn't you? You really do love her." I nodded, holding his gaze. "That's what I thought. Holy shit. I never thought I'd see the day." He considered a moment. "Okay, here's the deal. That was your freebie; your one get-out-of-an-ass-kicking-free card. Don't ever take another fucking swing at me unless you're prepared to get your teeth kicked in, friendship be damned. Comprendé?"
"Understood." I knew damn well that he didn't mean it but I let him make his point. I owed him that much. He looked like hammered shit, his face swelling more by the minute. Eating a little crow was the least I could do.
How did I end up surrounded by so many extraordinary people? Ali, Gran, Spencer, Talia... all of them so amazing that I couldn't fathom what any of them saw in me. I didn't deserve any of them but I damn sure wouldn't let them go. I smiled at my friend and held out my hand.
He slapped it away, pulled me in for a hug, and chuckled. "And you're not getting your fucking shirt back."
ALI AND GRAN rejoined us a short while later, laughing and chatting like old friends. They both studied us as they approached, and I whispered to Spencer, "Why do I feel the urge to run and hide?"
He chuckled. "No idea, but so do I if it's any consolation."
Gran saw the two of us smiling, she playfully poked Ali's arm. "Damn. Nice work, young lady. Couldn't have done it better myself."
Ali bumped her shoulder. "These boys just need a little nudge every now and then. I'm sure we can keep them in line between the two of us."
Spencer leaned in and whispered, "Run, dude, run."
Ali stepped into my arms, and I pulled her close as I told him, "Not this time, Spence. Not this time."
An hour or so later, we all stood in the gravel driveway chatting and enjoying the way Daniel mooned over Ali. Spencer grudgingly mentioned needing to get on the road and Gran jerked her head toward me, snapping her fingers. "I just remembered. There's a box in the back of the truck that I wanted to drop off." She glanced over at Spencer. "He was trying to get it for me when you came over and interrupted." She winked to let me know she was teasing. "I should probably explain what I want done with it all, while I'm at it." She seemed hesitant to continue.
Ali picked up on her meaning and offered, "I'll take it. I need to go to the basement and grab some of my art supplies anyway. I can put it down there until Clay gets a chance to go through it."
Daniel's face lit up when Ali reached for his hand and asked if he could help. He was smiling ear to ear as she followed Spencer to the truck to get the box.
Watching them, Vanessa turned to Gran and frowned. "I didn't know you brought anything."
Gran waved her off. "Spencer put it in the truck while you were getting Daniel ready. It's no big mystery, just some of Rebecca's things. Sketches of things she wanted to do to decorate the house, some antique door knobs she collected, nothing all that interesting." Turning to me, she said, "She had big plans for this place, some of them probably won't work, but I thought you might want to go through her papers and see if any of it can be done. I haven't looked through all of it, so I'll leave the decision to you." She touched my cheek. "I trust you to know the right thing to do."
Her expression said the words were meant for more than what was in the box. She knew I hadn't been honest with Ali, and she was saying she expected better than that from me.
I nodded and opened my mouth to ask what she thought of Ali when Spencer shouted from the driveway. "Hey, dickhead. Your phone is ringing."
Cursing under my breath, I jogged over to my truck and told Spencer, "Better answer it. Look how things turned out the last time I missed a call." He flipped me off as I looked at my phone. Blake. He was one of the crew leaders doing construction here in Denson. I frowned, why was he calling me? Ali sent them all home hours ago. "Hello."
"Hey, Clay. I um," he sputtered, "I wanted to call and check on Miss Ali." His discomfort was palpable and I smiled at the thoughtfulness of his calling.
"She's just fine now. Thanks for checking in on her. I'm sure she'll appreciate it." He was one of the best workers on the project and a super nice guy. I wasn't surprised that he took the time to make sure she was alright.
He sounded relieved. "Oh, good. I didn't want to argue with her, but I hated leaving with her in such a state."
"No, you did the right thing."
Spencer gave me a questioning look, and I shook my head, giving a quick thumbs-up to let him know everything was alright.
"Well, it didn't feel like it at the time but I learned long ago not to mess with a pissed off woman." I smiled, nodding in agreement even though he couldn't see it. "I thought I should at least make sure she was okay. Also, I'm willing to step in for a few days if you guys need a break. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm more than willing to run the site if that's what you need."
I had no doubt that he could handle it. I had considered asking him to take over if the Marissa thing required me to go to Richmond for a few days. "Thank you, Blake. I really appreciate that. I think we're alright for now, but I'd like to reserve the right to call in that favor at a later date."
"You got it. Just say the word."
I hoped not to need him, but it was nice to have options. Maybe I'd bring him in to supervise so I could whisk Ali away for a few days. Hmm...
I ended the call, mind still on the possibility of escaping with Ali.
Spencer waved a hand in front of my face, amused. "Damn, you have it bad. You should see the stupid grin on your face. I've been talking t
o you for five minutes, and you haven't blinked." He shook his head. "As I was saying, I'm still getting calls from that jackass, Holden Shepard. Have you gotten a call from him yet?"
"No, and it's in his best interests to keep it that way. We are not for sale. Period."
"I agree, but something has lit a fire under him and I'm starting to wonder if word of the lawsuit has been leaked, and he's looking to snap up the company cheap because he thinks we may fold." His tone of voice indicated concern but no judgment, which I appreciated.
"Where would he have heard that?"
Spencer just shrugged and rolled his eyes. "You know how he loves to swoop in and snatch up vulnerable companies. He's made a career of turning floundering businesses into Fortune 500 material."
"We're already Fortune 500 material. Fuck him." I was getting pissed.
"I agree. I was just giving you a heads-up so you wouldn't be surprised if he calls. He's getting pushier by the day."
I gave an answering grunt and let it drop. I kind of hoped he did call. There was a lot I'd like to say to that fucking vulture, and all I needed was an opening.
"Don't stress Shepard. We have enough going on, and he's just a nuisance anyway. He's never getting his hands on this company." He jerked a thumb toward the truck. "I'm taking Gran and Vanessa home then I'm going to check in with a few of my sources to try and find a way to avoid using the video... as soon as I get rid of this fucking headache." He touched the bridge of his nose, and I feigned like I was going to punch him again. He showed me both fists, smiling. "Careful, manwhore. You already used up your free shot."
"What did I tell you two about fighting?"
I turned at the sound of Ali's voice, grin widening as I watched her approach. She shook her head at me as she stepped into my arms. "Haven't we had enough drama for one day? Anything that still needs settling can be dealt with over drinks. Several drinks."
Spencer met my eye over her shoulder, grinning. "I could use a drink or two, myself. Too bad I have to drive everyone home."