What Might Have Been: Daniels Brother #4 (Daniels Brothers)

by Sherri Hayes

  Before he could figure it all out, Chris had made his move. Trent had been heartbroken when he’d heard his older brother had asked her to go to the movies with him—on a date. There was no way he could compete. Chris was sixteen and could drive. Trent was only fourteen. Of course Abby would choose Chris.

  As much as it had pained him, Trent had stepped aside and let his older brother get the girl.

  A woman peered out her front door to stare at him. It was Mrs. Webley. He smiled and waved, not wanting her to think he was some criminal trying to case the neighborhood or anything.

  It took her a second to recognize him, but when she did, his old neighbor grinned back at him.

  Trent figured he should probably get out of there before someone who didn’t know him called the cops. People weren’t as carefree as they used to be about strange vehicles hanging around.

  “I thought you’d changed your mind,” his dad said when Trent pulled into his parents’ driveway about thirty minutes later.

  “Got tied up at work.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

  Mike Daniels nodded and headed into the backyard.

  After grabbing his work gloves and a shovel from the bed of his truck, Trent followed his dad around back. They had work to do.

  It took them over an hour, but they finally pried the sapling out of the ground. Trent was covered in sweat and dirt, surrounded by nature. It felt great.

  “Going to tell me what’s on your mind?” his dad asked.

  Trent wiped the moisture from his brow and jammed the head of his shovel in the ground beside him. “I was thinking I could bring a silver maple over tomorrow. Since the hole is already here, it shouldn’t take us too long.”

  “That sounds fine. But that wasn’t what I was talking about.” His dad snagged a lawn chair and sat down. He folded his arms over his stomach and raised his eyebrows.

  Why was it that at thirty-one years old his dad could still make him feel like he was five, getting in trouble for fighting with his brothers?

  Trent decided it was better to get it over with. Drawing it out would only make his dad think there was more to it than there was. “I ran into Abby this week.”

  “Abby Hoffman?”

  He nodded. “Her boss is the nephew of one of my biggest clients and my company was recommended to do some work for them.”

  His dad pursed his lips. “Been a while since she’s been home.”

  Trent didn’t comment.

  “You know . . . your mom and I went to her dad’s funeral. She was there. Haven’t seen her since.”

  He remembered that day. If he hadn’t had a final, he would have been there as well.

  “She’s a personal assistant to a lawyer named Maxwell Collins.”

  His dad smiled. “Abby always was a smart girl.”

  Trent turned and began gathering up the debris scattered around the area where they’d been working. “Yep.”

  After a few minutes, his dad pushed himself out of the chair and helped Trent carry the dead tree to his truck. While they could have cut it up and left it on the curb, it was easier for Trent to dispose of it. He could run it through the wood chipper in a matter of minutes.

  With the tree secured in the bed of his truck, they went inside for some much needed refreshment. He could smell his mother’s cooking as soon as he stepped through the door. It always put a smile on his face.

  Marilyn Daniels was at the stove putting the finishing touches on dinner when they walked in. “Go clean yourselves up. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

  His dad ducked into the small bathroom down the hall, so Trent headed upstairs.

  When he reentered the kitchen his mother was taking something out of the oven. Trent took a deep breath and recognized the distinct smell of his mom’s eggplant parmesan. “Smells good, Ma.”

  She didn’t miss a beat. “There’s water and lemonade in the refrigerator. Help yourselves.”

  Trent opened the cabinet and removed two glasses. He filled them both with ice and water, and then handed one to his dad before downing his and refilling it.

  His mother smiled. “Did you get everything done?”

  Mike sidled up to his wife and kissed her cheek. Trent averted his eyes. Even after all these years, his parents were still very affectionate. It never mattered if their children were around or not.

  “We did,” his dad said as he took the large pot of spaghetti his wife handed him. “Trent’s going to bring a replacement tree over tomorrow.”

  Marilyn brought a plate full of eggplant to the table and his dad followed with the pasta. Trent grabbed the warm bread his mom had removed from the oven moments before and took his seat. Even though all her children had left the nest many years ago, his mom still cooked as if she had four hungry boys to feed. Considering he’d skipped lunch, Trent’s mouth was watering with anticipation.

  He managed to get a few bites in before his father brought up the one subject he didn’t want to talk about. “Trent ran into Abby.”

  His mother set her fork down on her plate and straightened her shoulders. “Really? Where? We haven’t seen her in ages. How is she?”

  Trent opened his mouth to speak, but his father cut him off. “He’s doing some work for her boss.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to see her again?” his mom asked, her eyes full of hope. He knew she missed Abby. With all boys, having Abby around had given his mom the opportunity to share girlie things with another female.

  “Probably. It’s a big project.” Considering she was his point of contact, he’d most likely be talking to her on a weekly basis. He wasn’t sure he wanted to share that with his parents, though. For whatever reason, Trent got the feeling Abby wasn’t thrilled she had to deal with him at all.

  The look on his mom’s face should have prepared him. He should have known what was coming. Should’ve, but didn’t.

  “Oh, Trent, you have to invite her to Sunday dinner.”

  Chapter 4

  Abby spent the weekend cleaning and unpacking the rest of her things. With the exception of her furniture, she’d brought almost everything else with her to Ohio. Max wouldn’t leave until he was satisfied things were as they should be, so she was expecting to be here for at least three months. If she was going to be here for that long, she wanted to be comfortable.

  Earlier in the week, she’d gone to the store and bought some cheap bookshelves. They weren’t anything like the ones she had at her apartment in New York, but they would keep her books and craft supplies organized. It was better than digging through boxes every time she needed something.

  As she sorted through her craft supplies, Abby admired her collection of beads. One of the other admins in the New York office got her hooked on making bracelets and necklaces. Something about threading each individual bead relaxed her.

  Sighing, she put the plastic bin containing her supplies on the shelf. So far, since she’d been in Ohio, she hadn’t had time to work on any of her projects. Hopefully, once they got through the initial craziness, she’d be able to get back to them.

  The next box took her longer. It was a mixture of things, including some outfits she hadn’t worn in a while. Abby sorted through the clothes, putting the ones that would need ironing in a separate pile and hanging up the rest.

  She reached into the box for the next item and her fingers brushed against something that wasn’t clothes. Nudging an old shirt out of the way, Abby removed the green shoebox. Her fingers traced over the edges as if it would impart some great wisdom if she could only find the correct rhythm.

  Moisture filled her eyes, clouding her vision. She wiped the tears from her lashes and stood to put the box in her closet. The memories seemed closer to the surface today than they had in a long time and she knew why. Being back here in Ohio—being back home around the people who’d once meant so much to her—was making it feel fresh again.

  Before she could begin crying in earnest, Abby grabbed the book she’d started reading a few days befor
e and headed into the living room. The rest of the boxes could wait. She needed a break from reality for a while.

  By Monday morning, Abby was feeling more like herself again. She walked into the office ready to tackle whatever challenge might come her way, her armor securely in place.

  In New York her job was to answer the phone, schedule appointments for Max, and make sure he kept to his schedule. Here she found herself organizing invoices, dealing with frustrated employees, and trying to be there for Max as best she could without having much of a clue as to what she was doing.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone ringing. It was Max. “Hello?”

  “Where are you?”

  “Getting into the elevator. What do you need?”

  “There’s some sort of emergency over in Wedgewood and I’m stuck at the hospital with my parents.” He sounded frustrated. Max was a bit of a control freak. He didn’t like there to be problems he couldn’t fix.

  She stopped the elevator doors from closing and stepped out. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Just fix it. I trust your judgment. I didn’t even get the whole story from the property manager, but something about water going everywhere. I don’t know.”

  “Okay, okay. Just take a deep breath. I’m on it.”

  Max exhaled loudly. “Thanks, Abby. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Oh, you’d just find another woman to order around.” She hoped her response would break some of his tension.

  It worked. She heard a deep rumble of laughter through the phone.

  “Why don’t you take the day off and spend time with your folks?” she said as she made her way back to her car. “I can handle things here.”

  “That’s okay. I—”

  “That wasn’t a suggestion, mister.”

  “I should fire you,” he said with absolutely no malice.

  “You couldn’t do this without me.”

  “True.”

  “Go take care of your parents. I’ve got this.” Even as she said it, she was sliding behind the wheel of her car.

  He relented. “I’ll call you later.”

  After disconnecting the call with Max, Abby scrolled through her contacts until she found the receptionist’s number. “Collins and Baxter Property Management. How may I direct your call?”

  “Janice, it’s Abby, Mr. Collins’ assistant.” They were all still getting to know each other, so she wasn’t sure the woman would know who she was if she’d only said Abby.

  “Oh, hi, Abby. What can I do for you?” Janice asked.

  “Mr. Collins is going to be out of the office today and I need to head out to take care of a situation at one of the properties.”

  “You need me to handle the phones?”

  Abby smiled even though Janice couldn’t see her. “You read my mind.”

  “No problem. I’ll take messages and have one of the mail clerks run them up to your desk later.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Anytime.”

  With the phones taken care of, Abby drove to Wedgewood. She had no idea what she’d find once she got there. When she’d been introduced to the manager a little over a week ago, she hadn’t been impressed. Max hadn’t been either, but he was trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, no matter how incompetent they seemed. The last thing he wanted to do was fire everyone and start from scratch.

  When Abby pulled up to the front of the office building, she couldn’t miss the fountains of water spraying in all different directions. She had no idea what was going on.

  Stepping out of her car, she spotted the manager. “Marty, what’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. The sprinklers turned on this morning and they just started going everywhere.”

  She willed herself not to roll her eyes. The man’s clothes weren’t even wet. Had he even attempted to shut off the water? “Did you try turning them off?”

  “The only water shutoff I can find is the main one. There are at least a hundred people in this building. I can’t just turn off all the water.” He looked at her as if she’d lost every brain cell in her head.

  “There isn’t a separate shutoff for the outside sprinklers?” Trent’s comment about things being worse than he’d thought ran through her head. Was this another thing the previous landscapers hadn’t done correctly?

  “If there is, then I haven’t found it.” He acted irritated that he’d had to repeat himself.

  “Show me.”

  “Show you what?” he asked.

  She gritted her teeth and plastered a smile on her face. “I’d like to see the controls for the sprinkler system. I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

  He huffed. “Fine. But it ain’t gonna do no good.”

  Somehow, Abby managed to follow him through the maze of sprinklers without getting soaked. She thought they’d be going to the basement, but Marty led her to the side of the building. There was a control panel hidden behind a row of bushes. She could see it, but they weren’t able to get close without getting caught by the spray.

  “See. I told you,” he said with pride. “No shutoff.”

  “And you’re sure there’s nothing inside?”

  “Do I look like this is my first day on the job?”

  Abby wanted to give this man an earful, but she bit her tongue. Yelling at him wouldn’t solve the problem and for now she needed him. Marty knew the building better than she did.

  She took in the situation around her and knew what she had to do.

  She dug out her cell and scrolled until she found Trent’s number. Abby hesitated for a moment before dialing. He’d crossed her mind more than once over the weekend, for reasons that were completely unrelated to work.

  “Daniels Landscape Design.”

  “Hi, Trent. It’s Abby.”

  His tone changed to one of familiarity. “Abby. What can I do for you on this lovely morning?”

  She tried not to think about her body’s reaction to the change in his voice. “I’m having a bit of a crisis over at Wedgewood that I’m hoping you can help me out with.” Marty lingered close by, but she ignored him. “There’s something wrong with the sprinkler system and we can’t seem to shut it off without interrupting the water to the building.”

  There was the sound of a door opening and then closing. “Are you there now?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not far away. I’ll be there in five.” The phone went silent.

  Abby closed her eyes and gripped her phone a little tighter as her heart rate picked up. Five minutes.

  Taking a steadying breath, she tucked her phone back into her pocket and turned to face Marty. “Someone from the new landscaping company will be here in a few minutes. Hopefully he’ll be able to come up with a solution.”

  Marty shrugged, but otherwise didn’t comment.

  Abby decided to try a different tactic. “Do you happen to have some coffee around here? I ran out of the office before I was able to get my morning fix.”

  “Sure. Follow me.”

  They retraced their steps through the maze of water to the front of the building. Instead of heading inside, he turned toward his van. Marty opened the door and reached inside. He reemerged with a thermos in one hand and a Styrofoam cup in the other. He held them both out for her to take.

  She hesitated before taking the offering. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, seeming overly pleased with himself. “I’m going to run inside and check on some things. You gonna be okay for a few minutes?”

  Abby resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Sure. You go ahead.”

  He walked away and she was grateful for the few minutes alone. She was anxious about seeing Trent again and she needed to get her head on straight. There was no reason why she couldn’t work with him. Not really.

  If she was being honest with herself, she’d missed him. Leaving Trent behind had been one of the hardest parts about moving to New York. She’d sent him a f
ew letters the first two years . . . up until she went to Fort Lauderdale for spring break. After that, she hadn’t been able to write to him anymore. She’d been too afraid of what she might say, or of what Chris might have told him. It had been easier to close the door on that part of her life.

  The thermos remained in her hand, untouched, as did the cup. What would he think of her if he knew the truth? What would they all think of her?

  Her thoughts were cut short when she saw Trent’s pickup truck pull into the parking lot. He was here and she had a job to do.

  ***

  Trent had been surprised to hear from Abby so soon. He’d planned to check in with her at the end of the week, but he hadn’t considered the possibility that she’d reach out to him first.

  As soon as he turned into the parking lot at Wedgewood, he understood why she’d called him. There were at least ten sprinklers set up at strategic locations around the building. All of them were on and looked like they’d been that way for a while. There were puddles of water pooling near the sidewalks.

  He parked his truck next to Abby’s vehicle and hopped out. She was about twenty feet away, leaning against a white van. Her hair was pulled back in some sort of twist. He had the urge to remove the clip and run his fingers through it.

  Trent was so focused on her, he almost missed the man who was striding toward her. He chuckled to himself. No woman had ever been able to distract him like Abby had. Maybe that was why he’d never settled down and gotten married. No one had ever called to him like she had.

  She glanced in his direction and smiled. There was a nervous edge to it. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” He kept his eyes on her and ignored the other man. Something was bothering her and he didn’t like not knowing what it was.

  Abby straightened her shoulders. “Thank you for coming so fast.”

  “Not a problem.” No, coming to her rescue wasn’t a problem for Trent.

  She swallowed hard and motioned to the building. “As you can see, we’re having a bit of a problem with the sprinklers.”