Chapter 8
“Damn stubborn woman is going to be the death of me.” ~ Eli
Eli
“Wow.” I study the distillery. If I hadn’t personally experienced the hurricane, I wouldn’t believe one happened based on what I’m seeing. “I can’t believe it.”
“There’s been minimal damage,” Rhett says.
“The effects of the hurricane shouldn’t influence our production too much,” Jaxon adds. “The expansion can continue as planned as well.”
I run a hand down my face. “I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been.”
“Smuggler’s Hideaway as a whole was lucky,” Kai says.
“Not everyone,” Miles mutters.
I slap his back. “I’m sorry about your surfboard business. I’ll put in some calls today and get moving on the rebuild. ”
I’m not surprised the shack where he stores his surfboards and other equipment he uses to provide surfing lessons didn’t survive the storm. I’ve been pushing him for years to build a more secure structure. But he wanted to do this business on his own with none of my money. I respected his motives and let him be.
“Other businesses were affected as well,” Zane says.
“I’m certain they were. We’ll help where we can.”
Rhett and Jaxon nod in agreement while Zane’s eyes sparkle.
“I bet there’s a certain brewery you want to help first.”
My muscles seize up at Zane’s insinuation. “What brewery?”
It’s a stupid question. There’s only one brewery on the island.
“According to the smuggler’s grapevine, the roof blew off the brewery.”
Shit. A missing roof can cause a lot of damage. I whip out my phone to contact Paisley.
“Cell towers are still down,” Rhett says. “They should be up and running within a day.”
I shove my phone back in my pocket. I can’t believe I forgot there was no service.
“I need to…” I wave toward the exit.
“Go on,” Rhett says. “I’ve got things handled here.”
“Say hi to Paisley for us,” Kai hollers as I hurry out of the distillery. He chuckles but I ignore him in my haste to get to Paisley.
Is she okay? According to the smuggler’s grapevine, no one was seriously injured during the storm. But some injuries aren’t visible. If her brewery is destroyed, she’s going to be wrecked.
I jump in my SUV and drive as fast as I can to Five Fathoms Brewing . Unlike the distillery, the brewery is located near the town of Smuggler’s Rest .
The parking lot is crowded when I arrive. I scan the area for Paisley but I don’t spot her amongst the crowd. There’s a container for debris set up near the brewery and a steady file of people dropping debris into it. Damn. Those are the remnants of the roof.
I notice Nova standing near the container holding a baby in her arms.
She smiles as I near. “Hey, you. Everything okay at the distillery?”
“Yes. We got lucky.”
Her smile dims. “We didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
The baby in her arms cries and she jostles her. “Can you hold her for a moment?”
She doesn’t give me a chance to respond before shoving the baby into my arms. “This is Iliana.”
I glance down at the little girl. I haven’t held a baby in my arms since Kai.
“You’re good with her.”
“You sound surprised.”
“You’re wearing a three-piece suit and shoes that probably cost more than my entire shoe collection and I’m married to a millionaire who enjoys treating me to new shoes.”
I frown. “They’re only clothes.”
Her nose wrinkles. “They don’t exactly scream smuggler, though, do they?”
“I guess not. ”
I thought Paisley was being bratty when she pointed out my clothes. But maybe she’s right. Maybe my clothes make me appear to be an outsider on the island I grew up on. The island I consider home. The island I have no plans to ever leave ever again.
“Paisley’s around back.”
I don’t bother lying and saying I’m not here for Paisley. What’s the point?
I hand her Iliana. “She’s a beautiful girl. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs but her attention is all on her baby girl. I don’t blame her. She’s precious. If I had a baby, I’d give her all of my attention, too.
I force those thoughts away and make my way around the building. I nearly gasp when I encounter the devastation back here. There are pieces of the roof everywhere.
I scan the area until I spot Paisley. My feet travel toward her before I realize I’m moving.
“Paisley,” I call.
She stands up and spins toward me. Strands of her hair have escaped her ponytail and are matted to her face. She runs the back of her hand over her forehead to wipe away the sweat leaving a streak of dirt behind. Despite it all, she’s never looked more beautiful.
“What do you want? Did you come to gloat?”
“Gloat?”
She plants her hands on her hips. “Your distillery didn’t suffer any damage but the brewery is practically destroyed.”
I frown. “And you think I would gloat about it. ”
She motions to my clothes. “You certainly didn’t come to help in the outfit you’re wearing.”
“What do you need help with?”
She waves to the debris scattered on the ground. “What do you think?”
I remove my jacket and hang it on the lowest branch of the one tree left standing before rolling up my sleeves.
“I came to offer you a different kind of help, but I can do this, too.”
She raises her eyebrows. The skepticism is plain to read on her face.
I grab a piece of wood from the ground. “Are you sorting materials? Or does everything go in the container together?”
She points to a pile of wood. “Wood goes there. Building materials go in the container.”
I gather a few pieces of wood before carrying them to the pile. Paisley follows me the entire way.
“What did you mean about coming to offer a different kind of help?” she asks once I’ve dropped my load.
I go back to gathering wood while I contemplate how to answer.
“Well,” she pushes when I don’t speak.
I stand to face her. “The distillery wasn’t damaged during the storm.”
She scowls. “Thanks for the reminder.”
“We have a lot of extra space as we’re planning to expand production.”
“Rub it in, why don’t you? ”
“I came to offer you the space for you to brew and produce Five Fathoms beer.”
Her eyes widen and her jaw drops open. “I wish I could say I’m imagining things but I’m not prone to flights of fancy. And I know I’m not dreaming as my vision is always impaired while I dream. Perhaps my ears are due for a thorough cleaning.”
“You don’t need to have your ears cleaned.”
“But why would you offer us space in your distillery? What do you get out of it?”
First of all, the offer was made to her. Without Paisley, the brewery wouldn’t be on my radar. And, secondly, why does she assume I’m getting any benefit out of my offer?
“It’s a friendly offer as a fellow smuggler.”
“A fellow smuggler?” She waves toward my suit pants.
“Being well dressed doesn’t mean I’m not a smuggler.”
“When was the last time you’ve been to the beach?”
Ha. Joke’s on her. “I was there this morning.”
“You were?” She slides her glasses up her nose as she contemplates me. Understanding lights in her eyes and she snaps her fingers. “Of course. You were checking on Miles. How is his surfing shack?”
“Destroyed.”
“How unfortunate. But it’s not surprising. The structure was not hurricane proof.”
“I agree but I’m not saying a word to him about it.”
“Paisley!” a man shouts.
“Thanks for your help. Flynn needs me. ”
She walks off but I stop her with a question. “Aren’t you going to consider my offer?”
“Why? So you can lord it over me about how you’re a billionaire and your business is more successful than mine?” She shakes his head. “No thanks.”
“I’m not lording my money over you.”
“Okay,” she says but she clearly doesn’t believe me. “Thanks for your offer but I don’t need a man to save me.”
“I’m not trying to…” I trail off when she stalks away.
I growl. Stubborn woman. Why won’t she accept my help? It could be months before the insurance company reviews their claim, let alone pays out.
She’s letting her hatred of me cloud her vision. And why does she hate me anyway? We were friends once in high school. Is it pure jealousy?
I don’t know but I’m making it my mission to find out.