9. Callum
NINE
CALLUM
The smell of fried beignet dough filled the kitchen. I tapped the spider strainer against the deep pot to drain the last of the hot oil as I set aside the final batch of beignets. Quickly, I grabbed the sifter and gently tapped its side, dusting the tops with a healthy amount of powdered sugar.
Three glorious mounds of sugar-dusted beignets waited on the prep counter. They were the final element for today’s breakfast and best served fresh and hot.
I glanced through the kitchen window, across the lawn. The sun was just coming up, but Wes’s construction truck blocked any view of my neighbor. All I could see was the front porch and a few men patching up worn boards on the outside of her house.
Just as well, I supposed. It was probably better I couldn’t see what new havoc she was wrecking over there.
I shook my head.
“Hey, Dad.” Levi stepped into the kitchen, stealing a beignet and shoving the entire thing into his mouth.
“Careful that’s?—”
“Hah—hot!” Steam wafted around the pastry like a dragon’s breath as he tried to chew around a mouthful of hot dough.
“Hot,” I finished. My eyes flicked to the clock, surprised that it was 7:26 and Levi was not only awake, but bright-eyed and dressed for the day. “What are you up to?”
He shrugged. “I’m going to work.”
I looked around, stunned. “Work?”
Levi’s face bloomed with a cheeky smile. “I got a job. Sick money too.”
Suspicious, my arms crossed. “A job? Doing what?”
He looked past me toward Star Harbor Farm and gestured with his chin. “Helping Ellie.”
I dropped the spatula onto the counter with an undignified clatter.
I didn’t mention that Levi’s job was supposed to be helping around here.
A job he consistently failed to do, I might have added.
My molars ground together. “You’re helping at the farm?
And she’s paying you?” My chin lifted. “How much?”
His eyes flicked around the kitchen, avoiding mine. “Well ... I don’t really know yet—but she promised it would be good!”
His sweet, naive little heart. I shook my head. “Son, you need to be careful. Not everyone has good intentions.”
Especially dream-stealing harlots with perfect asses and a sassy mouth. Not that I noticed. Not that I cared.
“Now if you need money, we can talk about paying you more for what you help with around here.” I pinned him with my best parental look. “But we also need to talk about you actually doing the things I ask you to.”
I helplessly watched my son’s hope and excitement wither in front of me. Levi’s sweet eyes went hard, and I hated myself for being the cause of it.
Damn it .
I’d been trying to hold on to him, and all I’d managed to do was push him further away. Again.
“Fine,” he pouted. Levi went to turn around and stomp back to his room, where I was almost certain he’d hole up for the foreseeable future.
“Stop,” I said, and he slowly turned to look at me, a tiny flicker of hope sparking in his eyes. I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled. “Just ... be careful. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you.”
Levi brushed past me as he grabbed a baseball cap off the hook by the door. He hesitated, balling his fists inside his hoodie pockets as his eyebrows popped up. “You know, for someone who doesn’t like her, you sure do watch her a lot.”
My spine went stiff. “Watch it,” I warned, though my words lacked any real threat.
Levi was already out the door, his snort of amusement carried away with the morning breeze. “Later, Dad!”
And just like that, I lost him to the enemy.
“And it’s too warm for a hoodie!” I shouted at his back, but I doubt he heard me. Levi was already bounding across the lawn toward Elodie’s place.
I watched through the window as she stepped out onto the front porch to greet Levi.
That soft, easy smile. The kind of smile that could make a person feel like they belonged somewhere—like they were wanted.
Her smile was bright and wide for my son, and an aching spot ballooned in my chest. I wondered what it took to earn a smile like that.
Not that I wanted one, or that it would ever be directed at me.
I continued to watch as she said something to Wes, who was working alongside a few of his men. He got one of her smiles too.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I scrubbed a hand down my face. I am a pouty little bitch this morning.
Still, as Levi walked beside Elodie and disappeared behind a rolling hill on the farm, I couldn’t stop the nagging feeling in my gut.
One little recon mission. Just enough to confirm what I already knew—she was going to fail spectacularly.
I picked up the phone and rang the reception desk.
“Hello, Drifted Spirit Inn. This is Helen.”
“It’s me. I need to pop next door for a minute. Breakfast is ready and warming. I set aside two blueberry crumb muffins for you. Be back in ten.”
Helen’s chuckle floated across the telephone line. “You really are the best boss. Take your time.”
I grumbled and hung up.
Brushing the last remnants of powdered sugar from my hands, I removed my apron and hung it on a hook.
If I still had a snowball’s chance in hell of making things right with Stan—of proving his best option was to sell the farm to me—I needed to know what Ellie was really up to. It would also make it that much easier to swoop in and rescue it when she inevitably fucked it all up.
It was something that had been beaten into me in the Army. The ends always justified the means. No room for excuses.
If I wanted to take down the enemy, I needed to know her better than I knew myself.
Unfortunately for me, the enemy was a five-foot-seven knockout with wild hair and a fiery personality.
Knowing the enemy meant stepping straight into the lion’s den.
Or, more accurately, straight into the orbit of Elodie Darling and her goddamn sunshine .
I stalked toward her cottage.
It was time to find out exactly what Elodie Darling was up to—and how to make damn sure she didn’t get too comfortable.
With confident strides, I paced across the lawn toward Wes’s truck. His work pants were dusty and well worn from his time working in the construction field. As I swung a leg over the fence that divided the properties, my movements caught Wes’s attention.
“There he is!” Wes called as an easy grin spread across his face. He walked toward me, hand out. “Figured you’d be researching chiffon pastry or some shit.”
I gripped his hand, pushing into him. “Shove it. You know my cakes are amazing.”
He grinned. “I won’t argue with that.”
My eyes swept over the farmland as it bustled with activity from Wes’s crew to laborers clearing the fields. “Sure is busy around here,” I grumbled.
Wes rocked on his heels. “Busy is good. I like to work, and this place needs plenty of it.”
I harrumphed, glancing at the old cottage and noting that Wes and his team were practically rebuilding it from the inside out.
I jutted my chin toward the cottage. “Heard she’s a real battle-ax.”
“Ellie?” Wes frowned at me, shaking his head. “No, she’s great, man. I’ve known her since we were kids.”
Taken aback, I folded my arms. “You don’t think it’s odd? Her coming in here and telling Stan how to run things?”
Wes’s attention on me made it clear he was trying to figure out what my problem was. “I don’t know.” His carefree shoulders lifted. “Maybe it’s good for old man Stafford to have a project.”
I suppressed a snarl. Seemed like Elodie and her ideas had put sparkles in everyone’s eyes but mine.
I wondered if Mary had known Elodie, and whether they had been friends. “Growing up, was she always so ... cheerful ?”
He shrugged again. “I didn’t really hang around with her back then.
Hayes and I ran in different circles, and the Darling girls are younger than us.
” He looked out onto the farm, and my irritation grew when his eyes landed on Elodie in the distance.
He let out a soft whistle. “Though I don’t know, man, maybe I should have been paying better attention. ”
His arm playfully bumped mine. My eyes darkened, but I didn’t say a word.
Wes nudged my arm again. “I mean, c’mon, you have eyes, right?”
“I have a brain too,” I grumbled. “And it tells me she’s a pain in my ass.”
“Sure.” Wes stretched the word out, letting it settle between us before adding, “Is that what you were just staring at? Her being a pain in your ass?”
I scowled, shoving him hard enough to send him back a step. “Go build something.”
“Unless,” he continued, watching me, “you were thinking of going for it.”
I scowled. “Going for what?”
Wes rolled his eyes. “Asking her out, dumbass.”
I stared at my friend. I had been married to his sister, for fuck’s sake.
Sure, at the time I had only asked her because she was pregnant, and I thought it was the honorable thing to do, but love and respect had grown there.
Mary had been an amazing mother. She deserved better than the hand she had been dealt.
Specifically, better than a man like me.
When I remained silent, Wes shook his head. A seriousness dropped over his features that meant I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “Mary’s been gone a long time. I know things weren’t perfect, but you’ve done right by her.”
The throb in my temple was back. Wes knew as well as anyone that a life in Delta Force always meant collateral damage. How he’d ever managed to forgive me for what I’d put his sister through was beyond me.
Hell, I hadn’t even forgiven myself.
I shook my head. “I’m not asking anyone out.”
His seriousness evaporated and a chuckle rumbled in Wes’s chest. “I’m going to hold your hand when I say this.” He clamped a hand on my shoulder. “You’re an idiot.”
I shrugged him off and took a cheap, playful shot with my elbow to his ribs. Wes reacted, pulling me into a headlock. Wes was taller, but I had bulk on him, and we were evenly matched. Despite our military training, this was pure fucking around, and we both knew it.