Chapter 13
Brayden finished sweeping the deck and set the broom aside, reaching for his travel mug of coffee. The loose leaves and twigs were gone, but a layer of grit needed to be rinsed away. The hose would help, but he figured they had a pressure washer around here somewhere.
And a ladder. They’d done a walk-through inside to check for any leaks, but he wanted to get up on the roof himself and look around. Between sips of strong, hot coffee, he stretched his shoulders.
That big limb that crashed down last night had dragged smaller limbs and brush along with it, altering the way the light moved through the strip of forest. He imagined the manager’s suite would be brighter at an earlier hour now.
Brayden’s bigger concern was that the developer would use the gap as a literal opening to reach their goals faster.
He wondered if Bobby and the others would drag their heels or go back to following orders to the letter as soon as their bosses showed up.
Scattered between the house and the beach, the cleanup crew was making good progress. The three Hargrave sisters along with Cav and Bobby had been joined by a few folks from the dance club. They would definitely be ready to host the special class this evening.
From the few messages he’d received through Jess, the office trailer was the most significant structure damage reported so far. Great news for everyone, as long as Indigo Reef didn’t push.
Brayden was halfway to the shed for a ladder and hopefully a pressure washer, when he heard someone shouting his name. Instantly, he spun around, concerned for Roni. But it was Trent Blakely, a new permanent addition to the Guardian Agency satellite office.
“Didn’t hear you pull up,” Brayden said as Trent jogged over to join him. “Everything good?”
“Seems to be.” Trent wore a ball cap backwards and was ready for work with jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He held work gloves in one hand. “Can’t believe you and Veronica hosted the enemy last night,” he said, voice low.
“Me either,” Brayden admitted. “We got some interesting intel, though, so it was worth it. And the men aren’t the jerks we thought, so there’s that.”
“But they can’t stop their bosses?”
“It’s doubtful.” Brayden opened the garden shed, grateful yet again for teammates like Trent who helped him make the swap possible before Vanbeck could drag Roni down into a morass of criminal charges. “We’re closer than ever to putting this mess to rest,” he said, glaring into the forest.
He spotted the ladder, a folding, multi-use thing, and hoped it would be enough. “Do you know if they have a pressure washer?”
Trent glanced around. “Maybe?” He said it more like a question. “What’s the ladder for?”
“I need to walk the roof and check for damage,” Brayden replied, taking the ladder outside.
Trent clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You won’t need the ladder. Just use the drone.”
“You have a drone?”
“We have a drone,” Trent corrected. “It’s Guardian Agency gear in the office storage room. I’ll go get it.” He was in motion before Brayden could thank him.
As he tucked the ladder back into place, Roni appeared in the doorway, the bright sunlight casting a halo around her blond hair. An angel of the most practical and perfect design, in his eyes anyway.
He’d been doing his best to keep his mind off of last night’s major milestone, with pretty much zero success. He’d slept with the woman he’d been dreaming of holding for most of his adult life.
Any effort he’d made to distract his body from what Roni meant to him had been pointless.
Fleeting satisfaction. He’d never even let himself fall asleep with another woman.
But last night… Everything with Roni had been different.
More intense than his most heated fantasies.
Discovering what made her sigh and gasp and arch into his touch had been indescribably amazing.
It only underscored what he’d hoped for, what he’d believed with every fiber of his being: they were fantastic together in every capacity. She might not be in love with him, yet, but her body loved being with him and that was a solid start, in his opinion.
Friendship would always be the foundation. He’d promised her that. Sharing his true feelings was a fresh miracle in itself. And though he’d never admit it to anyone but her, sleeping with his arms around Roni had been a life-altering experience.
And here she was, in easy reach once more, while they were alone. She couldn’t expect him to keep his hands to himself.
He drew her close, into a deeper shadow, and claimed her mouth. Gently at first, then letting it run away with him. Just for a moment. Or two. More. He pulled back, reluctantly, his hands skimming the curve of waist to hip and back again.
“The deck looks great,” she said, her breath ragged.
“Glad you approve.”
“Mm.” She arched into him. “I approve of many things.” He squeezed her hips and it sounded as if she purred. “What were you looking for?”
“You, mainly.” He cleared his throat, told his body to dial it down. They could have more fun tonight, when the Hideaway was empty. “I wanted to walk the roof.” She jerked and started to protest. “Easy. First of all, I know what I’m doing.”
“You know enough to be dangerous,” she argued. “We only did one summer with Habitat for Humanity.”
He shook his head. “I did more projects with groups during my military days,” he reminded her. He was sure he’d mentioned it at some point.
“Oh.” She looked a little put out about forgetting. “But Trent has a drone. Won’t that be safer?”
Brayden chuckled. “He already told me to wait.” He nibbled on her earlobe. “He’ll be back any minute with it.” He created some distance, hoping to get his body to behave before he walked back out into the sunny morning. “What about a pressure washer?”
“Yes! Sort of.” She turned toward a peg board mounted on the opposite wall. “Celeste bought some sort of hose attachment that’s easier to handle and still effective.” She grabbed a device that looked like a chrome wand and a handgun had a home-maintenance baby. “Here it is.”
Taking the item in one hand, he stepped outside with her. “Seriously?”
She grinned and kissed his cheek. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” A heavy machine rumbled to life on the other side of the trees. “Oh! That’s what I really came to warn you about. Bobby is bringing the backhoe over here to haul away some of the larger debris.”
“Through the forest?”
“No, no.” She shook her head. “He’ll drive it around.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Brayden was willing to be the bad guy and put a stop to this if that’s what she needed from him.
She nodded. “His plan got the full three-sister seal of approval.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.” The man had done a complete one-eighty on the Hargrave sisters and their Hideaway. Brayden appreciated a person who could admit they’d been wrong. “Here’s hoping he’s willing to speak up if necessary.”
She slipped her arm around his waist as the backhoe approached from the street. “Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
He pressed a kiss to her hair. “Agreed.”
Holding hands, they waved at Bobby as the backhoe lumbered past. After a quick detour to the deck, Brayden and Roni started down to the beach to help out.
“Cav is taking the debris to the construction site so they can haul it away once the limb is cut out of the office trailer.”
A generous offer. Brayden glanced at the backhoe’s tracks. “I hope y’all don’t need more than one or two trips or we’ll need to re-sod the lawn and level the sand again.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, but this way we’re not taking load after load to the dump.” Suddenly, she smiled, nudging him with her elbow. “Hey, Holly!” She waved as the Brookwell Bugle editor hurried forward.
“Good morning!” Holly greeted them both, walking in one of the grass-flattened tracks. “Glad the house is okay. This is an unexpected cooperative effort.” Holly raised her camera and took some quick snapshots. “I’m just coming from the construction site. That’s a dreadful mess. Was anyone hurt?”
“Not seriously,” Roni replied. “We’re all working to clean up this morning.”
“The neighbors said it’s quite the cleanup party.” Holly beamed. “Can I help while you fill me in?”
Roni glanced at Brayden, but this was her decision. She had to know he’d support her choice.
“We’ll take all the help we can get,” Roni said. “Obviously.”
She seemed reluctant to reveal that the Hideaway had hosted three members of the construction crew overnight.
Brayden knew it wouldn’t stay a secret for long.
All three men were too eager to sing her praises.
That kind of thing always made Roni uncomfortable.
She struggled to take a compliment on the best of days.
She didn’t view her actions last night as anything praise-worthy.
Taking in those men, in her view, was merely the baseline of being human.
Helping others came naturally, through the attentive way she and her sisters had been raised.
Caring by doing was a core value. Before their dad had left his family and his practice to do whatever he was doing in Europe, he’d spent countless hours volunteering for various organizations.
And their mother was the same with her dedication to a variety of charities, from local foodbanks to mission trips abroad.
“You think you’ll make it in time for the dance class?” Holly queried. Then she laughed as they reached the dunes and she recognized members of the dance club. Immediately she used her camera, then covered the lens to protect it from sand and debris. “Of course you will.”
“How is the rest of the island?” Brayden asked, hoping to put off the inevitable reveal of how they had all come to be working together out here today.