Chapter 7
Making Friends
Good Coffee
Learning How to Use a Nail Gun
The Community Center
Baking
Nora came back a few days ago, and things have been a bit of a whirlwind since. She and Colson seemed to have worked things out, which was a relief. I didn’t know all the details, but Nora had spent every night at Colson’s since getting back, so I assumed they were good.
More importantly, she was fine with me staying in her house.
She was planning to move into Colson’s eventually but would be leaving all her furniture behind.
It would do for now. If I was going to stay in Macon, I would need to find something smaller and more suited to my taste, but it could wait.
I was also working on creating friendships, and with Nora back I had the perfect opportunity.
I parked in front of the soon-to-be Community Center a few blocks down from Main Street.
Nora and Colson’s cars were already against the curb, along with several other work trucks.
Nora had been talking about this project nonstop, and now that she was back, she needed all the help she could get.
Liam had called to set up a time for me to help with the girls later this afternoon.
So, until then, I was filling my time with whatever I could.
Incidentally I had also baked three dozen cookies and four different kinds of muffins.
Tucked under my arm was a basket full of plastic-wrapped goodies.
“Haley, you’re here!” Nora called, smiling as she headed toward me.
She had gorgeous curly hair that had two forms: tight spirals or loose spirals.
Today they were tight, half tossed up in a bun, while the other half hung down her back.
She had big aqua eyes rimmed with dark lashes that looked too long and dark to be natural. I wondered if she’d had them done.
Lifting the basket, I said, “I come bearing gifts!”
“Perfect, you can set those over here. I know all the guys will love them.”
We walked over to a large makeshift table where coffee and bagels were set up.
The room was spacious, but the walls were framed and on the verge of being ready for insulation and drywall, if my home decor show knowledge was accurate.
There were light fixtures and recessed lighting being put in, with ladders set up and men working on threading the wires inside.
There were a few saws going off every now and then, and the sound of power tools popping in nails every few seconds or so.
“What can I help with?”
“How do you feel about nail guns?”
I was terrified of them. “I can point and shoot whatever you tell me to.”
Nora laughed and then put her arm around my shoulder.
“Let me introduce you to Jeffery. He’s one of the foremen, and he’ll explain exactly how to use the gun without shooting yourself in the foot or anything.”
I laughed softly but inside I was screaming. Shoot myself in the foot?
Ohmyfreakinggosh.
“Jeffery?” Nora called over to a guy who had on a dark ball cap, a heavy coat, and pair of thick brown work pants. His warm brown eyes lingered a little too long on my chest and curves, but he seemed to shake himself out of it a second later with a slight flush.
“This is Colson’s little sister, Haley. She’s helping us while she can, so could you put her to work? I figured you guys could work together and she could be your shadow or assistant.”
Jeffery’s eyes lit up as he smiled. “Yeah, sure.”
Nora waved as she left us there in the open room. While several people were milling about, we were the only two in this particular room. He still hadn’t said anything, which was making it awkward.
“So…do I just start nailing things, or…?”
His face dipped as he chuckled. “Sorry. Here, I’ll show you what we’re doing today.”
He guided me toward the window. “I’m framing this window, so if you want to hold this”—he picked up a large ruler-looking thing that was shaped like an L—“and this.” He handed me a drill.
His brown eyes focused on me. “Okay, you tell me when you want to try to drill, or how involved you want to be. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
I let out a small sigh of relief.
“Thanks. This isn’t really in my wheelhouse.”
He gave me another warm smile as he began to work. He used the L thing to measure and made a marking with his thick grease pencil.
“So, what is in your wheelhouse?”
I let out a small nervous laugh. I didn’t like talking about what I did for a living. Especially with people I just met. I tried to stick to something a bit easier.
“I like being around kids. I actually just started helping with Liam Croft’s kids.”
There was a small tingle of pride in my chest at saying it out loud. I had told Colson and Nora that I was going to start working with Liam’s kids, but they both seemed more perplexed by it than anything else.
“Wow, Liam Croft?” Jeffery lifted a blond brow.
Under his cap was a shock of golden hair, and a few days’ worth of growth covered his square jaw. Objectively he was handsome, but his attitude so far was sort of overshadowing how broad his shoulders looked, or how defined his muscles looked under that jacket.
I nodded, shifting the drill in my palm. It was getting heavy.
“Can I set this down, or…" I looked around for a spot to put it.
Jeffery continued to focus on his project. “Just be careful with Liam––you know he used to be a pretty big deal, right? He won a ton of titles when he was boxing.”
“Why would that mean I’d have to be careful?”
I let the drill hang limp in my hand. Didn’t seem safe, but neither did this conversation. Part of me felt protective of Liam. No idea why—the man was a jerk and had been awful to me too many times to count—but it didn’t change the fact that I still felt guarded.
“Word just gets around, and according to a few of his past babysitters, he’s got a bit of a temper.”
I thought back to how he’d yelled at me in the yard. I didn’t feel afraid at all, but was it because Colson was there? No, deep down I didn’t think he’d hurt me. He wasn’t like that.
“Okay, well, thanks for the warning, I guess.”
Jeffery peered over his shoulder, and his lips turned down.
“I mean he’s a nice guy and all, and I know he gets enough dates and all the women want him. Just be careful.”
What the actual fuck was he going on about? He seemed to be drawing a lot of conclusions, and his general know-it-all attitude about a man he didn’t seem to have even met was starting to piss me off.
“Hey Jeffery, can you please take this drill? It’s getting heavy. And not to be rude, but could you not talk about Liam around me anymore?”
The man in front of me rotated, looking surprised.
“Wait, I didn’t mean anything by—”
“I’m sure you didn’t, but still. I’m helping him and have to work closely with him, and I just don’t love hearing rumors about people before I’ve had a chance to get to know them.”
Jeffery scrutinized me carefully as he took the drill from my hand.
“I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have said all that. I just thought I was doing the right thing if you’re going to be working for him, but I wasn’t thinking straight. Can I show you how to use the drill? I promise not to be an ass again.”
My face warmed. It would be childish to leave just because some idiot said a few things I didn’t like.
“Sure.” I shifted my feet until I could see how he was lining up.
I flicked my gaze up to Jeffery’s face and saw he was already watching me, but he quickly turned away. I caught the smile he tried to hide as he did it. I didn’t like how my chest felt, or the way his words had found a way inside there, like an animal burrowing around for food.
If I looked carefully at his words, it wasn’t so much the insinuation that Liam was dangerous that bugged me.
If I had a microscope and stared at this whole conversation closely, it would be the fact that he’d pretty much said that Liam was a player that got to me.
I had no frame of reference at all, no reason, other than maybe it was the protective thing.
Maybe I had taken his family and decided they earned my loyalty.
I glanced up at Jeffery again, this time appreciating how his jaw looked against the light filtering in from the window. He’d shed his jacket and now worked in a long thermal shirt, which showed his defined arms and chest.
Fuck.
I couldn’t blindly defend the Croft family simply because there was a tiny piece of me that might be attracted to Liam, and how his eyes seemed to melt when he stared at certain parts of my body. It didn’t matter. I was just confused by how protective I felt. Surely it would fade.
Liam dropped the girls off at one p.m., and the girls barely said goodbye to their poor dad as they dashed inside my house.
I hated how the feelings from earlier fluttered inside me like a windstorm.
I stared at Liam as he stood in the doorway and tried not to notice how he looked in just a simple black hoodie, or how broad his chest was.
These were things I hadn’t noticed about Liam until Jeffery warned me away from him.
These were things I didn’t care about––because Liam was rude.
So why was I looking?
Feeling that flush overwhelm my face, I turned away and ran into the kitchen to quickly grab a muffin from earlier.
“Here, I hope you have a good day,” I awkwardly proclaimed, and my hands suddenly shook.
What in the world was wrong with me?
Those silver eyes lowered to my outstretched palm. His strong fingers delicately took the baked good, and while he stood there staring, he scoffed.
“Of course, you bake.”
It was like ice-cold water doused over my head, taking me right back to the gym when he’d told me I was too delicate to learn self-defense.
Yes, I baked, and it wasn’t like I was trying to win any awards. I just liked learning how to do new things, and I had never been given permission to create when I lived with my parents. Now I could do what I wanted.
He turned and left, unwrapping the muffin as he went. I shut the door and tried to shake his comment. It didn’t matter.
The girls all finished off their muffins with a glass of milk as I considered what to do with our afternoon.
The snow hadn’t melted quite yet, but the temperatures had risen, and that, paired with the sunshine made it feel warm outside.
My thoughts instantly went to whether or not it was safe for the kids to play in.
How did parents know if it was safe for their kids to play outside?
Deciding Colson would know, we all bundled up and went on a field trip to his house. Nora was still at the Community Center as far as I knew, but his truck was in his driveway, which meant he was home. I knocked lightly before pushing through the door.
“Uncle Cole!” the girls all shouted in unison.
My brother poked his head around the corner with a carrot stick hanging out of his mouth.
“Girls!” he mouthed around his snack. He hugged each of them but they were gone as soon as he released them.
His thumb jutted over his shoulder, finishing his mouthful. “So, you’re serious about this then?”
I shrugged. He and I had become closer over the past week, and with Nora back, it seemed like we’d been together our whole lives and not living in the divide that my parents created.
“You know I think it’s cool, right?” he said as he chopped up a few more veggies on the cutting board.
I slid onto one of the stools at the counter, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Liam doesn’t have many friends. I mean, I’m basically it. His ex…” He shook his head as he kept his back to me, the sound of chopping filled the space, along with the distant sounds of the girls laughing from the guest room.
“She just did a number on him. He can be rough around the edges, but he’s a good guy. Just be careful.”
He turned toward me, carrying his tray of veggies. I snuck a green bell pepper strip, giving him the same glare, I had given Jeffery when he’d warned me away from Liam.
“Don’t give me that look. I’m just trying to be your big brother and watch out for you. I owe you at least that.”
“Then why do I need to be careful? We’re just trading services. I help with the girls, he teaches me self-defense. It’s a good deal.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed on the tray in front of us, his jaw flexed as he considered what I said.
“It sounds weird when you say that out loud; try to limit how often you do that.”
I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh before grabbing another bell pepper.
“The reason I came over is because I need to know if it’s warm enough for the kids to play outside if they wear all their gear?”
He chewed another carrot, narrowing his gaze. His eyes flicked from me to the snack in front of us, like he wanted to say something else, but I really couldn’t handle any more warnings about Liam.
“It’s just…in California we don’t have anything near this cold to compare it to, and I’m just not familiar with what’s normal.”
Letting out a sigh, he looked up to the ceiling like he was still struggling with letting the subject drop. “Yeah…it’s safe. They’d probably love it. Twenty and anything lower is usually too cold unless they’re geared up real good, but their boots…”
“Yeah, I saw that.”
He’d already warned me about Liam, but deep down I knew it had more to do with the fact that Liam looked like he belonged in a thirst trap video versus him just being a jerk.
“Do you think he’d get mad if I…” I trailed off because I wasn’t sure if my question would come across as rude.
“Get them new ones?” Colson finished my thought for me.
I nodded. “Yeah. Would that piss him off? Would I be overstepping?”
My brother turned to grab his water and then faced me again, shrugging.
“I stopped caring what he thought about me spoiling them. I try to stick to foods and comforts or toys, I haven’t ever ventured into the needs category. But they need new boots. Plain and simple. If you want them to play outside in the snow, that rubber on the sides can’t be split like that.”
He was right, and it wasn’t my place to judge Liam on providing for his daughters. For all I knew they had new ones but just loved wearing their old ones around. But with me, today, I needed them to have the right gear on or else I’d worry.
“Okay, we’re going to head out, and go over to the park.” I walked toward the guest room and dipped to grab the basket full of toys. “I’m also taking this, but I’ll bring it back.”
“You better, that shit cost me a small fortune,” he yelled after me as I gathered the girls and headed outside. We traipsed back to the house under a blue sky and warm sun.
“Now what?” Maddy asked, glancing around nervously.
“Now we shop.”
Mila gasped excitedly. Seraph’s eyes got big, and Maddy nodded.
Then we were off.