Chapter 16 #2
“They offered as soon as they heard what happened,” Ethan told her. He enjoyed the feel of her body tucked into his before she stepped back.
“I’m not used to having so much support.”
His heart broke for her. “Then you’ll need to get used to it. You’ve got all of us now.”
Though doubt still showed on her face, she nodded. “Thank you.”
“Any time.” He hated that she had any doubts, but it was his fault. It would take her time to trust again. He kissed her gently. “Better give me the shopping list before the shops shut. We’ll have a riot on our hands if we don’t feed them.”
That earned him a smile as she grabbed a notepad from Aunt Maggie’s desk and jotted down ingredients. “I’ll get you some money. My purse is upstairs.”
“No, I’m good. I’ve got this.” He wouldn’t have her paying. He kissed her again to stop her protest. “See you when I get back.”
Then he left before she could argue further.
He’d show her she deserved to be cared for.
***
Later that afternoon, Chelsea glanced up from where she was weeding by the house as an unfamiliar green hatchback pulled into her driveway. She stood, stretching the aches out of her stiff muscles, and then waved and grinned as Lauren got out.
Lauren gazed wide-eyed at the burnt garden as Chelsea walked over. “What happened?”
It was surprising Lauren hadn’t heard about the fire. “Someone set the garden alight last night.”
Lauren swore. “This was arson? Why didn’t you call me?”
Chelsea blinked at the question. It had never occurred to her to call Lauren.
Lauren hugged her. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. It looks worse than it is.” She’d never had a friend she could call when something went wrong, but it felt nice that Lauren might become that friend. “Come inside and I’ll tell you about it.”
As they walked up the front steps, Lauren murmured, “Are you aware you have several extremely hot men working in your garden?”
Chelsea grinned as she noticed Rhys and Noah nearby, keeping their eyes on her. She waved to them to let them know everything was fine. “They’re Ethan’s friends.”
Lauren walked into the house and then fanned herself. “Sign me up for helping tomorrow if they’re still going to be here.”
“They will be, but you don’t need to help.” It was getting late and probably about time they called it a day.
“Remember what I said about the lack of our generation in town? I never meet anyone.”
Chelsea chuckled. “All right.” She held up a bottle of white wine, and Lauren nodded. “Why don’t you stay for dinner and you can meet them?”
“I’d love to, but unfortunately I can’t stay long.” She leaned against the bench. “So what happened?”
“Let me just tell them they can finish.” Chelsea went outside and spotted Ethan by the barn where he’d been testing the sprinklers. “Drinks time.”
He nodded. “Be in soon.”
Chelsea returned and sank onto the sofa next to Lauren, her feet and muscles aching from trying to match Ethan and his friends’ pace. She sipped her wine and told Lauren about the fire and their suspicions.
Lauren frowned. “I wasn’t going to say anything, because I thought I might be imagining it.” She pressed her lips together as the team came inside and Mila flopped onto the sofa across from them.
“Ugh. I thought my fitness had improved this year.”
Dobby bent down and brushed a kiss on her lips. “Your fitness is plenty good enough for me.”
She blushed and swatted him away, taking a long drink from her water bottle.
Chelsea made the introductions as the living room filled with people.
Ethan grinned at Lauren. “So good to see you again.”
“Likewise. You’ve all been busy.”
Chelsea nodded. “I really appreciate your help.”
Mila grinned. “It looks good, doesn’t it? All you need is some good rain to get the grass to spring back and some flowers in the beds and you won’t know the cottage side had been neglected.”
“Yeah.” Rain was forecast for early next week. She turned back to Lauren. “What were you going to say before they came in?”
“It’s possibly nothing.”
Ethan moved closer, his gaze laser sharp on Lauren. “What do you know?”
Lauren leaned back. “Geez, Ethan. Tone it down.”
The entire room had gone silent and everyone was watching them. Chelsea shifted in her seat, suddenly aware of how lethal all these men were. She squeezed Lauren’s knee and whispered, “Ignore them.”
“Impossible.” Lauren coughed. “And now I’m wondering what they might do if I tell you.”
Ethan made a hand gesture to the team. “Food’s in the fridge.” As one, the men stopped staring and moved to prepare dinner, but every one of them was still listening.
Chelsea let out a breath.
Ethan squeezed her shoulder. “Sorry, Lauren. I didn’t mean to be so aggressive.”
Lauren sipped her wine and, despite her bravado, Chelsea noticed a slight tremor in her hand.
“They’re a lot when they get into protective mode, aren’t they?” Mila said with a smile.
“I’ll say.” Lauren sighed. “I caught up with Leyton yesterday.”
It took Chelsea a moment to remember Leyton was the planning person at the council. “What happened?”
“I asked him if he knew anything about the retirement village planned for Lilydale. He said it was a rumour and when I told him that was good because you were back in town, he grew kind of pale. He made an excuse to leave and hurried away.”
“He knows something,” Ethan said.
Lauren nodded. “That’s what I thought, so I followed him to his office and heard him mention the name Johann, but then someone spoke to me and I missed the conversation.”
Interesting. It made sense Leyton would be involved because the zoning on the property would need to be changed for the units.
“Sounds like we’re paying Leyton a visit,” Ethan said.
“No, you aren’t,” Lauren said. “I’ll tell Josh and he can deal with it.”
“Are you worried about me or Leyton?” Ethan asked.
“Leyton.” She stared at him as if daring Ethan to deny it.
Ethan chuckled. “He’s got nothing to worry about if he’s done nothing wrong.”
“Hence why I’m worried.” Lauren sipped her wine, her bravado back now the rest of the team were busy preparing dinner.
“Thanks for telling us.” Ethan went outside with Noah to light the barbecue while Rhys and Connor chopped vegetables in the kitchen as if they hadn’t spent the past few hours working hard in the garden.
Dobby brought over a glass of wine for Mila. “You ladies sit there and enjoy. We’ve got dinner sorted.”
Chelsea waited until he was busy in the kitchen getting more drinks before she asked, “Are they always like this?”
“You mean, do they always cook and take care of others?” Mila said. At Chelsea’s nod, she smiled, “Always. It took a bit of getting used to. They have their own rhythm after working together for so long.”
“Do you ever feel you’re intruding?”
“Never. As soon as they realised Dobby and I were together, they accepted me.” She smiled. “It helped that I found Ethan.”
Chelsea lowered her voice. “Are you allowed to tell us about it?” She glanced at Lauren. “Ethan was caught in the tsunami last year.”
Her eyes widened.
“I’m not sworn to secrecy like these guys, but I know what I should and shouldn’t say.” Mila sipped her wine. “My mother is a major-general in the army.”
Interesting. “What can you tell us?”
“I was volunteering on an island in Indonesia late last year when the big earthquake struck. I ran into this lot. They were looking for something and I pointed them in the right direction. Then the tsunami struck. I was caught up in it and so was Ethan when he was separated from his team.” She shuddered, taking another sip of wine.
“I clung to a tree to stop being dragged back into the ocean and then searched for Ethan. He was badly injured.”
“It must have been terrifying.” Chelsea squeezed her hand. “He was lucky you found him.”
“He helped me. I knew the team would be back for him, so I flagged them down, we found a stretcher and moved him out of harm’s way.”
“And then you were extracted?”
“Eventually.”
There was more to the story than Mila could tell her. Chelsea tamped down the urge to ask for details. Being with Ethan she would have to get used to not knowing things. She might not even know which country he was in.
“Is it hard?” she asked. “Not knowing what Dobby is doing and where he’s going?”
“It is,” she admitted. “But I take comfort in knowing he’s got all these amazing men around him who will do all they can to protect each other.”
She could see why. They’d come here to help her because Lilydale had meant something to Ethan. That was a genuine family.
Not long afterwards, Ethan and Noah brought the meat inside. Lauren stood. “I’d better go. I might be able to get away tomorrow afternoon to help.”
Chelsea hugged her. “Call me. We might have had enough by then.”
Lauren waved goodbye to the others and Chelsea walked her to the door. “Thanks for telling me about Leyton.”
Lauren shrugged. “If he’s behind this, then he deserves what he gets. I’ll call Josh when I get home.”
Chelsea waited until she drove away and then closed the door. She smiled at all the people who sat shoulder to shoulder at the table. Aunt Maggie would have liked to have seen her kitchen full.
“Here’s the plan,” Dobby said when they were eating. “Mila will stay in the house with Chelsea and Connor. The rest of us will make a show of leaving after dinner. It will be dark, so if anyone is watching, they won’t see who’s who.”
Chelsea frowned. “And what are you going to do?”
“We’ll park the cars and double back, taking up the positions we identified today to watch for trouble.”
“Whoever is doing this would be stupid to come back now,” Chelsea said. Surely the fact they stopped the fire from destroying the house would be enough to dissuade them.
“Or desperate,” Rhys pointed out.
“I called Josh this afternoon,” Ethan said. “Johann was in Perth, and Darren can’t be tied to it as yet. Now we have this Leyton in the mix.”
Maybe Darren would be stupid enough to return, particularly if Johann was still paying him to cause trouble.
“I dropped by Darren’s when I went to the shops to ask if he’d got the money together that he owes Sabine,” Ethan continued. “He said he’d have it by Monday.”
“How did he seem?” Chelsea asked.
“Annoyed, but not anxious.”
Interesting. Wouldn’t most people be anxious about having to find almost fifty grand within a week?
“What are Chelsea, Connor, and I supposed to do?” Mila asked.
“Stay here where it’s safe,” Dobby said. “Watch a movie. Go to bed. There’s no point staying awake all night.”
Chelsea frowned. “If it’s safe here, why is Connor staying?”
“Backup and comms,” Ethan said.
“I hate the idea you’re out protecting me while I sleep comfortably in my bed.” Sure, they were trained for this kind of thing, but it still felt wrong.
“Truth is, these two are rather protective of you two.” Rhys gestured to Dobby and Ethan and then herself and Mila. “If it’s Darren like we think it is, he won’t stand a chance against us, but Connor is just in case.”
“Plan B.” Mila raised her eyebrows at Dobby.
He grinned. “Exactly.”
“And if Connor is here with you, Dobby and I can focus on the job without worrying about you,” Ethan added. “He’ll monitor the cameras and tell us if there’s any movement.”
He made a good point. “All right.”
Conversation turned to what needed to be done tomorrow in the garden.
“Won’t you be too tired after staying up all night?” Chelsea asked.
Dobby grinned and Mila said, “They don’t need to sleep.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a special forces and egotistical man thing.”
All the men made sounds of protest, as if they were wounded.
A smile hovered on her lips as Chelsea retrieved her list of notes. “In that case, I’d like to get the garden beds around the cottages replanted before we get too many guests, so they feel more welcoming, and we need to finish fixing the sprinklers.”
“Where’s the nearest nursery?” Heath asked.
“Pinjarra, which is about twenty minutes away.”
“You and Mila can pick out plants tomorrow while we work on the sprinklers,” Ethan said.
It felt as if she was leaving all the hard work to them.
“I’m game.” Mila grinned. “I could do with a break from weeding.”
Chelsea smiled. “All right.” She checked her list. “Then it’s more pruning and weeding in the public garden and taping off the Japanese garden, so no one gets hurt.
” It had been one of the draw cards to the garden, so she’d have to get it fixed soon.
“If I can replant some of the garden beds there and figure out why the harbour lake is dry and fix it, that should bring people back to the garden. It was always a gold coin donation for entry, but it might help.” Plus the rain next week would help green up the lawn.
“I can check the lake,” Noah said, looking at Ethan. “I did some work building dams before the army.”
“That’d be great.”
Chelsea frowned. Noah had said little and hadn’t been overly friendly. She wasn’t sure what she’d done to offend him. Maybe she’d ask Mila after the others left.
By the time they finished dinner, everyone had volunteered for jobs the next day. Connor started on the dishes, and the other men headed for the door.
Chelsea stopped Ethan before he left. “Be careful.” She hugged him a little too tightly, not wanting to let go.
“Always. If you hear or see anything you think is off, you tell Connor and he’ll investigate or get in touch with us.” He tapped his ear. “Now come out and act as if you’re waving friends goodbye.” He made sure the porch light was off and opened the door.
Chelsea followed them down to their cars. “Thank you so much for your help today,” she called out.
“No worries. We can come back next weekend if you need more help,” Dobby called back.
She swallowed her smile as they got into the two cars and she waved them off.
As their taillights disappeared around the corner, she walked back to the lights of the house.
Someone had shut the curtains in the living room and kitchen, letting only a little light peek out around the edges.
The steps creaked as she climbed them and let herself back into the house, shutting and locking the door behind her.
Mila was waiting at the kitchen table and as the door closed, Connor came out of the laundry.
“Time to party?” Mila joked.
Chelsea couldn’t shake her worry for Ethan. She spotted Aunt Maggie’s recipe book on the kitchen bench. “Feel up for some baking?”
Connor grinned. “I volunteer to be chief taste tester.”
She laughed as Mila nodded. “Let’s get started.”