10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Ryan
T he wood cabin before me was nice enough. Nothing spectacular. Well, the two stories of windows on the left side were pretty cool. Bet that lets in so much sunlight. I’d never thought about things like that before. I’d preferred the dark of my dad’s basement—better for playing my games.
I parked behind Simeon’s pickup truck on one side of the driveway just in front of the two-car garage. I had no idea if anyone else was expected home.
He got out—into the rain that had started falling in earnest halfway here.
I pulled the hood of my coat over my head and exited my vehicle as well. “Is there anything I can carry?” I raised my voice over the rain that pelted his truck, the asphalt of the driveway, and us. Typical west coast rainforest rainfall.
After shaking his head, he grabbed a toolbox and a loaded tool belt. I didn’t figure I could’ve safely carried either. Thank God he’s got more sense than me. So…why am I here?
The front door opened, and a flash of white barreled toward us. It stopped, examined us, then started barking its head off.
“Princess Sofia!” The man looming in the doorway shouted in a booming voice. “Knock it off.”
Said princess did not knock it off .
Carefully, I bent to offer my hand to sniff.
Simeon, just as carefully, scooted around me.
Smart man .
The pooch eyed me. Then licked my hand. Then launched herself at me.
My chest stung a little when she hit it, but she was just a tiny thing. What I couldn’t figure out was how to stand with her in my arms.
Should’ve been doing those balance exercises Marcus assigned you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah .
I’d done a few—just not the number he insisted on each day.
That’s going to change.
“You can put her down. She needs to, uh, go to the bathroom.”
Unceremoniously, I dropped the princess. A whole six inches.
She glared…but was clearly fine.
“Princess Sofia, go pee.” The exasperated man spoke in clear annoyance.
She continued to watch me. Then she looked over at the man still standing in the doorway. He now appeared to be holding one child and preventing a second one from escaping.
Oh my God, everyone here is nuts.
I loved dogs. But I didn’t do dogs.
Kids were cute. But I didn’t do kids.
Finally, the pooch moved away. She went to a tree, squatted, and, uh, peed. Then, clearly smart animal she was, she headed for the house, went right through the guy’s legs, and apparently kept right on going.
“You’re wet, you little sh—” He shut his mouth.
I rose. Very slowly. I made my way over to him. “Shweetheart?”
He grinned. “Ah, welcome to the Baker-Laxamana household. Swearing is supposed to be reserved for when my two angels are asleep. This is Victor.” He hefted the child a little higher on his hip. “The one who’s vanished back into the house is Violet. Watch her like a hawk. And for God’s sake, never leave your phone unattended. Best to keep it in your pocket and be wary of movement when you’re least expecting it.” The ginger-haired man with the stunning blue eyes smiled. “I’m Maddox. I’d shake your hand…”
I’d been standing under an awning. When he stepped aside, I followed. I might’ve wondered, for a moment, why he hadn’t invited me in first. Clearly he felt all the warnings were necessary—in case I decided this wasn’t worth the hassle. I removed my coat and hung it on a rack next to Simeon’s.
Who was nowhere to be found.
A little white furball, though, was chasing another child.
Right, Princess Sofia was chasing Violet.
I can do this .
Both children had jet-black hair, dark-brown eyes, and tanned skin. So very different from their father whose pale skin resembled my own. He had a mixture of gold and gray in his beard. Gave him a distinguished look. Although he trimmed his beard, the thing was definitely bushier than my own.
Still…between Justin, this Maddox guy, and myself? We had just about every flavor of ginger covered.
I cleared my throat. “Maybe I can, uh, dry off the dog?”
Maddox followed my gaze. “Princess Sofia, off the couch.”
The dog, who had been standing there, plopped down and gave the most defiant look I’d ever seen.
A sigh from my host. He asked the child, “Can I put you down, buddy?”
“No, Papa.”
Another sigh. “I need to—”
“No.”
At least I could be helpful. “Where might I find a towel?”
Maddox gestured to the kitchen. “Through the far door into the laundry room. There’s a basket with her name on it.”
“Got it.” I toed off my running shoes and made my way through the house to the far door. I opened it and found a decent-sized laundry room. On a bench, three huge baskets were labeled. Princess Sofia’s was the last one. I snagged the crumpled towel and then headed back. I seriously need my head examined.
A streak of toddler nearly knocked me over, but I managed to close the door before she got past me. I was willing to take a wild guess that she wasn’t supposed to be in there. Closed door and all.
I returned to the great room with said toddler hot on my heels. As I’d suspected, even on this horrible gray, rainy day, the room had an incredible amount of natural light.
Maddox sat in a recliner with his son on his lap.
“Great light. Not too bright with the sun?”
He shook his head. “I have tinted windows. You can’t tell, but it keeps the glare and the radiant heat down when it’s sunny. The full east exposure means stunning sunrises. And the bedrooms all face west—so they get the amazing sunsets.” He eyed Violet, who’d settled onto the ground with a pile of building blocks. “Which these two are awake for far more than they ever should be…”
Stealthily, I approached the pooch who appeared to be dozing.
Isn’t there a saying about letting sleeping dogs lie? How does that go…?
“She loves being toweled down.” Maddox spoke the words softly.
The pooch, however, must’ve had super amazing hearing because she leapt up and, I would’ve sworn, grinned.
I held out the towel.
She appeared like she was going to lunge again.
“Uh, no.” My chest ached just thinking about the damage she could do if she leapt the two feet. I moved forward as quickly as my broken body would allow and engulfed her in the towel. I started with the top of her head and slowly made my way down her body—vigorously drying her as I went.
When her snout appeared, she licked my chin, clearly aiming for my mouth.
I snapped my lips shut and rolled them inward.
She persisted.
I pulled my head back. “No licking me.”
Her dark-brown eyes examined me.
“No kissing either.” Maddox’s voice carried from behind me. “You have to be extremely specific with her. She’s about as smart as the kids are.”
I continued my rubs, keeping a close eye on the tongue that lolled out. “Really?”
He snorted. “In some ways smarter. She would never flush her stuffie down the toilet.”
“Ouch.” I finished the rubdown by squeezing the extra moisture from her tail.
As I pulled back, she swiped my chin.
I glared.
She turned her head as if to say nothing to see here…just move along.
I laughed. “She’s quite a character.”
“And I’ll tell you one day about the time she jumped out of my moving truck, and it took me hours to find her.”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “She was okay?”
The dog woofed.
Violet’s gaze shot up. First to the dog, then to me.
Her stare intimidated me more than the dog’s. “I’m just going to put the towel where…?”
“In the washing machine would be amazing. You’re Ryan?”
“I assume Simeon told you about me.”
“Yep. Said you were his helper and to be gentle with you.”
“Gentle?” Not sure I like the sound of that. He shouldn’t be telling people anything about me.
Maddox cocked his head. “That you were recovering and shouldn’t be lifting heavy things. Like stupid pooches.” He glared at the princess. The princess who’d resettled and was licking her paw. She didn’t even look up.
“Not ‘sposed say stoop’d.” Victor glared at his father.
Said father sighed. “I told myself they would be the best thing in life. And they are. Don’t get me wrong…” He sighed again. “They are also the bane of my existence.”
“Fair.” I looked around. “Is there anything I can get you? You look like you have your hands full.”
“A knee that doesn’t act up when the rain’s bad?”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “Maybe…a physiotherapist? I know a good one—”
“Wouldn’t happen to be Marcus Branigan?”
“Uh…”
“There are some great physiotherapists in Mission City, but he really is the best.”
“He’s…” I flashed back to the kiss I’d seen. The embrace between him and his lover. “He’s good people.”
“Right. But the knee’s as good as it’s going to get. So me working on the soggy flooring isn’t going to happen.”
“Yeah, I can see that. I should probably go see if Simeon needs help. Since I’m his helper .” I tried not to put too much derision in the word. I was as useless as teats on a bull. Hell, I wasn’t even certain why I was here. But Simeon had asked, and I didn’t have the power to say no. “Anything you need before I go find him…?”
“A cola. There’s a bottle in the fridge. A small one. Could you bring it?”
I grinned. “With pleasure.”
“There are enough for you to take one as well. And for Simeon.”
“I’m good, but I’ll grab one for him. Uh, where is he—”
“Up the stairs, last door at the end of the hall. You really can’t miss it.” He winced. “The plumber didn’t have time to take his boots off.”
Slowly, my gaze trailed from the front door to the stairs. Ah…I’d missed the mud trail. “I can clean that up.” I wasn’t even sure how to use a mop and bucket, but I’d try.
Maddox’s relief was palpable as he slowly smiled. “There’s a cleaner thing that you attach these magic wet clothes to…also in the laundry room.”
Ah, I’d seen a commercial for that. How hard can this be?
Twenty minutes later, as I cleaned up the last of it, the answer fucking difficult came to mind.
Getting the wet cloth on the moppy thing wasn’t too tough. But using the scratchy bit to clean off the dried mud? That was harder. What I really needed to do was get down on my hands and knees and scrub the muck. Something I’d never done in my life.
Even now, in my studio apartment, I had a young woman come by once a week to clean. My dad insisted and Marcus agreed—for now. But I was having her show me how to do things so that when I was healed I could manage myself. I hated being reliant on others. Before the war, I hadn’t thought anything of the fact other people did my laundry, cooked my food, and cleaned the house. Now, shame would swamp me when I acknowledged I’d never even thanked them. Or made any effort not to make a mess.
I will do better.
“Everything okay?” Maddox’s whisper carried across the room. He sat on the recliner with his legs elevated.
And two toddlers curled on him—fast asleep.
I nodded, removing the soggy dirt-covered cloth. I moved to the kitchen and added it to the four others I’d used into the garbage bin under the sink. So much mess. Still, I returned the moppy thing to the laundry room, quietly shut the door, and eyed the dog who’d followed me around but had given me space. “You’re being good?”
If dogs could narrow their eyes, she just did.
I moved back to the main room. I caught Maddox’s gaze, the pointed at the pooch at my feet.
He shook his head.
She snuffed.
I smiled. Then I indicated the stairs and made it clear I planned to go up.
He nodded.
Just before I went upstairs, I realized I’d forgotten the colas. I nabbed two. I used to mainline soda pop, but now I found the bubbles distressing. Sometimes I didn’t recognize the man I’d become.
Maddox offered me a wide smile when I twisted the top off and handed him the bottle and cap.
I figured the less twisting he had to do, the less likelihood of waking the little ones. The motion strained me though.
He cocked his head.
I tried to wave him off.
“You need something? For the pain?”
“I don’t take anything.”
“That’s fair. I’ve got heating pads and ice packs as well.” He hesitated. “Sorry, I’m being intrusive. I see someone in pain and I want to help.”
Likely could tell by my wincing and, when things got bad, I lost whatever color I managed to normally have. “I’m okay.”
In no way did he look convinced. Instead, his brow knit. “I shouldn’t have—”
I held up my hand to stop him.
He snapped his jaw shut.
A smile ghosted across my lips. As much as I could manage. “I wanted to help. I’m so, uh, tired of not being able to help.” Good catching. Saying fucking , even when the kids are asleep, would be bad. Instead, I eyed the pooch. “Will she follow me?”
“Entirely possible.” He smiled. “You dried her off. You’re her friend for life.”
With a nod to him, I turned back to the staircase and headed off to find Simeon.
As I’d predicted, little clacking nails followed me across the hardwood floor.