Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
brEWER
I knew Watt’s snowblower was wrecked the moment I turned it on and heard a grinding sound, followed by a clunk that rippled through the machine like it was having a heart attack.
“Jesus.” I flipped the switch off, then crouched down to peer under the housing. “What the hell did Jasper do to this thing?”
“I told him not to try clearing slush with it.” Watt Bartlett handed me a crescent wrench from the tool kit we’d spread on his garage floor. “But he was trying to surprise me, and… Well. Surprise.”
I snorted. “You let the California boy loose on the wet New York snow? Recipe for disaster.” I accepted the wrench, but my mind wasn’t fully on the conversation or the repair. Or my unexpected reputation for being the town’s “Snowblower Expert” after I’d accidentally fixed one for the Ross family two winters ago. Instead, my thoughts kept bouncing around like a pinball, replaying the events of the last couple of days.
Delaney’s face in the firelight. The jam cupboard discovery. The way Delaney’s naked body had felt against mine. The hurt in his eyes when I’d explained why we couldn’t be more than contractor and client.
“Hey. Earth to Brewer.” Watt crouched beside me and waved one large glove in my face. “You still with me?”
“Sorry.” I blinked. “What were you saying?”
“Asked if you need the Phillips head.”
“Oh. Yeah, thanks.” I accepted the screwdriver and started removing the housing plate, trying to focus.
This was why I was here. Because Watt had called explaining in a slightly desperate tone that they’d only had the snowblower a month, and Jasper had tried to be helpful, and now there was something smoking and stuck, and could I please save them from having to buy a new one?
Of course I’d said yes. I liked being helpful. I liked fixing things.
I also liked not spending my afternoon coming up with reasons to casually stroll past Delaney’s office and then physically forcing myself not to act on them.
“Shit,” I muttered when the plate came off, revealing the damage inside. “It looks like he sucked up a chunk of wet cardboard?”
Watt sighed. “Don’t ask your teenager to take out the recycling when he’s talking to a guy he might or might not have a crush on. Lesson learned.”
I put down my tools and began carefully extracting soggy, shredded cardboard from the blades. The work was delicate enough that my full concentration was required, which was a blessing. The problem was simple, finite, and solvable.
Unlike certain other situations.
The sound of the back door opening distracted me.
“Babe?” Jasper called. “Did Brew rescue our poor snowblower? Are we gonna play that game where you teach me a lesson because I’ve been a naughty— Oh. Um. Hi, Brewer.”
“Hey,” I replied without looking up. “Rescue is underway. And then you and Watt can get back to whatever the fuck you?—”
For some reason, I glanced up at that moment, right as Watt stepped over to greet his partner with a kiss that was on the heated side of casual. It wasn’t super risqué, but I found myself unable to look away until the moment had passed.
“I made muffins, if you guys are hungry,” Jasper announced after clearing his throat. He poked Watt lightly in the ribs. “Those chocolate protein ones your kid likes to eat by the dozen.”
Watt grinned, “He has good taste. I’d love one.”
“For a muffin, I might just save this snowblower,” I agreed.
Laughing, Jasper went back inside and returned a moment later with the snacks and coffee. As we ate, Jasper and Watt stood side by side, teasing each other over random stuff, like who ate muffins the most tidily and whether Jasper was, as he claimed, better at “summer chores” than Watt.
The two men were always competitive—anyone who’d ever attended one of their regular “cook-offs” knew they’d throw down over literally anything—but their rivalry was never mean-spirited. It was pretty clear that when they’d gotten together a few months back, twenty years after whatever had ended their childhood friendship, they hadn’t been messing around. No trial period, no let’s-see-where-this-goes. They were a unit, solid and unbreakable, and that made them surprisingly easy to be around.
“Anyway. I’ll let you guys get back to it,” Jasper said. “You’re a miracle worker, Brewer.” He gave Watt’s arm a brief squeeze, then disappeared back into the house, whistling cheerfully.
Watt watched him go with an expression that spoke volumes.
“You’ve got it bad,” I teased, turning back to the snowblower.
“Shut it.” There was no heat in Watt’s words, though, and he was smiling as he knelt back down to hold the flashlight for me.
We worked in companionable silence for a few minutes as I extracted the last of the cardboard and began to reassemble the housing. But my mind kept circling back to the way Watt had looked at Jasper.
It had been similar to the expression Delaney wore when he was deeply interested in something—a kind of open, unguarded focus that seemed to exclude everything else.
“So. I heard you and Delaney had a pretty epic night the other night,” Watt teased.
The wrench I was holding slipped, smashing my thumb against the metal housing.
“ Fuck !” I shook out my hand and narrowed my eyes at Watt. “Who said that? Was it Hayes? Because he has no idea what he’s talking about, okay? Delaney is my client. Cli. Ent. And no matter what the gossips in this town say, I?—”
“Brewer.” Watt stared at me, looking utterly confused. “Chill. I heard you knocked down a wall that revealed some hidden paintings or something.”
“Oh.” My face went hot. “ That . Yeah. We… we did.”
Watt’s gaze took in my flushed cheeks and my stammering. He looked away, but not before I caught a glimpse of his smile.
“Huh. So what do you know about the paintings? Are they worthwhile?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know much of anything. Delaney’s looking into it, I think. His house, his mystery. And it’s not like he’d tell me since I’m just his contractor and he’s my client.”
“Yeah,” Watt said mildly. “So you said. Client, client, client.” He lifted his gaze to mine. “I can’t imagine why anyone would think otherwise.”
I ducked my head to hide the fact that my face was getting redder. “They wouldn’t. Or they shouldn’t . You know how town gossip is.”
“Sure do.” He nodded. “I remember when Jasper and I were getting together, the whole town was discussing it.”
I scowled. I was pretty sure he’d purposely picked the one example of town gossip being accurate. “This isn’t like that,” I insisted.
“No, of course not.” Watt overturned a five-gallon bucket and sat on it so he could hold the flashlight steadier. “I get it.”
“I mean, people would have to be crazy to think there could be anything between me and… and Delaney ,” I scoffed.
Watt frowned. “Hey. I think Delaney’s great. He’s a little… intense, but he’s been a good friend to Jasper. You could do a fuck of a lot worse,” he said in a tone of mild reproach.
Was the man insane?
“Of course there’s nothing wrong with Delaney,” I said, staring at Watt. “I just meant he and I are totally different people. He’s a… a brainiac who travels constantly for work—like, apparently, he’s off to Costa Rica for some big story soon.” I rolled my eyes. “And he’s prickly.”
“Ah—” Watt began.
“And he quotes things,” I continued. “Every five minutes, he’s telling me studies have shown, Brewer. ” I snorted, imagining Delaney pushing up his glasses while he said it. “And he speaks, like, four languages—I’ve heard him on the phone. And… Jesus, did I mention the prickly thing? Because he really is. And not in a cute hedgehog way. In an ‘I will shank you with my spikes if I feel vulnerable’ way . ”
Watt poked his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “Whereas you are very easy to get to know and definitely don’t put up walls to deflect people.”
“I’m not—” I started to argue, then caught Watt’s amused expression and sighed. “Okay, yeah. It’s been pointed out to me recently that I might have a small problem with that. But that’s just another reason why there’s absolutely nothing between Delaney and me.”
“Because you’re both polar opposites and too much alike.” Watt nodded. “Got it.”
I blew out a breath. “I’m just saying, if you overhear anyone gossiping about me and Delaney, please set them right, okay? Last thing I need is Copper County thinking I sleep with my clients.”
Watt’s eyebrows shot up. “Clients, plural? Delaney’s one client.”
“One too many,” I insisted. “It’s called professionalism. It’s called… keeping my promises.”
He ran a hand over his beard thoughtfully. “Damn. You must really like him, huh? A man only makes this many excuses when he’s in the throes of some powerful feelings. Trust me, I know.”
My hands stilled for a moment. I hadn’t allowed myself to think about me and Delaney in quite those terms. Attraction? Sure. Chemistry? Fuck, yes. But powerful feelings? That was ridiculous.
“No,” I lied. “We barely know each other. We had kind of a rocky start to his reno, but we’re finally getting along. So just… just leave it, okay?”
Watt held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, but there was a knowing look in his eyes I didn’t appreciate.
We worked in silence for a few more minutes until the snowblower was reassembled, looking no worse for its cardboard consumption.
“There. That should do it,” I said, brushing off my hands and standing up. “Just make sure Jasper knows to avoid the recycling.”
“I’ll make sure he knows.” Watt grinned. “Thanks, Brew. Seriously. I owe you.”
“Nah. No big,” I said, tucking my tools back in their bag.
We walked toward my truck in easy silence, and I climbed in. But just as I was about to shut the door, Watt grabbed the edge and held it open.
“You, ah…” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. “You know people around here like you, right?”
I gaped at him. “Huh?”
“Just… the stuff you said before.” Watt lifted a hand in the direction of the snowblower. “People don’t recommend you for renovations just because of your professionalism. They do it because you’re good at what you do and because you’re a nice guy who rescues snowblowers from soggy cereal boxes.”
“Oh-kay?” I frowned, not sure what he was getting at or why he was making both of us uncomfortable by starting us down this road at all. “Thanks?”
He blew out a breath. “What I’m trying to say is you’re allowed to have a life, Brew. You can be human. You can sleep with a client. You can be a little cocky, like Reed. Or see the entire world through the lens of John Ruffian: Pretender , like Chris. You can wear a fucking cornucopia on your head, if that floats your boat.”
I snorted, thinking of Janice.
“Just… be you, Brewer. And fuck anyone who’s not cool with that.” Watt nodded to himself. “Okay?”
“Okay.” To my surprise, I found myself fighting a smile. “Thanks, Dad.”
Watt’s cheeks went nearly as red as mine, but he grinned. “Fuck off.”
“No, seriously, is this the kind of talk you give Derry?” I wondered. “Or Jasper when he’s naughty ? Because, if so, ten out of ten?—”
“Goodbye, Brewer.” Watt slammed the door.
I started the engine and rolled down the window. “Hey, Watt,” I called when he was halfway back to the house. “Thank you.”
He turned his head to give me a wry smile and a wave.
As I drove off, though, I found my own smile fading. Something about Watt’s awkward sincerity hit me hard. And as I made my way down the lake road to Delaney’s place, I found myself thinking about friendship and honesty…
And about the prickly man who’d looked at me in the firelight with such raw honesty on his face, it had terrified me.