Chapter Seven #2
It wasn’t hard to see how great her compliment made the boy feel. His chest actually puffed out a bit as he nodded. “It wasn’t hard,” he said nonchalantly.
Chad continued to let Britt carry the conversation, as it was obvious Kash was more comfortable with her than with him. Every time he looked at Chad, a guarded expression took over his face and he seemed to be on the verge of bolting.
“Can I look inside?” Britt asked.
Reluctantly, Kash nodded. Chad stayed where he was as Britt moved forward and got on her knees to peek into the doorway.
“Oh my gosh, it’s awesome. You built shelves! And it was so smart to use these boards as a floor, so you don’t have to sit on the ground and get dirty. Is that a telescope in that plastic bin? Do you like to look at the stars?”
It seemed that was the right question, because Kash lit up and began babbling about the Milky Way and the recent eclipse and how he’d seen the northern lights several times.
Chad didn’t care that the boy was using the fort. He was glad the forest was giving another child the joy it had given him and his brothers. But he did care about a child hanging out here alone without anyone apparently being aware of what he was doing.
Kash had made a mini house out here, complete with books and bedding, if what he could see from his vantage point was right.
He also had a couple of storage bins inside to keep things dry when he wasn’t there.
He hoped it was simply a fort for the boy .
.. but Chad couldn’t be sure he wasn’t using it as a place to hide from his homelife.
The truth was, Victor Rogers was an asshole.
Always had been. Even though several acres and a lot of trees separated their properties, Victor had still put in regular complaints with the sheriff’s department about Lobster Cove over the years.
Noise complaints, disputes over property lines, questioning their business licenses, and trying to claim the land wasn’t zoned for this or that.
Chad’s dad had done everything by the book, so there had never been any legal action taken against the Youngs, but Rogers had remained a pain in their asses.
He couldn’t imagine it would be fun to live with Victor Rogers. He was downright mean. Clearly where his daughter had gotten her attitude back in the day. If she’d moved home with her son, she had to be desperate.
Of course, he could be way off base, and the man might be a marshmallow with his daughter and grandson ... but Chad didn’t think that was the case.
“You have snacks in there?” Britt asked Kash.
“Yes.”
“Cool. I was going to say if you didn’t, maybe you could come over to our house”—she pointed back the way she and Chad had come—“and get some. I’m sure Evelyn would be happy to feed you.”
Kash shook his head as his eyes widened. “She’s mean!”
“What?” Britt asked, genuinely shocked. “Evelyn? She’s the nicest woman I’ve ever met.”
But Kash was still shaking his head. “No, she greets people at the door with a gun! Threatens ’em too. Granddad told me so!”
Chad was shocked. If his mom had greeted Victor at the door with the shotgun his dad kept in the house for protection against bears and moose—which were much more prevalent decades ago, before the coast was built up so much—she had to have been afraid of the man.
He wanted more information about what the hell Victor might’ve said to his mom to make her threaten him with that gun—if that was even the case—but Britt was already talking again, in the same calm and steady voice she’d been using all along.
She could tell the boy was spooked and was doing everything in her power to make sure he didn’t bolt.
“Wow, I’m sure that was scary to hear. But I can promise you, Evelyn isn’t normally mean.
I bet she was just having a bad day. Do you ever have days when everything goes wrong?
You get a bad grade on a homework assignment, you drop your sandwich at lunch, or your mom yells at you for something that wasn’t your fault? ”
Kash nodded.
“Right. So, I bet Evelyn was having one of those days. Was your granddad maybe yelling?”
Kash shrugged, looking away. Which Chad took to mean the boy wasn’t a stranger to Victor’s foul moods.
“Yelling can be scary. I know because my mom had some boyfriends who did that a lot, and it always made me want to hide. Anyway ... I just got here a week ago. But I was living in my car, and Evelyn made me a delicious lunch and then invited me to stay. Can you believe that? I couldn’t.
I’m earning my keep, working hard, but still, she didn’t have to let me stay in her house.
I bet if you came to the house and introduced yourself, she’d invite you in and feed you too. ”
Chad was mesmerized by Britt’s calm. It was clear she was winning the boy over.
“You had to sleep in your car too?”
The simple words were heartbreaking for all that they revealed.
“Yeah. It’s not very fun, is it? Kind of scary. I was always afraid someone would pound on the window in the middle of the night and tell me I had to leave.”
Kash nodded.
She looked over her shoulder at Chad, and he could see the concern in her eyes. Then she looked back at Kash. “Well, I think you’ve made a fine little place here. It’s comfortable, and you have your books to read. And I bet you can see the stars really well at night.”
“Yeah. Especially when I go over by the coast.”
“Oh, you be careful over there, especially in the dark. You could get hurt if you fell into the ocean. We’re going to get going, leave you to do your thing.
But if you ever need help, or get hungry, or even just bored, come on over to Lobster Cove.
I’m sure everyone would be happy to meet you.
Walt and Barry are usually in the auto shop during the day, working on cars or engines, and now that all the Young brothers are home, they’ll be around doing maintenance on the property.
You’re welcome there anytime. Right, Chad? ”
She looked up at him as she said that last bit.
“Of course,” he said without hesitation. “We’d love to have you over. Get to know you better.”
Kash looked skeptical. “Are you going to tell on me?” The question was aimed at Chad.
“Tell who what?” he asked the boy.
“I know this is your land. I’m not supposed to be over here. Granddad put up that fence to keep you out of his property, but I climbed over it and found this place. I like it. Made it mine.”
Chad squatted down so his weight was on the balls of his feet. He did his best to look relaxed and not upset in the least. And he wasn’t, not about the boy being on Lobster Cove property. He was more concerned about why the boy felt the need to escape his own house and hide out in this little hut.
“As far as I’m concerned, you can stay as long as you want. I used to play out here when I was your age, and I’m thrilled that you’ve given Fort Bad Assery a new life.”
Kash frowned. “Fort Bad Assery?”
“Yeah, that’s what we called this place. Used to drive our mom crazy. She wanted us to give it a nicer name. Like Down Home or Fort in the Woods ... but my brothers and I wanted it to be tough. To be badass. So we named it Fort Bad Assery.”
Kash smiled for the first time. “I like that. Fort Bad Assery.”
“I’m thinking maybe you shouldn’t let your mom hear you call it that,” Britt told the boy.
He got serious. “Oh no. She doesn’t know I’m out here either. I won’t mess up and say it in front of her.”
That was one more thing Chad wasn’t thrilled about. Yes, Lobster Cove was safe. It wasn’t as if anyone would be able to get to the boy when he was out here, but keeping secrets from a parent wasn’t the best sign. Not if he was using the fort to hide out from someone or something.
“Okay, enjoy Fort Bad Assery,” Britt said, then grinned. “That’s really fun to say. Assery , asssery , assery .”
To Chad’s amazement, Kash giggled.
“Right. Remember what I said, if you get hungry or lonely, come on over. We’re just through the trees, and I promise no one will be mean.”
Kash didn’t look totally convinced, but he nodded.
Britt stood up, gave the boy a little wave, then turned to Chad and hooked her arm with his, practically pulling him away from the newly renovated fort in the woods.
As soon as the trees obscured them from view and they were out of earshot, Britt looked at him. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I don’t care that he’s using the fort or hanging out there, but I’m worried about why. And I definitely don’t like that Mom felt the need to break out the shotgun when Victor came over, if that story is true. Or the fact that he was probably yelling at her.”
Britt hadn’t dropped his arm, and she leaned into him for a moment, resting her head on his bicep. A jolt went through Chad from the spot where her head lay all the way down to his toes. He stilled, not sure what he was feeling.
“I’m worried. About Kash, Evelyn, Victor ...”
“I’m on it,” Chad reassured her, shifting so he could wrap his arm around her.
Holding her felt nothing like holding any other woman.
It felt more intimate than when he’d made love to his last girlfriend, which was both alarming and scary at the same time.
But he also felt as if he was exactly where he wanted to be.
“I’m going to let Lincoln know about his old classmate living next door.
Maybe he can go over to say hi, scope out the vibe of the place. ”
“He’s not going to tell on Kash, is he?” Britt asked, lifting her head and staring at him.
“No.”
“Are you going to tell your brothers about Kash?” she asked.
“Of course. We can all look out for him. Maybe you can butter him up by bringing him some of Mom’s cookies one day.”
“Oh! Great idea.” She sighed. “Chad?”
“Yeah?”
“Lobster Cove is awesome.”
He smiled. “Yeah, it really is.”
“Did you really call your fort Bad Assery?”
He chuckled. “Nope. But it sounded like something a preteen boy would love.”
“You’re right. He did love it.”
“You want to go sit on the bench and watch the ocean for a while?”
“Yes. But I can’t. I need to go check on the guests. Then I told Evelyn I’d go with her to the grocery store.”
Chad was disappointed, but also proud of the woman at his side.
She worked hard, didn’t shirk her duties, and loved the land as much as he did.
Not only that, but she genuinely seemed to care about his mom.
It was a win-win situation all the way around, and he was so thankful he’d stopped by that lumberyard and met her.
He had things to do as well, but for the first time in his life, all he wanted to do was sit and talk with a woman.
He almost snorted. When was the last time he was happy to just talk to a woman?
His old Army buddies would be laughing their asses off, telling him to get in her pants already.
But he was a different person than he used to be.
He wasn’t out to put another notch on his bedpost. He wanted what his parents had, and he was already way behind the eight ball on making that happen. As were all his brothers.
He had no idea where his brothers stood when it came to settling down and starting a family, if it was something they wanted or not ... but he’d bet everything he owned that they felt the same as him.
Chad refused to settle. He’d seen the love and respect his parents had for each other.
The way they were a team, working together to make their dreams come true.
That’s what Chad wanted, someone willing to put in the work to build a future together.
Someone he could be proud to have at his side, and who’d feel the same way about him.
He couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t already standing right next to him ...
Telling himself he was being ridiculous, that Britt had only been there a week and he really didn’t know her all that well, he lowered his arm and very intentionally took a step backward.
Britt blinked at him, then straightened and brought a hand up to brush a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Um ... we should go,” she said.
Chad hated that he’d made her feel uncertain.
But he had a lot of shit he needed to do, and getting involved with the woman he’d brought home to keep his mom company and help at Lobster Cove suddenly didn’t seem so smart.
Hell, they were living together ... sort of.
They saw each other during the day and every night, and they had breakfast together every morning.
It could be a complete disaster if they started dating and things went south.
He couldn’t do that to his mom. He needed to keep his distance. Right?
With his mind in turmoil, he smiled at her and headed back down the path toward the main house. He felt as if he was giving Britt mixed signals, but he could put a stop to that, at least. He’d be nothing but polite. No more touching, no more holding hands. He’d be friendly but professional.
As soon as he had the thought, she let out a gasp.
Chad was turning and reaching for her before his brain could catch up with his body.
She’d stumbled over a tree branch in the path, and he caught her, making sure she didn’t face-plant onto the ground.
And once she was steady and they continued walking .
.. he somehow found his hand tightening around hers once more . ..
And the anxiety he’d been feeling about all the things he should or shouldn’t do faded away.
Shit.