Chapter Eleven #2
“I’ve had plenty of erections, yes, but trust me when I say I stopped getting them spontaneously a long time ago.”
“Oh,” she said with a small blush.
“Yeah, oh,” Chad agreed.
“How’s it look out there?” she asked, and Chad was glad for the change of topic. He wasn’t embarrassed by his hard-on, but talking about it didn’t make it go away. Not in the least.
“Not great,” he admitted. “There are a few trees down and branches everywhere.”
“Do you think the guesthouses are okay?” she asked with a frown.
“No clue. I’ll check after breakfast with my brothers. We’ll all go out and see what’s what.”
“Oh! And Kash’s fort ... I hope it wasn’t destroyed.”
Chad hadn’t even thought about that, but now that she mentioned it, he didn’t have high hopes. It hadn’t been all that sturdy to begin with, and even though the neighbor boy had done a great job reinforcing it, it still wasn’t as if it was a house built with safety codes in mind.
“I’ll check on that too.”
She nodded, but he could tell she was still worried.
Feeling bold, Chad stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned in, resting his chin on her shoulder. “If it’s broken, I’ll help him repair it,” he reassured her.
One of her hands came to rest over his. “I’m sure he’d appreciate that.”
Chad wanted to stay there all day, but the food wasn’t going to make itself. “If you can start on those cinnamon rolls you found on the internet, I’ll get the waffle batter going.”
She nodded, and Chad dropped his arms, but not before lightly kissing her on the temple.
It felt amazing to be able to kiss her intimately whenever the urge struck.
And surprisingly it struck a lot. It wasn’t something he’d felt the need to do before—constantly touch or kiss a partner—but since she wasn’t complaining, he wasn’t going to worry too much about it.
He just had to curb his urges when they were around his mom and brothers. He had no doubt they’d be thrilled that he and Britt were in a relationship, but this was too new—less than an hour new—and he wanted to keep things private for now.
Between the two of them, Chad and Britt got everything cooked and baked in time, and his mom’s birthday breakfast was a huge hit.
And not because of the food, although that was amazing.
They’d had cinnamon rolls, waffles, sausage, bacon, sliced fruit and cheese, and donuts from Ruckus Donuts, which Zach had picked up on his way in.
No, his mom had declared it one of her best birthdays ever because all her boys were there to help her celebrate it for the first time in years. She was obviously missing her husband, but thankfully she seemed to be a bit more settled than she’d been when Chad had first arrived home.
“That was some storm last night, huh?” Knox said when they were all sitting around the table, drinking coffee and letting some of the huge breakfast they’d eaten settle in their bellies.
“One of the worst we’ve had in a while,” their mom said.
“It’s a mess out there,” Lincoln mused. “Trees down all over the county. I checked out the guesthouses before I came in, and the big one that’s currently occupied seems good, but the smaller one .
.. a tree fell on the corner, taking out part of the roof on one side.
But we were actually lucky. If it had fallen a foot in a different direction, it would’ve gone straight into the house.
Thank goodness we didn’t have anyone in there last night. ”
“Oh no!” Britt said with wide eyes.
“Kind of par for the course, living around here with all the trees. And many have super-shallow root systems, so all it takes is wet soil and a hard wind and they can topple right over,” Zach said with a shrug.
Britt looked even more alarmed to hear that, and Chad wished his brother would’ve kept his mouth shut.
She already didn’t deal well with storms; thinking a tree was going to fall on the house every time they had some wind and rain wasn’t healthy.
“It doesn’t happen a lot,” he said, trying to reassure her.
“We’ll all go out in a bit and survey the damage. ”
“We’re supposed to have renters arriving today,” Mom reminded them.
“I know. But Chad’s right, let’s not get worked up until we check it out,” Lincoln said.
“You guys don’t seem all that concerned,” Britt said with a small frown.
“No need to get stressed about something until we know it’s a problem,” Evelyn said. “If we need to make alternate arrangements for the people coming in today, we will.”
Chad could see that Britt wanted to argue the point, ask more questions—like what kind of alternate arrangements, exactly—but she took a sip of her coffee instead.
This had actually happened once in the past, but that time, a tree had taken out an entire wall of one cabin.
All the renters booked throughout the repair process had been invited to stay in the main house instead, at a reduced price.
Some had taken them up on it and some had canceled, but everyone who’d stayed gushed about how accommodating their hosts had been and what a good time they’d had.
Of course, this time was different, as Britt and Chad were occupying two of the bedrooms in the main house. If they had to take in paying guests, it would be a full house. But they’d manage ... the Youngs were nothing if not flexible.
Even though there was a lot of work to be done around Lobster Cove, no one seemed in a hurry to get up and get started.
Zach updated everyone on his lobster shack.
He hadn’t thought of a name for it yet and was considering running a contest on social media to get some ideas.
Knox had met with his program manager at the Coast Guard station and would be starting work in the next week or so.
Lincoln hadn’t said much about what he was doing, but Chad knew he had a good pension from the Air Force and could afford to take his time finding a job.
Things were so relaxed that, without thinking, Chad opened his big mouth and asked Britt a question that, in hindsight, he really should’ve waited until they were alone to ask.
“Since today’s your mom’s birthday too, Britt, have you considered reaching out?”
She’d been smiling and sipping her coffee as his brothers updated everyone on what was going on with their lives, but as soon as the question left his lips, Chad regretted it.
It was such a stupid thing to ask, especially when he knew she didn’t really have a relationship with her mom.
If he could have taken back the words, he would’ve.
Britt tensed, and the fingers around her mug whitened with the pressure she was exerting, letting him know exactly how badly he’d fucked up.
“Today’s your mom’s birthday too?” Evelyn exclaimed happily. “Oh! That’s so fun! Yes! Call her. We can all sing and wish her a happy birthday like you did for me!”
“Um ... I’m not sure she’ll be up yet,” she hedged.
But his mom either ignored or didn’t hear Britt as she stood up to grab the cordless phone sitting on the kitchen counter. Knox had bought her a cell phone a few years ago and she was on his cell phone plan, but she rarely used it, preferring the old-school cordless phone she’d had for years.
Evelyn sat back down at the table and held the phone out to Britt. “I’d love to talk to her. Tell her how wonderful her daughter is and how much of a help you are to me,” she said in an earnest voice.
Britt reluctantly took the phone but looked about as happy as a fish out of water.
“Mom, maybe we should let Britt call later if she wants,” Chad said, attempting to backpedal.
“Nonsense. My gift of this wonderful breakfast and the company of five of my favorite people has me sad that Britt’s mom doesn’t have her daughter with her for her birthday.”
“We don’t have the same kind of relationship that you and your sons have,” Britt said softly.
“Oh, well ... that’s a shame. But it’s never too late to mend fences. And her birthday would be a great time to start.”
Chad frowned. He needed to fix this. Now. “Britt, I’m sorry,” he said firmly. “I shouldn’t have suggested it. I was way out of line. And Mom, if Britt wants to call her mother in private later, she can.”
“It’s okay,” Britt told him.
“It’s not. Forget I brought it up,” Chad insisted.
He could feel his mom watching their interaction closely. She didn’t know the reasons behind Britt’s reluctance, but he was grateful she was no longer pushing.
“I think ... I think I want to try. To talk to her, I mean,” Britt said. “You’re right. It’s her birthday, after all.” Then she sighed. “I don’t know how she’ll react, though.”
“Britt, you can call her later,” Chad tried again.
She glanced at him. Then she sat up straighter and took a deep breath. “No. I might as well do it now.”
Chad had no idea if she was agreeing to the call because she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or because she truly wanted to reach out to her mother. Whatever the reason, he could see her uneasiness as she pushed the buttons on the phone. Once more, he wished he’d kept his damn mouth shut.
As she dialed, Chad reached over and put his hand on her thigh in support.
Britt held the phone up to her ear, but everyone at the table could clearly hear the ringing through the handset. Their dad had been losing his hearing, so the volume on the phone was always turned up to its highest level. It obviously hadn’t been changed since his death.
Britt didn’t seem to notice how loud it was, or that everyone could hear the ringing. She was staring straight ahead, and with every ring, every muscle in her body tensed up more and more.
Chad was two seconds away from taking the phone out of her hand and disconnecting the call, but he was too late. Britt’s mom picked up.
“Do you know what the hell time it is?” the woman shouted.
It wasn’t a great start to the phone call.
“Hi, Mom. It’s me, Britt.”
“I repeat—do you know what the hell time it is?”