Chapter 8
Rhodes
My life had carried me to all corners of the world, but the Pacific Northwest had always been one of my favorites.
There was a good reason I’d set up my home base on this coast. It was the weather that I loved the best: the green grass, the accessibility to the ocean, and the trees.
If I didn’t see another desert in my lifetime, it would be too soon.
All that sand in your crack wasn’t my favorite.
Standing at the kitchen window with a beer, I watched dusk settle over the current construction zone that was the gardens, the fading light slipping between the oak branches.
Thankfully, when I bought the property, I was able to hire people to start work on the inside right away.
East Holt had crews out here working night and day, rewiring, replumbing, and making it livable.
There was still a lot of work to do inside and out, but it was a tremendous piece of land.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t currently wondering if I’d bitten off more than I could chew.
The house had gone quiet twenty minutes ago.
Opal had finally gone to sleep after three books and one chapter of a novel we’d started about a mermaid who took over the world.
She’d chattered about how she wanted to be a mermaid until she slumped back on the pillows mid-sentence, clutching her unicorn stuffie, her minky lashes fluttering closed on her cheeks.
I had checked every door and every window twice before leaving her room to make sure she was safe and sound, tucked into the antique four-poster we’d repurposed. Now it had actual gauzy shit over the top of it, like she’d shown me in a picture, and brand-new bedding. A bed fit for a princess.
I’d known the square footage of the house when I’d bought it, but I hadn’t expected it to feel this large at night; it echoed a little.
When the realtor showed me pictures of the place, I’d been charmed.
There weren’t many options in Wildwood Meadows, and I’d made up my mind to come here, so I had to take what we could find unless I was willing to build (which I wasn’t).
It was much larger than we needed since it was just Opal and me, but the only other option in town was a tiny cottage with a postage-stamp-sized yard off an alley, and I wanted her to have a yard.
Ever since she was born, we had lived in the penthouse in Seattle, where we had always had a view of the Space Needle, glittering glass, and clean, sharp lines.
I wanted her to experience wild, free things outside that glass box.
The last six months had been a relentless series of meetings with my attorneys (and Catherine’s).
That period had been a steady unraveling of our marriage and our life with our daughter.
Our original agreement was ironclad, with a pre-nup attached, but that didn’t mean we didn’t need to hash out all the details.
Catherine wasn’t interested in custody, like everything, even those negotiations came at a price.
Now she was messaging me nonstop. I guessed she had somehow decided her monthly stipend wasn’t enough, which seemed unbelievable until I remembered she had expensive tastes.
Even her alimony wasn’t going to cover her champagne tastes.
It was too bad, though, because she wasn’t getting another dime from me.
She’d have to find some other poor sucker.
Building Redhawk Security into something successful had taken nearly a decade, and I’d never been away from it before. Sure, I’d been gone for a few days at a time for a mission, but I’d never allowed someone else to take a lead role.
Headlights cut across the front drive, sweeping briefly through the trees before curving toward the house.
I straightened automatically, habit tightening every muscle, before relaxing when I recognized Wade’s truck.
Another set of headlights followed. I set my bottle on the counter and stepped onto the front porch just as gravel crunched under tires.
I would need to repair the fence and install security measures in the next week or so. It hadn’t been the first thing on my list because of all the construction, but having people show up in the dark wasn’t too comfortable either.
Wade climbed out first, tall and broad with the same watchful eyes he’d had in the service, though here they carried less edge.
I’d always respected him, and we were on enough missions together that we had developed a solid friendship that had carried over after we’d both gotten out.
He’d softened a little out here in the sticks in the last few years, but he was good people.
Kipp followed from the passenger side of a second vehicle, a grin already tugging at his mouth. East rounded out the pack, coming around the hood with what looked to be a case of beer in his arms, his expression assessing as he took in the house.
East was the oldest sibling in the Holt family and not only the name behind Holt Construction but also worked jobs himself around town.
He had other crews, even as far as Idaho, but he still managed to balance his large business with living here.
I admired that. He’d probably be a good person to ask for advice because he was smart, efficient, and busy. He’d only taken on my job as a favor.
When I told him what the project involved, East was excited but realistic, saying he’d need to hire specialists for areas that needed rebuilding and weren’t his forte.
He also hinted that it wouldn’t be cheap.
That definitely wasn’t a lie. The bills were already staggering, but now that I’d stepped onto the property and Opal had run across the grass in the sunshine, every penny was worth it.
“Hey motherfucker. When East told me you’d hired him to bring this thing back to life, I thought he was joking, but you’re actually doing it.
” Wade tipped his head back to look up at the roofline.
“Wow, this is a big place.” He gave a little spin as he took it in. “Always thought it was a nice house.”
“I figured I’d give the middle of nowhere a try,” I replied with a nonchalant shrug like the thought had occurred to me on a whim instead of me agonizing over it for months.
Wade’s mouth twitched. “This is hardly the middle of nowhere.”
Kipp snorted and clasped his chest like I shot an arrow straight to the heart. “It is if you’re used to running a private army out of Seattle.”
“That isn’t exactly what Redhawk does.” I didn’t bother correcting too much of it.
The Holt brothers had called on my company a couple of times in the last few years, and I’d been more than willing to throw some resources their way.
Wade was family, and I was starting to feel that way about all of them.
I suppose ‘private army’ applied … sort of.
East climbed the porch steps and handed me the beer. “Welcome to town,” he said. “Wasn’t sure if you brought supplies.”
“Thanks. Surprised your wife let you out at night.” I stepped aside to let them in. “Aren’t you getting too old to be out in the dark?”
“Damn. Hitting him where it hurts.” Kipp let out a laugh. “It is true that she keeps him inside, and he is in trouble already with Sage for not warning her that you bought this place.”
“You guys are assholes,” East muttered. “Just because I’m vintage.”
I noticed that he didn’t deny that Sage had given him crap about staying quiet, but the NDA was part of our deal for the month-long interior work before I arrived. It hadn’t been my expectation that he’d keep it from family, but it had given me a bit of a breather.
Kipp gave me a knock on the shoulder as he passed. “He’s a good one. If Sage gives us all shit, I’ll take the hit. I owe him.”
Kipp didn’t owe me anything. Maybe I’d tracked down someone for Hattie, but it had been the right call.
“Come on then. I’ll show you around. You’ll have to come back out when you can see the grounds. They really are something to see, but East and his team have performed miracles inside already.”
The foyer lights cast long shadows across the stone floor, the surface solid and smooth under our boots in that way that told you shit was built to last. Castleton was a beautiful three-story farmhouse that had somehow stayed standing despite being left unattended for years.
There had been some rot in a few areas, but I knew from the reports that things were in remarkably good shape.
Kipp let out a low whistle as he stepped into the living room. “You could host a wedding in here.”
“I’m not hosting anything,” I said as I kept walking towards the kitchen. “Least of all a wedding.” Weddings didn’t interest me after the fiasco with Catherine. Once, I thought a forever had been inked on my future, but now things felt more fluid.
Wade wandered toward the tall windows overlooking the back gardens and the greenhouses beyond. “It’s a hell of a property.”
“It needs a lot of work,” I replied. “But I like it.”
East set the beer on the kitchen island and leaned his elbows against the counter. “Everything does. This will be worth it when it’s all finished. It’s going to be amazing with all this property.”
My parents would have loved this place. They would have wanted barbeques, and my mom would have sat in a rocker on the porch to knit. She would have liked Maggie Holt. Maybe she would have gone to that crazy book club that Lila ran.
My parents were on the older side when I was born, and they died while I was in the military.
First, my father from a heart attack, then my mother.
I’d always thought it was because of a broken heart.
They’d been inseparable when I was younger.
They’d doted on me and made it clear that family was everything.
Losing them only solidified my belief that a love like that was worth cherishing.
I wanted Opal to have that. Something strong and steady to get her through tough times.
Moving here was my first step toward giving her that.