Chapter 10
Mr. Leeland stopped Pax one morning while Bree was in the back checking inventory. He put one gnarled hand on the counter and regarded Pax seriously.
“Sunday,” he said. “Come for dinner. You and your brother both, if he’s free.”
To say Pax was surprised by the invitation would be an understatement. Mr. Leeland just watched him, composed, and waiting for a response. If the old man saw his confusion, he was too shrewd to comment.
“We’d be glad to,” Pax said, caught a little flat-footed but happy to comply. If he was going to have a relationship with Bree, Pax had to get Mr. Leeland on board with the idea somehow. Maybe this was the first step.
Mr. Leeland nodded once at Pax’s acceptance and went back to his chair by the window.
When Bree came out of the back five minutes later and Pax told her about the unexpected invitation, she leaned against the counter and pressed her lips together.
He could tell she was trying not to smile.
Finally, she gazed up at him, her eyes sparkling as she whispered.
“He likes you.”
“He invited Ari too.”
“Everybody loves Ari.” She picked up the invoice she’d been working on. “But Dad asked you. That’s the important thing.”
When Sunday rolled around, it turned out that Ari wasn’t free.
He’d gotten a call from the Wraiths passing along the background Cole had promised and verifying that information was critical.
It was also going to take Ari a while to work through it all.
Pax offered to stay home and help, but Ari insisted he could handle it on his own and made his twin go face Mr. Leeland alone.
They weren’t taking any chances with intel anymore. They were double checking everything and Pax knew Ari was right. He could handle the task alone. It mainly involved calling a few contacts in Grizzly Cove and elsewhere, and doing some discreet database crawling.
Pax thanked his brother for taking on the work and left. He showed up at the Leelands’ with a bottle of wine. When Bree opened the door to let him in, she had a dishtowel over her shoulder and looked up at him with that winsome smile of hers.
“You’re early,” she said and he felt himself smiling back at her.
“Only by about four minutes,” he retorted, glancing at his watch.
“Come on in.” She stepped back, making room so he could enter and led the way up the back stairs to the apartment.
Something smelled delicious. He scented roasting meat with aromatic herbs.
As he entered the living room, he noted the bookshelves on every wall, and a window seat at the front with cushions worn soft from use.
There were photographs here and there that he passed as he followed Bree back to the kitchen.
Although he’d been up here before, he hadn’t been in the best place at the time and hadn’t been as observant.
“This place looks great,” he said. “You’ve renovated a bit since we were kids, but I didn’t really notice the last time I was up here.”
She shrugged, turning to check the oven. “It suits us. Go on into the dining room while I get this out of the oven. Dad’s already in there, waiting.”
“Are you sure I can’t help?” Pax asked. Much as he liked her dad, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Bree.
“I’ve got it,” she insisted. “Go talk with Dad. I’ll be in shortly.”
Pax reluctantly left through the door that led to the dining room at the back of the building and found Mr. Leeland already at the table with a glass of wine. He had a book open in front of him, looking entirely at peace. He closed the book and nodded at Pax in greeting.
“Sit down, son,” Mr. Leeland invited. “She won’t let either of us help until she says so.”
“That is accurate,” Bree called from the kitchen, a smile in her tone.
Pax sat across from Mr. Leeland and accepted a glass of wine, presenting the new bottle he’d brought. Mr. Leeland looked at the label and set it down on the table with an approving nod.
He and Mr. Leeland talked about topics for the upcoming workshops he hoped to hold once things calmed down.
Mr. Leeland had ideas for a session on basic plumbing that he’d been developing for weeks, complete with sketches in a notebook he produced from the small bookcase behind him.
Pax looked through the sketches and the conversation went along, unhurried, while Bree moved around the kitchen and occasionally contributed through the door Pax had left open.
At one point she put two bowls in front of him.
One contained fresh salsa and the other held tortilla chips, still warm from the pan.
Then she went back into the kitchen without comment.
Pax tried not to notice how her arm had brushed his shoulder as she set the bowls down.
Just that small touch had set his senses reeling.
Dinner was simple and exceptionally good. Bree served roasted chicken with garlic and rice. She also had prepared a salad. Mr. Leeland ate steadily, pausing to praise his daughter’s cooking and keeping the conversation flowing, politely focused on neutral topics.
After dinner Mr. Leeland excused himself. He said good night and went to his room, much to Pax’s surprise. He’d expected a bit more scrutiny than that, but Mr. Leeland had been friendly throughout the meal and then left them on their own.
“I don’t get it,” Pax admitted to Bree once they were alone. He was helping her clear the table and clean up.
“Get what?” she asked as she moved around the kitchen, putting things in the dishwasher as he brought them in.
“I thought he was going to interrogate me or something. Isn’t that sort of traditional with fathers when they corner a man who’s interested in their daughter?” He kept his voice low but noted the flush that came to her cheeks as she continued to bustle around him.
“I told you before, Pax. He likes you. He’s known you as long as I have. He already knows what kind of man you are. No need for the third degree.” Her tone was soft, her words gentle as she talked without meeting his gaze.
“Did he go to bed early on purpose?” Pax asked.
“Obviously.” She handed him a bowl. “He’s not exactly the most subtle of men.” She smiled at the sink. “He asked me again last week whether I thought you were going to stay this time.”
Pax set the bowl down carefully. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him I thought so.” She glanced at him sideways.
She rinsed the last pan and turned off the water and dried her hands, and then leaned back against the counter and regarded him.
“What about you? Do you think you’re going to stay?
Or do you have commitments elsewhere that are going to lure you away again? ”
The kitchen was warm and quiet around them. Outside the window, the desert dark was absolute and starry, with no ambient light to compete with the sky.
“Will you hate me if I admit that I’m not sure yet?
I’m leaning toward settling here, but there’s Ari to consider.
” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I need to talk over a great many things with my brother, and there’s danger on my trail.
Until that’s settled, I can’t make any life-altering decisions. Safety has to come first.”
“Your safety?” she asked in a small voice.
He moved closer to her. “No, babe. Your safety. You, your dad, the Clan, the town. I have to make sure everybody is safe before anything else can be decided. I brought this danger to my home. I need to neutralize it.”
She took a deep breath and moved back from him, nodding. “I guess I can understand that.”
He sensed it was time for a topic change. He couldn’t handle the sadness in her stance.
“Your father asked me what I thought the hardware store could become,” Pax said.
She raised an eyebrow. “When?”
“Yesterday. While you were in the back.” He turned toward her, leaning against the counter opposite.
“I told him I thought it was already changing into something bigger and better. More of a community centerpiece than just another store in town. I told him I thought those workshops are the best thing ever for revitalizing both the store and the community.” He paused.
“He agreed, but said he wanted to hear it from someone who’d been places.
And that’s a direct quote.” He smiled as he met her gaze.
“Then he talked about you and how you’ve been coming up with all sorts of good ideas for how to spruce up the shop.
He’s proud of you, you know. He doesn’t say it directly but it’s in everything he does and says. ”
She looked down. “He isn’t—”
“He is, Bree,” Pax countered gently. “I see it every time I talk to him.”
She didn’t reply but after a moment she looked up at him. “Thanks for saying that. I forget sometimes, that he’s not an overly demonstrative man, but I know he loves me.”
He’s not the only one, Pax thought, surprised by how easily the notion settled in his mind. But it was too soon to tell her, wasn’t it? Maybe he could show her. Just a little.
He moved closer and she whispered his name as the mood changed. It felt like the air around them became charged with something softer and more intimate.
“I know we haven’t talked in any detail about what’s happening between us, and after what I said about needing everyone safe again, we don’t need to define everything tonight.
I don’t want to make this more complicated than it needs to be, but I want you to know—” He looked for words that were as close as he could come to a declaration.
“I’m not here because I’m healing and have time to kill.
I’m not here because it’s comfortable or familiar.
I’m here because you’re the most—” He paused and tried again.
“You’re the kindest, most honest person I know, and I want to be near you. I’m drawn to you, Bree.”
She paused to regard him. Her hands were loose at her sides.
“You said you weren’t going to make things complicated,” she said softly.
“I’m not. I’m making it simple. I like you, and I wanted you to know that.”