Chapter 27 #2
Adam’s lip twitched. “You can push through, I have faith.”
James huffed out a long suffering sigh, and I stifled a giggle.
I made up my plate, almost exactly the same as James, only I went for Italian dressing. The kid was right, his dad did make the best s’ghetti.
Dinner was loud. James cycled through topics the way other people channel-surfed.
First there were dinosaurs. The T-Rex might have short arms, but he was powerful.
He wanted to know more about Gathered, and if I was ever going to sell dinosaur toys.
He wanted to know if I could play Mario Kart with him again after dinner.
"When can I see Baby Olivia?" he asked through a mouthful of cheese bread. Adam gave him a look and he swallowed and tried again. "When can I see Olivia?"
"How about next week?" I said. "I'll check with Chloe and Zarek."
"Is she still tiny?"
I pulled out my phone and found the picture from Sunday. James leaned in so far he nearly put his elbow in his spaghetti sauce.
"She has hair now."
"She always had hair, bud."
"More hair." He looked up at me very seriously. "I'll be gentle."
"I know you will."
He had tomato sauce on his chin, his shirt, and, somehow, his left ear, when Adam announced that it was time for a bath and bed.
"Can Zoe read me a story?" James asked. "Since she's having a sleepover."
I waited for some kind of awkwardness, but there was nothing.
Adam looked at me. "If she doesn't mind."
"I don't mind," I said.
James took the bath, accepted the story, and was asleep inside of eight minutes with his dinosaur book open on his chest and his hand curled under his chin. I closed the book carefully and set it on his nightstand.
I looked up and Adam was in the doorway, a soft smile on his face.
I waited until we were comfortable on the couch before hitting him with questions. “Tell me what’s going on at the jobsite. And tell me if you’re in danger.”
He looked at me.
"I know it's serious," I said. "Angelica called Jase today. He confirmed it without meaning to." I held his gaze. "I'm not asking you to break confidentiality. I'm asking because I want to know what you’re having to worry about."
We’d taken off our shoes at some point, and now he put his feet up on the coffee table, and crossed them at his ankles, getting more comfortable.
He pulled me in closer. Then he told me.
Not everything, I could tell, but enough.
The Pacific Rim group. The permits, the finance, the septic field sabotage.
Then Cory being ambushed, and the equipment being sabotaged.
“It’s why we brought in Onyx. We can’t let our men get hurt.”
“That’s a lot to handle,” I whispered.
“It’s not like I’m handling it alone. There’s Renzo, Harvey, Ford and Walker and we’ve brought in men from Onyx.”
“But you’re worried it could escalate even further, aren’t you?”
He went stone-faced.
“Adam, you were freaked when James answered the door. You’re worried that this could escalate past the jobsite, aren’t you?”
“There’s just a miniscule chance, but yeah, I’m putting in a Ring doorbell tomorrow and I won’t forget to latch the chain again.”
“I worry about you,” I said softly.
He looked over at me, clearly surprised.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know it might only be a miniscule thing, but it’s just one more thing. How many ‘one more things’ have you handled since Marie’s death?”
He gave me a confused look.
“You told me about all you do for your in-laws, but you never mentioned all the emotional support you’ve given them.
You kept your company together, the one that you and Marie started, even without Marie.
You just soldiered on raising James. I know you have Renzo and the rest to support you with this, but who have you leaned on emotionally? ”
He stiffened. He didn’t like where I was going. “You’re making too much of this. It’s just what you do. You handle things.”
“How long have you been courting me since you’ve decided to move here to Jasper Creek?”
That question caught him off-guard. “I don’t know. Weeks?”
“Bullshit, you anal so-and-so. You know it’s been four weeks and three days, just like I do. How many times have you pried information out of me? Tried to make me feel better, or take care of me?”
He shrugged.
“Exactly. I didn’t bitch about it.”
He barked out a laugh.
“Okay, maybe I complained a little. All I’m saying is, for this thing to work between us, you have to let me be here for you. You need to learn to lean. Is that so hard?”
He began to relax and I saw my opportunity to snuggle even closer.
“It is hard,” he whispered. “Even with Marie, I took the lead on everything. She liked me handling things.”
“I’m not Marie.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“Can you talk to me? Can you tell me exactly why you’re worried about James?”
This time he shifted so he could look me dead in the eye.
“It’s not just James. I worry for Millie, for Ruby, for Harvey’s wife and daughter…
for you. Everybody who is close to those of us working on this project.
Code found something. Apparently, Pacific Rim made an offer to an outfit like ours three years ago, after they did the same kinds of things.
Permit hold-ups, screwing with the financials, sabotage on the worksite.
But then one of the wives of the developers was in a nasty car accident.
It was a hit and run. The developer sold to Pacific Rim at a loss a week later. ”
My gut clenched. “You really think they would go that far?”
“Code still isn’t sure that it wasn’t just a coincidence. He’s digging. But I’m worried.”
“And the others?”
“We’re all worried, but it’s Ford and I who are the most concerned. Probably because we were both in the service.”
“You said you’re worried for me. What can I do to take that worry off the table?”
“Lock your fucking front door!”
I reared back at his yelled words. “Shit, I guess that’s really bothered you.”
“You think? You should have been doing this all along, but now? Now, it’s imperative. Promise me.”
I placed my hand on his chest. “I promise.”
“I want to install a Ring camera on your door.”
I didn’t want one of those things. Not at all. “Okay.”
“Try not to be alone. If you have to go someplace, take Angelica or Ernie or Leslie.”
“I’ve got it.”
He let out a deep breath and he smiled. “This shit has been eating at me.”
“I can tell. What else?”
“I worry for our employees. Sometimes I think we should just scrap it. Other times, I want to go down to California, find the douche in charge of Pacific Rim, and beat the shit out of him.”
“But?”
“I want to catch them in the act so we can press charges and they go to prison. But that means more time where people are at risk. But at the same time, I believe in this project, and I don’t want to stop building it.”
I loved that he was talking to me so much. “So, what’s your decision?”
“It’s not going to be my decision alone, but…” He looked at me. “But talking this out with you has made it a lot easier for me to discuss it with the men tomorrow.”
“So this leaning thing? You’re liking it?” I didn’t smile, but I knew my eyes were sparkling.
“Yes, smartass, it’s a good thing.”
Then he reached over and cupped the back of my neck the way that made everything else quiet down, and he kissed me. Slow and certain, with the lamp low and James asleep upstairs.