Chapter 1 #2
The sound of water running fills the cottage as I pack our lunches. Two identical containers with turkey sandwiches, apples, and the oatmeal cookies I baked last night. With our meals settled, I pull out a third container, adding an extra sandwich and apple.
Grady had mentioned stopping by the site today to work on an article about the resort for the local paper. While his role as Chloe’s agent has diminished since she went indie, he’s picked up freelance writing again.
His recovery from the accident has been slow but steady, and creating again has been therapeutic for him, even if it’s not the creative work he went to university for.
I tuck a cookie into Grady’s lunch, then a second on impulse. The man needs to eat more.
Jared returns, hair damp and smelling like cedar soap. He peers over my shoulder at the three lunch containers. “Seeing Grady today?”
“He texted last night to ask if he could get some quotes about the Homestead for his article.”
“Cool.” Jared reaches around me to steal a cookie, and I intercept his hand.
“That’s for later.” I give him a stern look that doesn’t fool either of us.
“Yes, ma’am.” He grins, unrepentant. “Think he’s decided whether he’s moving into one of the guest rooms at the Homestead or buying one of those new condos in town?”
I zip up the lunch bags with more force than necessary. “He hasn’t said.”
“You know, I’m not staying in the guest room anymore…”
The idea sends a small thrill through me that I try to suppress. “That’s probably not a good idea.”
“Why not?” Jared snags his jacket from the hook by the door.
“He already worries about taking up space in Kyle’s cabin.” I stack the lunch boxes. “Inviting him to stay here would just replace one concern with another.”
“But you want him to stay.”
My hands still on the counter. “What makes you say that?”
Jared shrugs, sliding his arms through his jacket sleeves. “The way you worry about him. The extra food you pack. How you light up when he visits you at the job site.”
Heat crawls up my neck. “He’s my friend.”
“He is.” Jared’s voice softens. “And he needs friends.”
I turn, facing the man who’s become my partner in every sense of the word over the summer. “I hope he stays. On the island, I mean. He seems… content there, and being close to Chloe is good for him.”
Jared smiles, and the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Then we’ll do what we can to help him stay on the island.” He checks the time and fills our two thermoses with the remainder of the coffee. “We should head out if we want to catch the first water taxi.”
I nod, grateful for the change of subject. But as I gather our things, I can’t help wondering what it says about me that the thought of Grady staying close brings such immediate comfort.
Jared plucks the keys from the hook by the door and tucks both thermoses into the crook of his elbow to grab my tool bag from the floor. “I’ll drive. Finish your second cup of coffee. You were up late going over your checklist.”
I open my mouth to argue and close it.
“Fine.” I circle around to the passenger side of my truck and stow the lunch bags behind the seat. “But no radio.”
Jared laughs, tossing my tool bag in the center of the bench before he slides behind the wheel. “God forbid you have to endure country music before eight in the morning.”
The engine rumbles to life, and we pull away from the cottage, gravel crunching beneath the tires. I pop open the thermos nearest me and breathe in the fragrant, spiced steam.
“Mmm, when did you add the cinnamon?” I murmur as pines blur past the windows.
One corner of his mouth quirks. “I prepped the thermoses while you were in the shower.”
I take a sip, a contented purr rising from my chest. This is new to me, being taken care of in small ways.
My entire life has been built around being the caretaker, the provider, the one who anticipates needs before they’re voiced.
After Auren and his Alphas pushed me out, I rebuilt my life around my independence, convinced I didn’t need anyone to look after me.
But Jared slips past those defenses without even trying.
He insists on driving so I can enjoy my coffee.
He remembers to pack my favorite snacks when we work late.
He massages the knots from my shoulders after a long day on site.
Small acts of care that I’m still learning to accept without calculating what I owe in return.
The road curves toward town, and Pinecrest Harbor comes into view, the water glittering under the morning sun. Fishing boats dot the bay, their captains already out for the day’s catch.
“You’re quiet this morning,” Jared says, his attention shifting my way.
I sip my coffee. “Nothing wrong with quiet.”
“True.” His hand finds my knee, squeezing once before returning to the wheel. “You’re not actually worried about the inspection, are you?”
“No.” The answer comes easily because it’s true. “But I’ll be glad when it’s over.”
We pull into the dock parking lot, where several members of my crew have already gathered. They lean on bumpers or perch on the weathered wooden benches, thermal mugs in hand, lunch coolers at their feet. At the sight of my truck, a cheer rises from the group.
“There she is!” calls out Clint, my second in command, his gray beard gleaming in the sunlight. “The woman of the hour!”
Capping my thermos, I step out of the truck, tool bag in one hand and lunch bags in the other. “Save it until the inspection passes.”
“When it passes,” corrects Tim, our drywall expert. “Not if.”
His confidence warms me more than the coffee. My crew takes pride in the work we’ve done.
“That’s right,” I say, passing Jared his lunch bag as he rounds the truck. “When.”
Kyle waves from the water taxi, his scally cap pulled down to block out the sun. “Morning, folks! Ready to set sail across the ocean blue?”
Jared jogs over to help his cousin, stowing his lunch at the front of the boat. The rest of us file onto the dock, our boots thudding on the wooden planks. The water taxi gleams in the morning light with a fresh coat of paint, spruced up for the resort’s grand opening.
“Permission to come aboard, Captain?” I call to Kyle.
He gives me an exaggerated salute. “Permission granted, Madam Superintendent.”
The crew files onto the boat, finding seats along the benches in the undercover area. I settle in the middle, my regular spot where I can see everyone.
Clint drops down beside me, his tool belt jingling. “Fifty bucks says the inspector tries to find something wrong and comes up empty.”
“I’m not taking a losing bet,” I reply.
Tim leans forward from the bench behind us. “What about my doors? Anyone want to bet against my leveling abilities?”
“No takers here,” says Tomas, our youngest crew member. “Em confirmed everything was plumb.”
I shake my head, hiding my amusement behind my thermos. “You all know gambling on inspection results is bad luck, right?”
What is with everyone inviting superstition today?
Clint scoffs. “Not when it’s a sure thing. We’re gonna pass with flying colors, take our promised two weeks off, and come back rested for Phase Two.”
“Two whole weeks,” Tim sighs with theatrical longing. “I’m going to sleep for the first two days straight.”
“I’m taking my kid camping,” Tomas says. “He’s been begging since summer.”
“What about you, boss?” Clint asks. “Any plans for your time off?”
Before I can answer, a new figure appears on the dock, and the energy in the water taxi shifts. Tall, broad-shouldered, with mauve-brown hair catching the morning light, Leif Hollis walks toward us with measured steps.
My chest tightens at the sight of him. The Omega nanny-tutor hired for the Wright Pack’s ward has only been on the island for a few months, but his presence disturbs something in me I thought long buried.
Not because he’s an Omega, but because he carries himself with a cool self-assurance, as if he doesn’t need anyone.
Leif is the complete opposite of what Auren was, who always acted frail and in need of care, as if he might break at any second.
“Room for one more?” Leif asks Kyle, his periwinkle eyes scanning the boat.
Kyle gestures for him to board. “Always room for our resident scholar. What’s on Miss Quinn’s agenda for the day?”
“School prep,” Leif replies, stepping onto the water taxi with surprising grace for a man his size. “We have a whole list of supplies for her backpack next week.”
The bench across from me has an empty space, and Leif settles into it, greeting the crew members he knows.
When his gaze meets mine, he inclines his head. “Ms. Wilson.”
“Mr. Hollis.” My pulse quickens beneath my skin, a flush threatening to creep up my neck. I blame it on the coffee and the excitement of inspection day.
It definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the man sitting across from me.
I force my attention back to my crew. “As for time off, I’ll relax and catch up on some reading.”
Clint laughs. “Sure, you will. You’ll be planning Phase Two before the first day is out.”
“Hey, I know how to relax,” I say, though he’s not wrong. I want to hit the ground running as soon as vacation ends.
Clint twists in his seat and shouts. “Hey, Jared, Em says she’s going to spend the vacation reading!”
Jared’s laugh answers, and I endure the good-natured ribbing from my crew. It had taken some time, but they had come around to the idea of the young Alpha and me being together, and now they use him to tease me without mercy, just as they would anyone else on the team with a new relationship.
As Kyle fires up the engine and Jared unties us from the dock, I find my attention drifting back to Leif despite myself. He’s already absorbed in his book, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.
My skin still prickles, and I don’t like it.
I know what it means when an Omega unsettles me like this.
I’ve learned the cost of mistaking curiosity for connection, of mistaking my instinct to protect for mutual affection.
Last time, it hollowed me out from the inside and left me questioning whether I’d ever deserved the pack I built with my own hands.
I won’t go through that pain again.
I have Jared. I have stability. I have a life that works because I’ve been careful with who I let in.
Whatever this is, I can’t get worked up over it.
I turn my attention back to my crew as the water taxi pulls away from the dock, steadying myself in the familiar.
With Jared, I have more than what I could ever have hoped for. No need to rock the boat.