Chapter Seven
As the sound of chatter and plates clattering filled the communal dining hall, Xavier couldn’t let himself relax.
He knew this should be a chance for him to switch off after everything that had happened.
After the stress of the generators going out last night, and then his encounter with the Haynes brothers and Dave mentioning Max, Xavier had ended up having nightmares when he finally made it to bed.
He’d been up all night tossing and turning, trying to clear his mind so he could get a few hours of sleep.
He would much rather go to his room and eat there to avoid the noise and chaos, but he was sure his absence would be noted. He also didn’t want to give whomever had sneaked into his room the heads-up that he was on to them.
Lawson was next to him, chatting away to Sarah, and Xavier knew his best friend would notice if he tried to slip away.
He didn’t want to deal with another interrogation about his well-being, but he was sure it was only a matter of time before Lawson brought up how Xavier should talk with Sarah to get passed the nightmares.
He knew it was just Lawson trying to help, but the thought of dredging up his past like that seemed counterintuitive to him.
He had always dealt with things on his own.
And this was no different.
Nor was the mission he was currently dedicated to—finding out who had broken into his room the other night while he had been down in the shower. He scanned the tables, trying to catch someone watching him. Something, anything he could draw from to figure out who it had been.
But everyone seemed caught up in their own conversation, not paying any attention to him.
Which was a good sign, really. Sarah had recently put forth the idea of bringing more of the guests into the day-to-day cooking and food preparation at the lodge.
She thought it would be a good way to coax some of the more isolated members into a better, healthier headspace and more ordinary routine.
So many of their guests had a habit of hiding out in their rooms and cutting themselves off from everyone else, but it wasn’t going to do them any good in the long-term.
Convincing them to help out with the cooking and cleaning might lead them to socialize more, giving them a sense of purpose that really helped with their recovery.
At least, that was what Sarah had said.
And, judging by the way everyone seemed to be chatting to each other right now, what she had suggested was making a difference.
Xavier was always pleased to see people getting along, people coming out of their shell.
He had struggled with socializing himself for a long time after he got back from overseas…
and losing his brother. If he hadn’t had the planning and setup of Warrior Peak Sanctuary to focus on, he didn’t know what he would have done.
All the more reason to be protective of what they’d built here.
And precisely why he was smoking out the rat in their midst. Nobody seemed to be acting suspiciously, at least from what he could tell, and he usually had a pretty good eye for this stuff.
His gaze was drawn to the far end of his table, where Hannah sat with a new arrival.
Xavier hadn’t had a chance to read his intake file yet, but it looked like he was settling in.
It was impossible not to feel at home around Hannah. Her beautiful honey-brown eyes sparkled when she smiled, and she had this way about her that was impossible to deny. A bright, bouncy energy that seemed to fill every room she stepped into.
Xavier glanced around the rest of the room, taking note of all the guests he’d interacted with and those who were new.
Nothing seemed off with anyone. No odd looks, no one acting strange.
His gaze tracked back to Hannah and the new guy.
He had a strange feeling he’d seen him before.
He’d have to think on it, maybe it would come to him later.
As though sensing his eyes on her, she glanced across the table at him, and he nodded in silent greeting. She flashed him a dazzling smile in return.
He tried to focus on the task at hand, sipping his water and keeping his eyes open for suspicious behavior. He didn’t know what he was looking for, exactly, but he would know when he found it. He always did.
When everyone was finished, Hannah shooed the rest of them away. “Xavier and I will clean up,” she announced.
Xavier rolled his eyes playfully. “Do I have to?” he asked like a whiny kid being forced to do chores.
Lawson laughed and slapped a hand on to his shoulder. “You can’t keep getting away with doing nothing,” he teased.
Xavier shook his head. “Wasn’t fixing the generators last night enough?”
“Everyone has to pull their weight around here,” Hannah told him cheerfully as she began gathering up the plates. “And you’ve got a lot of weight to pull. Come on, give me a hand. Let’s start clearing the tables.”
In truth, Xavier didn’t mind at all having the opportunity to spend a little more time with Hannah alone.
Even though he had sworn up and down to Lawson that nothing was going on between them, he still had feelings for her.
How could he not? Her warm, bright kindness was impossibly attractive after he’d spent a lifetime working with people who shut that side of themselves off.
And the way her freckles wrinkled when she smiled…
Yeah, he still had it bad for her. He hoped it would pass eventually.
It had to in order for him to maintain his friendship with Lawson.
The two of them started carting plates to the kitchen. As Xavier set about washing while Hannah dried, she glanced over at him. “What happened with the Haynes brothers last night?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he admitted. “They were just drunk and talking crap like they always do. I don’t think they actually had anything to do with the generators.”
“You guys just took off last night,” she remarked. “I had no idea what you were doing.”
“Yeah, sorry,” he apologized. He knew he owed her more of an explanation.
It wasn’t just that they worked together, he had been friends with her for a long time, too.
She had been there since day one of the sanctuary opening, and she’d always been a huge part of why people felt as safe and comfortable as they did here.
If it hadn’t been for her, it would have just been his grumpy ass at the reception desk, and he knew that wouldn’t have been very welcoming for new arrivals.
“There’s just been a lot on my mind,” he admitted before he could stop himself. It was always like this with her—he could never stop himself from telling her the truth. He didn’t want to worry her, but she was so easy to talk to that he couldn’t help but share what was on his mind.
“Lodge stuff?” she asked. “Or…?” She lifted her finger to her temple and tapped the side of her head.
He shrugged. “Both, I guess,” he replied quietly, handing her another plate.
Their fingers touched for the barest moment, and he had to draw his hand back quickly, hoping she hadn’t felt the spark rushing between them.
The two of them hadn’t talked about their attraction or the kiss they shared since Lawson had blown up at them both about it, but he could tell it was still on her mind, too.
“You should talk to Sarah,” she suggested.
“Yeah, that’s what Lawson said, too.”
She raised her eyebrows at him. “Well, you know how much I hate agreeing with my brother,” she joked. “But maybe you should actually listen to him.”
Xavier chuckled. “Yeah, maybe,” he replied. “You know I’m not good at taking advice.”
She smiled wryly. “Yeah, if you were, I might tell you that you’re doing a crappy job with these dishes,” she teased, flipping one over in her hand demonstratively. “See? This one still has food on it.”
“Hey, that’s just an old stain,” he protested, as he took the plate back from her.
She laughed. “Mmm, not sure I believe that. Here, why don’t we swap? You probably can’t screw up the drying part.”
“I’m not screwing up the washing part, either,” he replied, but he was laughing. Her attitude was infectious, even when he had so much on his mind. Sometimes, he felt like she was the only person who could force him out of his own head for a while and into the moment.
They scuffled for a moment over the dishes, and she dipped her hand into the water and pulled out a handful of fluffy suds, tossing them at him. “Here, soap,” she teased. “It’s that thing you’re supposed to use to wash dishes, remember?”
“Oh, you mean this?” He grabbed a handful himself and launched it at her.
She shrieked and jumped out of the way, nearly knocking down a stack of plates piled up behind her on the counter. He reached past her to catch them.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh, you are so going to pay for that,” she warned him, and she grabbed some more suds, hurling them in his direction.
He dodged out of the way, ducking just in time, and the dishwater landed on the plates behind him. “You’re going to clean those up,” he shot back.
“Not a chance,” she replied. “You were the one on washing duty, remember?”
But before she could say another word, Aaron appeared in the kitchen doorway and cleared his throat.
Both Hannah and Xavier spun around as soon as they heard him.
“You guys okay in here?” Aaron asked.
Xavier nodded, wiping off his hands. “Yeah, we’re fine.”
“Okay, good.” Aaron cocked an eyebrow as he looked between them. “Because some of the guests are just settling down for the night, and they heard a ruckus and were worried that there was something going on down here.”
Hannah and Xavier exchanged a glance, grinning like a pair of schoolkids who had been caught skipping classes.
“Sorry,” Hannah apologized. “We’ll keep it down.”
“Thanks,” Aaron replied, and he paused for another moment, looking between them.
There was clearly some other comment he wanted to make, but he thought better of it, much to Xavier’s relief.
Last thing he needed was to have someone else speculating on what was going on between him and Hannah.
It would drive Lawson insane if he found out that they were still flirting with each other, even after he had made it clear what he thought of that.
Lawson had warned him off his sister because he didn’t think Xavier was stable enough to be in a relationship and he didn’t want Hannah to suffer because of it.
Aaron left, and Hannah pulled a face at Xavier.
“Guess we should get back to work,” she told him. “Without scaring the guests.”
“Guess so,” Xavier agreed. “You want to wash this time?”
“I think I’ll just supervise,” she replied. “I don’t trust myself with those slippery plates, I can already see myself breaking one.”
“Okay, back to drying duty then,” Xavier told her, nodding to the spot beside him.
She took her place and stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye.
“What is it?” he asked her quietly. He wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say, but he knew he had to find out what she was thinking.
She paused for a moment, biting her lip, like her mind was wandering to a million different places at once. “Nothing,” she said finally, shaking her head. “I just… You know you can always talk to me, right? If something’s bothering you?”
“I know,” he replied softly. He had no intention of burdening her with the information of the break-in; she didn’t need to worry about him any more than she already did.
But there was some relief in knowing that she was willing to listen to him.
Sometimes, he felt like he was dealing with so much alone, so many of the memories in his mind still so fresh thanks to the nightmares he was being tortured with every night.
“Good,” she replied, and she bumped her hip against his. The small touch alone was enough to make him smile, her closeness always welcome for him. “Back to work then, soldier.”
They went back to washing and drying the dishes in companionable silence, but Xavier’s mind was still wandering. Wandering back to all those nights he had woken up in his bed alone, and wondering if his nightmares might have eased up a little if he had been sleeping next to her instead.