by T. S. Joyce
“Yup,” Amos quipped. “But just because we live in the same park doesn’t mean I have to answer the door every damn time your stupid truck breaks down. Sundays are for football and pizza rolls. I get one day off from you stage five clingers. You could be missing an arm and I wouldn’t answer your stupid knocking. I hear just fine. I just don’t want to hang out with you every fuckin’ day.”
“Asshole,” Divar said in a snarly voice. “Where’s Logan? We could’ve had this deck done already if he was here.”
“He’s having a day,” Nuke said softly, then brought the saw down on a piece of lumber.
“What’s wrong with him?” Amos asked, a frown marring his handsome features.
Nuke cast Leanna a quick look and shrugged at Amos. “He’s having trouble adjusting.” And that was all he said. These boys talked in mysteries a lot.
Obviously, they didn’t want to talk about Logan anymore, so she changed the subject. “I never knew a deck could be built in a day. You guys move very, very fast.” Intimidatingly fast sometimes. They almost seemed to blur when they got in the rhythm. She was definitely the weakest link here, by a lot. Even the six-year-old was faster than her.
“Oh, we’ve just been working together for a long time,” Divar said.
What? “Amos just had me make your business cards a couple of weeks ago.”
Amos tossed Divar an angry look she didn’t understand. Right. Maybe it would be better if she just focused on the job. Leanna adjusted the giant gloves Amos had given her from the tool box in the back of his truck. They were stiff and clean, like they’d never been used before. None of the men were wearing gloves either, but maybe they were so used to working in construction, they didn’t get splinters or blisters anymore. Hands of steel…or…something. And eyeballs of steel too because Nuke wasn’t even wearing protective goggles while he sawed.
They were all extremely strong. Amos had unloaded a huge trailer of lumber in under three minutes by himself, and hadn’t even broken a sweat. It was a crisp cold day today, but still, that was a lot of work he’d done quickly. None of them were wearing jackets, and as she looked around at all their tan arms, she saw they didn’t have chilly-bumps. Neither did Trev. She was working hard, but still needed her hoodie on to ward off the cold wind.
These men were as tough as petrified wood.
Fifteen more minutes of measuring out the angled edges of the deck and the homeowner showed up. He stepped out of his car and his mouth fell open. “You almost have it done.”
“Yep!” Amos said, approaching to shake his hand. “If we put in a couple late hours, you could be sitting out here drinking a beer on your newly finished deck by eight tonight.”
The man looked at each of them and then back to the deck. “You leveled the area, put in sand and gravel, and you have the entire deck almost finished. In one day.”
Nuke turned off the saw and shook his hand, too. “That’s why we can charge less on labor for just plain wood decking. As long as we have the materials available, we can book it.”
The man looked stunned as he studied his new deck. The boys had already built the decorative rails to attach to it, and with what she’d seen them do, they could probably have the rails on in another fifteen minutes.
“My buddies and I built a wood deck on my ex-wife’s house one summer, and it took us two and a half weeks. I have to admit, I’m impressed. The name of your company made me laugh. You really named your company I Like Big Decks. I thought you would be some goof-offs. Figured that’s why you were so fairly priced. This…” He nodded. “This is good stuff. I’ll tell my buddies about you guys.”
“We would sure appreciate it,” Amos said. “Word of mouth is easy marketing for us.”
The man sauntered toward the back door, and told Trev as he passed, “You’re doing good work, buddy.” Trev’s face went completely blank, and then lit up like a full-moon sky.
Amos was watching the boy with this look of pride and something more. Maybe he was happy because Trev was happy. That’s how Leanna felt.
Trev’s wide eyes landed on Amos, and Amos immediately nodded, like ‘you done good, boy.’ And the smile got bigger.
Why was this affecting her so much? They hadn’t even said words to each other, but her heart felt full, and her eyes burned a little, like she would tear up.
She should go. Right? She should stop the attachment now. She needed to stop her recovering heart from tethering itself to people who would disappear.
Leanna had learned the hard way that when people leave, a hole remained.
Sometimes they were bottomless and couldn’t be filled, and couldn’t be repaired.
She didn’t need any more holes.
Not from a half-story man and a boy who wasn’t hers to keep.
Nuke, Divar and Trev went back to work, and Leanna told Amos, “I should get going.”
“You’ll miss the final reveal,” Amos told her.
“Will you send me a picture? I’ve got errands to run.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You know what you’re doing, don’t you?”
Confused, she shook her head.
Amos brushed the sensitive part of her lower back as he walked with her toward her car. He lowered his voice and leaned in. His voice was gritty against her ear. “The more you play hard to get, the more I want to chase you.”
Chills rippled up her forearms and she was thankful for her hoodie, so he couldn’t see how affected she was by him. Her legs threatened to buckle and she had to concentrate on staying upright. Friends, friends, they were just friends.
“I have something for you,” he murmured, and then jogged to his truck and met her at her car with something lightweight wrapped in newspaper.
“What is it?”
“A present. Open it.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” she uttered as she unrolled the newspaper pages in a rush. When she laid her eyes on what was inside, she stilled and went quiet. Her fingertips brushed down the edges of three large, beautiful, perfect feathers.
“I researched which ones work best for calligraphy,” he said softly. “You told me the right feathers are hard to find.”
On a breath, she asked, “What kind of feathers are they?”
“Eagle.”
When she lifted her gaze to his, the gold in his eyes was so intense, it was hard to look away.
His chest was rising and falling harder, and he held her trapped in his fiery gaze for a three-count before he reached up and ran his fingertips along her jaw. He leaned in, and when his lips were an inch from hers, he hesitated. “You terrify me.” And then he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers.
It was only a moment of her life, just a peck of a kiss. Just softness, and warmth, and then too soon, it was gone, and she was staring at Amos’s back as he walked away.
And she understood what he’d meant. Down to her marrow, she understood.
He terrified her, too.
Chapter Nine
There was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks she wanted to mess this up.
She’d cut calligraphy feathers a ton of times, but this time the pressure was on because Leanna was pretty sure the feathers Amos had given her were bald eagle feathers.
Bald.
Eagle.
Was this even legal? She was probably breaking the law right now. She was so bad. Bad to the bone. Amos must’ve ordered these off the black market or something.
The sand she’d heated in her office toaster oven was steaming, and she slid the shaft of the feather into it as far as it would go. And when it was tempered and the feather stronger for her to work with, she went to trimming the soft lower plume to suit her grip.
The office phone rang, but it would have to go to voicemail until she got this done. She allowed herself a thirty-minute lunch break every day and she was on minute fifteen. As she was shaping the nib where the ink would sit, the phone rang again. With a growl, she set her knife down and leaned over to see the caller ID.
Tyler Applejohn.
That was weird. They were friendly when they saw each other around town, but they’d stopped talking on the phone a long time ago. His wedding invites were approved and delivered, and she’d received hers in the mail already, so why was he calling? She picked up the phone, and in formal tone said, “This is Leanna.”
“Incoming. Holly is headed into your office any second.”
“Oh. Was there something wrong with the invitations?”
“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” he drawled out in an odd tone. “It’s just—”
Knock, knock, knock.
Oh God, this day was going to be weird, she could tell. As a general rule in her life, Leanna was a polite person. Tyler and Holly were interrupting her feather time though, so she didn’t say goodbye to him before she hung up.
When she opened the door, sure enough, Holly Derdun, Tyler’s fiancée, was standing there with a foil sash that read Shot Queen and what looked like a Bundt cake.
“Hi,” Holly said breathlessly, like she’d run all the way from Main Street. “Has Tyler called you?”
“Uuuuuh, yes. What can I do for you?”
Holly’s pretty blue eyes lit up. “He didn’t tell you why I was coming?”
“Noooo—”
“Here!” She shoved the Shot Queen sash at her, and then handed her the Bundt cake. Lemon flavored. Nice.
“I’m here to invite you to my bachelorette party.”
Leanna’s brain blanked and the English language left her for a few seconds. “Oh. Oh!” She was serious. “Ummm…”
“Say yes,” Holly demanded, pushing her way into the room. “It’s the perfect way to get everyone to stop talking about you.”
“Why are they talking about me?” she asked.
“Well, there’s rumors, but there are always rumors. It’s a small town. This will be a good way to put everyone’s petty gossip to rest and just move forward. I’m ready to, and I’m sure you are, too.”
Leanna’s mouth was hanging open far enough to catch a swarm of June bugs. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Look, we are all going out to the Messy Moose tonight. It’ll be low key. You know all the girls, and you can even invite your sister if you want. I know you two are close. Miranda will be there, and Ally and Rachel and gah, eight or nine other girls you know from school, so it won’t be uncomfortable. You can just have some margaritas with us and catch up.” A half-crazed smile was painted across her face as she waited for Leanna to respond.
“I’m busy tonight…” (playing with feathers) “…and it’s such short notice…” (and it sounds like a terrible time) “…and I really wish I could make it…” (I would rather sunbathe in an alligator swamp) “…so I think I’m going to have to take a raincheck…” (for never).
“Raincheck? Leanna! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to show the entire town that you are fine and we are fine and everyone is fine!” The pitch of her voice was a little loud, and would probably hurt a dog’s ears.
“I don’t know, Holly, I’m already coming to the wedding.”
“Exactly. And by the time you get there, you will have bonded with everyone in the wedding party and some of the attendees and it will be even more fun for me and for you and for everyone.” Holly sighed and grabbed her hand. “Please, Leanna. I promise it will be a fun time and you won’t regret it. You being there would mean so much to me and Tyler. Please. Please. Please please please please please—”
“Okay. I’ll be there.” For five to seven minutes. “What time does it start?”
“Nine o’clock tonight back in the private room. We rented it! And we will have access to the bar.” Holly hugged her tightly, and Leanna just stood there with her arms out, not knowing what the heck to do.
And then the little tornado did an about-face and bustled from the room. “Wear the sash! We all have matching ones!” she called behind her.
This was her nightmare.
Leanna set the cake on her desk and plopped down in the chair, biting her thumbnail. What rumors?
Carrie would know. The phone rang and rang though and Leanna got her voicemail. Dangit. “Heeeeey, favorite sister of mine, I got invited to Holly’s bachelorette party tonight, and she said I could invite you. Wanna come with me? Call me back.” She hung up the phone and twirled one of the uncut feathers in her hand. She hadn’t done anything scandalous to warrant any gossip. Maybe it was about her and Amos, and that was fine by her. The gossip circles could spread that one around all they wanted to.
Her phone dinged, and it was Amos, like he’d known she was thinking about him.
I forgot to send you the picture from yesterday. Did you know kids take up about twenty-eight hours of your day? I feel like I haven’t slept in sixty-nine years.
An image came through of Amos and Trev standing on the newly completed deck. Amos looked like he was in the middle of talking, and Trev was standing in front of him, grinning like it was school picture day.
She laughed at Amos’s funny face in it.
Divar is an asshole and only counted to one before he snapped the picture, and then he wouldn’t take another one. And then he told me that’s for not helping with his truck and said he is going to cock block me for the rest of my life and also that he hates me. I met with a potential family for Trev last night, but they are a little unstable at the moment and Trev deserves better. Meeting with another one tonight. Wish us luck!
I wish you horrible luck, I don’t want him to go to anyone else lol. Who will teach him all of the inappropriate things you boys did yesterday? Like how to spit, and how to replace cuss words with other words that are still cuss words, and how to set fire to thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies? Send.
Yeah, well he burned the macaroni and cheese last night and he spilled a juice box (how do you even spill a juice box???) so he ain’t earning his keep.
A few seconds passed, because she didn’t know how to respond, and another text came through from him.
I’m going to miss him. Don’t tell anyone.
A soft smile stretched her lips. I know you will. I pay attention. Send.
Tough exterior, but Amos had a heart that felt everything. It was something she found extremely sexy.
That’s the part that terrified her.
Her phone rang and it was a FaceTime request from Amos. She was already grinning and blushing by the time she hit accept.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Oh, I have big plans. I was just invited to the bachelorette party for my ex-fiancé’s new fiancée. I’m super-duper excited.”
“Mmm, text me a picture of what you wear to it.”
She balanced her phone against her pencil holder on the desk and showed him the sash.
“Shot Queen. Nice. If you need a ride home, call me.”
“Don’t you live up in the mountains or something? You would drive all the way into town to pick up my tipsy butt from the pristine and classy Messy Moose?”
“Oh, hell yeah. You’re probably hilarious tipsy. I would do it for the entertainment value alone.”
“Lie. You would do it because you are a nice man.”
He canted his head and seriousness swam in the gold of his eyes. “That’s a dangerous game for someone like me. Being nice doesn’t get people like me too far. I’m not always nice, Leanna.”
“You are to me.”
He scratched his scruff with his thumbnail and looked at something past the phone. “Divar, don’t. Nuke, lay off him. Not here.” The grit in his voice surprised her, and his face twisted into something that lurched her heart into her throat. His features looked sharper, and the intensity in his eyes had her asking, “What’s wrong?”
“Divar!” Amos yelled. “Don’t!” A smattering of sounds clicked out of Amos, trailing after his words, and then there was a terrifying noise. A roar echoed through the phone, and then the screen went blank and the call was dropped.
Chills electr
ified her entire body as she sat there frozen, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She tried to call him back. Time and time again she called, but Amos didn’t pick up.
Hey, are you okay???!!! Send.
No answer for the longest fifteen minutes of her life. She didn’t know where he was, or she would’ve been on the road. Fifteen minutes felt like fifteen years, and then a text buzzed through.
I’m fine. Sorry. Dumbasses are fighting on a job-site and I had to take care of it. I’ll call you when I finish up this job.
You’re sure everything is okay? That was…I don’t know what that was. Send.
I keep thinking about that kiss.
If his response had been a ploy to get her to pull off asking him too many questions, it absolutely worked. She smiled to herself and relaxed and blushed enough to heat her entire face.
Me too. Send.
****
Me too.
Later on, he would think on Leanna’s response, but now that she was at ease, he had to deal with the storm in front of him. “Dammit, Divar!” Amos yelled, shoving the phone into his back pocket. There wasn’t any point in putting his shirt on over the seeping claw marks across his entire chest.
“Amos,” Trev cried from the roof, where he sat on the edge just over the gutters. Tears were streaking down his face.
“Stay there, Trev. Don’t move.”
He’d had to get the boy up and out of the way before he’d been able to stop Divar from charging Nuke. His heart was hammering so hard in his chest right now. Fuck, that had scared him!
“I didn’t mean to!” Divar yelled back. He jammed a finger at where Nuke’s truck had disappeared. “It’s his fault. He’s been on me all fuckin’ day. Push, push, push, you guys act like I have unlimited control of the grizzly.”
“No one is going to be sensitive to that shit here,” Amos barked. He connected a call to Krome, his Alpha.
Krome answered on the second ring. “What happened?”
“Nuke and Divar went at it. We’re on a job and the homeowner is going to be here any minute, and Divar can’t stop pacing. Acting like he needs to Change again.”
“I’m trying to control it!” Divar roared, smacking his head a few times. His eyes were straight silver.
