Unexpected Love (White Oak-Mafia #2)

by Liza O'Connor

  Jack stared across the trees in the direction of Dubuque. “Well, if you find out and want us to beat the shit out of them, we’ll be glad to do it.”

  Sonny nodded in agreement.

  “Actually, I’d rather we just put it aside and focus on our work. We were having a good day, and I want to get it back.”

  To set an example, she climbed on the shed and had Dan pass her up a bundle of shingles.

  “Where’d you learn to shingle?” Sonny asked. “Oh wait, I know. Your grams taught you.”

  She laughed. “That she did.”

  “So where’d she learn to shingle?”

  “I have no idea where Grams learned all the stuff she knew. She was ‘all knowing’ when I arrived.”

  Dan had his binoculars out, focused on the trail to the cabin. She presumed he was watching Frank and Luke so when she needed a second bundle, she climbed down and got it herself.

  He came to her aid as she struggled to lift the heavy pack onto the roof. “I would have gotten it,” he complained.

  “You were doing your job,” she whispered.

  His eyes softened, and he nodded. “I can still help you when you need it.”

  She rewarded him with a smile and climbed back up and continued shingling.

  Dan resumed his bird-brain watching. Still, when she asked for another stack, he handed it up without hesitation. She’d finished the roof and was working on the door when Dan finally returned to helping her.

  Less than a minute later, Frank returned, radiating anger. He stared at Steel. “Not that it matters, but I support you a hundred percent for firing that bastard.”

  “Actually, I’m pleased you agree with my decision. I’m aware we’ve bumped heads at times, but I value your opinion.”

  His statement clearly shocked and pleased Frank. He checked on his men and then got to work.

  Dan proved to be experienced at building doors, so Tess let him assemble the right door while she cut the left door. They had the shed done by two.

  She knelt beside Steel, working with Sonny. “Shed’s done. I’m going to take the carrier back to the house and find out if Andy can deliver groceries.”

  “You okay?” he asked, gripping her hand.

  “This day has mostly been excellent.”

  He smiled. “Thank you for reminding me of that.” He nodded to her work. “That is one hell of a shed.”

  She smiled. “I put a padlock on it, but Dan didn’t seem impressed, so I expect he’ll want to buy a better one. But for tonight, here’s the key in case you lock it and then think of something else you want inside.”

  He shook his head as he pocketed the key. “I have no idea how I would get things done without you.”

  She grinned. “Same goes for me. I couldn’t have done any of this without my super-duper team.”

  He grimaced. “I know you’re mad at Tom, but could you let him know I fired Luke, and I’ll explain why when I get in.”

  Frank looked up from his mound. “Sorry, I called him the moment I sent Luke off. I didn’t want that bastard speaking to Tom before he heard our side of the matter.”

  Steel smiled at Tess. “You don’t have to call Tom now.”

  She wiped her brow playfully.

  “You are, eventually, going to have to apologize to him.” He held his hand up to silence her protest. “Even if he was in the wrong. We need him on our side. You need him.”

  That was true. She didn’t have a chance of getting into the University of Minnesota without Tom’s help. “You’re right. I’ll call him this afternoon and apologize for hanging up on him.”

  “Offer him our plan’s latest update. He seems to like those.”

  She chuckled. “He really does. But let me work on it a bit more, then you can review it, and we’ll send it later tonight.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Now stop distracting me from my job.”

  Her jaw dropped at his scold. “I am not distracting you. It must be my beautiful shed that keeps you from your work.”

  Steel chuckled. “Nope, it’s you.”

  Tess sighed with playful exasperation, then smiled at Frank. “I’m assigning you to be the time lord. You guys need to be off this mound and headed home by four-thirty.”

  “Four thirty…off the mound,” Frank repeated.

  “Which means you have to stop before that,” she added.

  “That goes without saying.”

  Realizing she had overstepped and was micromanaging a guy who was accustomed to being the boss, she smiled. “Okay, my work here is done.”

  “Tess,” Frank called out, stopping her. “You were a lifesaver this morning, and that shed is a beauty.” The other guys agreed.

  “Dan helped,” she reminded them.

  Dead silence followed.

  She patted Dan’s arm as she passed him. “Well, I appreciated the help.”

  He nodded and helped her re-hook the cart to the trolley. When she pulled off the drag, his eyebrow rose in challenge.

  “I don’t have the patience to wait for it. Any chance you might want to slow its descent with the rope? The crate only weighs a hundred pounds.”

  He smiled. “I can do that. Just don’t walk in front of it.”

  “Do I look stupid?”

  “Well, with that hair…yeah, you do.”

  She groaned as she pulled at the tangles in her hair. She’d completely forgotten about her ruffled bird’s nest. “If I can’t untangle this mess, you guys are in so much trouble,” she warned and headed down the trail.

  The cart waited at the bottom when she arrived. All she had to do was drag it to the other zip-line and then head home.

  Once she reached the cabin, she managed to pull the cart halfway up before her arms gave out. She tied it off. Hopefully, one of the guys would pull it the rest of the way when they came in.

  The first thing she did when she entered was to detangle her hair by soaking it in crème rinse, then running a large-tooth comb through it. Next, she called Tom.

  The moment he answered, she spoke.

  “Tom. I’m sorry for hanging up on you yesterday, but I had just discovered someone was trashing my reputation right before you called, so I was in a feisty mood.”

  He sighed heavily. “Thank you for calling. I believe I owe you an apology as well. I should never have gone off on you the way I did. And now it seems I owe you a second apology for sending you Luke.”

  “You’re not responsible for that.”

  “I selected him.”

  “Well, neither Steel nor I hold you responsible. He seemed really good at first, but then yesterday he disregarded my safety instructions in an effort to impress me—that was his explanation for his actions, not mine—and today he came back with bar stories about me.”

  “I’ve heard both sides.”

  “Well, from what I gathered, what he heard is that I have lots of boyfriends, never mind I spend all my time taking care of these woods. Until recently, the only male under eighty I ever saw was Andy, the grocery boy, and I’m not dating him either.”

  “I didn’t think you were. Nor is it even possible for you to have the number of boyfriends Luke was informed of. My guess is he gave some indication of liking you, and the bar had a field day with the new kid.”

  Tess sighed, relieved at that explanation. “That’s better than I thought.”

  “Which was?”

  “That it was an escalation of the trash talk I heard the day before…which seems to be connected to the misinformation the governor got. Was the helicopter ride that you got upset about the one Steel and I took to rescue Grams, the one the boys took to get here, or the one I called to get Luke to the hospital?”

  “Turns out it was the first.”

  “Okay, then that was definitely not park related, and if you thought I was charging it to the park, then you had a right to be angry, regardless of the fact taxpayers weren’t footing the bill.” She then explained Grams’ donations and the service they received for it. />
  “Actually, that was precisely what the governor was upset about. He thought you were using state resources for your personal convenience. I, of course, defended you immediately, but then he got Mr. Drenner on the line, and the man claimed you used his services like they were your private limo. He said it happened all the time, but spoke specifically of the night his pilot had to retrieve the two of you for a night on the town, and that you even required a vehicle, which you left abandoned in town, giving him no notice of where you’d left it.”

  Tess grimaced. “Well, it was Kyle’s car, and the sheriff insisted we abandon it because he was certain Kyle was working with my father, who could probably track wherever that car went.”

  “And then the Secret Service got involved. I’m aware of what you did that night. I just wasn’t aware it was the incident Drenner was describing. There was little similarity between the two.”

  “I can offer a sheriff and a Secret Serviceman to back my version.”

  “While I don’t need their testimony, if the governor flips on me again, I may ask you for their phone numbers. I understand why you need helicopter service presently. That road is not even close to being a road. Any chance you can find a different service?”

  “Already done. We’ll use Sam, the guy who took Luke to the hospital.”

  He sighed heavily.

  “If you have a problem with Sam, I need to know.”

  “No, I was sighing about my godson.”

  “Oh…I’m sorry Steel had to fire him, but he really did.”

  “Frank made that perfectly clear.”

  “Are you mad at Frank?”

  “Not your concern.”

  “Well, we’re hoping to keep him. He’s really good.”

  “You may regret that the first time he turns his temper on you. He made you look like a saintly employee in comparison.”

  “I think he took Luke’s failure personally.”

  “Actually, he passed the blame on to me.”

  “That’s not fair. Luke had potential. You had every right to try and help him.”

  The line buzzed with white noise.

  “Are you there?”

  “Yeah. You just reminded me why I like you so much. Any good news to report?”

  “No major project completed, but we’re getting a lot done. In fact, I’m supposed to be updating the plan right now so Steel can review it tonight and we can send an update.”

  “Will it have all the cost to date included?”

  “Yes, but you’ll find no helicopter bill for Luke’s rescue, and there never was a bill for the other stuff Drenner complained about. Honestly, given Grams donated two hundred thousand less than a month ago, I’m not inclined to ask for one. If they send me one, and it’s reasonable, I’ll pay for it out of my own money. In no case was that park business.”

  “And why isn’t there a bill for Luke?”

  “Because Sam hasn’t sent it. When he does, I expect it to be cost-only because he has an issue charging me for a rescue. I’ll pester him for an estimate tonight if it’s important.”

  “I really need it in there.”

  “Okay, then I’ll call him now. Oh…I’m not sure Luke brought the bill for the two replacement computers.”

  “Call Sara. She has those.” After a pause, he added, “Tess, I’m glad you called, and we could exchange apologies. I didn’t like having you mad at me.”

  “Same here.”

  Once she hung up, politely, she called Sam. He sighed heavily when she asked for the bill.

  “My boss is insisting I have it in my plan,” she explained.

  “Tess, don’t get me involved with any problems you’re having with your boss. I can’t afford to lose your business…which is now your boss’s business.”

  “Actually, we want to increase our use of your services and discontinue using the rescue group entirely. Any chance you could handle stupid stuff like giving us lifts off our hill?”

  “Funny you should ask that. I’ve had two of the rescue guys stop by to see if I was hiring.”

  “Who?”

  “Kyle and Denny. Don’t remember the last names.”

  “I strongly advise against Kyle. Besides evidently working for my father, he lies and possibly steals from customers.”

  “Okay. How’s Denny?”

  “He’s a better pilot than Kyle, but nowhere near as good as you. And to the best of my knowledge, he doesn’t work for my father. I have never caught him lying or stealing, and if he can’t do something, he admits it.”

  “That sounds pretty good.”

  “He is. If you have time to teach him your skills, I think he could double your production once we start cutting.”

  “And when do you expect that to be?”

  She sighed. “I’ll be taking out single trees about once a day starting tomorrow. That’ll continue for about a month, and then we’ll start road cutting. However, for the next year, we’ll have continued airlift logging.”

  “Wow…you’re moving fast.”

  “Think so? It seems slow to me.”

  “I checked with the guy who did the Harper Ferry work, and he assured me you wouldn’t cut a tree for two years.”

  “Well, he may have been lulling you to sleep while he tries to steal the job, but that’s not happening, I promise you.”

  “You’ve no idea how I appreciate that, Tess. But if anyone asks, please tell them no one has been selected yet. I’m divorcing Nancy, and she warned me in the heat of an argument that she’s planning to take me for everything I’ve got, including my future business with you.”

  “Okay. Now I’ll know how to spin the story,” Tess assured him.

  “Thanks. I’ll give this Denny guy a call and see if he is teachable.”

  Tess hung up very satisfied with the conversation…except she forgot to remind Sam to send her a bill.

  She opened her computer and emailed Sam a reminder. Before she could exit her mail, Sam’s bill arrived. One hundred and fifty dollars.

  She rolled her eyes. She doubted there was a dime of profit in that bill.

  She added it to her costs incurred and placed the bill in the items to be paid. She tagged it with a note she was uncertain what category a rescue evacuation fell under and sent the question to Tom’s secretary, Sara, along with a request for the costs of the replacement laptops.

  She’d just gotten the answer when she felt the loving presence of Steel. He pressed against her back. “Have you sussed out matters with Tom?”

  “I am happy to report Tom and I are buds again.”

  “Good,” he said and kissed the top of her hair. “Gads! Your hair tastes terrible.”

  “Oh! I put crème rinse on it.” She ran off to her room and showered before the guys arrived and teased her further.

  When she returned to the living room, they were gathered around a PC.

  “No storm tonight, right?” Sonny asked.

  “No storm,” she chuckled.

  Steel motioned her over. “Could you connect this PC to the printer?” She opened her mouth to ask him why he didn’t have the PC search for it. It wasn’t like there were other wireless printers lurking in nearby houses. But then she realized he might not know how to connect to her wireless printer.

  Tess sat on his knee and located the printer in less than a minute. “Are you ready to print? Should I start walking in that direction?”

  “If you don’t mind.” He caressed her back as she stood.

  By the time she reached the storage room where the printer lived, paper was rapidly shooting into the tray. An inch later, the light came on warning low paper. Tess put in two more packs and eyed the half-empty box.

  Damn it! She’d forgotten to call Andy.

  She grabbed the stack of docs printed and returned to Steel. “The machine’s still running,” she warned and placed the stack of paper by him.

  “Shit…I must have printed detail. Can you stop it?”

  She leaned in and clicked on Cance
l Print. She then went over to her phone and called Andy.

  “Don’t hate me,” Andy stated the moment he answered his phone.

  “Never,” she assured him. “Is the road impassable?”

  “You could say that. I was going to say it was gone.”

  “What do you mean gone?”

  “Well…you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I swear it looks like someone went in with a bulldozer and ripped the road out.”

  A heavy pit filled her stomach. Both roads were gone, and the rescue squad no longer wished to help her. This had to be her father’s doing.

  “Okay. Could you get an order fixed up for me so it can be picked up by helicopter?”

  “About that. Mr. Drenner is trashing you something terrible. I don’t think he’ll do you any favors.”

  “Well, fortunately, he doesn’t own the only helicopter in Iowa.”

  Andy chuckled. “Then I will gladly pack up your groceries.”

  She hung up with Andy and contacted Sam to see if he had time to pick up groceries. Then she phoned Andy back to let him know she’d sent him the list by email and that Sam would need twenty feet of clear parking space away from trees and overhead wires to land. Andy asked her to wait while he checked. He returned with bad news. There are overhanging wires all over the place.”

  She banged her head softly against the wall. “I’ll get back to you.”

  A strong hand settled on her back. “Problem?” Dan asked.

  She sighed. “Do you consider starvation a problem?”

  He tugged her into the storage room. “Talk to me.”

  She explained her suspicions about the roads being destroyed by her father, then her problems with getting the food delivered by helicopter.

  He pulled his phone out. “Brad. Go to the grocery store in La Motte and determine if a helicopter can land on the parking lot.”

  He put up his phone and brushed the hair from her face. “We’ll figure this out. You are not the only one with problem-solving skills, although your abilities are inspiring.”

  “Brad is your guy, right?”

  Dan silenced her with his hand as he moved to the door and opened it. Sonny stared at them. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  She nodded, and he hurried off.

  Dan closed the door then spoke softly. “We are so cut off here that I decided Brad could be more use to me in Dubuque.”