by Nan Dixon
“Sure thing.”
Once the trim was off, they removed faceplates and switches. He slapped on his hard hat and glasses, and pulled on his respirator.
“Let’s rock and roll.” Quint hit the button on the radio and hard metal blasted out.
Daniel grabbed his hammer, picked a wall and smacked. Using the claw, he pulled away plaster.
When he’d been a kid, he’d always wanted to swing hard, but Pop had taught him patience. Take the plaster down and then the lath.
He and Quint tapped and ripped, tossing the debris on the floor. With three teams working in different rooms, it sounded like a class of tap dancers.
The rubble pile grew until Jasper shoveled the stuff into a wheelbarrow. No breeze came through the open windows. With his forearm, he wiped his sweat.
“Oh, my.”
What was Bess doing here? He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the stairs.
“Hey!” she complained.
He slid his mask down. “You can’t breathe that crap.”
She slipped on a brand-new respirator and hard hat and headed into the room. “I’m here to work.”
“What?”
Her jaw took on a stubborn edge. She held up a hammer. “I’m here for the demo.”
“You’re not needed.” She’d distract the crew—and him.
“Gray said I shouldn’t miss this.” She stopped where the door had been.
He shook his head. “We’re fine.”
She crossed her arms. “Would you say that to Gray?”
“He knows what he’s doing.” Daniel grimaced. He’d vowed to treat her like a client.
Quint shut off the radio and tugged his mask down. “I’ll show you how to pull down plaster.”
“I’ll do it,” Daniel growled.
Her green eyes shot sparks at him. “I’d rather work with Quint.”
Daniel came so close she had to tip her head back to look at him. “If you want to work, I need to make sure you don’t mess up.”
“Are you mad that I tried helping you and your brother?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“I’m not talking about Nathan.”
“Don’t talk about him, then.” She stepped closer. “Talk to him.”
Bess couldn’t understand what life had been like living with an out-of-control brother. How much chaos he’d had to survive. “Do you want to learn how to demo or not?”
She straightened her shoulders. “What do I do?”
He demonstrated.
She pounded on the wall and pried chunks of plaster off with the hammer. “Like that?”
He nodded. She wouldn’t last an hour. Then he and the crew could work in peace.
* * *
BESS TOSSED PLASTER into the wheelbarrow. Why throw it on the floor and have to scoop it up again?
Daniel might not like it, but she was part of this project. She didn’t mind getting dirty. And she wanted to prove she and Daniel could work side by side without yelling or doing something stupid.
Every time Daniel peeled chunks off the wall, he checked on her. His neck would ache if he kept that up.
She hammered, humming along with Adele on her earbuds. Better music than the head-banging rock blaring from the bashed radio. Getting to be part of the remodel made her as happy as when an orchid she’d propagated flowered.
She crumbled more plaster, tossing it into the wheelbarrow. Her elbow collided with Daniel’s rock-solid chest. “What?”
He pointed at her ears.
She pulled out her earbuds. Music no longer blasted. “Am I doing something wrong?”
“It’s lunchtime.”
“Already?” She checked the time, surprised to find it was noon.
Daniel examined the section of wall she’d removed. “Good work.”
His compliment rocked her back on her heels. “Thanks.”
They didn’t talk as they headed to the main floor. And it didn’t feel strained. She didn’t have the energy to rant about the way he treated his brother or her.
Bess needed food. She planned to pop over to Fitzgerald House and mooch lunch.
Abby pushed open the Carleton House kitchen door with her back, carrying a tray. “Can someone grab the thermos?”
Jasper headed out the door and came in with a massive orange container and cups.
The men hooted and slapped each other’s backs. “This is why I like working over here,” Quint said.
“Thanks for starting the Carleton House demo.” Abby pulled back the covers. Sandwiches filled one tray. Slices of watermelon and peaches filled another. “Enjoy.”
Bess cleaned her hands with the wipes Abby had brought. “You think of everything.”
“We’ve lived with enough renovations.” Abby pointed out. “Look at you, construction mama.”
“Us sisters should demo a room,” Bess said.
Abby shook her head, her fiery ponytail whipping back and forth. “Not me.”
“But it’s fun.” Bess took a bite of a ham sandwich. Why did food always taste better after a workout or sex?
She glanced at Daniel. They’d never had food after sex. Only arguments. Those went down pretty bitter in her memory.
Daniel moved toward her and Abby. Had he caught her thoughts? Bess hid the blush heating her face by taking another bite of her sandwich.
“Thanks for lunch,” Daniel said.
“You’re welcome.” Abby touched his arm. “How’s Samuel?”
Bess swallowed. She’d been so focused on the drama between her and Daniel, and Nathan and Daniel, she hadn’t asked about his father in over two weeks. Her chest burned with shame.
“Pop has another appointment this week. I’m hoping they’ll stop poking him and narrow down what’s wrong.”
“These things take time.” Bess wanted to reel back the inane words as soon as they left her mouth.
Daniel raised a dust-covered blond eyebrow. “It’s been almost a month.”
“Hang in there.” Abby patted his shoulder. “Would your parents appreciate dinner?”
Daniel’s smile made it to his eyes. “Pop loves your cooking.”
Bess was jealous her sister got those kind of smiles and not her, even though nothing could happen between her and Daniel. Never. Nada.
“Bess, would you bring the trays back?” Abby asked.
“Sure.” She grabbed another sandwich and more watermelon and walked her sister to the door. “See you later.”
The guys crowded around the food. She sank to the floor, happy to munch on her sandwich and fruit.
“So what did you think?” Quint grabbed a piece of the floor next to her.
“It’s fun.”
“Wait until we start pulling the laths. All those damn—” he winced “—I mean, darn nails.”
Bess laughed. “I’ve heard that word before. Used it a time or two.”
Quint shot Daniel a look. “Boss wants us to keep our language clean around you.”
“I think I can handle it.” Why did Daniel have to control everything?
Daniel stared at her and Quint, his expression stony.
Quint started to move, and Bess slapped a hand on his leg. “Where are you going?”
His eyes were wide. “Daniel...”
“Doesn’t tell me who I eat with.”
“Do you want another sandwich?” Quint’s fingers rattled on his jeans. “I need one before they’re all gone.”
“Fine. But not a sandwich. Watermelon if there’s any left.” She stared back at Daniel, not blinking.
Once Quint moved, Daniel looked away. When Quint came back with the fruit, Bess took pity on him and went upstairs. She didn’t want Daniel getting on his employee’
s case.
She’d finished the watermelon by the time she’d climbed to the third floor. Tossing the rind in the wheelbarrow, she rolled her shoulders. Thank goodness she spent her days hauling dirt, trees and plants.
She’d removed more wall by the time Daniel entered the room. When he walked in, the space shrank.
He pulled out the rind she’d tossed into the debris. “What’s this?”
She pulled her mask down. “Garbage?”
“We need to keep the plaster separate. If it doesn’t have a lot of lead, it can be recycled.”
“Really?”
He handed her the rind. “Yup.”
“I never thought of all the...components of a restoration.”
He touched his chest. “That’s my job.”
Daniel managed complicated construction projects. And he did it well. Maybe she had to stop viewing him through the lens of a brokenhearted teenager. The only way this grown-up Daniel resembled the boy she’d had a crush on was the way he’d rejected her.
During the afternoon, she couldn’t stop watching him. His muscles flexed as he tossed plaster over his shoulder. He was strong, strong enough to hold her against the door the night of the wedding. Her face went hot.
She jumped at the tap on her shoulder.
Fumbling, she pulled out her earbuds. “What?”
“You’re all red,” Daniel said. “You need to hydrate.”
Her blush blazed even hotter. “I will.”
He shoved his water bottle at her. “Now.”
She couldn’t tell him she’d been thinking about sex—with him. She took a big gulp and shoved the bottle into his belly. It was like hitting rock bed with a shovel. His abs were a work of art.
He pulled off her hard hat and poured water down the back of her neck.
She swatted at his hands. “Stop.”
“I don’t want you getting heatstroke.” Daniel crossed his arms.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Just what every woman wanted to hear. Luckily, her phone rang, and she could dodge Daniel’s attention by answering.
“Cade?” Why was her old boss calling her?
“I’m wondering if you could help Jimmy on an installation.”
She rubbed her neck, and her hand came away gritty and wet. “You fired me.”
“I know, but Jimmy’s in over his head.” Cade cleared his throat. “I’ll pay you a...a twenty-five percent premium if you’ll help him.”
She moved out to the hallway. “What’s the project?”
Cade described the property, a minimansion set on Skidaway Island near the marsh and tidal basin. In addition to landscaping, the homeowner wanted patios, outdoor living spaces, water features, a dock and walkways. A to-die-for assignment. She squeezed her phone. “I’ll do a walk-through with Jimmy and give you a bid.”
“Bid?”
“Yes, a bid.”
Cade took a moment to reply. “Okay.”
She headed back into the room, grinning.
Daniel leaned against the unframed doorway. “Cade?”
She nodded.
“Did he offer you your job back?”
“He wants my help on a project.”
Daniel snorted. “I hope you told him to go jump in the Wilmington.”
“No!”
Daniel held up his hands. “He fired you.”
“It doesn’t mean I can’t help him.”
“That’s unforgivable.”
She stared at him. “You never rehire staff you’ve laid off?”
“That’s different.” Daniel paced the narrow hallway, his arm brushing her shoulder each time he passed next to her. “They understand if we don’t have the work. It’s business.”
“And that’s what this is. Business. I’ll give Cade a bid. Just like I’m giving Gray at his condos.”
“But you’re applying for jobs.” He waved his hand. “How can you do that if you’re working as a laborer and doing all this freelancing?”
“What does it matter to you?” She didn’t understand Daniel. “Afraid I’ll make enough money to buy my apartment?”
“No.” He grabbed her shoulders. “I...don’t like people taking advantage of you.”
“He’s not.” His hands were heating up her body again.
“Cade’s just using you.”
She pulled away from his touch. Daniel didn’t understand. “The project he needs help with is big. I mean big-bucks big. And I’ll charge them for it, not as a salary but as getting a piece of the profit. Is that taking advantage of me?”
He stared at her for a minute. Hammering, music and an occasional curse echoed in the hallway. A cone of silence wrapped around them.
Daniel grinned. His grin would have made her swoon if she were still seventeen. Thank God she was twenty-seven.
“Good for you.” He slapped her shoulder and dust flew around her head. “Now get back to work. I want that wall down by this afternoon.”
* * *
DANIEL TOSSED LATHS into his truck bed. The sound reminded him of Lincoln Logs falling on the floor. He and Nathan had had a set. He would build the structures and Nathan knocked them down.
“I’ll haul a load over to Morley’s,” Quint volunteered.
“Thanks.” They’d cleared the room to the studs and the other two crews had almost finished their assigned rooms. Bess had been the reason they’d finished. She’d worked hard and never complained.
He climbed back to the third floor. Dust swirled in the air. Pity he needed to close the windows, but the forecast called for overnight showers.
He stopped in the center of the room. The studs had darkened over the years. He noted water damage in the corner. When it was cooler, he’d get the crew on the roof.
This had to be what a painter felt when staring at a blank canvas. All this potential waiting to be shaped into something spectacular. Bess and her sisters would make this place shine.
Light footsteps had him moving toward the door. His crew was gone. He didn’t want thieves stripping the place.
He rushed to the top of the steps, almost knocking over Bess.
“God!” She slapped a hand on her chest. “I thought I was alone.”
“I’m locking up.” He stepped back. “We made good progress today.”
She moved into the hallway. “I wanted to see the other rooms.”
He followed as she toured the floor.
Bess stopped in the middle of the room they’d stripped. “It’s not sad.” Wonder filled her voice.
“Sad?”
“Stripping the room down to the bones. I thought the room would be—sad. But it has...” She shook her head as though she couldn’t think of the word.
“Potential. I like to think of a bare room as one with possibilities.”
“Possibilities.” Her green eyes lit up. “Like a big happy promise.”
He nodded. How could two such different people think the same way? She made him do crazy things, like pour water down her neck. He never would have done that with a crew member. Being around Bess made him...stupid. “I need to shut the windows.”
Bess said, “I’ll help.”
He heard her swear as she wrestled with the old casements. He finished the room he was in and went to check on her. The window she was closing wouldn’t budge.
Together they slid, jimmied and inched the window back in place. Even through the plaster dust, her flowery scent curled around him.
“How did the guys ever get it open?” she gasped.
“Muscles.”
They headed outside, locking doors as they left.
“I’ll see you in the afternoon,” she said.
“Sure.” He clicked his truck locks open.
Bess stood with her head cocked. “Did you hear that?”
He tossed his hard hat in the cab. “What?”
“I heard a...whine.” She stood still.
He listened to the sound of cars on the street and the swish of wind in the oaks on the boulevard. Exhaling, he waited.
“There.” Bess hurried over to the four-foot-high pile of laths.
Had they hit an animal while tossing down wood? He grabbed her hand as she reached into the pile. “Don’t forget the nails.”
“Oh, shoot. It’s under this, whatever it is.”
They worked together, making sure not to let the pile slide.
“Wait.” Bess held up her hand.
He stopped moving and heard a scrabbling sound. “I hope it’s not rats.”
“Rats?” she hissed.
He wiggled his eyebrows.
She pulled on another board. “Are rats reddish colored?”
“Sure,” he whispered near her ear.
She jumped, her shoulder snapping painfully against his jaw. Startling her was worth it.
Slowly they removed the boards.
“I think it’s a dog.” Bess caught a nail-studded board as it slid back into the hole.
“Careful.” He snatched up the board, brushing against a nail.
Bess peeked into the opening. “We’ll get you out.”
A whimper answered her.
“My arms aren’t long enough.” She stepped aside. “I’ll hold back the edges while you get the boards off the poor thing.”
There was a flip of a tail as he removed another layer of wood. “How’d you get under here?” He kept up a gentle conversation with what might be a puppy.
Another dozen boards and they found the little guy. He had a black nose, sad brown eyes and reddish fur. His paws clutched a fast-food wrapper.
“Hey.” He scooped him up.
The dog whimpered.
“Is he hurt?” Bess supported the pile as Daniel backed up.
The puppy barely filled his hands. “What’s on his leg?”
Bess had her face at the dog’s eye level. “There’s a gash but it’s scabbed over.” She held out her hand and the dog gave a weak sniff. “How are you?”
The puppy’s thin body trembled in his arms. “We won’t hurt you,” he crooned.
