Just Look Up

by Courtney Walsh

  “Another one?”

  So far, she’d added, “You can’t comment on my phone usage” and “I’m not milking any cows” to the list.

  Ryan had no idea how he’d convinced Lane to come to Harbor Pointe with him, but he wasn’t about to question it. “What is it?” He took a few steps toward her.

  She stilled. “I don’t want my parents to know about my . . . episode or whatever you want to call it.”

  “Lane—”

  “This is nonnegotiable.”

  He could see she’d dug in her heels. Whatever lies she’d been telling herself for years had caught up to her while she packed her clothes for a trip to Harbor Pointe. She thought they didn’t deserve to know what was happening in her life, that they didn’t love her, that she didn’t fit in with them. How could he show her none of that was true?

  “Brooks.”

  “Fine. But I have a stipulation of my own.”

  She glared at him. “I don’t think that’s how this works.”

  “There are no rules, Lane.” He walked toward her and took the suitcase. He liked being close to her. He could see it made her uncomfortable, but he didn’t care. He was intent on proving to her that he wasn’t going to hurt her like Jasper had. “You have to take one hour in the middle of every day to rest.”

  Her jaw went slack. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Nonnegotiable.”

  Her eyes had narrowed, but that hint of a smile was back, playing at the corners of her mouth.

  “Can I break the hour up into fifteen-minute increments throughout the day?” She pretended to be annoyed. At least he thought she was pretending.

  He shook his head.

  “This is totally ridiculous.”

  “Nonnegotiable.”

  After a long pause, she finally relented. “All right, let’s go before I change my mind.” She picked up her bag, which she’d set on the floor beside her, but he swiftly swiped it from her and slung it over his own shoulder.

  “You have to let me do some things for myself,” she said.

  “I will. But carrying luggage isn’t one of those things.”

  “I work out, Brooks. I’m very strong.”

  He held her gaze. Standing right in front of her, the way he’d done earlier in the kitchen, once more he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to drop the bags on the ground, pull her toward him, and show her how he really felt without using a single word.

  With his free hand, he brushed a strand of hair away from her face. She tensed at his nearness and he was reminded once again that she was skittish and unavailable. This would take time, gaining her trust.

  And he was just fine with that. He’d wait as long as he had to.

  “We should go.” He started for the door. “Do you have everything?”

  She nodded and picked up Otis, a confused expression on her face.

  Don’t freak her out, Brooks. “Let’s go.” He purposely kept his tone light, even if the air between them was not.

  They drove separately, but he kept her in his mirrors the entire time. He knew he had so much to deal with when he got back to Harbor Pointe—he only hoped Jerry had kept everyone on task—but Lane was more important than work, so a few extra days of scrambling was fine with him. They had almost a month to finish and a good team in place. They’d be fine.

  At least he hoped they would.

  Hailey had called again last night, asking about their father. How long could he put her off? With everything that had happened with Lane, he hadn’t given his father a second thought, but the clock was ticking for his old man. If he didn’t come forward, Ryan had to make a decision about what to do next. Was he really going to turn him in?

  He shook the thoughts aside. Right now, the only thing he wanted to focus on was getting to Harbor Pointe and taking care of Lane. Everything else would just have to wait.

  It was late afternoon when they pulled into town. Ryan parked in front of the model cottage and Lane pulled in behind him. She turned off the engine and let Otis out to run around the yard.

  “How was the drive?” Ryan opened the trunk and tugged out her suitcase.

  “It was fine.” Lane leaned against the car.

  “Well, you had a good view.”

  She turned her face away from him, once again failing to hide her smile.

  “You can admit you think I’m funny.” He slammed the trunk shut.

  “Ah, but looks aren’t everything.” She shot him a glance, then started for the front door.

  “Good one, Kelley.”

  She tossed a smile over her shoulder and kept walking. That smile—it could light up a night sky. Maybe his sister was right. He had it bad.

  He’d called Hailey that morning and asked her to arrange for a cleaning service to come in and make sure the place was spotless.

  “Do you have an investor coming over or something?” she’d asked. “Why can’t you do this yourself?”

  “I’m still out of town,” he’d told her. “And it’s not an investor. It’s Lane.”

  Hailey went silent, but only for a moment. “Lane’s coming to stay with you?”

  “Not with me. Just in the cottage. I’m going to have to crash with you for a little while.”

  “You’ve got it bad, Ryan.”

  “Can you call the cleaning service or not?”

  She assured him she’d take care of it, and he hung up on her before she could give him any more grief about whatever feelings she thought he had for Lane. He knew he’d have to field a ton of questions about it later, but now, as he unlocked the front door, he only hoped his sister had come through.

  He pushed the door open and was instantly greeted with a fresh, clean-linen smell. Thank goodness. He wasn’t a total slob, but he was a single guy living alone in this place. The last thing he needed was to whisk Lane away with the promise of rest only to be met with a bachelor pad that desperately needed a deep clean.

  “Are you wanting the other cottages to match this one?” she asked. “I mean, your designer did some things really well.”

  “Whoa, slow down.” He set her bags down and closed the door.

  “What?” She sounded confused.

  “We just walked in. Why don’t we get you settled before we jump right into work?”

  She looked genuinely perplexed.

  “We do things differently up here, Lane.” She might have trouble adjusting to their slower pace. “I’m going to take these bags upstairs. Are you hungry? I could make you dinner quick.”

  “I just ate.”

  He paused midstep. “That was breakfast—hours ago.”

  She moved away. “I’m still full.”

  He wasn’t going to argue. He put her luggage in the room at the top of the stairs. Barb had painted it a bright yellow, and though he’d originally been opposed to the idea, it had grown on him. With the thick white woodwork, the color really popped, and there was just something happy about the space now. He hoped Lane liked it.

  He turned and found her standing in the doorway. “Is this me?”

  “It’s not the master. I hope that’s okay. You can move into the master if you want to—I just need to get some stuff out of there.” It wasn’t much. He purposely had very few belongings in this house.

  She frowned, then started down the hall toward the other bedrooms. She pushed open the door to the dusty-blue master where he’d been staying, then faced him. “You’re living here?”

  “I couldn’t afford a separate place while we were renovating, so I just moved in here. But I’m going to stay with Hailey while you’re here. You’ll have the place all to yourself.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not putting you out of your own house.”

  “It’s fine, Lane. I’m hardly ever here anyway. I’ve got so much to do to get these cottages ready.”

  “And you just gave up three straight days to come sit in my apartment.” She crossed her arms. “I’m thankful, Brooks, but you don’t have to take care of me anymore. I�
��m fine.”

  She sure was stubborn. He moved toward her. “What if I like taking care of you? What if there’s nothing else that matters as much to me as that?”

  “Well, that’s silly.”

  “Is it?”

  “I don’t want to be the reason you can’t make your deadline. This project is too important to you,” she said, arms still crossed, feet still planted.

  “It is.” He stood directly in front of her. “But so are you.” He only just now realized how much. Did she feel that too? Whatever it was that was going on between the two of them? Was he imagining it?

  “Ryan, why are you doing all this? You don’t even know me anymore.” She pressed her lips together—full lips he wanted to taste.

  “I’ve always known you, Lane.” He reminded himself that once he crossed this line with her, he couldn’t go back. He’d decided to win her trust slowly, but it would demand all his willpower not to take her face in his hands, press her body close to his, and kiss her.

  “Brooks?”

  “Are you still dating that guy?”

  “What?”

  “You quit your job—does that mean you quit him too?”

  She looked cute when she was perplexed. “If you must know, no, I’m not still dating him. Why?”

  His eyes fell to those lips. “Just curious.”

  “Well, you didn’t answer my question.”

  Before he could, the front door opened and someone came inside. Normal people would worry, but normal people didn’t have Hailey as a sister.

  “Ryan?” she called out. “You here?”

  “Be right down.” He looked at Lane. “Either room is yours. I’ll see you downstairs.”

  He knew Hailey had probably just saved him from making a huge mistake—so why did he come down the stairs thinking she had the worst timing in the world?

  CHAPTER

  28

  BROOKS LEFT THE ROOM just in time. Lane wasn’t sure what was going on between the two of them, but she knew it was dangerous.

  She put a few things away in the dresser and hung up some of her clothes in the closet, then went in search of Ryan and Hailey. She’d gotten settled—and she was restless. They needed to make a plan for designing these cottages.

  She heard them in the kitchen as she came downstairs, but as she approached, they both stopped talking.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, feeling like she’d interrupted something.

  “Hey, Lane.” Hailey left Ryan standing on the other side of the kitchen and pulled Lane into a sisterly hug. “I’m glad you decided to come back. That way you’ll be here when Nate wakes up.”

  She certainly hoped so.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt you guys,” Lane said.

  Hailey waved her off. “I was just leaving. Sounds like you both have a lot of work to do. You’re saving Ryan’s tail—you know that, right?”

  Lane frowned.

  “With the cottages. The whole town is talking about how important this community is going to be.”

  “Hailey.” Ryan sounded like he was warning her about something.

  “What?” She shifted. “It’s true. Tourism is down. You know how it is around here. All the local businesses are hoping that with new places for people to stay, we’ll have more people coming to town this summer.”

  Lane glanced at Ryan. He was leaning against the counter with his arms folded, and if she had to guess, she’d say he wasn’t too happy with his sister.

  “So you’re saving him and in turn, saving the town.” Hailey grinned. “No pressure. See you tonight.”

  Hailey left and suddenly the cottage felt like a huge, empty mausoleum, just her and Brooks and the awkward tension that hung between them.

  “You didn’t tell me how much pressure you’re under to pull this thing off.”

  “Let’s find something to eat.”

  Lane didn’t push it. She watched while he whipped together a huge taco salad and then proceeded to scoop half of it onto her plate and set it in front of her spot at the table on the porch.

  “I can’t eat all that,” she said, laughing.

  “It’s salad. It’s healthy.”

  She shook her head. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Just eat what you want.”

  “You also have no idea what it’s like to be a girl.”

  “Thank goodness for that.” He laughed.

  She liked this casual rapport they had between them. Sometimes nothing about it seemed dangerous. But then she’d catch that look in his eyes.

  “When can we talk about this project?” Lane asked after swallowing her first bite. “This is really good.”

  “I know.” He grinned at her. Smiling came so easily to him. She envied that. “We can talk about it tomorrow.”

  “Shouldn’t we get started today? I mean, you’ve got guests scheduled for less than a month from now, and you heard your sister.”

  “I already talked to my contractor—they’ve got their marching orders. Work is being done, just not by you.”

  Did he know how hard that was for her?

  “It’ll be fine.” He smiled.

  She set her fork down. “It will?”

  “Sure. I have complete faith in us.”

  Us. She wasn’t used to that. She’d worked on a team at JB Sweet for years and rarely felt a sense of camaraderie, only competition. “You aren’t worried at all?”

  He shrugged. “It won’t change anything for me to worry about it. We’ll do what we can do, and it will be enough.”

  The conversation lulled and they ate in silence, the sun starting to look heavy in the sky.

  “Maybe that’s not completely honest,” he said, staring off toward the lake.

  “What’s not?”

  “Saying I’m not worried. The first week the cottages are open, I have some really important people coming to stay here. That’s the thing I fall asleep thinking about.”

  She took a sip of her water and watched him for a long moment. If she wasn’t careful, he might fool her into believing there were genuinely kind and good men out there when she’d spent the last seven years believing the exact opposite.

  “Like, investors?”

  “More important.”

  She considered this. In the past week, she hadn’t often seen a serious side of Brooks, but she was pretty sure that was about to change.

  “I should be dead right now.”

  She frowned. “What?”

  He stared past her as if reliving a painful experience. The somber expression looked like it belonged on someone else. Never on Brooks.

  “We were out on patrol, same as every other day, when we came under enemy fire.”

  Ryan’s smile had gone and taken his playful flirtatiousness with it. She had a feeling she was witnessing something rare, something very few people ever saw.

  “It all happened so fast. I was about to take cover behind a small shed when I felt someone yank me backward. One of my friends—Drum, a guy I’d gone through basic training with—he must’ve seen something I didn’t. He shoved me in the opposite direction just before the explosion. That shove saved my life. But Drum . . .”

  His voice trailed off and Lane realized she’d been holding her breath. She’d been so self-absorbed she’d never even asked what it had been like for him over there. The things he’d seen, the way he’d lived—what kind of toll had that taken on him?

  She’d assumed that he was always happy-go-lucky. But what if his casual charm masked a deeper pain?

  “Brooks,” she whispered.

  “He has a wife and a kid.” He shook his head. “I can’t figure out why he was killed and I’m still here.”

  He turned away from her for several seconds and she could see that his eyes were closed, and she wished she knew how to comfort him. Everything that came to mind seemed so trite in comparison.

  “His family is coming here next month.” Finally he turned back toward her, wearing what m
ust be a forced smile. “So I guess I do want everything to be perfect for them and the rest of the veterans who are coming.”

  “Are there veterans and families of vets in every cottage?”

  He nodded. “I wanted them here as my guests. I thought we could give them a peaceful, relaxing week in Harbor Pointe. Maybe this place could do for them what it’s done for me.”

  How ironic the town she’d sought to escape was a place of refuge for him.

  And he probably wasn’t making a penny off of them. He simply wanted to give these people—his people—a gift.

  She’d never done something that selfless in her entire life. The thought shamed her. Her pain had consumed every aspect of her life, so much so that it prevented her from valuing anyone else.

  “Then that is exactly what they’ll get,” Lane said.

  He leaned back in his chair. “Don’t get all crazy. You need to take it easy, remember?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I shouldn’t have told you about this,” he said. “You’re going to be nuts until everything is finished. Pressure is the last thing you need.”

  “Actually, I think for the first time in my professional career, I feel like I can use my skills for something worthwhile. It’s not just about making some rich guy happy or some business look good. It’s about doing something really wonderful for people who deserve it.” The knot was back at the center of her throat. She didn’t even know she’d felt that way until she said the words.

  “Okay, then we’ll get started tomorrow. First thing.” He stood and picked up the empty plates. She followed him inside with the water glasses.

  After they loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, Brooks turned and looked at her the same way he’d looked at her that morning in her apartment and then later in the hallway upstairs. If it were any other man, she might think he’d developed feelings for her, but this was Ryan Brooks. Her old friend. Her brothers’ friend.

  He was like this with everyone—wasn’t he?

  “I’m going to go,” he said. “I want to run by the hospital and sit with Nate for a while. You’ll be okay here alone tonight?”

  She laughed involuntarily. “I live in the city. I think I can handle Harbor Pointe.”