Jean-Paul laughed.
“So it will be a truly international venture right from the start. Wonderful. You have done great things for all our forces with the château and now this project. I can’t wait to start on the next one.” Jean-Paul rolled up the drawings and tucked them under his arm as David turned and motioned for Amy to precede him out of the front doors.
Paul lifted his head from where he was stacking the huge lumps of wood.
“All sorted?” He asked as he brushed the dirt from his hands down the front of his trousers. He walked towards the sound of their voices but David suddenly made a strange, sharp hissing noise in the back of his throat and Paul came to an immediate stop.
David bent and picked up a log that had rolled from the woodpile and placed it out of Paul’s path. He then spoke as if nothing had happened to interrupt their conversation.
“Yes, I think so. The notaire was going to have the ownership papers signed today so Jean-Paul just has to file for the relevant permits and then we can start. You and Joe can take an in-depth look later tonight after we have the Americans settled. I’m going to take the plans to the printers and ask them to use a heat press so you should be able to see the drawings. There’s nothing that can’t be altered so long as we let the builders know before we begin so we still have a couple of weeks to make any changes.”
Paul nodded as he walked along the path to the front of the château with the others.
“Great. I’ll take a good long look with Joe later, but first I want to read up on the guys you’re getting to help with this. I’m looking forward to meeting them.”
David opened the car door and let Amy inside first. He closed it behind her before he responded to him.
“Yes, so am I and I think someone else will be happy about them arriving too.”
Paul lifted his head sharply and glared towards David.
“What? Why on earth would Amy be happy to see them? It’s not even as if she’s going to be here long.” He reached down and yanked open the rear door of the car.
David laughed aloud as he saw Paul’s furious expression and then he whispered in Paul’s ear.
“Idiot. I wasn’t talking about Amy. I was thinking that Robbie would enjoy the company. He seems to have had enough of all the women in his life already. I think he’s up for some male bonding. But maybe you should think about Amy meeting those four guys. She is a beautiful, fun and intelligent woman. You might want to keep the guys very busy while they are here.”
Paul frowned deeply.
“I don’t know what you are talking about Dave.” He sat down heavily in the back seat of the car and brooded as Amy’s beautiful scent wafted over him again. He fisted his hands in his lap as he fought the visions of her in his mind, laughing and talking to four super hero type Marines. He heard the driver’s side door open and then close again and he could feel David’s eyes boring into him as he looked in the rear view mirror. If he could have rolled his eyes he would have, as it was he let out a deep, frustrated breath. “Are we going anytime soon? I have rather a lot to do before the men arrive and sitting around here isn’t getting anything done.”
David grinned into the rear view mirror. He knew exactly what he was doing to his friend and he let out a stifled but delighted laugh.
Chapter Eight
“So it’s Fox, Anders, Ransom and Dee?” Paul touched a hand to each man’s shoulder, gauging his height and memorizing the sound of their voices as each answered in turn.
There was some gruff laughter.
“Yeah, Dee had to leave Dumb behind as he wasn’t injured badly enough.” Fox laughed out loud. “Do you need to know what’s wrong with us all or have you er…er read our files?”
Paul shook his head.
“Doesn’t sound as though there’s much wrong with any of you to me. And just so you know, I have an audio kit on the computer. It read your files aloud for me. I particularly like the notes from your CO. Let’s see if I have remembered correctly. Mick Fox, ‘joker of the pack.’ Yes, very funny. Your CO needs to get a job in stand up. John Anders, ‘stubborn asshole.’ Peter Ransom ‘determined fucker who doesn’t know when to give up.’ and Caleb Dee, late partner of Travis Dumbleton who is apparently missing him badly.” There were shouts of laughter from the four Marines.
Fox spoke up first.
“Yeah, he got that about right. Well, we are at your disposal Sir, as much as we can be. What do you need us to do?”
Paul frowned.
“Hang on a moment. I thought you were here for some rehab as well as bit of work, though like I said, you don’t sound as though you have much of a problem with anything. Has there been a change of plan that I don’t know about?” He turned as he heard heavy footsteps behind him. “Joe? What’s going on?”
Joe came forwards and shook hands with the men in turn.
“Sorry guys, I didn’t get a chance to tell him yesterday. It’s all happened a little more quickly than expected. Paul, the original plan was to have some men that needed to feel as though they could still be useful but were already okay with what had happened but Patrick decided to change a few things. The place isn’t safe enough for anyone who could still be affected by anything that happens on a building site. Patrick pulled a few strings and the U.S. Marine Corps let us have these guys instead. They might have a few body parts missing but otherwise they are sound and they can give us a few insights too as they were more recently injured than us. I think we tend to forget what it was like in the beginning.”
Paul looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned back to the men.
“I can see his point. Right, well, we’ll get you settled in here for this afternoon and tonight and then we can all start work later in the week at the new place. I can show you around here. Feel free to use the facilities. The swimming pool and sauna room area won’t have a permanent lifeguard as we don’t have other guests this week but we do have close circuit television that is connected to the office. Only swim in pairs please. That’s just about the only rule. Tomorrow we can begin the hard work. The rehab château needs a shed load of restoration before we can take in people with real problems. I know you guys have had it hard but if we work together we can get this done within weeks and pay host to those that need the full facilities quickly.” There were some general mutters of agreement.
Joe carried on.
“There are three main tasks for us to undertake. A huge clear up operation for which David has already ordered skips and then we’re all going to be working with our builder Jean-Paul and his team. We need to get several studwork walls down and some new ones put in. We also need a hole for the hydro pool dug out and as we can’t get a digger into the basement area until we landscape the lawn, that’s probably going to be your biggest task. It’s going to be the most back breaking task too so that swimming pool and sauna that Paul was talking about earlier will probably become your favourite place over the next two or three weeks,” there were some murmurs of agreement before Mick spoke up.
“So, we’re all okay on the work front. Peter is the only one likely to have a problem with digging. One arm can be a pain in the backside. The prosthetic isn’t as good as it could be as his arm was taken right up at his shoulder so the movement is minimal.”
Paul stepped in.
“Do you have enough grip to use a fully loaded wheelbarrow?” He waited in the short silence before Peter remembered that he couldn’t see him nod the affirmative and spoke up instead.
“It’s a bit slow but fine to grip and lift. It’s not good with heavy manual labour. I just don’t have the ability to use much force in my shoulder.” He flexed the metal fingers on his hand.
Paul replied quickly.
“I don’t think we’ll have too much of a problem. There’s always something you can do even if it’s just making the rest of us cups of tea to keep us going. Is there anything else I need to know right now? Any minor problems we can get over while we are on the job as you probably won’t know wh
at you can and can’t do until you try it.”
There was another short silence and then Mick spoke up again.
“Do you mind me asking if you need looking after while we are working? I mean, we don’t want you falling into a flipping great pit that we have just dug. Do you need one of us to look out for you?”
Joe let out a huge laugh.
“I’d like to see you try.”
Paul smiled warmly.
“No Mick, I get about just fine,” he paused as the Marine took a quick intake of breath at being recognized immediately by the sound of his voice. “There’s actually not a thing wrong with me apart from my eyes. I know this place and the new château like the back of my hand already. I only need a few pointers when I am somewhere completely new, like you telling me that you just dug a dirty great hole in the floor, and I’ll be fine… Right, so I think that’s all you need to know for now. You can meet up with everyone else here at the château as you explore or at dinner tonight. We’re really pleased that you’re going to be involved with this project.” Paul turned to Joe. “I’ll show the team to their rooms and we can let them take it from there. Are we all in the dining room tonight?”
“Yes. The kitchen will be far too small with these guys here too. Ellen is setting the dining room up now. I think Patrick’s doing a hog roast.”
Paul agreed.
“Yes, I gathered that from the delicious smell wafting all over the place. I can almost taste the crackling already. I think he’s trying to work up an appetite for us all so I hope all you guys are hungry.”
Caleb spoke up.
“We’re Marines, Sir. There’s absolutely no chance that we won’t be eating. The smell of that meat roasting is just about making my stomach devour itself. What time do you want us all at table?”
Paul grinned at the man’s enthusiasm.
“Seven is the usual time, and don’t be late as Joe here always sinks a fair portion. You would hate to miss out on Patrick’s cooking.” He stopped as he suddenly heard a lighter, slightly hesitant footstep behind him and then he noticed a familiar waft of what was fast becoming his favourite scent. He also noticed the sudden interest from the men in front of him. He bit back the growl of anger that suddenly rolled unbidden into his throat and damped down any feelings on jealousy as he beckoned Amy forwards. “Amy, come and meet the new recruits.”
Amy walked into the gap between Joe and Paul and looked up at the huge Marines. She held out a slim hand and the men all crowded in with enthusiastic greetings.
“Hello. Well, I can see we are going to get this project off the ground pretty quickly with you lot here,” there was a smile in her tone and Paul tilted his chin down at her.
“I can hear that you are impressed by the workforce.” There was no smile in his tone at all and Amy faltered for a moment as she glanced up quizzically at Paul’s glowering expression. Then she smiled widely again.
“Of course. No one could fail to be impressed by these men. You’ll be taking in clients sooner than you think Paul.”
Paul hesitated over her cheerful tone of voice for a second and then spoke to the Marines again.
“Amy is here temporarily in a… a minor consultancy position for three more weeks. She’s a visiting nurse seeing that we have the right facilities in place.” His brief explanation of her sudden new role as a consultant sounded false and shallow and while she understood that Paul didn’t want the men to think she was anything to do with him or the château project, she was still hurt by his offhand tone.
Her smile dipped slightly but she brightened again when John spoke up.
“Well, you can visit me any time you like Miss Amy. You must be the prettiest nurse I ever saw and believe me after losing my leg, I’ve seen a few. I’m sure that having you tend a guy every day would soon set him back up on his feet... figuratively speaking of course. It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am,” his accent deepened as his obvious admiration overflowed and Amy felt her cheeks turn a fiery red.
She gave a small laugh to hide her embarrassment.
“I think you overstate the truth but it’s very kind of you to say so. Now, is Paul showing you to your rooms? I was going up anyway so...” She looked up at him expectantly but his expression had changed yet again. His face was a blank mask and his tone was dull when he eventually spoke.
“No, you seem to have the situation under control Amy. Why don’t you take them up as you don’t seem to have anything more important to do? I need to go over the plans with Joe again anyway so we can make an early start in the morning. See you all back in the dining room at seven.” He gave the men a quick nod and with that he spun away from the small group and walked stiffly from the hall. Joe frowned deeply and then quickly followed him.
Amy stood stunned as she stared at Paul’s back for a few seconds before she collected herself and smiled up at the huge Americans again.
“Well, as you all seem to have your keys, if you follow me I will show you to your rooms. You’ll be on the same floor as Paul and myself.”
John immediately glanced down at her.
“Are you in a relationship with that guy then? No wonder he looked so darned annoyed at my remarks. You’ll have to forgive me ma’am, I didn’t realize. He should have made it plain.” He frowned deeply at the door that swung closed behind Paul’s retreating back.
Amy shook her head as she led them to the stairs.
“No, don’t worry John. Our rooms are next to each other but we are not together. He’s just a stubborn devil sometimes. He detests people trying to help him when he doesn’t need it. I expect he thought I had come to take over and he just let me rather than make a fuss.”
Mick grunted.
“Well it was obvious that you hadn’t to us but I know what he means though. It’s a pain in the ass having everyone jump as soon as you move. For some reason they always think that I am going to fall over. They forget that these legs are strapped on. Now that I am used to them it’s actually not that easy to end ass up.”
Caleb nodded in agreement.
“I thought he seemed touchy when you asked him about making sure he was okay about the project. We’ll just have to make sure we don’t tread on the big guy’s toes then. Our mission is going to be over soon enough anyway. We’ll be going back to the States pretty soon.”
Amy looked up at the young man striding confidently at her side. He hitched his duffle bag up onto his wide shoulder as he marched along.
“Mission? I thought you were here to help at the château.” She came to the first door along the corridor and stopped outside of it.
Peter looked down at the key in his hand and moved forwards.
“Figure of speech ma’am. We’re just here to help out. The Marine Corps still has our hides even if we aren’t exactly fit for active duty in the field. They tell us where to go and what to do and we’ll get on and do it for just as long as we are able.” He turned the key in the lock, shoved the door open and walked in but he stopped dead just inside the door and for a moment there was a stunned silence before the man quickly backed out again. “You must have us on the wrong floor ma’am. That there room is kitted out for a king not a Marine.”
Amy smiled up at him and motioned him forwards again as she brushed past him and walked into the room.
“Lovely isn’t it, but it is your room for the duration of your stay. There are plenty of other rooms for any guests so don’t worry… and please don’t call me ma’am. We’re not very formal here at all. Amy is fine.”
Peter stared around at the opulent room as the others peered over his shoulder.
Mick let out a low whistle.
“Sheesh! I never saw a bed like that before in real life. Do we all get one of those with the drapes?”
Amy laughed up at the broad shouldered man standing behind her.
“Yes, I’m afraid that you do. It’s nothing if not luxurious here. Ellen wanted the injured men and women to have the holiday of a lifetime and to be honest, apart fr
om the slightly unpredictable Brittany weather, I think they actually get it. Everything in the hotel is just as fabulous.”
Peter walked slowly into his room and stared around in awe as he placed his duffle bag on the ottoman at the end of the bed. He lifted it again almost immediately and put it on the floor before checking that his rough bag hadn’t damaged any of the silk covering the ottoman. He turned and opened the door to the bathroom. His mouth dropped open at the sight of the natural stone walk in shower and sunken bath with massage jets.
“How long did you reckon this job is going to take boss?” He asked over his shoulder. “’Cos I’m not sure we’ll get it finished in the two weeks you suggested… might be nearer four or even six,” he spluttered out when he finally managed to speak.
Mick snorted with laughter.
“Yeah, I can see the CO falling for that one, Pete. Just make sure no one puts up any pictures on any social media sites or he’ll be coming over himself.”
Caleb shoved Mick out of the way for a better view of the room.
“The whole of my apartment back home isn’t as big as this bedroom. Gosh Amy, I’m not sure I want to stay here. What if I ruin something? I would feel real bad. Isn’t there anything a little more, well a little more rustic available?”
Amy turned to the men.
“There’s nothing that you could ruin Caleb. There are guests here all the time. Everything is of the highest quality but that actually means that it can stand a lot more wear and tear than any average hotel. Don’t worry about a thing. The whole place is fitted out just as fabulously in every room and Ellen wouldn’t have it any other way. All the beds are motion sensitive and there are help buttons around the rooms so don’t hesitate to call if you need any assistance,” she lifted the edge of the valance on the bed to show the controls and then indicated to the three discreet red call buttons, beside the bed, next to the bath and adjacent to the door. “I would just say to leave any muddy boots in the scullery but apart from that Ellen would want you to use the place as if it were your own home.”
Scarred Horizon (Scarred Series Book 4) Page 9
