“Once is too many times, sweet girl. I wish I’d been there for you.” I couldn’t change the past, but I could make sure he’d never touch her again.
She shook her head. “You’re here now, and that’s all that matters. I’d rather look forward to the future than spend time dwelling on the past.”
“I’ve got something you can look forward to.” I leaned over and nudged my nose into her hair. Everything about her drove me wild. “It’s in my bedroom. Want to come take a look?”
Her arms snaked around my neck as my lips found hers. “With an invitation like that, how could a girl refuse?”
Neither one of us got much sleep that night. After we moved inside, I took Brooklyn to bed and didn’t let her leave until it was time for both of us to get up and get to work. She had that event at the garden center this afternoon, and I needed make major progress on that job at the bank building and beg my boss to put me back on the clock when it wrapped up. Not even knowing my dreams of running my own business had been shot to hell could ruin my good mood. Not now that I had Brooklyn.
I dropped her off at Lily’s and after a heated make out session in my truck, she headed inside. Watching her go, I waited for a sense of panic to set in. Instead of feeling tied down, my heart fucking soared. We belonged together. Every part of me believed that. I couldn’t imagine feeling suffocated by her. She made me want to be better, to do better, to take care of her for the rest of our lives.
Damn, life sure could be fucked up.
My good mood didn’t last very long. As I pulled up outside the jobsite where I’d been working off and on for the past couple of weeks, the boss met me at my truck with a frown on his face and his hands curled into fists.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I got out of the truck wondering what the hell had caused his bad mood.
“You thought you could cut corners with me? Save a few bucks and put my entire business at risk?” A thick vein near his temple pulsed. He was pissed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Glancing over his shoulder, I didn’t see an issue. No telling what had gotten his boxers in a twist. “Can you give me a little more information?”
He stalked into the empty building with me right on his heels. “The scaffolding didn’t hold. Two guys fell three stories this morning. You’re lucky they’re still alive.”
“The scaffolding? I put that together myself.” We reached the inside of the old bank building, and I looked up. Instead of the scaffolding I’d installed the other day reaching all the way up the front wall, pieces of metal and wood covered the floor. “What happened?”
“You tell me.” He thrust his finger into the center of my chest. “Maybe you were in a hurry. Maybe you wanted to kill this job from the start so you could run me out of business. I’m telling you though, you’re through.”
“I checked it myself.” Too stunned to fully process his threats, I crouched down to look at what was left of the scaffolding. One of the bolts had been sheared off like it wasn’t strong enough to take the weight. I picked it up and held it out in my palm. “These aren’t the right bolts for this set up.”
“No shit.” He grabbed a stack of papers from a work bench nearby. “But who signed off on this? That’s your signature on the dotted line.”
“Somebody set me up.” That had to be what happened. “You know me. I try to keep expenses down, but I’d never cut corners when it comes to a safety issue.”
He hung his head, his anger dissipating. “I really want to believe you, but I’m not taking the fall for this. I’ve alreadyfielded half a dozen calls this morning, one of them from a local reporter who wanted to know what the hell happened. Now I’m probably going to lose this job to that big outfit that’s putting in the new grocery store down the street.”
Kyle. I didn’t want to consider that my own brother could have had a hand in this, but that was the only reasonable explanation.
“I’m sorry. Seems like someone’s got it out for me, and I think I know who’s to blame.” I hated seeing the look in his eyes, like I’d totally let him down. “I’ll fix this.”
His jaw clenched tight, but his eyes softened. “I hope you do, Levi. Because if you don’t figure out who’s behind this, you’re going to have to take the fall and that means you’ll never be able to take another job in Mustang Mountain.”
I left him standing there, the sheared bolt in hand. Anger boiled up inside me, looking for a way out. I was sure I’d pissed off my fair share of people in the past, but there was only one man who’d benefit from taking me down. And I was ready to hand him his ass which was exactly what he deserved.
CHAPTER 10
BROOKLYN
It took longerthan the usual amount of time to make the drive to the garden center. Even though we were planning on waiting until we arrived to build the cake Lily had spent all week baking, she didn’t want a bump in the road or a tight curve to damage the precious cargo in the back of the van.
When we finally pulled up in front of the building, I was ready to stretch my legs. It was early in the season, but I couldn’t wait to see what kind of flowers and bulbs they had available. There was a spot right in front of Levi’s cabin that would be the perfect place to plant some daffodils. I used to love watching them poke up out of the lingering snow, because their bright yellow flowers were always an early sign of spring. My mom once told me they symbolized hope and resilience. I’d needed a fair share of both to make it this far, and now everything seemed to be falling into place.
Lily led the way to a greenhouse out back where we’d be setting up for the event, and it took several trips back and forth from the van before we had all the pieces of the cake in place. This was the first big job I’d helped her with, and I couldn’t wait to see how it turned out. After last night with Levi, I’d stopped thinking about Mustang Mountain as a place I wanted to fleeand started to think of it as a place I wanted to stay. It might be too early in our relationship to think like that, but deep down I knew he was the one.
“There.” Lily stepped back and looked over the huge, tiered cake. “Do you see any blank spots that need a flower?”
“It’s gorgeous. You did an incredible job.” I walked around the table, admiring the cake from every angle. She’d spent so many hours creating each individual flower. I hoped the owner of the garden center appreciated her talent.
“Hey, this was a joint effort.” Lily lifted her hand for a high five. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Are you sure you don’t want to stay in Mustang Mountain? I could use you full-time.”
