Bella shakes her head, her eyes full of disappointment as she turns on her heel and stalks toward the front door. She gives me one last look over her shoulder before she pulls the door open and slams it behind her.
I turn to Noah, waiting.
He holds my stare. “You know, it wasn’t too long ago that you found my brother in this exact state.” He looks around the room in disgust. “You should take a page out of your own book.”
And then he turns and follows after my sister.
***
“Good to have you back, boss,” Jace says, slapping me on the back. I dip my head at him in greeting.
Wish I could say the same.
I feel like shit.
I drank one too many beers after my run in with Bella and Noah last night and I’m paying for that shit today.
I definitely shouldn’t be operating a chainsaw.
I grip Jace’s shoulder. “I’m gonna need you to climb for me today.”
His brows dip. “You good?”
“Yeah. Just need to keep both feet on the ground for the day.”
Jace eyes me with suspicion mixed with concern but thankfully has the good sense not to question me. I am his boss after all, so me telling him to do something shouldn’t come as such a surprise.
I pull the rest of the tools from the back of the truck and lay them out on the grass. We have eight redwood trees to dismantle and only two days to do it. And with the way I’m barely functioning right now, a job this size couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Don’t get me wrong, I have every faith in Jace. I have no doubt that he is capable of completing the task, but I’m particular. I prefer to do the bigger, more risky jobs myself because if anything goes wrong then I shoulder the burden.
A familiar car - if you can even call the old rust-bucket that - pulls up to the curb and Jaxon gets out, jogging over to me with a worried expression that has me on alert immediately.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, meeting him halfway.
He glances to the car and then back at me and I follow his gaze, a slew of curses leaving me when I spot the small girl in the back seat.
“I’m sorry, Killian. Her school is on break, and my mom is in no fit state to look after her right now. I didn’t knowwhat else to do. I can’t lose the money,” Jax explains in a rush.
“Shit.”
This poor fucking kid, barely out of his teens and lugging a toddler around with him because his mother is too wasted to look after her herself. He walks around in fucking rags and works his ass off to put food on the table when he should be off at college.
It’s not fucking fair.
“I might be able to sort something out. You good with that?” I ask.
He chews on his lip nervously as he bounces on the spot. I recognise the look in his eyes. He doesn’t trust anyone to take care of his sister. I know that feeling all too well.
I grip his shoulder and level with him. “My friend, Savannah. She has a five-year-old daughter. I can give her a call and see if she’d be willing to help out for the day. Your sister will be safe and looked after.”
He blinks up at me before glancing back toward the car, contemplating. “You promise?”
Fuck, kid. You’re killing me.
“I promise.”
He still doesn’t seem sure, so I pull my phone out and pull up Savannahs contact. “How about this? I will call Savannah now and ask her. If she says yes, we can drive over there together and I’ll introduce you to her.”
