“Okay. Can we just sit here for a few minutes before I tackle all of that?” She sounds exhausted, and I wish there was more that I could do, but this will have to be enough for now.
“Of course. We can stay here as long as you want.” She snuggles into me more, and I pull the blanket I slept with over us both.
This feels like the calm before the storm, and I’m determined to weather it with her.
An hour later, I’ve gotten Rina settled back in bed, with her laptop and a shit-ton of snacks. My goal is to keep her there through the day so I can get some work done without her knowing or interfering.
Oakley texted me not too long ago and said he did as much clean-up as he could before Willow texted him for the morning rush at Grind Time.Honestly, I’m thankful he showed up at the drop of a hat and that he stuck around for clean-up. It saves me some hours that I’ll need to get everything else set up.
Now, I may not know exactly what Rina needs in her workshop, but I took pictures of the wreckage, so I’m hoping the lumber yard in Rosedale can help me piecemeal everything together.
The guy at the yard was pretty helpful overall. I showed him the pictures, gave him a generalized version of why I needed to replace everything, and he seemed cool with that. He seemed to know Rina well because he asked if she was okay without me telling him it was her workshop. My jealousy reared up instantly before I remembered he probably has delivered to her before.
This whole damn situation has me more on edge than I like, and I’ll own the fact that I looked at him like a suspect for a minute longer than I probably needed to. That’s not to say I won’t be looking into him just to be sure later.
When I got back to Rina’s house, she was sound asleep again in bed. Her exhaustion won over her need to feel useful, and I was grateful for it. The time it gave me allowed me to clear out the rest of the now scrap wood and bring in all the new boards I got. I attempted to organize it all how she had it, but I know I fucked a bunch of things up. She’s going to be pissed as hell at me for taking the initiative. She’ll focus on the money, attempt to pay me back because that’s just who she is.
I’m not taking the bait, though. I’ve saved, been frugal as hell since we got married, and if I’m able to put a smile back on her face, I’d spend it ten times over. I have never seen her more broken, and I want to do everything in my power to ensure it never happens again.
The only thing I can’t do, much to my annoyance, is build any of her pieces.
“Umm…” My head whips around at the small voice.
“Hey. I didn’t know you were up.” I internally cringe, knowing I need to explain what she’s seeing but coming up empty-handed.
“How?”
I look around and try to see it from her eyes. It looks like nothing happened. No broken glass, no shards of wood, and no tools out of place. You’d never know a crime took place here. I even managed to find her a new desk to put in the corner.
“I…” I suddenly don’t know how to explain all of this. Sure, helping with clean-up and getting things set back up is a natural step, but taking it upon myself to do it all before she even stepped foot back in here was probably a little extreme, even for me.
Before I can register her movements, her body slams into mine. Legs tangle around my waist as her arms wrap around my shoulders.
Home. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
“Thank you,” she breathes into my neck.
“I couldn’t rebuild anything, although I did think about it.”
“Shut up. I can only take so much hotness, and it’s wildly attractive you even thought about doing all of this, let alone actually accomplished it.”
I chuckle into her neck as I hold her close to me.
“I’ll try to be less attractive, then. Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” She laughs.
“You’re right, I’m not. I had to do something, and this was the only thing I really could do.” My tone shifts to reflect the seriousness of the situation. We could beat around the bush and act like nothing happenedsince it looks like nothing happened, but we both know that’s not realistic.
I gently place her down on her feet and press a kiss to her cheek.
“Well, I told all my clients it would take me a month to get back on track, and this exponentially speeds up that timeline. Do you want to see if Willow will bring us some food and talk?” she asks as she pulls back from me.
“Sounds perfect.”
Chapter 25
Rina
