“Hey, you okayover there?”
Despite his subdued tone, Paxton jumped at the sound of Sawyer’s voice coming from just over her shoulder. She didn’t turn, but continued to stare out the window, watching the breeze blow gently through the arching branches of the oak trees that peppered Heritage Park.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Just…thinking.” She took several steps back, realizing that she was crowding his workspace. “Sorry for being in the way.”
“No,” he said. “You can stay where you are. I’ll be at the conference table for the rest of the afternoon anyway. I just needed these.”
Paxton glanced over her shoulder to see him picking up the master materials list from his desk. A list that was based on maps that were likely unreliable and could lead to tragedy for her small hometown.
She shut her eyes tight and fought back the truth she could no longer deny. Turning to Sawyer, she folded her arms across her chest and ran her hands along them.
The smooth, dark brown skin on his forehead creased as he frowned at her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She shook her head. “Not really. It’s hard to be okay after what we saw today.”
Sawyer set the binder back on his desk and took a couple of steps toward her. The concern in his gaze warmed her from the inside out, or maybe it was just her body’s reaction to the way his powerful, sinewy body moved, both purposeful and graceful.
To say he was handsome seemed woefully inadequate. His compelling brown eyes, generous mouth, and sharp chin belonged in a magazine spread.
“It was a pretty heavy day,” he said.
“Sobering,” Paxton said, then pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and soaked in the calming scene on the other side of the window before looking back at him. “Both Belinda and Shayla tried to describe how bad the flooding had been, but it took seeing it with my own eyes to truly understand.”
“Same here,” Sawyer said. He leaned against the wall. “It’s scary to think of how much worse it could have been.”
Studying his strained expression, Paxton found the same worry that had been eating away at her since they left the animal shelter. “What if that worst-case scenario happens? And what if it isn’t just a tropical storm the next time? This town could be devastated.”
“The possibility is there. If Gauthier is hit by a category three hurricane—hell, even a strong, slow-moving category two—the damage would be significant.”
“Some people in those low-lying areas could lose everything,” Paxton whispered. “The animal shelter…” She trailed off, unable to finish the thought.
She turned fully toward him.
“You’re right about the maps.” It was time she owned up to her mistake. “You tried to tell me, but I’m stubborn. And I don’t like anyone proving me wrong. But I’m also a realist, and it cannot be ignored. Not after what I saw today.”
Sawyer’s eyes shut. He blew out a relieved sigh, his shoulders going limp.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I’m planning to contact my supervisor at Bolt-Myer this afternoon. I’ll tell him your theory, along with the evidence we saw today. It’s going to set us back, both time-wise and with the budget, but we need to get those surveyors here before we move forward. We need to figure out what went wrong with Tropical Storm Lucy, because somethingdefinitelywent wrong.”
“I can be in on the call if you want me to explain it,” he offered.
Paxton held up her hand. “I want to talk to him first. If I need you to explain the mechanics in more detail, I’ll call you in.” She released a breath and looked across the room at her desk. Her cellphone seemed so innocuous, but the call she needed to make could determine the course of her career with Bolt-Myer. She had so much riding on this project, but Gauthier’s safety trumped it all.
“I should call him now,” she said. “The sooner we get the ball rolling, the better. I just… I need a breather.”
Sawyer gestured toward the window with his chin. “It’s a pretty day out there. How about a walk?”
Paxton returned her gaze to the inviting view, her spirits lifting at just the thought. She looked back at him to find him looking at her with expectation.
He’d been such a surprise today. Actually, he’d been a surprise period. From his willingness to set aside petty arguments and work together over this past week and a half to his driving out to Landreaux to support Belinda’s grand opening, to her learning about his huge donation to the animal shelter.
And that he possibly used to visit it back when they were kids just to see her.
Something warm and significant began to swirl in her belly. It had taken a while to accept it, but Paxton was starting to believe that she’d read Sawyer Robertson all wrong.
Shewantedto be wrong about him. Because if he wasn’t the pampered, rich playboy she’d made him out to be in her mind, and was instead the warmhearted, generous man she’d witnessed since they began this project, it could change…everything.
