The concierge doctor Henry hired to come out said Mirabelle was okay, but she’s supposed to be taking it easy moving forward. Their house suffered minimal damage, but the beach house was another story.
It flooded from the storm surge and there are holes in the roof and siding from debris. Dad made some calls to contractors, but right now, everyone’s stuck in the same shitty boat. Mom and Kaitlyn have been at the gallery, taking inventory and making sure nothing was damaged when it was put into storage.
Dad looked surprised when I dove right into removing the worst of the fiber cement siding, and I didn’t know how to tell him that I worked in construction for a chunk of time before I left Charlotte. I paid attention and learned enough that I can get it started until someone’s able to come out here to analyze the extent of the damage.
From what I can tell, the fiber cement did its job withstanding the worst of it, but there wasn’t much it could do against the gouges in the siding.
I toss the damaged plank onto the pile I’ve started, and my body aches from using muscles I haven’t in so long.
“Hot damn,” Kaitlyn cat calls, whistling from behind me.
Looking over my shoulder, I can’t help the smile pulling at my cheeks when I see her. “I thought you were at the gallery with my mom?” I take off the heavy-duty gloves I found in the garage, stuffing them into the back pocket of my jeans. My shirt sticks to me, drenched in sweat from the stifling humidity.
“She told me I could be done for the day, so Ithought I’d see what you were up to. Didn’t think I’d find you putting on a show,” Kaitlyn teases, the shorter pieces of hair around her face curling. She pulls me closer by my belt loops, and I don’t hesitate to lean in, pressing a short kiss to her lips because I can.
“Sunshine, that wasn’t a show.” I laugh, letting her brightness wrap around me as the best deterrent for the shadows plaguing my mind.
I’m choosing this.
I chose Kaitlyn because she makes me happy, and she’s choosing me.
“What would you call it then?” she asks, lifting an eyebrow.
“Work,” I say, and Kaitlyn hums, her eyes falling to land on my mouth. “Kait, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to kiss you again.”
“I’d be okay with that,” she says, and I lean down, feeling my blood thrum at the proximity to her. I brush my lips over hers, feeling her breath hitch, then I pull away. It’s difficult, but I’m not going to want to stop this time.
“I think there’s an extra pair of gloves in the garage if you want to help,” I say, trying to seem like I’m not losing my mind over her. Hell, I guess I should have thought to grab some from the boxes at Henry and Mirabelle’s.
I asked him about it after we knew Mira was okay, and his face turned bright red. He was reluctant to admit he got suckered by the little girl down the street selling gloves for her school’s fundraiser. He didn’t realize when he agreed to buy whatever she hadn’t sold to help reach the school’s goal, it meant he would end up with boxes of gloves. It was sweet, but I couldn’t stop laughing at him.
Kait blinks, frowning when she realizes I’m not going to kiss her. “You’re going to keep working?”
“I am.” I step away, chuckling as I push my hair out of myface. I’ve been meaning to ask Mom if she’ll cut it shorter for me.
“Bailey,” she says, her eyebrows knitting together.
“What?” I ask, trying not to laugh. She’s cute. “If you want me to do something, you’re going to have to use your words and ask. I’m not a mind reader,” I tease, and Kaitlyn groans.
“You’re annoying.”
I snort, pulling the gloves back on. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“Will you show me how to do . . . whatever this is?” she asks, motioning toward the siding I’ve been pulling off.
“You want to help?” I ask, because I definitely didn’t expect Kait to give in so easily.
“If you’re not going to take a break, then yeah. I just want to spend time with you, even if it’s doing manual labor. You said the gloves are in the garage?”
I nod, and watch her walk away, trying not to linger on the ripped shorts hugging her curves. Kaitlyn looks over her shoulder as if she can tell I’m staring, sticking out her tongue at me playfully.
Shaking my head, I laugh, moving onto the next section.
It’s still hard for me to come to terms with the fact that after everything, Kaitlyn still wants to be here with me. I like that even after knowing what I’ve told her, she still wants to be around me.
We haven’t been very subtle, and I’ve caught my mom staring at us curiously a couple of times since they’ve been back, but she hasn’t directly asked me anything.
Kaitlyn’s parents get back at the end of the week, and I’m not ready for her to leave the beach house. It’s nice knowing she’s just down the hall.
