A Time for Home: A Snowberry Creek Novel (17 page)

The rumble of a truck derailed that downward-spiraling train of thought. Nick picked up his dishes and Leif’s and dumped them in the sink.

He headed for the front door, leaving his friend to follow at his own pace. Nick wouldn’t have wanted to hold anyone back if he couldn’t move quickly and figured Leif felt the same. If not, he’d let Nick know.

A big flatbed truck was parked out on the driveway. It was the owner of the hardware store himself who stepped down out of the cab. Nick had to hide a smile as he walked down to shake hands. In all the years of working with his dad, Nick had never seen a man who looked less like he belonged in the construction business than this one.

Mr. Reed stood about five foot seven and weighed in at about one-thirty. It wasn’t his size that set him apart, though. Some of the toughest SOBs Nick had served with weren’t big men. A lot of them walked around with a chip on their shoulder the size of a tank, just looking for a chance to prove how tough they were.

No, it was the starched, short-sleeved shirt, bowtie, and sweater vest that had him looking at the man with a “what’s wrong with this picture?” reaction. Add in the half dozen hairs neatly combed over the top of the man’s shiny scalp, and he’d look far more at home in a bookshop or maybe teaching Latin at the local college.

But the minute Mr. Reed had opened his mouth, any doubt about him knowing his way around joists and plumbing parts disappeared. He greeted Nick with a smile. “Good morning. Where would you like me to unload this stuff?”

Nick pointed toward the far end of the house. “As close to the backyard as possible.”

“Sounds good.” He looked past Nick, his smile brightening considerably. “Hey, Callie girl, how are you?”

The woman in question walked right past Nick to give Mr. Reed a big hug. Nick never thought he’d see the day he’d be envious of a man half his size and twice his age, but he was.

“I’m fine, Clarence. How’s that lovely wife of yours doing?”

He grinned and patted his slight potbelly. “Still trying to fatten me up.”

Callie laughed. “Seriously, if I ate Marcy’s pie as often as you do, I’d have to ride on the back of that flatbed because I wouldn’t fit inside the cab.”

The older man flushed with pride. “Let me know when you’ve got a free night, and we’ll have you over for some of that pie. Blueberries are in season, you know. Bring your young man with you.”

Then he glanced toward the porch with a puzzled look on his face. “Both of your young men.”

Nick waited to see what she had to say on that situation. Her happy smile faded into one that was tinged with sadness.

“Nick and Leif are Spence’s friends. They served in Afghanistan with him. I’m sure they would love to sample Marcy’s cooking. They’ve been living on my meager fare for days.”

Clarence straightened his shoulders as he met Nick’s gaze and then Leif’s. “It would be our pleasure to have two of our nation’s heroes join us for a meal. Thank you both for your service to our country.”

Nick appreciated the sentiment but never knew how to respond when people said things like that. Luckily, the corporal spoke up.

“It is our privilege and our honor, sir.”

Leif held on to the railing and slowly eased himself down the steps. “Callie’s cooking is great, and she bakes a mean cookie. However, you had me at the mention of blueberry pie. I’d love to come. We both would.”

Clarence nodded. “I’ll check with my wife and get back to you to set a time and date.”

“Sounds good, sir. I’ll look forward to it.”

While Nick was grateful Leif knew how to turn on the charm, enough was enough. Now that the social crap was out of the way, he was ready to get down to business.

“Can we start getting this stuff unloaded?” He belatedly added a smile to soften the edges of his question.

Clarence walked past him. “Good idea. I’m sure you’re wanting to get started on your project. Let’s find the best place to offload the lumber. Callie, want to show me where the gazebo is going to be built?”

She walked around back with him, with Mooch providing escort as usual. Clarence bent down to pick up a stick and threw it. The goofy dog took off after it and pranced back to his new friend with his prize.

The trio returned a few seconds later. Clarence studied the yard. “If you’re sure it won’t tear up the lawn too much, I’ll drive around back.”

“That will be fine, Clarence, and it will make it easier for Nick if his materials are close at hand. There’s other work that needs to be done on the place, so I’m sure there’ll be other contractors driving in and out for a while. Fixing the yard up is pretty low on my list right now.”

“Sounds good. Guess I’ll get right to it.”

The truck rumbled to life as the police chief pulled into the driveway. He pulled off onto the grass, probably to give Clarence enough room to maneuver.

When he joined Nick and the others, Gage asked, “Is that Clarence driving the truck by himself? Usually he has a couple of the high school football players with him to do the heavy work.”

Well, crap. Nick had been wondering about that himself. “I had expected him to have one of those little forklifts with him.”

Gage fell into step with Nick. “Doubt he can afford one right now. With the housing market tanking around here, it’s hit his business hard. I’ll give you a hand pulling stuff off the truck after I take a quick look around. Doubt I’ll learn anything new about your intruder, but I wouldn’t want to miss anything.”

“Sounds good.”

So did having something physical to do that would help Nick work out the kinks in his muscles and his attitude. He hadn’t missed the way Callie was tracking his every move as if she were waiting to pounce the second she thought he wouldn’t bite.

That was going to be a fun discussion. Rather than worry about it now, he started unfastening the ties that held the lumber in place.

C
allie made a thermos of lemonade and a big stack of sandwiches and waited for the crew outside to take a break. Gage, Leif, and Nick had been working in the yard all morning doing all kinds of manly things, the kind they evidently didn’t want a woman’s help with, or at least not hers. Ordinarily, she would have put on her work gloves and ignored their protests.

The only reason she hadn’t was because of Leif. He was doing his best to keep up with the other two, but it was a struggle for him. When she’d tried to help him lift down some two-by-fours, he clearly hadn’t appreciated her efforts. Nick had caught her attention and shook his head. Okay, fine. She could take a hint.

Evidently it was supposed to be Gage’s day off, and he had pitched in to help after the two of them had walked through Spence’s house together. He’d given her the okay to clean up the rest of the broken glass. Clarence had measured the broken window before he’d left and promised to call Nick when he had the glass cut. Evidently, there wasn’t any kind of house repair that Nick couldn’t handle.

She supposed she should be grateful. Well, she was, but it would be way too easy to get used to having him around to take care of things like that. As she swept up the last of the shards of glass and tossed them in the trash, she hoped her heart didn’t end up shattered just like the window. It wasn’t as if she could order a new one from the hardware store, and patching it back together wouldn’t be any fun at all.

She wiped down the counters next and set the table. It didn’t look as if the guys were going to quit anytime soon, so she straightened a few things and then moved on to the den. Leif had already made the bed, square corners and all. It made her feel guilty about the mess she’d left in her own room.

Meanwhile, she’d give the den a quick dusting since she hadn’t had a chance to do more than throw the sheets on the bed last night. As she swiped the cloth across the end table next to the sofa bed, it snagged on a sticky spot. Maybe Leif had spilled something. When she went to wash it off, the wet paper towel turned red.

Bloodred.

On closer look, she could see where the liquid had soaked into the wood. It was Leif’s blood, had to be. Poor guy, he was lucky that he wasn’t hurt worse than he had been. She’d like to get her hands on the jerk who’d dare attack an injured man or, better yet, let Nick have at him.

Unfortunately, from what Gage had told her, it was unlikely they’d find enough evidence to pin the break-in on anyone. From the questions he’d asked, she had to guess that Spence’s uncle and cousin were high on his list of suspects. But with no proof, there wasn’t much he could do.

The back door opened. The rapid footsteps meant it wasn’t Leif, which left either the police chief or Nick. The latter had been avoiding being alone with her all morning. Maybe this would be her one chance to corner him for a little talk.

The kitchen was empty, so he must have ducked into the bathroom off the utility room. No way she wanted to talk to Nick badly enough to confront him in there. Instead, she checked the backyard to make sure it was him. The last thing she wanted to do was get caught lying in wait for the wrong man.

Sure enough, Gage and Leif were busy measuring some lumber. The men had set up a power saw on a table to cut the wood. Earlier, Nick had dragged a tall stool outside for Leif to sit on, giving his friend a way to be useful without putting undue stress on his injured ankle.

That was thoughtful of him, especially when it was obvious that Leif refused to cut himself any slack. He had to be hurting since he hadn’t taken his usual pills this morning. She hated to see him in pain, but at least he was smart enough to know that power tools and strong drugs don’t work well together.

The bathroom door opened. She drew a slow breath before turning to face Nick. Her heart immediately jumped in her chest. He’d stripped off his shirt while working outside, leaving his chest bare. The faint dusting of hair on his chest narrowed down to disappear underneath the waistband of his low-slung jeans. She’d thought him sexy before, but after last night she knew exactly how all that warm, tan skin felt.

She hungered.

Rather than give in to the urge to step toward him and unwilling to retreat, she dug her nails into the palms of her hands, planted her feet, and stood her ground. Nick froze in the doorway, neither in the utility room nor in the kitchen, watching her with a wary look in his dark eyes. Why? What did he think she was going to do to him with his two good buddies within shouting distance?

Pointing out the door, she said, “Now isn’t the time to have that little talk I warned you about, so you can relax, Nick. Go tell your buddies that lunch is ready. You’ve been at it all morning, and I’m betting at least Leif needs a break.”

Then she stepped back to give him room enough to pass. At the last second, she blocked his way long enough to kiss him on the cheek. “And nice job setting him up with the stool, big guy.”

•   •   •

Hours later, Nick was more than ready for the day to be over. It had been productive, and they’d made good progress on the gazebo. They’d gotten the footings in place and framed in the floor. At the rate they were going, it would be finished and ready to paint in two more days, three tops. Then he’d be packing up and driving back to Ohio.

Unless he found another excuse to stay longer, which might be the stupidest thing he’d ever done. The more time he spent around Callie, the harder it was going to be to walk away and not look back. Or worse yet, come crawling back.

Stepping into the shower, he cranked the dial all the way to freezing. When the blast of frigid water failed to cool his temper or his raging erection, he gave up and adjusted the water to a more tolerable temperature.

He wouldn’t need to resort to such extremes if that damn woman would stay out of sight and out of his head. But all day long, there she’d been. Bringing out cold drinks and snacks. Digging up an old boom box and cranking up some classic rock for them to listen to while they hammered away.

She’d even coaxed Leif into taking a nap, pointing out that he’d cut enough lumber to keep Nick and Gage busy for a couple of hours. Rather than nag at the man about taking it easy, she’d made it sound as if he was doing everybody else a favor by giving them a chance to get caught up. She’d said flat out that Leif was making Nick look bad because he couldn’t keep up with him.

He smiled up into the stinging spray. Granted she hadn’t fooled any of them with that line of bull, least of all Leif, but he’d let her persuade him to go along with it. Pride was important, especially when that was all a man had left. The corporal had planned on making the army his career, and right now all of that was up in the air. Everything depended on how well his ankle mended. With all the screws and plates that had gone into patching it up, they all knew it added up to one big question mark.

Time to get moving. Nick was running out of both hot water and excuses. If he didn’t seek out Callie for that talk she was hell-bent on having, she’d come looking for him. Considering he expected her to rip him a new one, he’d prefer some privacy.

What was she so upset about? She was the one who said she wanted to wish away everything that had happened yesterday. How was he supposed to know she hadn’t meant to include what had happened between the two of them?

He had mixed feelings about it himself. Satisfaction was a big part of it. Even allowing for how long it had been since he’d last taken a woman to bed, coming together with Callie had been amazing. Not that her parents’ lawn was technically a bed. Pride definitely added its own spice. He’d bet his last dollar she wasn’t the kind of woman usually given to rolling around naked in the grass with a man she’d known only a few days.

But the overtones of guilt colored everything else. She’d belonged in Spence’s life, not Nick’s. He could write it all off to two people finding solace over their mutual loss, but that would be a lie, at least on his part. He’d taken Callie because he’d wanted her. Plain and simple.

The worst part of his guilt came from the knowledge that he’d do so again in a heartbeat. Some friend he was.

He put on a clean pair of jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. It looked like hell from being crammed in his duffel, but it was the best he could do. Bracing himself for Leif’s disapproval, he headed downstairs.

It came as no surprise that his friend was waiting for him in the living room. He stared at Nick long and hard before speaking.

“For the last time, Nick, what’s going on between you and Callie? And don’t feed me any more crap about building the gazebo in Spence’s memory. Lie to yourself all you want, but don’t bullshit me.”

Nick toyed with marching right on out the door without answering, but Leif was here because Nick had asked him to come. He’d known he needed a buffer between him and Callie; that didn’t mean he could look his friend in the eye and confess all his sins. Maybe the best course was a little honesty—or as close as he could come without blurting it all out. The truth about what had happened last night was between him and Callie. Period.

Staring out into the yard, he said, “Out there is Spence’s hometown, and this is Spence’s house. Everything you see belongs to him.”

Before he could continue, Leif said, “Including Callie.”

He was stating a fact, not asking a question. What could Nick do but nod? It was a truth that stabbed Nick right in the gut. He forced himself to agree. “Yes, Leif, including Callie.”

“So why the gazebo?”

Did he really have to lay it all out for him? “Because maybe I’m a selfish bastard. When I drive out of Snowberry Creek for good, I want to leave something of myself behind, too. Something permanent.”

Because right now he was rootless. No home, not even a rented apartment, just a few boxes stuck in a storage unit someplace. The room started closing in on him as the guilt and shame in his chest expanded until there was no room to breathe. He had to get outside. Immediately, before he lost it completely.

He made it to the door without letting the panic show. Outside in the yard, Mooch caught up with him, whining softly in concern. Nick knelt down to wrap his arms around his four-legged therapist. Soft fur and a warm body went a long way toward dragging him back from the edge.

“Nick?”

Okay, so he hadn’t disguised his pain as well as he’d thought. As the iron band of panic around his chest gradually eased, he stood up.

“Sarge, are you okay?”

Hell no, but he was as okay as he was going to be for now. He forced himself to look back toward his friend.

“I’ll be fine, Leif. We both will.”

Then he walked away, desperately hoping that he was right about that.

•   •   •

The last thing he wanted to do was show up at Callie’s house all fucked-up in the head again. That meant he had to get through the woods without jumping at shadows and imagined threats. Last night his gun had made her skittish, so he’d settled for carrying his combat knife this time.

Gripping it hard enough to make his knuckles ache, he walked with measured treads, neither rushing nor dragging his feet. Mooch was cool, calm, and collected, which helped Nick’s own mood stay level. Before stepping out into Callie’s backyard, he paused long enough to stick his knife on the back side of a Douglas fir. There was no reason to freak her out by showing up on her back porch toting an eight-inch blade. He’d retrieve it later on his way back to Spence’s.

He headed across the yard and up the steps to the back door. Would she invite him in or keep him outside? He didn’t much care as long as she was still talking to him. His biggest fear was that she’d remain on the wrong side of the door, leaving him alone on the porch.

He’d hate that but wouldn’t blame her if she did. Not much, anyway. He rapped on the doorframe and waited to see which way the wind was blowing.

At least she didn’t keep him waiting for long. Callie opened the inside door but didn’t immediately open the screen door, as she studied him for several seconds.

“Do you want to come in?”

All things considered, maybe it would be better if he didn’t. “It’s a nice night. Want to go for a walk instead? I’ll even spring for some ice cream if you’re interested.”

Her smile was slightly happier. “When it comes to ice cream, I’m always interested. Let me put on better shoes and lock up.”

While he waited, he called Mooch to his side. “Listen, dog. You make a great wingman, but not this time. You head back to the house and watch over Leif for me.”

The dog plunked his backside down on the porch and stared up at Nick, his head tilted to the side as if thinking it over. “Go on and go, Mooch. Leif needs you, too, and I’m all right for now.”

Still not moving. Nick squatted down to meet the dog’s gaze head-on. “Listen, soldier, that was an order. Go keep an eye on things for me while I’m away from my post. I want to iron out some things with Callie, and I have to know that things are under control while I’m gone. Stay, Mooch.”

Finally, the dog yipped softly and took off running back toward the other house. That didn’t mean he’d stay there, but it was a start. If he showed back up again, Nick would carry him back to Spence’s house and lock him inside, if that was what it took to have some time alone with Callie.