Wyatt's Stand (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 2) (7 page)

His first impulse was to ignore it, but he couldn’t. It hit too close to home, made him wonder if someone was referring to his past. And he didn’t have the first clue who would send him anything like that.
Who the hell is this?
he fired back.

A reply came in a few seconds later.
By the time you find out, it will be too late
.

Fuck this.

He blocked the number and put the phone away, oddly shaken by the blatant threat and telling himself he’d look into this more later. When he looked back up, Austen was watching him with those startling silver eyes.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll get back to them later.” The words were already burned into his brain. If he found out who it was, he’d make them sorry they’d ever decided to mess with him. “Keep going.”

“Like I was saying, I’d like to have the master bathroom attached, and add another full bath down the hall, which will mean losing one of the guest rooms.”

Wyatt followed her down the narrow hall they’d have to widen, making note of the things she listed. It was hard not to stare at the shapely curve of her ass and her long legs, but he made sure she couldn’t see him doing it and it helped distract him from those texts, at least for the moment. From what he could tell she didn’t plan to change the overall structure except to take down a few partition walls to open up a couple of the rooms.

“Everything’s going to need to be gutted and taken right down to the studs,” she said as they stepped out of the upstairs bathroom. “The electrical and plumbing are ancient, and even though I’ve had everything inspected, we’ll need to check the structure for stability as we go.”

Nodding, he jotted down more notes on his pad. “What’s your budget like?” Because all this was going to be expensive, and budgets tended to balloon with something this big.

At that she tensed, and the inner glow he’d noticed in her seemed to dim a bit. “It’s tight. I can afford the materials, but I might not be able to cover all the labor. Whatever I can’t pay to have done, I’ll have to finish myself. That’s another reason I called you. I heard you have a good reputation in terms of being fair, and not ripping people off. I’m hoping me owning the house won’t affect your quote.”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that. I’m honest.”

Her lips curved into a slight smile. “That’s pretty rare, in my experience.” She scratched Grits’s chest with her free hand. “So, what do you think? I know it’s a lot to take on. Will you consider it and give me a quote?”

He wasn’t going to walk away now that he understood what she wanted to do with the place. He could still put his stamp on the house, metaphorically rebuild some of what he’d destroyed. It was better than nothing and would have to be enough. “I’ll take this home and work on it today. As soon as I have an estimate I’ll call you, and I’ll be sure to work with your budget as much as I can.”

“Great.” Relief flooded her face.

“And you should also know, I hire veterans pretty much exclusively.”

“Sure, that’s fine. I heard you were in the Marine Corps.”

“Thirteen years.” He’d intended to be a lifer like his dad…right up until the day he’d been wounded.

Wyatt waited, expecting her to ask about his scars now, but she didn’t. That surprised him, but then maybe someone in town had already told her what had happened to him.

“My guys are all either wounded or disabled to some degree,” he added. Some people weren’t comfortable with that, and that was their prerogative, but if she was one of them, he wouldn’t take the job.

“As long as you can vouch for them and their work, that’s fine by me.” No hesitation, no hint of concern about having potentially traumatized military-trained men showing in her expression, the way a lot of other people did. She was making it damn hard for him not to want this job.

He had no further questions and had hours of work ahead of him to put together the quote. “Great. So, can I have my dog back now?” Well, his dog for now, anyway.

Chuckling, she hugged Grits to her, kissed the top of his soft little head. “I dunno, he’s so adorable, I just might steal him from you.”

Maybe once this job was done, if he thought it would be a good fit, Wyatt might consider letting Austen adopt Grits. Right now, the dog was his to look after. Wyatt took him when she handed him over, got some sloppy kisses on the chin by way of greeting. “He’s a licker.” Nothing he’d said or done so far had broken the dog of the habit.

“Yes, I see that,” she said on a laugh, and followed him out to the front porch. “Thanks for coming out on such short notice. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you, but I appreciate you taking the time to hear me out and consider the job.”

Her words seemed genuine, and he appreciated the way she’d acknowledged his predicament without making a big deal of it. “You’re welcome. I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Okay. Bye, Grits,” she called out as Wyatt reached the gravel of the driveway.

Once in the cab of his truck, his cell buzzed with another text. Steeling himself, he pulled it out and read the message.

You can’t get rid of me by blocking a number. You can’t escape. I’m coming for you.

A twinge of unease hit him. Whoever this asshole was, he was persistent. Wyatt would call his sister, Charlie, to see if she or any of her tech buddies could find out who the caller was.

Though he doubted anyone would be dumb enough to threaten him and not take precautions to cover their tracks. As a former Marine, with one brother the team leader of one of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team sniper units, and another on the DEA FAST team, a potential stalker would be nuts to target him.

Then again, whoever was behind this likely wasn’t playing with a full deck to begin with. Keeping that thought firmly in mind, he put his phone away and started his truck.

As he drove away from the house with Grits perched beside him on the front passenger seat, he glanced up into the rearview mirror. Austen stood on the porch, watching him. If he was honest, she looked good there. The place suited her. And he was glad she cared about the property so much.

He pushed out a long breath and considered his next move. The house and the Miller family meant enough for him to take on this project. That way he could ensure he did everything possible to restore the house and preserve at least some part of the family’s memory.

Of course, the prospect of getting to see its intriguing, sexy owner on a daily basis wasn’t too much of a hardship, either.

Grinning to himself, he reached over and rubbed the top of Grits’s head. “Things might be looking up after all, buddy.” Those creepy-ass texts aside, his second meeting with Austen had gone way better than the first.

He was already looking forward to seeing her again next time.

Austen hefted another armful of debris into the Dumpster next to the front porch and paused to wipe the back of her wrist across her sweaty face. Her T-shirt was stuck to her back and chest, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead and it wasn’t even noon yet.

The humidity here was surprisingly bad for May. She had no AC in the house yet, since they were still in the process of stripping out all the old electrical system, so the only ventilation was provided by the open windows and doors.

In short, this was gonna be a hell of a long day for all of them. But hey, at least she had help. Wyatt had called with a quote four days ago. She’d looked the numbers over, decided they were fair, and accepted. He and his crew had started the next day.

She trudged back up the steps on the front porch, past one of the guys who was prepping the exterior for paint, scraping off the old layers and giving everything a good sanding. Inside, two guys from Wyatt’s crew were helping her gut what was left of the kitchen.

Scott and Eddie were both combat-wounded vets, but their injuries weren’t visible like Wyatt’s and the others’ were. Everyone had been polite and respectful so far but the intent way Eddie watched her sometimes gave her the creeps.

Aside from that he seemed to be a hard worker and Wyatt had vouched for each guy on the crew he’d brought with him, so that made her feel better. She just made sure she was never alone in a room with Eddie, and gave him a wide berth whenever she could.

Scott and Eddie both stopped their demo of one of the kitchen walls when she came in, their arms and faces glistening with sweat and coated with powdery drywall dust. “Man, it’s so humid today,” Scott groaned, mopping at his face with the hem of his shirt.

“I know,” she said, dreading what the humidity would be like in July and August. “Wyatt went to get us another generator so we could hook up a few room fans. He should be back soon.”

“Not soon enough,” another guy said as he hit the bottom of the main staircase. “It’s gotta be over a hundred degrees up in that attic.”

Austen winced in sympathy. At this rate, her crew would be completely melted and useless by lunchtime. “I’m gonna make a drink run to the café,” she announced. The guys brought their own drinks and she had cases of water and Gatorade for everybody on site but the ice in the cooler was already melted and she wanted to get them something cold. “What do you guys want?”

She took everyone’s order—seven in all—and jumped in her truck, feeling only slightly guilty as the AC blasted out of the vents all over her hot face and neck. At the
Garden of Eatin’
she placed the orders and picked up fruit salad and other refreshing snacks for the guys. Piper was just pulling into a parking spot out front when Austen came out.

“Feeding a crowd?” Piper asked her, smoothing her hands over the charcoal-gray pencil skirt that hugged her hips and thighs. Her makeup was light and tasteful but there were shadows beneath her eyes that even makeup couldn’t conceal. Was everything okay?

“I’m worried the guys at the house are gonna melt on me. Melted crews aren’t productive.”

Piper’s hazel eyes brightened, making the shadows less noticeable. “Oh, you found someone?”

“Wyatt. It’s his crew.”

A bright smile lit up her face. “That’s great news. You won’t regret it.”

“Drop on by whenever you like. And when it’s all done, I’d love to have you over to see the finished product.”

“I’d love that, thanks.”

Austen drove back to the house, making the most of the remaining minutes of air conditioning. When she turned down the driveway her heart gave a quick little leap at the sight of Wyatt climbing out of his truck, his broad shoulders outlined by the snug fit of his light gray T-shirt, and a pair of well-worn jeans hugging his sexy butt.

The man certainly revved her dormant libido. It took her off guard since she hadn’t been attracted to anyone since John died, and because Wyatt didn’t exactly seem overly fond of her. He was quiet and serious, had a gruff way about him, was all business around her.

She parked beside him just as he hefted the generator out of the bed of his truck, giving her an eyeful of the way the muscles in his arms and chest bulged. She’d worked around fit men most of her life, but something about Wyatt made her belly flutter in the most delicious way. All this time she’d thought that part of her had died along with John, but maybe not.

Climbing out with the trays of food and drinks, she smiled when she saw Grits sitting in the driver’s seat of Wyatt’s truck, watching her. “Brought your furry copilot with you, huh?” she said to Wyatt.

“Cavaliers are really prone to separation anxiety, and he’s already had a rough start so I figure it’s best that I just bring him with me.”

“Uh huh,” she said in a dry voice. After what Piper had told her, she wasn’t buying the detached, analytical act. Not when it came to Grits, anyhow. “And it’s got nothing to do with him being an adorable little sweetheart who thinks the earth revolves around you.”

The hint of a grin twitched at the corners of his mouth, the closest thing he ever gave to a smile. That intrigued her too, made her wonder what it would take to make him laugh. She had no doubt that seeing a real smile from him would take her breath away. “Nope.”

“Course not,” she murmured. “I just did a drink run and I wasn’t sure what you’d want so I picked you up a sweet tea at the café. I noticed you drinking one the other day.”

“I appreciate it, thanks.” He nodded toward the house, the muscles in his arms bulging as he held the generator with apparent ease. It had been forever since a man had held her, and the thought of those strong arms wrapped around her filled her with a deep longing that surprised her. “Just gonna get this set up so we can get the fans going.”

“Perfect.” She let him go first, stood there a moment to admire the flex of the muscles in his back and ass as he hauled the piece of equipment into the house. Didn’t it figure that her libido would suddenly come back to life for a man who wanted nothing to do with her outside of a paycheck?

Watching him, it was hard to tell he’d lost his foot and lower leg. He never hinted that it was bothering him, never let it stop him or even slow him down, at least as far as she could tell. He oversaw everything in a quiet, methodical way, yet the biggest thing she noticed about how he worked was his calmness.

Maybe it came from his time in the Marines or from being in combat, she wasn’t sure, but he had an innate confidence that drew people to him. Without a doubt he was a natural leader. He didn’t expect anything of his guys that he wouldn’t do himself, and it was obvious that they all looked up to him.

She’d worked with people like him before as a firefighter, but in her experience, leaders like that were rare. Seemed like Piper was right. Hiring Wyatt and his crew was the best thing she could have done for herself since moving to Sugar Hollow.

After dropping off drinks and food to all the guys, she headed outside to carry in one of the fans while Wyatt took the other and Grits pranced at his feet. “You okay carrying that?” Wyatt asked her. “It’s heavy.”

“I’m good,” was all she said, shouldering the industrial-sized fan and hauling it inside. If she hadn’t been so used to questions like that from guys, it might have annoyed her. Even men she’d worked with at the fire hall had questioned her ability to handle the physical demands of the job at first, but she’d quickly proved them wrong.