“Smells like it,” Ben said sticking his head inside the shed.
“Ugh.” I got a whiff of cat piss and excrement. “Let’s drag all this stuff out and clean the inside.”
We were in the middle of doing that when Nova joined us. We explained about the cat and the state of the shed, although her expression showed she could smell it for herself.
“Oh, no. I had no idea a cat was in there. We had the shed open yesterday, so at least it wasn’t trapped for long.”
The shed was built over a large slab of concrete, so after we’d emptied it of all its contents, Nova hooked up a hose to the back of the house and sprayed down the floor.
“I feel like we should rebuild this side of the shed that’s leaning to the right. You don’t have any lumber, do you?” I asked doubtfully.
“Yes, under that tarp over there.” She pointed to the side of the house where a black tarp covered something against the stone wall. “We should see if it’s usable.”
Fortunately, it appeared to be in good shape, so we set to work while David and Ben began weeding the garden.
The sun was high in the sky when Laura called to us from the house that lunch was ready.
Nova had left a basket with towels and a cake of soap near the spigot, so we washed off there before heading inside. David and Ben finished first, and as they walked to the house, Nova said, “I don’t mean to be intrusive, but I’m curious about your dynamic. Three mates, two of them alphas and one an omega.”
“It is unusual,” I said. “It’s also very new.”
“I hope it works well for you. I would imagine being a throuple—is that what it’s called?—would be difficult enough without the rest.”
“Our bond with Ben kind of happened at the same time, and Angus and I were already well on our way to having a relationship, so I guess that’s why it works,” I explained as we climbed the porch steps.
“Remember, be careful where you step,” Nova warned us.
The wonderful aroma of a hot meal hit us as soon as we walked inside. In the kitchen, Laura was setting the long table in the middle of the room. A man who I assumed was Eric stood at the sink and turned when we walked in. He was much like Angus had described him and Laura had been right about the eyes.
“I hope you didn’t go to all this trouble for us,” I told him after Nova introduced us. “We would have been happy to eat sandwiches.”
“Hard work calls for a hot meal,” Eric said, smiling as we all sat down.
“It looks better in here,” Nova said. “Way cleaner.”
“Laura and I cleaned before I started cooking,” Eric said, looking at her softly. “The sun is actually shining through the window now. Laura scrubbed years of grime off the glass.”
Blushing—something I didn’t see Laura do often, if ever—she said, “You are totally exaggerating.
Looking as though she couldn’t be more pleased at how her mate and Laura were getting along, Nova said, “You did a marvelous job, Laura.”
And there was that blush again. I’d had my doubts the night before, but maybe Angus had read the situation correctly.
Kate, a cute little girl with dark hair and inquisitive eyes, sat on the chair between Eric and Laura. She seemed to have taken to Laura, asking her for help with her food. Eric protested and tried to take over, but Laura smiled and said she didn’t mind at all. David came into the room, having checked on Oliver, and sat down beside Ben.
“Ollie’s still sleeping,” he said, smiling in thanks when Ben passed him the bowl of mashed potatoes.
“Eat your carrots, Jeremiah,” Eric told the blond little boy on a chair with a booster seat. He made a face but obeyed.
Several times during the meal, I caught Nova staring at Laura, and Eric made a point of talking to her often. I wondered what, if anything, would come of the situation. Was Laura interested in a relationship? Could they even have one when she lived and worked so far away? Maybe I was a romantic, but I thought Laura deserved something more than a life of work. Of course, for all I knew, she had someone. But with the amount of work she talked about, I didn’t see how she would have the time. Maybe, if she really became interested in someone, she would slow down and enjoy life.
After lunch, David disappeared into the bedroom to feed Ollie, and I helped Eric clean up the dishes while Laura and Ben tackled the sunroom at the back of the house. They opened the door to the deck, letting in the fresh breeze and more sunshine. Dust motes floated in the rays, and Ben sneezed so many times I finally suggested he go out in the backyard to weed some more.
I was setting a blue love seat back in place after lifting it so Laura could clean underneath when I heard a car motor. Looking out the freshly cleaned window, I saw Grant Cheevers’ Ford pickup truck park where the driveway widened at the side of the house. Andy Cheevers and his two brothers, Abel andWyatt, jumped out of the truck bed, along with Maddox, while Angus and Grant Cheevers climbed out of the cab.
At the sight of my other mate, my heart started hammering. Ben came running around the house and jumped into Angus’s arms.
My guys.