I grab my tablet and add the new truss layout to my list of things to double-check beforeinsulation goes up. “Cabinet guys coming today?”
“Two of them are on the ten o’clock ferry. Kyle should be picking them up soon. Kitchen’s ahead of schedule.” Nathaniel flicks his tape and snaps it closed in an unconscious gesture. “You’ll have your cabinets by the end of the week, and if you tell the plumbing sub they’re allowed to use the good bathroom, maybe they’ll stop pissing in the woods behind the dumpster.”
Blake’s eyes brighten. “Already told them. I’m trying to prevent another incident with the portable john. No one wants a repeat.”
I shudder at the reminder. “We’re still getting bill-backs from the septic company.”
Blake’s phone chimes, and he checks at the screen. “My cousin is emailing again. The Harris pack are—” He sighs and shoves his phone back into his pocket. “They keep offering to ‘help’ move the project forward faster.”
I raise a brow. “That’s generous, considering the circumstances.”
“Yeah, generous.” Blake lets out a brittle laugh. “They want to ensure we don’t go after the familial pack’s coffers for what my dad embezzled from Sadie, and they don’t want how he tried to ruin us going public.”
Nathaniel rakes a hand through his blond waves. “They heard thatmydad wants to go after them for trying to sabotage our project. Good riddance to large familial packs and all the politics that go with them.”
Blake leans into his bondmate’s side, his affection clear. “And you think we’re the opposite now that we’re registered?”
Nathaniel shrugs. “Wright Pack is only us and Quinn. Bondmates, plus the pup. Simple.”
Simple, I think, as a light breeze turns the dust around us into a blurry halo.
My old pack started simple, too, with just me and Auren, before he convinced me to let in the wrong people, and it left me packless. Of course, we weren’t bondmates. Not the way the Wright Pack are. I had only been able to Mark Auren, which had grown into a bone of contention between us.
He made me feel like I wasn’t Alpha enough, and the guilt of it left me vulnerable, willing to do anything to keep him happy.
True bonds are so rare that most Alphas and Omegas never find them. But I had been young and foolish, and Auren was older and knew more about relationships, so I gave in to all of his demands.
Nathaniel’s hand lands on my shoulder, jarringme from my thoughts. He gives me a hard squeeze, as if he understands the negative spiral I was headed toward. When I give him a nod of thanks, his hand falls away.
Simple’s all I’ve got now. Just myself and the job, and I guard that peace.
Outside, we walk the edge of the new patio, stepping over conduit coils and piles of gravel, and pause where a handful of crew are squaring up the forms. One of them, a Beta named Tuck, stiffens when I crouch to eye the line of his stakes. If there’s anything I love more than a level string line, it’s the respect that comes from a job done right, and the healthy fear that comes from knowing I’ll catch every mistake if it isn’t.
I give Tuck a chin tip of approval, and he relaxes. It’s a bit early to be framing, but as soon as the windows go in and the exterior is complete, the Misty Pines chef, Holden, wants to use the space for a food tent, where he can offer pastries and do wine tasting while the Homestead’s kitchen is being finished.
“How’s your sister doing?” I ask as we continue toward the back of the cabin.
“Sadie’s doing well. Still sober.” Blake pulls the band from his hair and redoes the bun, taming his wild brown waves. “Therapy’s sticking.”
“Good.” The word therapy reminds me I have an appointment coming up with my own shrink. “She deserves a shot.”
I used to think I could muscle my way through anything, until what happened with Auren convinced me otherwise. Sometimes the only way through is to say things out loud, even if it means paying someone to sit and listen.
“She wants to come meet Quinn’s new tutor-nanny.” Blake frowns. “Or should I say manny? That’s what they call male nannies in Holden’s romance books, but is it a real thing?”
“Maybe we should ask what he’d prefer to be called.” Nathaniel bends to pull a weed. “Leif came in with you this morning, Em. Seems like a smart, organized guy who’s gentle with kids.”
My stomach tenses. “Oh, yeah? There were a few new faces. What does he look like?”
“Tall. Over six feet, big build. Wearing gray slacks and a polo.” Nathaniel fidgets with the thick, silver ring on his finger, spinning it. “Brown hair?—”
“Mauve,” Blake corrects. “He’s got some violet undertones when the sun hits it.”
My mouth goes dry. So the Omega I saved earlier isn’t a visitor. He’s here for the long haul. Little Quinn has a lot to catch up on with school aftermissing several months, and her transcripts were spotty before that. Blake’s hoping to bring her up to speed before the start of the new school year so she’s not behind when she starts at Pinecrest Academy.
I stall in the shadow of the garden wall, replaying the way those sleazy Alphas had been harassing the tall Omega earlier, the anxious grip on his satchel, and the tremor in his hands when I returned his hat. He’d looked resigned before I stepped in, then shocked when I treated him with basic decency.
“Can’t say I’m not a bit nervous, having an unbonded Omega around.” Nathaniel purses his lips. “But he’s a former schoolteacher with lots of experience and a willingness to relocate. And his references were solid.”