Chapter 6
Saturday started off with a bang. Fifteen of the kids from the hockey club arrived along with five dads willing to help. Nicole and two other women kept busy caring for the smaller animals and coordinating groups. Meanwhile, the guys jumped right into the work and repairs needed for Finding Forever.
By the time lunch arrived, the lawn had been cut and edged, bushes trimmed, and the house siding prepared for a new coat of paint.
It reminded Nicole of the way communities used to come together to raise a barn or repair a house damaged by storms. It was amazing what could be accomplished when people worked together like this.
Everyone took a break and were busy devouring the sub sandwiches. Brent accepted a plastic cup of lemonade from Nicole, his fingers brushing hers in the process. “Aren’t you going to sit down and eat?”
Since it seemed everything had been taken care of, Nicole shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I might as well.” She grabbed her own lemonade, chose a turkey sandwich, and joined Brent at one of the long tables on the lawn behind the shelter.
The sun shone with no rain predicted for that day or the next. A perfect time to paint the house. Not only that, but everyone would accomplish a lot more if they weren’t worried about getting wet.
She nodded toward the house. “So, I saw someone marking up the side of the house. What’s up with that?”
Brent swallowed and chuckled. “We may not be able to get another outdoor kennel set up anytime soon. But Leo’s going to install a door at the end of the hall so we can walk the dogs right outside. He should have it all cut out and installed before we’re ready to paint that side of the house.”
Nicole thought about how they walked the dogs through the house and out the back now. “Wow, that’ll save a lot of time.”
“Yep!” Brent took a large bite of his roast beef sandwich.
Nicole was starving, and she hadn’t been working nearly as hard as all the guys had been. It was a good thing Della’s Diner sent enough sandwiches. “Is there anything I can do to help once we get all of this cleaned up?”
“You are helping a great deal keeping track of the animals inside. If you can check on Costello, that would be great. Make sure he hasn’t figured out how to get out of that cone.”
Nicole laughed. After the vet had put the dog’s foot in a cast, poor Costello had been given the cone of shame to keep him from chewing the cast off. Costello was proof that it was quite possible for a dog to mope. “I’ll be happy to check on him.”
“Thanks.” Brent grinned at her. A bunch of the guys finished their lunch and deposited paper plates in the trash. Brent polished off his own, dusted his hands off, and squeezed her shoulder as he stood. “Back to work we go. I’ll come find you in a while.”
Nicole waved. It was fun to see him this happy. And after years of trying to keep the shelter going, he deserved help like this. The others were enjoying it as well. She caught Tony’s eyes and lifted a thumbs up. He returned it enthusiastically before jogging toward the back of the house with teammate Cooper where two of the adults were opening cans of paint.
Brent appeared, a folded step ladder under one arm. He carried it as if it didn’t weigh a thing. She realized she was staring when someone cleared their throat and repeated themselves. Cheeks warm, Nicole jumped to her feet and forced herself to focus on clearing the tables.
It was over an hour before she excused herself to go check on Costello. Thankfully, she found him behaving himself and moping pathetically. Those big eyes rolled upward as he gave her his best sad dog impersonation. “I know, guy. But if you hadn’t been in such a hurry, you wouldn’t have hurt yourself in the first place.” Despite all attempts to guard against it, Costello was worming his way into her heart.
Nicole wandered through to make sure all the dogs still had water. After that, she went down to the barn to check on the animals there. The chickens happily pecked the ground in their makeshift coop outside. Sounds of the goats bleating welcomed her into the barn. Since they were so insistent, she checked on them first. She was tempted to open the door to the stall and pet them, but she was afraid one of them might escape.
Next, she ran a hand over Chance’s soft nose and then rubbed Kong’s ears. Both would be allowed to roam in the fenced pasture behind the barn once everyone else left. They’d discovered Kong lived up to the stereotype and didn’t seem to care much for dogs. Brent thought it best to keep both larger animals in the stalls until that evening.
Her last stop was the pot-bellied pigs. She had to admit, they’d quickly worked their way to the top of her favorite animals list. Though she couldn’t fathom owning one. Sure, the four little guys were adorable, but if they got as big as their mama…
Nicole stood on tiptoes to see over the edge of the railing. The mama pig grunted her welcome. The babies were busy drinking milk or rooting around in the hay.
Wait, only three? Where was the fourth piglet?
Nicole looked around and spotted a stool. She brought it over to the stall and stood on it for a better viewpoint. Her heart plummeted when once again, she only counted three of them. “Now where did you go?” She was about to panic when she leaned over and saw the little guy snuffling around the bottom of the stall door as if looking for a way out. “Don’t even think about it.” The piglet, white with brown spots, lifted his pink nose as if ready to defy her. “I thought you’d gotten out. You shouldn’t scare people like that, you know.”
She shifted her weight and without warning, the stool toppled. Just as Nicole expected to fall, strong arms came around her and caught her on the way down. Before she knew it, she was being placed on her feet again. She turned to find Brent grinning at her, his arms still wrapped around her waist.
~*~
Brent resisted a chuckle as Nicole’s eyes grew wide. “You should take your own advice about not scaring people. It’s a good thing I was here.”
Nicole’s head turned, and she took in the stool lying on its side on the ground. “I’m glad you were, too.”
He liked that her cheeks turned pink, and she hadn’t moved to step out of his arms. “What were you doing?”
“I thought one of the piglets was missing. I was trying to spot it before going in. The little guy was only hiding.” Her gaze turned back to him. “Mental note not to stand on that stool again. What are you doing here?”
Holding her in his arms was amazing. That was probably a bad thing, right? If it were, he didn’t care. “Searching for you. I didn’t see you around the house, and Costello acted like he’d lost his best friend. I figured you might have come here. The door is about finished and everyone’s taking a breather, so I wanted to make sure you didn’t need any help.”
Nicole nodded. “All’s fine.” Her blue eyes fixed on his. “I guess we’d better be getting back, then, before break time is over.”
“Yeah, we probably should.”
Except neither of them moved. Her gorgeous eyes pulled him in. Before Brent knew what he was doing, he’d leaned in closer. The scent of her shampoo combined with the hay in the barn, promising a memory he wasn’t likely to forget. When she tilted her chin up, he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss melded together the gentleness he associated with Nicole and a fire he’d never experienced before. Nothing else existed as he explored her satiny lips.
One goat bleated, and they both jumped. Nicole let her forehead fall against his chest. He brushed a kiss on the top of her head and then took her hand in his. “I think that’s our cue.” He used his other hand to right the stool and then led the way out of the barn. “I wish we didn’t have to go back for a while.”
“Yeah.” Nicole’s voice sounded nervous, and as they neared the crowd, she opened her hand and let it fall away from his.
He frowned. Was she worried someone might see them? It wasn’t like he’d planned it, but when the beautiful woman he couldn’t stop thinking about literally fell into his arms…
The possibility that she might regret their kiss hit him like a cheap shot to the ribs. Kissing her was something he’d wanted to do for a while. He didn’t regret it. In fact, he’d duplicate it right now if he had the chance.
He’d just decided to stop and ask if she was okay when Leo spotted them and waved Brent over. He swallowed his frustration and ignored the unease building in the pit of his stomach.
Brent glanced at Leo who was waiting for him and then back at Nicole. “Duty calls. See you in a while?”
She nodded, her expression conflicted.
It took nearly all of Brent’s willpower to readjust his focus onto his friend. Leo was excited to show him what they’d done with the new entrance. Brent had no doubt Leo knew what he was doing. But examining the door now, it looked like it’d existed all along. A small set of wooden steps were placed below the landing, allowing much easier access outside.
“This looks great, Leo. How can I thank you?”
Leo tilted his head toward the house. “Did I hear right that you have chickens?”
Brent nodded. “I do. Two different flocks of them. I don’t suppose you’d be interested in one or two.”
“I’ll take a whole flock. We’ve got a chicken coop and could use more.”
“They’re yours.” The men shook hands. “I can’t thank you enough. The time you’re saving me daily is a big thing.”
“We’re glad to help.”
The painting crew came around the corner, ready to tackle the final side of the house. Brent would paint the trim himself in a few days. It was amazing what this group had accomplished.
Several of the boys and the women were busy washing paintbrushes and working on something else Brent couldn’t quite see. It only took him a moment to spot Nicole. She was laughing at something Tony said. Before long, the two were flinging water at each other from the newly-cleaned paintbrushes. Within moments, everyone there was having a water fight.
Brent laughed as he watched their antics. He thought back to what Nicole said about the previous men in her life.
Truthfully, any guy would be lucky to have both Nicole and Tony in his life. He only hoped he hadn’t jeopardized any chance he had with her by kissing her when he did.
~*~
“Hey, stranger!”
Nicole’s head lifted, and she smiled the moment she spotted her friend, Audrey. “Hey, yourself. What are you doing here? You know you’ve missed most of the party.”
Audrey nodded. “Yeah, I’d heard through the grapevine a bunch of you were fixing up the place. I would’ve stopped by earlier, but I had an emergency call from one of my clients.”
As one of the best psychologists in Romance, Audrey often stayed busy. They used to meet up for coffee occasionally, but it’d been a while. “Well, I’m glad you came by.” Nicole pointed to the fading water drops on her shirt. “Too bad you didn’t make it for the water fight.”
Audrey’s eyes widened. “In that case, I got here just in time.” They laughed. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Nicole jabbed a thumb at the table that held the food. “You can help me wrap up whatever’s left. I think everyone will be leaving shortly. We’ve gotten a lot done in a relatively short amount of time.”
The friends walked over to the table. Except for a couple people walking by as they carried cans of paint to Leo’s truck, they were alone.
Audrey wrapped up a sub sandwich. “What’s new with you?”
Without even meaning to, Nicole’s head came up and her gaze found Brent’s. He waved at her and she waved back. She knew her cheeks had turned red, too, when Audrey’s face broke into a grin. Nicole gave her a pointed stare. “Don’t start, girl.”
Audrey shook her head. “Are you kidding me? That’s Brent, right? He’s hot. Rob and Allie have talked about what a great guy he is. Good for you.”
Nicole cast a furtive glance around her, making sure no one else was within earshot. “Shhhh, I don’t want anyone else to hear. Especially Tony.”
With a frown, Audrey paused what she was doing. “Don’t they get along?”
“It’s not that. Tony thinks Brent can do no wrong. But there’s a difference between Brent being a mentor or…”
“His new daddy?” It was clear by Audrey’s bright grin that she was teasing.
“You’re not helping, you realize that, right?” Nicole shot her a look of desperation. “Seriously, Audrey. What if things don’t work between us? Tony knows his father wanted nothing to do with him. If he gets attached to Brent and then something happens…” She groaned. Yep, she sounded pretty messed up.
“I get that. But is it fair to assume Brent is anything like Stephen? I’d hate for you to let fear sabotage something that could be amazing.”
Nicole put plastic wrap over the remains of a vegetable plate. “Please don’t psychoanalyze me, Audrey. I’m aware that I’m overreacting, but that’s better than risking everything we have here.” She swallowed down the lump in her throat. “I can’t do that to Tony.”
“Or yourself?” Audrey took several steps and gave her friend a hug.
There was no stopping a few tears from escaping. Nicole sniffed and swiped them away before anyone else saw, especially the two men in her life. “Thanks.” She cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure before she and Audrey went back to wrapping stuff up. “So seriously, what do I do?”
“Talk to Tony. He’s a smart kid. It doesn’t have to be anything about getting married. Ask him what he thinks of Brent and go from there.”
Nicole had different conversation scenarios swirling around in her head. What if Tony objected to the idea of Brent taking a bigger part in their lives? She wasn’t sure she could do it.
“Nicole?”
“Hmmm?”
“It’ll be okay.”
~*~
“So, what do you think?” Brent looked to Tony on his left and Nicole on his right. Everyone else had gone home, and it was the three of them now, observing the finished house for the first time. The chipped and stained white paint had been removed and the siding covered with gray. When the maroon trim was added, it wouldn’t even look like the same place. He thought Howard Rice would be happy with the result.
“The house is awesome!” Tony nodded his satisfaction. “My arm is killing me, though.” He rubbed his right wrist for emphasis.
Brent smiled at him. “I sure appreciate all of your help. We couldn’t have done this without you.” He caught Nicole’s gaze. “Either of you.”
“Mom, can I go see Costello? Please?”
“Sorry, kiddo. We need to get home. It’s getting late.”
“But the festival is two weeks from today.” Tony’s happy face morphed into a sad frown. “I want to make sure his leg’s doing okay.”
Nicole walked around Brent to give her son a hug and ruffle his hair. “I know. But I checked on him earlier, and he’s resting. You don’t want to wake him up. He needs to sleep to get better. Besides, we have Skype with Grandma in an hour.”
Tony brightened. “I almost forgot! Wait until I tell her what we did today.” He turned to Brent. “Bye, Mr. Todd. We’ll be back on Tuesday.”
Brent shook the boy’s hand. He wouldn’t see either of them for two days. Right now, that seemed like forever. “Thanks again for your help, Tony. Have fun visiting with your Grandma.”
“I will!” He grinned and jogged toward the car.
Brent turned to Nicole. “I hope you guys can take it easy tomorrow. You both deserve it.”
She nodded. “I hope so, too. I guess you rarely get to relax much.”
“Tomorrow won’t be too bad. Besides, Leo’s coming by to pick up one flock of chickens. That’ll be good. Rob gave the all-clear on the rest of the farm animals, and I’ll get their pictures up on the website tomorrow if I can.” He paused. “I’ll see you next week?”
“We’ll be here.”
She gave him a little smile, said goodbye, and hurried to the car where Tony was waiting.
Brent had to fight back the disappointment building in his chest. Nicole and Tony had only promised to volunteer until the festival was over. The clock was ticking, and his chance with Nicole was slipping through his fingers. Even worse, there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.