CHAPTER THIRTEEN
That sneaky son of a bitch tried to weasel his way out of letting her into his house, just like Cat knew he would. The temporary coffee truce had been short-lived. Sure, it had held up long enough for him to introduce his daughter. Sara was bright, charming, and fun. The exact opposite of her shithead father.
Cat guessed the girl took after her mother.
Once Drake and Henry had made their grand entrance, Noah’s pleasantries had turned off like the flipping of a switch.
He’d gone from grateful father to Judgy McJudgerson in the blink of an eye. The look he’d given her as he loaded Sara into his SUV? Oh, she knew that expression well enough. Judgment, swift and sure.
People often felt the urge to judge her. Her sex life (what a slut!), her wardrobe (designer dresses and flannels?), the way she interacted with people (too friendly or too uppity), all of it was fodder for public opinion. And Cat didn’t give a good damn. She lived her life the way she chose.
She worked and played equally hard because otherwise what was the point? She enjoyed casual sexual relationships with men she liked. And some days, she just felt like wearing fucking leggings and making a waiter blush.
She did things her way, which is why she was sitting at Noah’s dining room table while he glowered at her. Cat had to admit, he fascinated her. How did a man take pot shots at her one second and then nearly drown trying to save one of his neighbors? She’d been shocked when she realized they’d met before during the flood when she hauled his ass aboard. She’d keep that information to herself for now. And when it would give him the biggest punch in the gut, she’d drop that bomb on him.
Paige was explaining to the scowling Noah that she’d like to set up the one-on-ones in his front parlor. Meanwhile, a camera woman, sound guy, and PA were already covering the worn rug and cozy furniture with a million feet of cords. And another half dozen people thundered up and down the stairs, poking their heads in to greet their host.
A fat cat named Felipe wound his way around her ankles, purring louder than a motorboat.
Kathy, her stick straight black hair tied back in a stubby tail, settled in at the cozy dining table next to Cat. “I can’t believe we’re back here again,” she sighed.
Cat patted her friend’s hand. “This sucks balls.”
Kathy’s smile was tired but broad. “I miss you and your inappropriate mouth.”
“I missed you too, and now we’ve got the next eight weeks to enjoy each other’s company again.”
Jasper skirted the table and handed Kathy a cup of tea. Lines of tension were carved into his face. His jet-black hair was disheveled as if he’d been shoving both hands through it. Cat remembered the signs, remembered the strain he put himself under in times of crisis.
“You got a minute?” she asked Jasper, keeping her voice low.
It wasn’t necessary to whisper, not with a dozen people roaming the first floor of Noah’s house. She could understand the man’s agitation. Not only did he have a few extra families crowding him in his own space, but he also had the better part of a reality TV show getting ready to happen in his living room.
“Ah, sure,” Jasper said, scrubbing a hand through his hair.
He followed Cat down the hallway. The kitchen was full of people cooking and arguing good-naturedly. The sitting room or parlor had two teenagers in it battling it out on a video game. Finally, she found a room in the back of the house that’s purpose Cat couldn’t identify. Along the back wall between two windows was a bookcase stuffed with fiction hardbacks, the better part of the Sweet Valley High series, and magazines that ran the gamut from Men’s Health to Teen Vogue. There was a suede bean bag the size of Rhode Island nestled in the corner. Two air mattresses occupied the far wall, and there was still room for a wardrobe that looked as though it weighed more than a car and could transport someone to Narnia.
“Uh, step into my office,” Cat joked.
“Noah calls this his crap room,” Jasper said with no hint of amusement in his soft voice.
Cat knew that tone, that look. He was a man exhausted. A man who felt like he was failing at caring for his family. They’d been down this road once before when his injuries had robbed him of his paycheck. This time it had been Mother Nature, and that bitch Veronica had robbed them of their beautiful home.
But pity wouldn’t fix anything.
“Jasper, I know you’ve got a lot going on right now. But I was wondering if you’d be able to help me out.”
“Sure. What do you need?” Even exhausted and beaten down, Jasper Hai was ready to lend a hand. It was the Merry spirit.
“It’s a pretty big favor. We’re low on labor.” Technically that wasn’t a lie. Most construction firms in a two hundred-mile radius were camped out in New Haven which had gotten hit just as hard. The fact that Gannon had showed up with a King’s crew ready for action evened that out in Cat’s mind. But Jasper didn’t need to be privy to that.
“I know you’re working full-time—” she began.
But he was shaking his head. “They cut me back to part-time just before… this.”
Could the guy not catch a break? Cat silently cursed his employer and made a mental note to pay the company a little visit.
“Well, if you’ve got the time. I could use some labor. We can pay you, of course. It’ll be some cleanup, a lot of hauling.” Jasper’s questionable talent with power tools was still fresh in Cat’s mind. “And there’s something else.” She glanced over her shoulder.
“What?” Jasper reacted to her subterfuge.
“April’s treehouse.”
“You’re doing a treehouse for her?”
“Actually, you are,” Cat said.
Jasper straightened, his shoulders losing the slump. “Seriously? You want me to build it?”
Cat nodded, choosing her words carefully. “Gannon’s going to do some plans, and I was hoping you could sit down with him and walk him through what April wants. Then you can take lead on it with a couple of helpers.” A couple of helpers who kept him away from the sharp and the dangerous.
“That would be awesome,” he nodded. “Yeah. I’d love to do it.”
“Great,” Cat feigning relief. “That’s a lot off my mind. I’ll give your number to my foreman, and he’ll be in touch tomorrow. You just work what you can. I don’t want you missing out on family time or taking more time off of work. I know this is a stressful time for you guys.”
“It’s not so bad with good friends,” Jasper said, nudging her with his elbow.
“You guys are going to get through this and come out even better.”
“That’s what you said last time,” he reminded her.
“And of course, I was right because I’m a celebrity genius.”
“Is the treehouse a surprise?” Jasper asked. “I mean, it would be cool if it was.”
“Absolutely,” Cat nodded. “We’ll refer to it as the utility room around April.”
“Diabolical,” Jasper grinned. He held up a hand, and Cat slapped it.
“Team Utility Room.”
Jasper returned to the dining room, and Cat took a moment to check her messages. With Henry here now, he was fielding a portion of them so she wasn’t completely overwhelmed… yet. She could hear the team setting up the lights in the parlor for the first official rounds of one-on-ones. And the thunder of footsteps overhead. It was a gorgeous house. She’d been surprised to see Noah had chosen something with so much character, history. She itched to get her hands on it, scrape the paint from the moldings, re-plaster the walls, bring the floors back to their glory days.
It would be a lucky contractor who got his or her hands on this place. One day it would be a beautiful family home. A showcase, but a livable one. Well, if the kitchen were redesigned. Put in an island, one big enough for one of those built-in banquets. And the back porch—
“You do realize that putting a power tool in Jasper’s hands is like begging him to slice off a limb, don’t you?” Noah asked dryly from the doorway yanking her from her renovation fantasies. “It might not be his own, but it’s bound to happen.”
“Oh, you’re speaking to me again? How nice.”
His green eyes hardened. “I’m only pointing out that he could get hurt. Though I’m sure that would play for the cameras.”
Cat tossed her hair over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow. She wasn’t going to let him get her into a screaming rage. Nope. It would probably piss him off even more if she kept her cool. No matter what it cost her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, all peaches and cream with just a dash of arsenic. Her fingernails dug crescents into her palms.
“I live here.”
No shit, Captain Obvious. “I meant, what are you doing lurking in the hallway?”
He entered the room, agitation pumping off him, and crossed to the bookcase. He adjusted a stack of hardbacks, a family photo, and gave a jerky shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. It’s not even my home anymore. It used to be. Now I’m just lurking in corners while everyone else lives here. I even have a cat now.” He pointed as Felipe strutted past the doorway. “He didn’t belong to anyone before the flood. Had seven houses he’d visit like a time share cat, and now he’s decided this house is where he wants to settle down. I don’t even like cats.”
She wasn’t going to feel sorry for him. Nope. Ice Queen Mode engaged.
“I feel like I’m failing them.” Noah stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared unseeingly into his backyard.
His confession disengaged Ice Queen Mode.
“Noah, don’t be an idiot.”
“We were unprepared for the flooding. We’ve got residents displaced from their homes. There’s a possibility our major source of revenue will go bust. And I have to depend on you to fix it all.”
She had a feeling that was the part he was most worried about. “You’re not failing anyone. No town can be completely zipped up and prepared for eleven-plus inches of rain. It’s not possible. Your residents are all going to get to go home. You’ll get your house back. And the Christmas Festival will kick ass.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“This town? These people? It’s my life and my livelihood. I grew up here. We’d be inventorying decorations by now getting ready for the day after Thanksgiving. I can’t imagine Merry without our Christmas. It… it was my favorite thing growing up.”
“It’s going to be different,” Cat acknowledged, joining him at the window. “But different doesn’t have to mean worse. If anything, it’s going to mean a whole hell of a lot more to people after what you’ve all been through.”
Noah sighed and said nothing.
“You’re right to be skeptical, to be protective. Not every show that could have come in here would have Merry’s best interests at heart. But we do. I do.”
“I know what you were doing with Jasper,” Noah admitted. “I get it, and it’s nice of you.”
“What? Trying to get him to saw off his own arm for ratings because his family doesn’t have enough going on right now?”
“Sorry for that. I’m tired, stressed. I don’t usually take it out on people, but for some reason, your mere existence pushes my buttons.”
“Right back at you.”
“I wonder if I’d feel the same way in different circumstances?” Noah posited. Felipe padded into the room and rubbed up against Noah’s legs. Reluctantly, he bent to ruffle the cat’s ears.
“You mean if you didn’t have to watch me like a hawk to make sure I’m not ruining your town for advertising dollars?”
He straightened. “Pretty much, yeah.” His smile was wry, and when he looked at her like that, Cat felt a little hiccup zing through her blood. Noah Yates was a good-looking man. Too bad about the whole personality thing.
“Well, I guess we’re never going to find out, are we? Now let’s go get you mic-ed.”
“Mic-ed? Oh, no. I’m not participating.” Noah shook his head.
Cat smiled and showed her teeth. “The handsome city manager opening his home to his neighbors and a stray cat? Oh, yeah. You’re participating. And you’re going to hold Felipe in your lap.”