Heartwood (8 page)

Currently, they ogled each other as if Molly and I weren’t even standing there. When I saw Mac move in to kiss Kelly, I whipped my head away and busied myself grabbing the stroller out of the back of the truck.

“Hello! Your sister is present!” Molly cried out in alarm. Kelly pulled away from Mac and nearly fell off her crutches. Mac shot Molly a dirty look and she cleared her throat. “That sucks about your race, Kell.”

“I know. I tried to talk the doctor into clearing me early...” Kelly started, but Mac interrupted.

“Over my dead body.” Mac emphasized each word as if chastising a naughty child. “The doctor was pretty clear. No cheating. You have to take the time to heal. You could screw it up permanently and then you can kiss running goodbye
forever
.”

“Then you’d finally be able to keep up with me.” Kelly’s breathy laugh made Mac’s eyes pop. Her brow furrowed at his response. “Wait...that sounded dirty. Not like that.”

“I don’t want you to lose that rockin’s ass.” Mac chuckled. The scarred look on Molly’s face made me huff out a laugh.

“Just...stop talking.” Molly covered her face and then scrambled away to retrieve Eva from her car seat.

By the time we got across the street with two babies, a double stroller, and the walking wounded, Sanchez had already fired up the grill in Molly’s food truck. Mac and Kelly wandered away, which I assume had something to do with the fact that Mac and Stacy used to be friends with benefits.

Good for Mac. He was learning a little something about women after all.

“Hey there, Little Mama! Hey, Joe!” Sanchez yelled and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Sanchez was always such a low key dude and this was the first time I’d heard him raise his voice. Then I realized that Carly was using a food processor next to him and between that noise and the grill he probably couldn’t hear himself think.

“There’s my angels!” Stacy cooed, as she rounded the truck. She immediately hunkered down in front of the stroller and started tickling both the twins. Their slobbery smiles only seemed to encourage her and her already high pitched voice launched into the stratosphere.

“Big fan of babies, are ya?” I asked.

‘What’s not to love?” She asked, unbuckling Logan and cuddling him against her. Logan seemed completely contented nestled against her ample chest. I had a feeling he’d be a boob man just like me.

“When are you two gonna have one of your own?” I shot back. Sanchez turned a deep shade of crimson and he kept his attention glued to the grill. Molly’s eyes widened. Stacy’s gaze never left Logan, and she planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Right now I’m focused on keeping the business in the black.” She said decisively, her lips closing after the words in a tight line. Normally, I would have shrugged off the entire exchange, but Molly and Sanchez’s reactions piqued my curiosity.

“Business?” I asked, and Molly elbowed me. I shot her a surprised glance. Her eyes broadcasted a warning that left me completely confused. I opened my mouth and she cleared her throat and fixed me with a look that begged me to keep still.

“There he is! Hey, Joe!” I recognized Graham’s voice and turned to see him waving me over to the judge’s platform.

I turned back to Molly, who held out her arms to Stacy. Stacy handed Logan to her and immediately went after Eva. “I gotta go.”

“We’re cool. Don’t keep ‘em waiting,” she insisted. Logan reached for her hair, but I brushed it out of the line of fire. He screeched, and Molly smirked impishly. “No pulling Mama’s hair, you little demon-child!”

I hurried in Graham’s direction and I’d just reached his side when a camera flash went off in my face.

“What the—” I blinked, trying to clear my vision.

“It’s a good thing you’re so photogenic. That was
not
your good side.” I recognized the voice of Molly’s sardonic friend Lisa before my retinas recuperated from her assault.

“Isn’t it bright enough out here without the damn flash?” I frowned.

“It’s a little overcast.” Lisa sniffed, pushing her glasses up with her middle finger.” I need you to pose up here with the judges.”

“Why?” I already didn’t like the direction this was headed. “The contest hasn’t even started yet. There’s nothing to judge.”

“Do
not
question my artistic brilliance.” Lisa replied, as if I was wasting her time with trivial conversation. When I continued to stare at her expectantly, she sighed. “Molly asked me to take pictures for the Wrapgasmic and Good Wood websites. It’s good P.R.”

My shoulders sagged. Obviously my publicity discussion with Molly had happened a little too late. I turned to my mentor and good friend, Graham for an assist. He arched an eyebrow at me like I’d lost my mind. I sighed. “I’d rather not be photographed.”

“Good luck with that.” Lisa snorted. “Here comes Beverly Campbell with the photographer from the Chronicle.”

“Shit.” I mumbled, glancing over my shoulder. Francis strode in my direction with Mrs. Campbell, the head honcho of the homeless shelter. She was a fixture in Austin, a widow of old money, with the reputation of a radical philanthropist. At least my father always thought so. He’d been rolling his eyes about her for as long as I could remember. She and I had met once before at some big black tie affair when I was in my teens. I remember thinking she was a total MILF. The years had treated her well, and she now looked like a retirement-age Ann Margaret.

She was dressed in functional, practical clothes, but carried herself regally. Francis was arm and arm with her, escorting her over to us. They seemed a bit familiar for casual acquaintances, and I gave him a suspicious glance, as I caught his eye. His sunny grin and accompanying wink made me bite the inside of my lip to keep my laughter at bay.

“Beverly, I’d like you to meet Joe Jensen.” Francis began.

“Joe Jensen.” Her sharp eyes narrowed as she studied my features. “Not James Jensen’s son?”

“One and the same. But don’t hold it against me.” I smiled, my face feeling a bit tight.

Mrs. Campbell laughed heartily and nodded.

“Well, okay then. I have to say I concur with Francis, Mr. Jensen. This event is shaping up to be quite the fundraiser.” She stuck out her hand. I heard Lisa’s camera shutter whirl.

“Please...call me Joe.” I offered my hand in return, and she shook it. Her grip was surprisingly firm. This woman had more confidence than most of the guys here.

“Joe it is. What a brilliant idea you’ve had here, Joe. This turnout is impressive and inviting Habitat for Humanity?
That
was an inspired touch.”

I felt the color rising in my cheeks. “That was my fiancée’s idea.”

“They said they’ve already signed up fifty volunteers from all this skilled labor that you have lured here. Genius move. Habitat is a wonderful organization. It’s like I always say, give a soul a bed and a meal and they’ll have one night of comfort. Give them four walls of their own...” She shook her head and I could see a sheen of tears gleaming in her eyes. Immediately uncomfortable, I deflected her attention at the expense of one of my favorite people in the world.

“Have you met Graham? He owns the sponsoring construction company.” I thrust my friend in front of me like a sacrificial lamb.

“I most certainly have. This isn’t our first rodeo, is it Graham?” When she smiled, she looked ten years younger. Graham graced her with his dimpled smile and used his “awe shucks” charm in response to her sprinkling of compliments. I looked at Graham for an explanation, wondering if the two of them had a past.

“Our church does a lot of food drives. I’ve been down to the shelter many times.” Graham explained, seeming a tad embarrassed. It was probable that I was reading too much into their exchange. Graham was a humble man, and seemed about as uncomfortable with the ceremonial pats on the back as I was.

“I’ve been wanting to thank you in person for your generous contribution.” With a gentle touch on his shoulder, Mrs. Campbell turned to face Lisa and the goofy looking photographer from the Chronicle. “Everyone give the cameras a happy smile.”

Mrs. Campbell had one of those commanding “mom” voices that had us complying without hesitation. Lisa and her freckle faced cohort wasted no time rapid firing their cameras at us. With a few quick directions from Lisa, we found ourselves in the middle of a full blown photo shoot. I was ready to lose my mind when I saw Molly wander up with my employee, Nick tagging along. Nick had a tendency to follow Molly around like a puppy dog, so it was no surprise that he’d sniffed her out. He was carrying Logan, who was in the process of trying to remove Nick’s eyebrow piercing. I used it as an excuse to break away and take Logan right out of Nick’s arms.

“Hey. The guys all took a vote. They want you to be in the build.” Nick stated, touching his eyebrow and lip rings as if to confirm that they were still in place.

I looked at him as if he’d suffered a head injury. “What guys? I can’t compete. As a sponsor, it’d be a conflict of interest.”

“All the interns from Good Wood. And not to compete. It’d be pure exhibition.” Nick replied. “Come on, dude. It’ll be awesome for the interns to see what you can do. And whatever you make will be auctioned off for the cause.”

I shook my head. “Nah. I just planned to watch and hang out with the family today.”

“Come on, Joe.” Nick gave me a lopsided grin. “You got to show them how it’s done.”

Thanks to Nick, we had a full blown internship program at the shop. It was part of our expansion, and half the reason Mac was now a partner. Most of the “people managing” fell to Nick, since Mac was more of a ring leader than a leader. Nick had the natural aptitude to rally the troops. If he thought I should do the build off for morale, I probably should. I looked at Molly. “Can you believe this?”

“Do it. I wanna see what you can do, too.” She replied, her eyes dancing with excitement.

I sighed heavily and looked at the sky. “You’re killing me, Molls.”

Ninety minutes later I was drilling off the last large section of wood so that I could get at the piece with the more detailed instruments. Molly approached and leaned casually on my table.

“Hey there.” She taunted me, holding up a piece of hardware. “Wanna screw?”

“Nice.” I snorted, and then pointed the drill at her and revved it.

She giggled. “We’re super mature. Our kids are in so much trouble.”

I heard the whirling on Lisa’s shutter and turned to glare at her.

“What? You two are pretty.” She insisted and wandered away.

“Lisa needs to get away from me with that camera or I may test out my power saw on her.” I growled.

“Don’t piss off Lisa.” Molly said seriously. “She has a vindictive streak. I told you about her college roommate, didn’t I?”

I fumbled with my attachment as I removed it. “No.”

“The poor girl flirted with Lisa’s boyfriend. Lisa waited until she left to do laundry for the weekend and cut the crotch out of her two favorite pairs of pants.”

“What?” A laugh escaped me as I got a mental picture of Lisa with a giant pair of hedge trimmers.

“And then she took one of the roommate’s four favorite pairs of shoes and donated them to Goodwill. Not the pair.
One of each of them
. Like four singles.”

I gaped at her. “You can’t be serious.”

“That’s not all.” Molly rushed on, clearly enjoying the tale. “Her roommate was a romance fanatic. She collected books by some smut author. I guess she read and re-read them like a fiend. Lisa spent the rest of the weekend removing random pages of every one of the books. And she didn’t just rip them out. She surgically removed them with an X-ACTO knife so her roommate wouldn’t know the pages were gone until she went to re-read the book.”

I simply stood blinking at her. “And this is who you hung out with in high school?”

“Well who else was I gonna hang with, Joe? You and the twins?” She held the water bottle near her glossy lips in a decidedly suggestive manner. “I was jailbait, remember?”

I thought about all the naughty things she’d done to me the night before and blushed. “But she’s still your friend.”

Molly shrugged, her sweet face full of mischief. “Sometimes it’s good to have a diabolical mind on your team.”

I saw her nibble her lip and knew something was up.

“So what are you doing over here, little girl? Gonna pass me a file in a cake or something?” I asked, selecting the right attachment for the electric power carver without even looking at them.

“I came to bring you a cold drink.” She slid a large bottle of water in my direction. “And to let you know that your folks are here.”

I nodded, as tension spread from my jaw down to my shoulders. Things with mom were in a decent place, though I occasionally caught her staring at Molly’s tattoos as if she had some unfortunate birthmark. Still, mom had been incredibly supportive of our upcoming wedding, and her help with the twins had been immeasurable.

Dad and I were still trying to find our way back from the valley of darkness we’d been camping out in since my high school graduation. Every time we made a step forward, it seemed like we slid back twice as far. Though he’d been at mom’s side while she insisted on paying for our reception, he’d proposed we relocate the party downtown to The Austin Club. Then he had tried to persuade us to add about fifty people to our guest list all of which were either prominent Austinites from affluent families or politically significant. He seemed to have forgotten that he was retired from the game, and that neither my sister, Tamryn, nor I were playing any longer.