Labor of Love (12 page)

“But I left Chad on my terms.”

“And tonight I left Drew on mine.” Maybe in her spacey sort of way, she'd been right. I had needed some closure where Drew was concerned.

“So you're back with Sean?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. I can't believe how much I missed him. And how much I missed you guys. I even missed the work. I'm thinking about going into construction after I graduate.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded.

“But you left before we got to the really hard stuff.”

“I know. But just the idea of it, of building. It's something I really want to do. Besides, there are women builders.”

“I think that's great,” Jenna said. “I'm glad you're back.”

“Me, too,” Amber replied. She peered at me.

“I am, too.” I smiled at her. I knew what it was to worry about what someone thought about you.

“So what are you going to do about Brady now?” Jenna asked.

“Do some rebuilding.”

M
uch to my surprise, Drew was at the site the next morning. I hadn't really expected him to stay. He was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. Like maybe he was on his way to a water park. So maybe he wasn't staying.

He walked up to me.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

In a way, it was sad that I felt so little for him.

“So what do I do?” he asked.

“What?” Did he still have hopes of us getting back together? Had I not been abundantly clear last night?

He flapped his hand around. “Around here. How do I help?”

“Uh, well, you should probably go talk to
John.”
And John is going to tell you to go home and change into jeans and boots
, I thought. Drew really seemed clueless about what was involved in working here.

“Can't I just help you?”

“It doesn't work that way.” Usually. Well, okay, if Brady had wanted to help me, I would have welcomed him. “John gives the assignments.”

And I'd totally kill him if he assigned Drew to me.

“Okay. I'll see you around, then.”

“Yeah.”

It was only after Drew walked away that I saw Brady standing a short distance away, watching us.

He turned and went into the house, and I wondered what he thought he'd witnessed.

I went to the bedroom to finish painting. Amber had brought curtains and rods. As soon as we were done with the walls, we were going to hang everything up.

We still had a way to go with the last wall when I decided to take a water break. I went
out the front door to the ice chests and grabbed four bottles of water. I walked back into the house, went into the kitchen, and waited while Brady and a couple of other guys finished putting up a cabinet. As soon as he turned around, I said, “Brady, catch.”

I tossed him a bottle of water. He caught it, no problem. He had good reflexes—which I already knew.

He studied me, like he was trying to figure out what I was doing.

I just walked out and went back to painting the bedroom.

An hour later, I did the same thing—taking him a bottle of water like he'd always brought one to me.

When we finished painting the bedroom, I went back to the kitchen.

“You guys finished with the ladder?” I asked.

“Sure,” one of them said.

I closed it up, tried to carry it—and discovered it was a lot more awkward than it looked.

I heard Brady sigh. Not sure how I recognized his sigh, but I did.

“I'll get it,” he said, lifting it. “The legs, remember, it's all in the legs.”

He carried it to the bedroom. “Where do you want it?”

“By the window.”

Jenna and Amber were in the room, reading the directions for how to hang the curtain rod.

I took one of the brackets, some nails, and a hammer. I climbed up the ladder.

“Do you even know what you're doing?” Brady asked.

Not really, but still I said, “Oh yeah.”

How hard could it be to put up a bracket?

I put the bracket against the wall, put the nail in the little hole, brought the hammer back—

“You've got—” Brady began.

And I missed the nail, slamming the hammer against my thumb.

“Ow!”

I jerked back, lost my balance, released a little shriek, fell—

And suddenly found myself in Brady's arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I couldn't help it. Tears started burning my eyes and I shook my head. My reaction had nothing at all to do with the pain in my thumb. It had everything to do with the pain in my heart.

He set my feet on the floor and took my hand. “How bad is it?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amber and Jenna sneak out of the room, like partners in crime worried about getting caught. If I'd thought it was possible, I'd have thought they arranged all this. But it wasn't possible.

“Doesn't look too bad,” Brady said.

I hadn't planned on hitting my thumb. I hadn't planned on ending up in Brady's arms.

“Looks can be deceiving,” I said. “I know you saw me talking to Drew.”

“You don't have to explain. His being here says it all.” He moved away, picked up the hammer that I'd dropped.

“Actually it doesn't say anything,” I said. “He's staying to work on the house. Not because of me.”

“Yeah, right.” He picked up the nail and
bracket. He climbed the ladder and began hammering the bracket into place.

“Are you pretending that's my head?”

He looked down at me. “What?”

“I used to pretend every nail was Drew.”

“So you spent the summer thinking about him.”

That confession had backfired.

“Only at first. And yes, yesterday, I was mad when I saw him. It was just the shock of it. And yes, I kissed you to try to hurt him. But he doesn't mean anything to me. Not anymore.”

“I can't do this.” He climbed down the ladder and handed me the hammer. “I just can't do it.”

My heart almost stopped. For a minute, I thought he was leaving. Permanently. Going back to Houston.

But I found him in the kitchen, working on the cabinets. Not that he saw me.

I just peered in the open doorway, saw him, and thought, O
kay
.

Then I went to find Sara.

 

Saturday, Jenna and Amber spent the day shopping with me and walking around the French Quarter.

I told them that they didn't have to. I was okay with them spending the day with their guys. But they didn't want me hanging around the city by myself.

Besides, the three of us hadn't had much time together since that first day.

At least that was their reason. But I knew the truth. They were worried about me.

The past couple of days at the site had been a strain. To say the least. Mostly because I wasn't giving up on Brady.

I took him water every hour. Sometimes I'd just toss the bottle to him. Sometimes I'd stop and talk with him for a minute. Not about anything important. Not about us. Not about Drew.

He'd hold up the water bottle. “You don't have to do this.”

“I know. I want to, though.” And I'd decided that wanting to do something was enough reason to do it.

And tonight I was going on the vampire tour.
Because I wanted to.

I wanted to because Brady was going on it, too.

Sara had confirmed that for me earlier in the week—after the falling off the ladder incident. I hadn't asked her for a reading. I hadn't wanted her to confirm my future. Or not confirm it. Or give any hints. All I wanted her to do was pair me up with Brady.

And I'd take care of the rest.

Tank and Sean were going to be there as well. Jenna and Amber were going to meet up with them then. And hopefully, if my plan worked out…well, I just hoped it would.

So after a day of shopping and talking, we headed to Sara's.

I hadn't expected Drew to be there. I really needed to put a hex on the guy.

He smiled brightly when he saw us. “Hey!”

I just wiggled my fingers.

“This is going to be fun,” he said.

“Yeah, it is.”

Sara came over—dressed in her black cape
again—and took his arm. “You're going to be with me.”

“Really?” he asked.

She winked at me. “Really.”

She led him away.

“That was close,” Jenna whispered.

Too close. I figured if Brady had seen Drew talking to me—he probably would have walked on by. But the guys weren't there yet.

“They are coming, aren't they?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Jenna said, looking at her phone. “Tank just texted. They're on their way.”

I took a deep breath and adjusted the tote bag on my shoulder. “Okay.”

Then I saw them crossing the street. They were heading right for us. Brady wasn't trying to avoid me, probably because Tank and Sean were leading the way and he was just following, not really looking the group over. I was standing a little behind Jenna and Amber, so he didn't see me until it was too late.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey.”

Sara walked through the group, matching
people up. “Brady, you and Dawn.”

She didn't even give him a chance to object.

“Your boyfriend's up there if you want to switch partners,” Brady said.

“He's not my boyfriend. He
was
. Past tense. No more.”

“You really think you mean that, don't you?”

“I don't
think
. I know.” Had I been this obstinate in the beginning about wanting to have a dateless summer? Yeah, I guess I had been.

“Okay, everyone, shh…,” Sara said.

John suddenly appeared. It was like one minute he wasn't with us, the next he was.

I don't know how he did that, but I jumped. Brady snickered.

“Are you going to hold my hand if I get scared?” I asked.

He looked at me. He wasn't holding my hand now. I really, really missed him holding my hand.

“I believe in vampires,” I said. I'd believe in just about anything if he'd hold my hand again.

“All right, people,” John said. He was dressed in a flowing cape. And yes, he had fangs. And he looked pale—bloodless even. “Tonight, I'm going to give you an experience you'll never forget. Follow me.”

He started walking down the street, and everyone fell into step behind him.

Everyone except Brady and me.

“Do you really want to do the tour?” I asked.

“Not really. You?”

I shook my head. “I'd rather go sit by the river.” I lifted my tote. “I brought a blanket.”

“Okay.”

We turned and headed toward the Mississippi. He took my hand.

It was a start.

 

It was late, and night, and dark, and sultry. Even the breeze coming across the water was warm. Sometimes we could hear people laughing or music coming from the decks of the lighted riverboats.

Brady and I were sitting on the blanket.
We'd stopped at one of the many tourist haunts and bought a bottle of water. Just one. For the two of us.

Another step in the right direction.

We'd been sitting there for a while, though, neither of us saying anything. It wasn't uncomfortable. Or at least, I didn't feel that way.

I brought my knees up and wrapped my arms around my legs. “I went to a voodoo shop today.”

“A voodoo shop.”

I heard the skepticism in his voice. I turned my head, lay my cheek on my knees. “Yeah. Want to see what I got?”

“You bought something?”

“Uh-huh.” I reached into my bag and brought out a candle. “If you light this, it keeps the bad mojo away.” I set it down near my feet.

Then I brought out another candle. “And this one brings in the good mojo.”

“Do you even know what mojo is?” he asked.

“Not really. I think it's like karma. Do you want to light them and see what happens?”

“Sure.”

I struck a match, lit one, and then the other.

Brady lifted the first one, studied it. “This smells like peach.”

With the flame flickering so close, I could see his face more clearly now.

“Is this really a voodoo candle?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No. But I've learned that sometimes what you believe is more important than what is real. I mean, if I believed that ghosts were really touching me, it didn't matter if it was a moth. And if you believed that I'd get back with Drew, it didn't matter that I wouldn't. You believed it. But you have to understand. I'm not Melanie.”

He blew out the flame. “Who told you about Melanie?”

“Tank told Jenna. She told me. Why didn't
you
tell me?”

“What was there to say?”

“I don't know. But you were asking about Drew. So it seems like you should have said something about her.”

He sighed. “She doesn't matter.”

“Neither does Drew.”

And maybe he'd been agreeable to my only-while-we're-here terms because they made him feel as safe as they made me feel. No commitment. No breakup. No heartache.

“We had an agreement,” I said quietly. “I'm still in New Orleans. So unless you're planning to leave—”

“I'm not leaving.”

“Okay then. I've got you for three more weeks.”

“And what's-his-name?”

“I'm not interested in him at all.”

He shook his head. “I don't usually over-react to things. But all I could think was that the boyfriend was here and you'd hook back up. I guess I wanted to get out first, on my own terms.”

Which I understood completely.

“But our terms are…as long as we're in New Orleans,” I reminded him.

“And we're still in the Big Easy,” he said.

I nodded.

“Okay then.”

He leaned in, touched my cheek. “I'm sorry if I was a jerk.”

I smiled. “Even Dr. Phil has a bad day now and then. Besides, the reason I was kissing you in the kitchen was wrong. You were right about that.”

“I've really missed you,” he said.

He leaned in closer and kissed me.

I couldn't have been happier. Not only were we back on speaking terms, we were back on kissing terms.