Unexpected Love (White Oak-Mafia #2) (19 page)

Once they were a mile from the cabin, Steel spoke his mind. “Look. I understand why you like Tess, but let me be very clear. I’ve got first dibs on the lady.”

Dan raised his eyebrow in challenge. “Then let me be equally clear. You’ve left me no choice in this matter. If you will not stop hugging and touching her, then I’ve no option but to flirt with her so anyone observing will think, while she likes the attention, she’s not settling on anyone in particular.”

Steel stopped and glared at him. “Find another way.”

Dan stepped up until they were nose to nose and spoke softly. “I’ll stop the second you leave her the hell alone. Otherwise, I need to confuse the situation. And when Brady shows up, I’ll give him orders to flirt with her as well.”

“Maybe I should just send you to Dubuque.”

“Do that, and you’ll be dead long before these sites are excavated. Do you really want that privilege to go to someone else? And what about Tess? She just lost her grandmother. How many more blows can she take?”

Dan’s second challenge silenced him. He did need to think about Tess. If he was killed, not only would she be devastated, but his replacement probably would do everything in his power to prevent her from ever taking over as forest manager.

“All right. But please let Tess know why you are flirting with her.”

“I can do that.”

Steel turned around and headed down the trail full speed, hoping to lose Dan, but doubting he’d be able to.

When they reached the trail to the mounds, Dan stopped him. “Is this where the perimeter fence will go?”

Steel was impressed he’d figured that out. “Yes.”

“Do you know where any of the thick patches of woods that Tess was worried about might be?”

Steel was about to say he didn’t, but remembered he’d gone through a dense section to come up the back way to the village. “I know one area. Let me show you.”

“Just point me in the right direction.”

“Aren’t you supposed to tag after me?” Steel challenged.

“Honestly, in woods like this? I’m more likely to stop a shooter if we are traveling apart. He’ll be focused on you and hopefully not paying attention to his own tracks.”

“Well, if a sniper is after me, they are probably sitting in a boat on the Mississippi waiting for me to take the ridge trail up to the top. And if they are in these woods, they’ll be waiting on the same trail. Going up the backside of the mountain to get to the sites is my safest route.”

Dan smiled. “Now that’s the way I want you to think. Let’s go.”

When they got to the old patch of trees, Dan cursed, and Steel understood why.

“Tess has grossly underestimated the amount of trees that will need to be removed,” Dan warned.

Steel had no desire to be the grim reaper on this. “You’ll need to let her know.”

Dan ran his hand across his head. He pulled out his GPS and moved into the trouble area. “These aren’t trees. They’re freaking monoliths. He pointed to the limbs of one. An electric fence won’t do any good if a person can walk over the top on a two-foot wide limb.”

“You’re right,” Steel stated. God, this was going to break Tess’s heart.

“I need a thirty-foot safety zone.”

Steel thought that request a bit extreme. “You sure about that?”

“There can’t be any branches crossing the fence,” Dan stated.

“I agree.”

He stared up into the branches of a hundred-and-fifty-foot giant. “I don’t see how a helicopter can lift anything near this size.”

“I would agree with you, but I watched Tess trim a tree down for removal. She can do it.”

“Unless you’re planning to take six years building this fence, you’ll need more than Tess cutting down trees.”

***

Steel continued up alone to his sites. All looked fine. He would have been happy except for Dan’s claim that Tess had grossly underestimated the trees needing to be cut. What if she was over her head in what she believed she could do?

He located Dan, cursing a giant tree. “We need to get back to the cabin and change the plan to adjust for this extra work.”

When they arrived, Tess was preparing dinner. She abandoned the grill the moment they entered. “Was everything okay?”

“The woods and mounds are fine. You didn’t send off the plan yet did you?”

“No. Why? What’s wrong?” She moved closer, searching his face for the answer.

Steel rubbed her arm. “Dan needs you to make some adjustments. I’ll take over dinner while he fills you in.”

Tess knew something terrible had happened. Steel couldn’t even look her in the eyes. She walked over to Dan. “What’s wrong?”

“We are going to have to clear out a thirty-foot area at the fence perimeter.”

“What? No!” She turned to Steel fixated on the damn grill. “Steel, you can’t allow this senseless destruction of trees. Do you have any idea how long it would take to helicopter out all those trees? Even if I could find other pilots capable of doing the job, it would take years.”

He turned off the grill and faced her. “The fence cannot have limbs hanging over it.”

“I agree. I’ve always intended to trim the limbs. But cutting all the trees away will make hikers think it’s a trail. And then when some little kid touches the electric fence, the state will be sued. We need that area impenetrable, not cleared. I intended to use the cut limbs to make the area unwalkable.”

Steel smiled. “And that’s why we needed you involved in this discussion.” He then looked at Dan. “Tess is right.”

Dan sighed and threw up his hands. “It’s a good thing I’m not really here for the security design job because I’d be quitting right now.

Tess huffed. “No. You’d be fired. A real security head would never create such a dangerous situation for a little child hiking with his parents.”

“Okay, that’s a good point. I’m just trying to secure the area so the people and land you treasure are safe.”

Tess closed her eyes. Dan was right. His heart was in the right place. “Okay, let’s all take a step back and calm. No child is getting fried, and no bad people are going to penetrate our fence. Nor are they going over it. We just have to be smart about this. Tomorrow, let’s go out to the woods near your garden site. That’s going to be the hardest area. I’ll cut a few limbs and show you how it can be used to keep away normal hikers.”

“A few?” Dan challenged.

Tess sighed and stared up at the ceiling.
Grams, give me patience, please
. She breathed in and then out slowly and turned to Dan. “You don’t want me cluttering the ground with shrapnel until we get the fencing delivered.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to deliver it to exactly where we want if the limbs are already cut away?” Steel asked.

She groaned. Where was her brain? She needed to remove the branches first so there would be space for Sam to drop in fencing. Her planning professor wouldn’t be proud of her now. She’d failed to recognize a critical step in the process. “Sorry…yes it would.”

She pulled up the planning program and corrected the timeline.

“The limb cutting comes before, not after the fencing. Then I’ll need to trim the large branches we cut and have them hauled out for lumber. Next, we’ll need to clean out a ten-foot area of all bramble so the fencers will have room to work. To do that I’ll start building the bramble barrier. I just need to leave openings right now so the workers can get in and out. I’ll fill those in later once the fence is up.”

Steel smiled at her with admiration.

Why? She’d been wrong.

Dan’s glare at Steel made her think he was wondering the same thing.

Steel moved the fish to the plates and set the vegetable dishes on the counter. “Let’s eat.”

When Tess sat down, he came over and whispered. “No one’s right all the time, but it’s rare to find someone who sees their error and changes their plan without hesitation.” He then kissed her temple.

That caused Dan to clear his throat.

Purposely misunderstanding him, Tess offered him a basket of whole wheat rolls. “Did you swallow a bone? Eat some bread.”

He ignored the bread and chucked her chin. “Funny girl.”

Steel sat down on the other side of her. “So what’s our plan for tomorrow?”

“First, we need to send the plan off to Tom and get it approved. Until we get approval, we can mark the perimeter where the cams will go, where the poles will be located, and trim some branches so you can see how they can help the security. Then once we get clearance, we’ll order the fencing and hire workers. Hopefully, we can get a barge into the marshland and Sam can pick up the fence and drop it where we need.”

Dan grimaced. “Drop it?”

“Bad choice of words. He’ll set it down softly.”

Dan leaned over and kissed her temple. “Thank you.”

She stared at him like he was nuts, then focused on her fish. “This is good. Thanks for saving it,” she said and smiled at Steel, who was glaring at Dan.

He lost his glare and returned her smile. “You are most welcome. I knew what Dan wanted to do was going to upset you. I just didn’t know how wrong he was.”

“You two stop,” she demanded before Dan could reply. “We need to get along.” She turned to Dan. “Now, I know you don’t like me, so I’m assuming you are trying to break Steel’s habit of touching me.”

Dan smiled. “How can I not like you? You’re smart and beautiful. But in this case, you are partially correct. Either he stops and then I will, or I’ll diminish his affection by making it something you accept from anyone.”

She stared at him. “That’s actually clever.” She then turned back to Steel and gripped his hand. “I really like it when you touch me. So if you can stop glaring at Dan, then I’ll endure his affection, and we can still have our moments.”

Steel burst out in laughter and wrapped his arm around her. “You are one of a kind.” He then kissed the top of her head and released her. “Can we review the plan while we eat?”

She slid off her stool and hurried to the printer. A moment later, she returned with three copies.

Just as she picked up her fork to eat, Dan spoke. “You need expert fence builders for this job.”

Smiling, she continued eating.

“From Tess’s smug smile, I think we must have that…ah, here it is. Engage Danton’s Security for installation of fence.

Dan stared at Tess. “Where did you hear about them?”

“I didn’t. Tom’s secretary, Sara, says they are used for all important government jobs.”

“Do you have an issue with them?” Steel asked.

“Not at all. They’ve a very good reputation. Only they prefer high profile installations.”

“It’s Tom’s job to convince them,” Tess said. “But Sara assured me he could do it.”

Dan frowned at her response. “Do you have an alternative if they turn us down?”

“Two, but Sara’s certain they’ll do it.”

Dan rolled his eyes and shook his head as if surrounded by idiots. “Who are your backups?”

“They’re in the detail,” Tess muttered as she focused on her food. Dan was annoyingly negative. She much preferred Steel’s can-do attitude. Unfortunately, they were probably stuck with Dan for a long while since she didn’t see her father dying of old age for at least another decade.

She lost her appetite at the thought of her brothers taking over.

“You okay?” Steel asked as his hand gently rubbed her back.

“Just tired. I think I’ll take a bath and go to bed early.” She stood and realized Dan was scowling at them. “You can sleep in the room at the end of the hall. If you need anything, use your detective skills to find it.”

She then rubbed Steel’s arm. “Night. Don’t stay up too late. I want to be working by seven.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said through his happy chuckle.

She then patted frowning Dan on his back. “Night. Glad you’re here, Dan.”

She hoped that would save Steel from another lecture. God knows, Dan seemed full of them.

***

Steel finished his meal, barely attending to Dan’s lecture. God, the man reminded him of his butler Jerad growing up.
Master Alastair, you must keep your shirt tucked and your tie straightened. Otherwise, you’ll be mistaken for common riffraff.

In Steel’s view, the “riffraff” had a great deal more fun than he. He pushed himself up. “I’m heading to sleep as well. Just turn off the lights after you wash the dishes.”

“Hold on…you cannot sleep with Tess.”

“I’m pretty certain I’ve told you about a billion times that our relationship is professional and platonic.”

“All the while kissing, back rubbing, hand holding…”

Steel threw up his hands. “Believe what you want.”

“I believe what I see, Dr. Castile. As will Don Benito.”

Steel headed to his room. Honest to God, he was sick of hearing about Don Benito. He’d worked in the Middle East, for God’s sake. Every day, he came into contact with people who wanted to kill him for nothing other than his nationality. What made Benito so special?

When he entered his room, he called Tom. “Did you get a copy of our plan?” He’d never reminded Tess to send it off.

“I did, and I’m very impressed with the amount of detail already in it.”

“Any chance we can start spending?”

“Not until the governor approves it.”

“Shit!” Steel hated bureaucracy.

“I’ve a ten o’clock appointment with him tomorrow. And I’ve already flown this by my friend at Danton’s Security. They’re a bit stretched right now. However, worst case scenario, they’ll ensure your security head gets all the advice he needs to build the fence right, but you’ll have to hire the laborers. My friend was very impressed with the detail in the plan. He thinks your head of security can manage this with an advisor available when needed.”

Steel snorted. “Honestly, without Tess’s intervention, we’d have a treeless perimeter and fried hikers suing the state.”

“I had thought of that. We cannot have lethal voltage levels.”

“We know that. Tess demanded most of the trees be left alone. She’ll cut back branches so no one can climb over the fence, and here’s the clever part. She’ll use it to make a hiker barrier.”

Tom chuckled. “She showed me one of her barriers to keep deer off a certain trail in the marsh. If she’s building something similar around the exterior perimeter, then nothing will get near the fence. I’m telling you, rolled barbed wire looked easier to cross.”

“Glad to hear it. But not surprised. Tess is amazingly good at her job. I wish I had known Helen longer.”

“What do you mean? What’s happened to Helen?”

“Oh God! I didn’t tell you. Things have been so crazy. Helen died yesterday. Last night I went with Tess to retrieve Helen’s body and take her to a different funeral home so she could be cremated as she wished. It seems Tess’s father intended to have her buried in the plot by her husband.”

“How could you forget to mention this?” Tom yelled.

“Because after we got that fixed, I ended up with Secret Service guys who were determined to force me to go back to England.”

“You can’t do that!”

“I told them I’m staying here. Tess came up with the idea of making one of the Secret Service guys go undercover as my security head here. And while that means he will have to do the job, it will give him the freedom to do whatever he needs to protect me. Otherwise, a real boss would fire him for ignoring his job while following me about.”

“I’m surprised Tess can even think right now. She has to be broken up over Helen’s death.”

“She believes Helen has become her guardian angel, and honestly, given all the things that keep falling our way, she may be right.”

“So she’s functioning okay?”

“More than okay. She’s outthinking me and Dan. And to that point, I told her I couldn’t do this without her.”

“And did she agree to drop out for a year?”

“She was willing, even though she doesn’t believe her current college will take her back into the program. So I thought of a better solution, but we’ll need your help.”

“How?”

Steel explained his idea of her technically enrolling in the University of Minnesota program while receiving class credits for her work here. “Only I don’t have any contacts there. But I believe you do.”

“I’m sorry…”

Steel’s heart fell at Tom’s words. He’d been so certain this plan would work.

“…I should have thought of this myself. Let me make some calls and see what can be done.”

Satisfied with Tom’s promise, he hung up, showered, and went to bed.

For once, he slept like a baby.