“This is still way over Charley’s budget, Dad,” Noah said, frowning past his oldest brother, Silas’s shoulder at the computer screen as the accountant ran the figures for the third time.
“Then we’ll simply have to shave off some more,” his father said. Silas quietly swore, then sighed.
Even though Gene insisted they’d do the work for practically cost, no matter how much they whittled, the estimate still stubbornly hovered around twice what Charley could afford, according to the figure Noah’d finally wormed out of him when he’d gone back to shore up his figures the following day. Oh, there was enough for the repairs, to get the guy some new double panes, but the bright blue daisies had probably been given a reprieve. And Roxie was not gonna like that, boy.
Not that Noah should care. It wasn’t her house, and she wasn’t Noah’s…anything. In fact, after that little exchange between Roxie and her uncle about hearing Mae’s voice…
Yeah. That he would do well to remember. Also, the woman’s pain-in-the-butt potential was through the roof. And did he need that in his life?
He did not.
Speaking of butts…Noah pulled his head out of his when Benito, the shop foreman, called Gene out of the office and Silas pushed away from the computer with a noisy sigh, crossing his hands behind his head. Silas’s involvement in the family business was limited to number crunching and filing taxes, but since the bottom line was what made the difference between success and a whole bunch of people starving to death, his input was crucial.
And now his short dark brown hair was a mess from his repeatedly ramming his hand through it over the past hour. “And you’re sure Charley wasn’t lowballing his figure?”
“Since I’m not privy to the man’s bank account, I have no idea. But he’s only going to spend what he’s going to spend.”
One side of Silas’s mouth hiked up before he removed his wire-rimmed glasses to rub his eyes. “True,” he said, shoving the glasses back on. “But even if you do the absolute minimum, Dad’s cutting this way too close for comfort. My comfort, at least.”
Straightening, Noah crammed his hands in his back pockets, frowning at the figures on the screen as if he could will them to change. “There’s really no wiggle room at all, is there?”
“Nope. Meaning he’ll have to eat any cost overruns.”
“Then I’ll just have to make sure there aren’t any.”
Silas snorted, then leaned forward again, apparently unaware of the SpongeBob sticker clinging to the back of his navy sweatshirt.
“I know this is your project—”
Noah snorted.
“—but can I make a suggestion?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s tack on another five percent to cover our backsides, in case lumber prices go up or something. Because you know what’ll happen—things’ll get tight, and Dad will get stressed—”
“And Mom will be all over us about how we let things get out of hand. Yeah, I know. And I would’ve suggested it if you hadn’t. Except…” He cuffed the back of his neck, glowering at the screen. Or rather, the image of Roxie’s sad, mad green eyes. “Adding five percent to our price isn’t going to add it to his budget.”
“And sometimes,” Silas said quietly, “that’s not our problem.”
Silas was right, Noah knew he was, but… He walked around the desk to sink onto the old, dusty futon on the other side. “I did warn Roxie this might be a bigger project than she anticipated. But she’s going to be pretty disappointed.” A half laugh pushed through Noah’s nose. “Probably more than Charley, to tell the truth. And you know Dad, he’s liable to go over there himself and do it all for free if we’re not careful. And then we’re right back where we started. Having Mom mad at him. And us.”
“So basically we’re screwed.”
“Exactly.”
Silas leaned back again, taking a swig from a can of soda as he stared thoughtfully at the screen. “I suppose I could pitch in on the weekends, maybe. We could ask Jesse, too.” He grinned. “Make baby brother earn his keep for once.”
Noah chuckled. “Baby” brother, in charge of the business’s promotion and advertising, earned his keep fine.
However, homeboy was also built like an ox and not incompetent with a power saw.
“That might work—”
“Get Roxie in on the action herself, too. Why not?” Silas said to Noah’s frozen expression. “No reason why she couldn’t do a lot of the demo, whatever doesn’t require a whole lot of expertise, save the crew for the stuff that matters.” He flicked his index finger at the screen. “With enough sweat equity you might squeeze by. Think she’ll go for that?”
Noah unlocked his face muscles enough to get out, “I have no idea.”
“Well, I’m in,” Silas said, oblivious to his brother’s paralysis. “And I’m sure we can strong-arm Jesse. Might want to leave Eli out of it, though. Sleep deprivation and power tools are not a good mix.”
His arms crossed, Noah grunted. “And you guys wonder why I’m perfectly happy leaving the kid raising to you.”
“Uh-huh. And I suppose Jewel had to twist your arm to build that tree house for my boys?”
“And miss an opportunity to watch your brain explode? No damn way.” And before Silas could pursue the topic, Noah stood, checking his watch. “I told Roxie I’d swing by with the estimate before lunch. You mind printing it out for me?”
“See that little printer icon right there?” Silas said, rising as well to slip on his denim jacket. “Click it and watch magic happen.”
“Jerk,” Noah muttered, plunking his butt behind the computer and hitting Print.
“By the way,” Silas said, as the ancient gray monstrosity on the dinged metal table beside the desk wheezed to life. “Jewel and I set a date. April fifth.”
This said with the slightly nauseating smirk of the headover-heels in love. Not that Noah didn’t like the eccentric little midwife who’d snagged his brother’s—and his two awesome little boys’—hearts. But that left Noah the last brother standing. Alone. Meaning his mother could, and undoubtedly would, now focus all her matchmaking energies on him, bless her heart. Not.
Waiting for the printer to cough up the estimates, Noah let out an exaggerated sigh. “So you’re actually going through with it?”
“You know,” Silas said after a moment’s silence, “maybe the idea of being ‘stuck’ with somebody for the rest of your life gives you the heebie-jeebies, but in case you haven’t noticed, not everybody sees it that way.”
“Sorry,” Noah mumbled, his face warming as he turned back to the printer. Silas’s first marriage had sunk like a stone, followed by his ex’s death in a car crash when the boys were still babies. For so long, and whether it was right or not, Silas had felt like a failure, Noah knew. So why was he taking potshots at his brother’s well-deserved happiness?
Fortunately single fatherhood had turned Silas—who God knew had taken inordinate pleasure in torturing his younger brothers when they were kids—into a model of forbearance.
“Oh, you’ll get yours someday,” he said, cuffing Noah lightly on the back of his skull before heading out the door.
When hell freezes over, he thought as he yanked on his own jacket and scooped up the estimate, then hotfooted it out of there before his father had a chance to check the new figures.
Or before Noah could think too hard about what he was about to ask of Roxie Ducharme.
For three days, between temping as a receptionist for the town’s only family practitioner, continuing to pound the virtual pavement looking for a “real” job and the unending task of sorting through her aunt’s things, Roxie had kept herself so busy she’d begun to think she’d imagined the close-to-knee-buckling jolt at the end of Noah’s visit earlier in the week.
Except now he was here, his forehead creased as he gently explained to her uncle why his budget was too small by half, and there was the jolt again, stronger this time, undeniable, and she found herself nearly overcome with a sudden urge to bop the man upside the head with the kitchen towel in her hand.
Or herself.
“Well. That’s that, girl,” Charley said, sounding almost…disappointed. Weird. “Can’t afford to do all this. So let’s go with the new windows and let the rest of it ride—”
“Hold on, I’m not finished,” Noah said, and Roxie’s eyes flashed to his. Right there in front of her, not quite the same brown, but definitely the same kindness. The same…genuineness. That it had taken her so long to see the resemblance only proved how prejudiced she’d been. How much she’d been determined to see only what she’d wanted to see.
Her breath hitching painfully in her chest, she propelled herself out of the chair and over to the fridge to pull out stuff for lunch. Cheese. Ham. Lettuce. Leftover spaghetti sauce. Cottage cheese.
“Roxie?” she heard over the roaring inside her head. “You listening?”
Sucking in a breath, Roxie shoved the streak of wetness off her cheek and turned. Both men were frowning at her.
“I’m—” She cleared her throat. Sniffed. “Sorry.”
“You okay?” Noah asked, simply being nice again, and more memories surged to the surface, memories she’d assumed the spectacular implosion with Jeff had wiped out for good.
Silly her.
“Yes, fine,” she said, snatching the three-page estimate off the table and leafing through it. Forcing herself to focus. Holy moly. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “If I’d realized…” Letting the papers flutter back onto the kitchen table, she crossed her arms against the sick, you-screwed-up-again feeling roiling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t as if Noah hadn’t warned her, warned both of them, how costly the project might be. But this was…
Wow.
Roxie never begged or bargained or haggled. Ever. So even though embarrassment seared her cheeks, she said, “I d-don’t suppose there’s any way to, um, bring down the prices…?”
“Not without jeopardizing our payroll,” Noah said, his eyes even more apologetic than his voice. “But—”
“Then…I guess we’ll have to stick with the windows. And maybe the front porch—?”
He chuckled. “You weren’t listening, were you?”
“Um…I thought I was—”
Charley slapped the table in front of him, making both the sugar bowl and Roxie jump. “Man says if enough people pitch in to help—you know, do some of the easier stuff— Noah and his crew can handle the rest and we might be able to get everything done for the same price.”
Roxie felt her forehead pinch. “I don’t understand.”
“Silas offered to help since things are slow, taxwise, right now,” Noah said. “Maybe Jesse, too.” Noah glanced down, then back up at her with a little-boy grin. “And we figure there’s a lot you could do, too. If you’re amenable.”
She wasn’t sure what was making her heart beat faster—the grin, the eyes or the proposal. To gather her thoughts—and break the mesmeric hold Noah had on her gaze—Roxie frowned at her uncle.
“And you’re okay with this?”
“Heck, yeah.”
“Even though three days ago you were ready to throttle me for even thinking of changing anything in the house…oh.” She sighed. “Mae?”
Her uncle’s smile faltered for a second before he gave a vigorous nod. “It’ll be like an old-fashioned barn raising! Or one of those HGTV shows! So whaddya say, Rox? You up for ripping off some wallpaper? Slapping on some paint?”
Roxie sighed. On the face of it, it was a brilliant plan. In some ways it could even be fun. But…working alongside Noah? Hot, sweaty, sexy, gentle-to-old-men, major player Noah?
Who strangely reminded her of someone who’d broken her heart ten times more than sorry-assed Jeff could even dream about?
“It won’t work without you,” Noah said, sounding even more reluctant about the whole idea than she. If that was possible.
Oh, boy. Part of her would rather dance naked with African bees. But as much as her uncle and she got on each other’s nerves, she loved the old grouch. And she really did worry about the house falling down around his ears. So…if she sucked it up now, she could leave later with a clear conscience. Right?
Not only that, but considering what she’d put him and Mae through after her parents died? She supposed she could deal with Noah’s hotness for a few weeks.
“I’d have to see what I can work out with the clinic,” she said. “But sure, why not?”
Charley let out a whoop and clapped his hands, his wide grin warming her heart—even as Noah’s twisted it like a wrung-out washcloth.
Family dinner nights at Noah’s parents’ were not for the faint of heart. Especially as his brothers’ broods grew and the noise level increased exponentially. However, unless somebody’s wife was giving birth or there were flu germs involved, there was no “will not be attending” option.
So here Noah slouched on the scuffed-up old leather sectional in the relatively quiet family room, his belly full of his mother’s pot roast and his head full of Roxie—even though he had a date later that evening with some chick he met while working on a project in Chama—all by his lonesome. Well, except for his father’s old heeler seeking refuge from way too many shrill little voices and eager little hands, and Eli’s sacked-out, newborn son hunched underneath his chin.
That he was even thinking of canceling only went to show how messed up he was. Wasn’t as if he’d never had more than one woman on the brain at once, for heaven’s sake. Not that he’d ever two-timed anybody, exactly—he was capable of monogamy, especially once getting naked was involved, and as long as nobody was talking long-term. Except, truth be told, things went down that road a lot less often than people assumed. Having a few laughs, kicking up his heels on the dance floor, simply enjoying a pretty gal’s company…that’s about as far as the vast majority of his dates went. And sometimes, when things were totally casual…his mind wandered.
Or, he thought morosely as the baby squirmed and gurgled softly in his sleep—and Blue lifted his head to make sure The New One was okay—got stuck someplace it shouldn’t. Tonight, much to his consternation, he couldn’t blast Roxie out of his head.
“Aw—don’t you two look adorable?” his sister-in-law Tess whispered, still cute as all get-out despite the bags under her deep brown eyes. He supposed she and his next older brother, Eli, qualified as high school sweethearts, despite the ten years of Tess’s subsequent marriage to, and two children by, someone else. But now here they were, together again and blissfully adding to the world population. Somebody shoot him now.
At the sound of his mama’s voice little Brady let out a “feed me” squawk. Smiling, the brunette carefully peeled the kid and receiving blanket off Noah’s shoulder. “You’re such a good uncle.”
“And don’t you forget it,” he said, telling himself he didn’t miss the warmth, the slight weight. The trust. Knowing he didn’t miss the responsibility at all.
No sooner had Tess left, however, than his dad came in, dropping with a satisfied groan into the brown La-Z-Boy recliner that had been around longer than Noah.
“Your mother will be the death of me one of these days,” Gene said, his hands clamped over his stomach, “but damn, she can cook.”
Noah regarded his father for a moment, thinking about how tangled his and his father’s relationship was, that they could be so close and yet butt heads so often. And so hard. “I take it your stomach’s okay then?”
“What? Oh. Yeah, yeah, fine. Couldn’t be better.”
“Glad to hear it,” Noah said, leaning forward to push himself off the sofa. But his father’s hand shot out.
“Hang on a minute, I want to talk to you.” Grunting, he curled over the arm of the chair to dig the remote out of the pocket. The clicker found, he aimed it at the flat-screen TV, talking to the screen instead of Noah. “Why’d you jack up the figures for Charley’s job?”
Sneaking a glance at his watch—it was too late to cancel now without looking like a sleazeball—Noah lowered himself again to the edge of the sofa, his hands linked between his knees. “Because you’d cut them too close,” he said over some crime show he never watched. “If any of our supply prices had gone up, you’d’ve been screwed. And Silas agreed with me,” he added before his father could protest.
“Damn repeats,” his father muttered, clicking the TV off again before meeting Noah’s gaze. “Except Charley doesn’t have that kind of money.”
“I understand that. Since I was the one who discussed the budget with him. So we all came up with a solution.”
“We all?”
“Silas and me, mostly. But Roxie, too. That if a lot of the demo work got done for free, Charley’s contribution would still cover materials and the crew’s wages. There’s like zip profit margin, but it won’t take you under, either.”
His father looked at him steadily for several seconds. “What about your salary?”
“I’m good for a couple of weeks. Shouldn’t take any longer than that.”
More staring. “Why?”
Noah knew what he was asking. “Because I know how much Charley means to you.”
His father broke the connection first, shifting in his chair and turning the TV back on. “Roxie know you’re doing the project gratis?”
“No. Why should she?”
The uncomfortable silence that followed was broken by Donna Garrett’s hearty laugh from the dining room, where she was supervising dessert for a batch of grandchildren. “Guess that could work.”
Noah knew the grudging acknowledgement was as close to a thumbs-up as Gene was going to give under the circumstances. Before he could reply, however, his father said, “I’ve been thinking about what you said. About how I should spend some time with your mother.” He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Get away.”
“Oh?”
“Except…what if I did want to go traipsing around Europe or take your mother on a cruise or something? Who’d handle things while I was gone?”
And here we go again. “Actually…probably the same people who handle things now.” When his father frowned at him, Noah said, “Dad. Everybody knows you worked your butt off all those years when we were little. And that the business wouldn’t be what it is today if you hadn’t. But it also wouldn’t be what it is if it wasn’t for all of us. You gotta admit, you haven’t run it on your own for some time.” And it occurred to Noah that he wasn’t asking for a go-ahead to take on more responsibility as much as an acknowledgement that he, and his brothers, already had.
Gene met his gaze dead on. “You telling me I’m no longer necessary?”
“Didn’t say that. But it’s been a long time since you were the sole decision maker—”
“Maybe so. But you all, you’re…” His father made a circle with one hand, like he was searching for the right word. “Spokes of the same wheel. And a wheel’s nothing without an axle.”
Smiling slightly, Noah got to his feet, checking to be sure his phone was in his jeans pocket before grabbing his jacket off the seat beside him. “Axle’s kind of pointless without the wheel, too, you know. This family, it’s a team. We got the whole working-together-for-the-common-good thing down. Nobody’s trying to put you out to pasture, okay? But I think, between us, we can keep things going for a couple of weeks while you take Mom on a second honeymoon.”
“The cabinetry, though—that’s still the core of the business. The biggest moneymaker. Who’s gonna oversee that?”
Noah felt his good humor quickly fade. “Me. Who else?”
His father looked away. “I don’t know, Noah….”
“Okay, Dad, that’s it.” At Gene’s startled expression, Noah hauled in a breath. “Maybe it’s your prerogative that you don’t agree with how I live my life. Although I would think, since I’ve never shown up drunk or stoned, or messed up a job, that would count for something. But whatever.”
He shrugged into his jacket. “But it really chaps my hide that you apparently don’t believe I’m every bit as dedicated to this business as you are. That I know it inside out. Probably better than you do at this point, since I’m the one keeping up with the technological advances and what all. I love you and I respect you, but it sure would be nice to see that respect returned, you know?
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date. And no, you don’t know her and probably never will, and maybe that makes me a flawed human being in your eyes.” Shoving his hands in his jacket pockets, he softly said, “But that doesn’t mean you can’t count on me not to screw up what’s really important.”
His father and he did the gaze-wrestling thing for several seconds before, sighing, Noah walked away.