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Heff looked up at the sound of tires crunching along the gravel to see Smoke’s Wrangler making its way toward the main building. Squinting, he made out not one, but two people in the front seat.
Intrigued, he straightened and watched as Smoke parked behind Mad Dog’s flatbed. His interest only grew when Smoke hopped out and moved around to the passenger side in a gentlemanly gesture. Not just another person, but a woman.
For one wild, irrational moment, Heff wondered if Smoke had brought Sandy up to the Sanctuary with news, hating how appealing the thought was. He hadn’t seen the woman since their unexpected motel time, but she’d remained a stubborn presence in the back of his mind, like a tiny pebble lodged in his shoe, and that was irritating.
Why hadn’t she been at Franco’s that night they went out to celebrate Smoke’s arrival? And why hadn’t she been at the township building when he stopped by to check on the status of his request? Was she avoiding him?
He pushed those unhelpful thoughts aside—again—because they didn’t matter. What did matter was getting Sanctuary moving forward, and since she worked for the township and was a proponent of the project, she was the most likely resource to tap.
No, no, no, not tap, he corrected.
He wouldn’t be doing that again, no matter how good it had been. She was an inside contact with access and information and quite possibly their best chance of getting things moved through the sludge of red tape and local politics.
Hopefully, he hadn’t fucked that up by sleeping with her. Despite Sandy’s support for the idea and Church’s subsequent assurances that Sandy was good people, they’d yet to hear anything on the public town meeting. Small-town bureaucratic wheels often turned slowly, Heff knew, but Sumneyville seemed even slower than most.
That was the only reason he’d felt compelled to drop by the township building last week. Sandy hadn’t been there, and the slightly muddled, purple-haired woman with cat’s-eye glasses and drawn-on eyebrows hadn’t known anything about the request.
On the positive side, several of the permits they’d applied for had been granted, allowing them to move forward with a few things, like digging ditches for new electrical lines and exploratory drilling for two new wells. On the downside, getting subcontractors out to the site was still proving difficult, which meant they had to do much of the work themselves. At least the backbreaking labor kept his mind off of other things.
Mostly.
As it turned out, the woman who got out of Smoke’s Jeep wasn’t Sandy, which was both a relief and a disappointment. Heff didn’t recognize her, but given his teammate’s innate sense of chivalry, Heff figured it had to be the woman Smoke had been looking out for in town. But why was he bringing her here?
Heff didn’t eavesdrop intentionally, but their voices carried easily in the quiet of the morning.
“Are you sure about this, Steve?” she was saying.
“Yeah, of course,” Smoke answered unconvincingly, making Heff cringe. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m not sure I should be here. I feel like an intruder.” She shrugged, looking every bit as uncomfortable as Smoke did, and yet there was something there. Something more than neighborly.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You offered to help, remember? You should at least have some idea what you’re getting into before you commit.”
The woman turned back to Smoke and gazed up at him. Heff watched from the shadows with growing interest. Smoke had feelings for the woman, and she for him—that was obvious—but they were both fighting it.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it,” she said, her voice softer than it had been.
“What if it turns out to be more than you bargained for?” Smoke pressed.
Heff had a feeling they weren’t talking about the Sanctuary anymore.
She spoke slowly, as if carefully choosing her words, “Despite the last few days, I’m not some fragile flower. I appreciate the concern, but it’s not necessary.”
“I know it’s not necessary. But that’s what neighbors do, right? They look out for each other.”
The woman stiffened ever so slightly. Heff caught the small movement because, as a sniper, he had been trained to notice those kinds of things. Even the smallest change in body language could be used to predict what would come next. Smoke though was too caught up in his own head to pick up on it.
Poor bastard. He had it bad for her.
She turned away again, looking off into the distance. Then, her lips curled into a small, enigmatic smile. “Yes, that’s what neighbors do. And not that you need it, but for as long as you’re around, know that I’ll have your back too. So, do I get a tour or what?”
Oblivious, Smoke reached for her hand, but she tucked her hands into her pockets and turned toward the manor house, pretending she hadn’t seen it. Heff winced in silent sympathy. Smoke was a good guy but perhaps not the smoothest operator.
“Hey, Smoke! It’s about time you got your fucking lazy ass up here,” Mad Dog called, emerging from the main building. “Oh, apologies, ma’am. Didn’t see you there.”
Rather than be offended, she smiled. “No apology necessary. I’m Sam. Steve was telling me about what you guys are doing here, and I practically begged him to let me tag along. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Sam? As in the Sam who’s been providing us with that nectar of the gods every morning?”
“That’s me,” she said, a slight rose blush rising in her cheeks at the compliment.
According to Smoke, she managed a local coffee shop in town, and Smoke had taken to stopping there every morning for coffee and doughnuts to bring to the site. They were good, but they all suspected that wasn’t why Smoke had added the stop to his daily routine.
In fact, Smoke seemed to be the only one buying his own line of bullshit these days. When a guy puffed up like that at the approach of another man, it was a clear back off; she’s mine message. Apparently, Smoke’s receiver was having trouble picking up the signals his own brain was sending.
Heff moved forward from the shadows. Time to help a brother out.
He sauntered up to Sam, took her hand in his, and raised it to his lips. “These guys call me Heff, but you can call me anything you want.”
She blushed.
Smoke stepped up, put his hand on Heff’s shoulder, and gave him a shove. “Knock it off, Casanova.”
“Sorry, beautiful lady,” Heff said, affecting a half-bow. “Didn’t know you were spoken for.”
“I’m not,” she said quickly. “Steve and I are just neighbors.”
Uh-huh.
It appeared as if she was every bit as stubborn as the big, quiet guy currently tensed up like a tightly wound spring next to her.
Heff’s grin grew wider before he held out his arm. “In that case, allow me to introduce you to everyone and show you around.”
“I was just about to do that,” Smoke growled, stepping even closer to her.
Heff hid his smile. Mission accomplished.
Church emerged from the building then, probably just as curious about the fact that Smoke had brought a woman with him.
“Matt? Matt Winston?” the newcomer gaped.
Church stopped a few feet away, his expression cautiously neutral as he searched for reference.
“My grandparents had a bakery,” the woman continued, more animated now. “We used to provide some of the breads and baked goods for the resort. Even made a lot of the cakes for special occasions.”
Church’s eyes widened in recognition while everyone else watched with growing interest, especially Smoke. “Sammy Appelhoff? Little Sammy?”
When she nodded, Church smiled and pulled her into a hug, surprising them all. Church was so serious most of the time, rarely showing any kind of emotion. Of course, with everything the guy was dealing with these days, he didn’t have a lot of reason to be happy.
She laughed too. “Not so little anymore.”
Church set her down and held her back to look at her. “I’ll say.”
Heff glanced at Smoke. His expression was neutral, but his jaw was clenched, and his hands were balled into fists at his sides.
She laughed again, stepping back to look him up and down too. “Looks like you’ve done some growing of your own. When Steve told me about what you guys were doing, I didn’t realize he was talking about you. Someday, you’ll have to explain to me how you got the nickname Church because, from what I remember, you were no choir boy.”
Mad Dog chuckled and looked away.
Church didn’t bother denying her statement, changing the subject instead. “So, you’re Smoke’s neighbor, huh? I had no idea you were still around. How are your grandparents? Do they still have that bakery on Second Street? You wanted to take over the business, yeah?”
Heff wondered if Sam knew Sandy but tamped down the urge to ask. Wasn’t his business, and he didn’t care.
“I can’t believe you remember that,” she was saying. “But no. They passed when I was still in college.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Sammy. They were good people.”
She nodded. “Your family was good people too, Matt. It was awful, what happened.”
A shadow fell over Church’s face while the others looked on in interest. Church didn’t speak of it, and out of respect, they didn’t ask. That hadn’t stopped Cage from doing a bit of sleuthing online and sharing the basics with the others. Their trust in Church and his vision was absolute, but they all felt better, knowing a little bit about what they were dealing with, and this way, Church didn’t have to talk about it.
“Bring it in, guys,” Church called, beckoning with his hand. “Come meet an old friend of mine.”
Church introduced each of them in turn.
When Church turned to Heff, he smiled and said, “We’ve already met.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Church mumbled, shooting him a warning look.
Heff grinned back at him.
“Guys, this is Sammy. Or do you prefer Samantha now?”
“Sam works.”
“Sam it is. Do you have time to hang around for a while, or do you have to get back right away?”
“I have some time, and I’d love to have a look around, if that’s okay.”
“Of course. If you give me a minute to rinse off, I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Beside her, Smoke stiffened again and opened his mouth to say something, but Sam cut him off. “I’d like that. It’ll give us a chance to catch up.”
Church and Sam wandered off. Heff turned to get back to work, only to find Smoke in his face.
“What the fuck was that all about?”
“Just trying to help.”
“I don’t need any help. And stay the fuck away from Sam.”
Heff held his hands up. “No worries, man.”
Smoke snorted and stalked off.
Doc gave a low whistle. “Man, he’s got it bad.”
“Yeah, he does,” Heff agreed. “She likes him too.”
Doc frowned. “I don’t know if Smoke is ready for that.”
“He is,” Heff said confidently.
“And you know this because ...”
“Because I’ve got a working pair of eyes and a sense for these kinds of things. She’s good for him.”
Mad Dog joined in the discussion. “Yeah? Then, how come you were baiting Smoke like that?”
“Because he can’t see it.”
“You’re a regular fucking Cupid, aren’t you?” joked Cage.
“Yep, that’s me. Now, make yourself useful and go grab a sledgehammer. We need to get those inner walls in the west wing open, so we know what we’re dealing with.”