Page 40 of The Handy Men
"I don't want to discuss it any further," her mother had said, and while things were still a little frosty, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence.
Things only got a little hairy when two guests arrived at once and then the elevator jammed. Jack and Dean walked in the door five minutes after she called them. She avoided Jack's eyes, but was grateful when he ran the luggage upstairs himself while Dean fixed the elevator. She set out pitchers of iced tea and carafes of coffee in the front room and was just taking out a tray of cookies from the oven when he came into the kitchen.
"Hot stuff coming through," he said, and grinned at her.
She gave him a small smile and turned her back on him while she used a spatula to put the hot cookies on the cooling rack.
"Dean said you were a little upset yesterday."
"Not now, Jack. My parents are here and I've got an inn full of guests."
He came up behind her and whispered in her ear. "I just want to tell you, I love you." He kissed her on the cheek and then walked away.
She closed her eyes and almost burned herself on the cookie tray when the heat seeped through the mitt she was wearing. Leave it to Jack to drop a bombshell like that and then leave. Paige hid in the kitchen until the cookies were cool enough to handle. After plating them up, she took them into the front room and checked on the cream and soymilk she had set out with the coffee. As he passed by, wiping his hands on a rag, Dean winked at her.
She followed him outside to the porch, where Jack was telling one of her guests about the sunrise yoga on the beach. That sounded nice on paper, but really the only thing Paige wanted to do at dawn on the beach was sleep.
"Thanks for coming when I called," she said to Dean.
"Always," he said. "How are you holding up?"
She walked down the path with him. "Great. It's been great."
"Really?"
Paige shook her head. "It's been pretty stressful."
"Why don't you come over to our house after you've straightened up everything from dinner?"
She shook her head. "I want to stay on the island in case something happens."
"We will, too. We got the power turned on at the rental house on Dune Street. That's where Jack and I are staying."
Paige gasped in surprise.
Dean narrowed his eyes. "Where did you think we were staying?"
"With Stephanie?"
He tucked his fingers under her chin. "No," he said. "We want you."
"Don't make me cry."
"Then don't let the monkeys in your brain start telling you lies." He hugged her tight."Oh, Dean," she choked as the tears flowed down her face.
He wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "We’ll get through this." He kissed her, a long and passionate one that made her breathless. "We're 129 Dune Street. The red house. Come by tonight."
She nodded.
"Where's mine?" Jack asked, hauling her into his arms and kissing her senseless.
"Not now, you ass." Dean thumped him on the arm.
He let Paige come up for air. When he put her down, Paige saw they had an audience—her parents were frowning at them from the doorway.
"Uh oh, it's the cops," Jack said.
"You need to leave right now," her mother said, shaking her finger at them.
