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She could’ve told him he didn’t have to do that, but it had become clear he was as much of a dog person as Cam was, so if he wanted to take the dogs out now and then, she wasn’t going to stop him. ‘That would be great, thanks. While I remember, we’re throwing a barbecue later to welcome everyone – it’s a bit short notice because Mum and Aunt Rowena only came up with the idea this morning, but you should come too as you’re very much part of the team.’ He wasn’t staying on site like the others as he lived less than twenty minutes away, but Hope wanted Declan to feel included.
Declan shook his head. ‘Any other time, but I’ve promised my wife I’d take her to the cinema later.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame.’ Hope thought about it for a moment then offered a possible solution. ‘Could your wife not come and meet you here? You could eat with us and then head off to see the film afterwards, if it’s a late enough showing, that is.’
‘We were planning on eating beforehand, so let me check with her and see what she says.’ Declan’s smile was warm as he gazed down at her. ‘That’s really thoughtful of you, Hope, thanks.’
She was spared the embarrassment of replying by the sound of a horn beep-beeping behind them. Turning, she spotted her cousin waving out of the window of his Range Rover, a convoy of half a dozen vehicles behind him. She recognised Cam’s rundown hatchback and Barnie’s smarter car in the little queue and couldn’t stop the fizz of excitement in her stomach. ‘Here we go.’
‘I’ll get those teas and coffees made,’ Declan said, but she shook her head.
‘No, let me sort that out. This is your site to manage, so you should go and greet them. I don’t want the lines of who’s in charge getting blurred.’
‘Well, as long as you’re sure?’ When she nodded, Declan ducked into the cabin and returned a second later with a hardhat on and carrying a high-vis vest, which he slid his arms into as he marched with purpose towards the site entrance gate.
Hope climbed the steps into the cabin and tossed her sunhat on the table. She bypassed the kettle to fill the large hot water urn and switched it on to heat up. They’d decided on reusable mugs to cut down on waste, so she set them out on the counter and opened a box of tea bags and a jar of coffee, which she placed next to the urn so people could help themselves.
She was just checking the fridge had enough bottled water when someone rapped on the open door and a familiar voice called out. ‘White coffee, two sugars for me!’ Turning with a laugh, Hope found herself almost nose-to-nose with a grinning Barnie. ‘Hello! Hello! Well, here we finally are!’
‘Hello!’ She leaned forward to kiss his cheek and laughed because he’d thrust out a hand. ‘There’ll be no standing on ceremony here,’ she said.
‘Well, if you’re not going to accept a kiss, get out of the way so I can at least claim mine,’ a familiar voice said from behind Barnie’s shoulder.
Barnie rolled his eyes at her, before pecking her cheek and edging past her on the steps. ‘I’ll get my own drink then, shall I?’
‘Whatever you like,’ Hope murmured, not really listening to him because Cam had taken his place on the steps. It was silly to feel so shy, but she couldn’t seem to calm the butterflies in her stomach all of a sudden. ‘Hello.’
‘Hello. Everything okay?’ He reached up to tuck away a stray curl that had escaped her plait and it was as though his touch broke the spell.
‘Everything’s great.’ He was one step below her, which set him at the perfect height to claim the kiss she’d been anticipating all week.
‘It is now,’ he murmured against her lips. In a normal voice he continued, ‘I’m sorry we’re a bit earlier than expected, but everyone was so keen to get going that they were already waiting in the car park at the university when I arrived.’ Slipping an arm around her waist, he turned to face the people waiting at the bottom of the steps. ‘This is Hope. She’s the reason we’re all here today, so be nice to her, okay?’
She laughed as half a dozen greetings rose from the gaggle in front of her. Most of the team looked to be undergraduates, but there were a couple of faces that were older, maybe even around her age. ‘I just want to say how grateful I am to all of you for giving up your time to help me solve the mystery of whatever I accidentally uncovered.’
‘Is it true you were building a house?’ one of the young men asked. His cheeks reddened almost immediately and there was something of a look of panic as he looked past Hope towards Cam. ‘Sorry, I hope that wasn’t inappropriate of me to ask. Dr Ferguson has already told us we should respect your family’s privacy.’
‘It’s fine,’ Hope assured him. ‘I don’t mind answering questions about what happened.’ She gave them a quick rundown of what had happened, then cast a quick glance up at Cam, who had stiffened a little beside her. ‘It’s fine,’ she repeated so only he would hear. ‘They’re bound to be a bit curious.’
Cam nodded. ‘I meant what I said before, though, so let me know if anyone starts poking their nose in where it’s not wanted.’
‘I will. Come on, I’m sure everyone could do with a drink.’ She led the way into the cabin. It was a bit of a tight squeeze with everyone inside, but thankfully, Barnie took control. He soon had a little production line set up by the urn. He took orders, dumping either a teabag or a spoonful of coffee in mugs and passed them to a handsome Asian man with a fringe that dangled in his eyes who added hot water from the urn. A pretty blonde woman next to him added milk and sugar as required. With a mug of tea in hand, Hope followed Cam outside and soon the others had joined them in a loose circle.
‘Five minutes, everyone, and I’ll start the safety briefing.’ They turned to see Declan standing on the steps of the site office.
‘Thanks, we’ll be there in a minute,’ Cam assured him. He turned back to the group. ‘Remember what I said: Declan is in charge of everyone’s safety and security, so I want you all to play close attention to what he has to say, okay?’ The group nodded and began to break up as people finished their drinks and a couple of them began returning the dirty mugs to the welfare unit.
‘I’ll wash up afterwards,’ said the Asian man with the long fringe.
‘Cheers, Adam.’
‘Scott will give me a hand, won’t you?’ Adam asked with a grin at the young man who’d questioned Hope about how she’d uncovered the site.
‘That’s me volunteered, I guess,’ Scott said, though he was smiling rather than disgruntled at the thought. Hope was getting a good feeling from the little group already.
They were about to head to the site office when a phone started ringing. Scott pulled it out of his pocket, his happy expression swallowed by a frown as he looked at the caller ID. ‘It’s my dad,’ he said, staring at the phone like it might bite him. ‘That’s the third time he’s called me this morning.’ He made no move to answer it and it seemed to take forever for the noise to stop.
‘Is there a problem I need to be aware of?’ Cam’s question sounded casual enough, but Hope could sense a sudden tension in his body.
