He grinned, “no Heather, this is what we do for fun.” My brow furrowed. Now, was that sarcasm? I pursed my lips, and he laughed. “No, really, I work in finance, but we’ve been helping with repairs in the district since the earthquake.”
“Is that how you learned to do this?”
“What fix a roof?” I nodded, passing him another tile and biting my lower lip when our fingertips touched. “No, my fatherwas a roofer, and I used to help him with the family business when I was a teen.”
He positioned the roof tile and then hammered it in.
“Did you ever want to carry on with building instead of finance?”
He shook his head. “I love numbers too much.” I smiled. “After I started in the finance industry, I dabbled in stocks and shares for a while, and well, now we have the ability to help others when they need it.”
As I listened and passed him another tile, warmth spread over my body, heat rising through my core. He was a literal knight in shining armor. How could I have been so lucky?
Watching him place and hammer in the next tile, I asked, “But what happened after the earthquake? Was your job still there?” I bit my lower lip. “I mean, was the building there?”
He smirked, then answered, “Yes, we were fortunate. Our home, Dante’s restaurant and Angus’s gaming company — they were all fine, just minor repairs. The company I worked at sadly lost a lot of its employees in the quake, so I took over and I’ve been running things ever since.”
“It sure sounds like you were one of the lucky ones.” I looked around at the devastation from our rooftop.
He sighed, but nodded. “If we’d known about the orphanage, we would have helped sooner Heather, we thought it had been abandoned.”
“No, sorry, that’s not what I meant. I’m glad everything worked out for you, and I’m more than grateful for everything you’re doing for us. I can’t ever repay you.” I looked down at the slate tiles in my hands.
He smiled. “I don’t think you realize Heather, you’re ours now, and we protect our own. You can have anything you want, and we will travel the world to find it for you. You’re our pack Heather, you’re our home.”
I totally swooned in that moment. He was serious; they all were. I had already guessed we were meant to be, their scents driving me crazy had told me everything and more. But was I ready to hear it? I took a deep breath. No, I wasn’t; I hadn’t been, but maybe this, them... was everything I needed in my life right now, and more.
His peppermint scent was stronger up here, mixed with the clean smell of honest sweat and the faint ozone that preceded the storm clouds gathering on the horizon. Each time he leaned closer to show me the proper angle for positioning a shingle, or reached across me to retrieve a tool, I found myself breathing deeper than necessary.
“Where’s Cole?” I asked, realizing there were four of them before.
“He wanted to be here, but there has been an influx of, erm... patients in the morgue.”
“You mean dead people?” I asked, not wanting to mix words.
His lips curved upward, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Yes... it’s good to know we can talk straight with you,” his voice dropped. "It's refreshing to speak without... dancing around things."
I grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
We continued adding new tiles to the areas of the roof that needed fixing, chatting as we worked, getting to know one another and enjoying our time together.
"They're good kids," he blurted, his voice quiet enough that it wouldn't carry to the children working below. "You've done well with them."
The unexpected compliment hit me harder than it should have, probably because I'd grown so accustomed to criticism—from social workers who questioned my qualifications, from neighbors who thought I was taking on more than any single person could handle, from the voice in my head that constantlycatalogued every way I might fail the children who depended on me.
"I love them," I said simply, because that was the only truth that mattered when everything else felt too complicated to explain.
"I can see that," Bennett replied, securing another shingle with practiced efficiency. "But love isn't always enough to keep people safe. Sometimes it takes resources, community, people willing to share the burden of making sure everyone has what they need."
His words bore a weight that had nothing to do with roofing materials and everything to do with the independence I'd been clinging to like armor against a world that had taught me to expect disappointment whenever I allowed myself to depend on others.
Below us, Dante had set up what appeared to be a small outdoor kitchen operation, serving what looked like a risotto to all the workers and children. The portable stove was also producing rich, chocolate-scented steam that made my mouth water even from this distance. The children had arranged themselves in a semicircle around him, their faces turned upward with the wonder of people witnessing magic.
"Real marshmallows," I heard Loubie Lou breathe, her voice carrying clearly in the crisp air. "Look, Bunny, they're floating!"
Manny had parked his truck at a safe distance from the cooking operation, but close enough that he could observe every step of the process while still maintaining his connection to his most precious possession. Denson sat with his stones arranged in neat patterns around his feet, his attention split between their familiar comfort and the fascinating complexity of watching someone prepare food with obvious skill and infinite patience.
Even Susie had relaxed enough to take part, her defensive wariness replaced by genuine curiosity as she asked questionsabout technique and ingredients, that Dante answered with the thoroughness of someone who loved sharing knowledge about his craft.
