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Standing next to Daniel, Will had his arm around Harper, her brother Jeremy beside them.
"Hey, Sebastian, Will said I could have a day off to come help." Jeremy's voice was big, enthusiastic, bright, and that described him to a T. He'd been hit by a car when he was seven years old and had suffered extensive brain damage. While he would always have the mind of that seven-year-old, he was the sweetest kid. Okay, he wasn't a kid at eighteen, but he was always so damn happy and optimistic. Just as Sebastian had told Francine's story at his last workshop, he'd told Jeremy and Harper's story too. Bad things happened sometimes, but people were capable of overcoming them.
Sebastian introduced Charlie, and Jeremy was immediately bouncing on his toes with excitement. "The Zantis are awesome, Charlie."
"Thank you." She patted his arm. "What do you think about having something of your very own? Maybe a sculpture to look like your favorite car?"
His eyes went wide. "Wow. A Birdcage Maserati sculpture would be way cool."
Matt had brought his son Noah, and the boy was already down on the floor playing with a plastic toolset, aided by a pretty, twentysomething young woman.
"Who's that?" Will asked. "Your new nanny?"
"Ariana works at my San Jose store," Daniel answered for Matt. "She had to rearrange some hours at her second job so she could be here today. Everyone loves her."
"She's great with Noah," Harper noted. "He's laughing as hard as he does when Jeremy gives him an elephant ride on his back."
Noah's laughter was a balm, especially to Matt, whose only desire was to see his son happy. He'd had a rough go of things with Noah's mother. Sebastian felt his pain. All the Mavericks did.
Speaking of pain, thankfully Evan hadn't brought his wife--God forbid Whitney should break a nail. Evan's sister-in-law Paige had come instead. Sebastian had always liked her. Though she was pretty, she wasn't the bombshell her sister was--at least, not until you saw her smile--and mercifully she didn't have her sister's explosive tendencies either.
"Okay, people," Daniel called. "I'll organize everyone into teams and assign your tasks. You're my leaders, and you'll be responsible for your team members. I'm including a list of kids on each task so they can get some experience. We want them to learn, so be patient and explain what you're doing, okay? Materials are in the garage and on the concrete pad out back. John does electrical and Roger is our plumber, so check in with them if you have questions. In addition to remodeling the ki
tchen, we're painting inside and out, installing double-pane windows and new floors, and redoing all bathroom fixtures, toilets, and showers--three upstairs, two downstairs. With all of us working hard today, we should be ready for the inspectors tomorrow. Here are the assignments." He grinned at everyone. "Let the fun begin."
*
Charlie and Sebastian were given kitchen duty and assigned two fresh-faced seventeen-year-olds, a boy named Ezekial (who asked them to call him EZ) and a girl, Stacey. As Sebastian laid out the base cabinet instructions on the floor, Charlie was again glad she'd come. If it turned out that she couldn't squeeze any college classes into her fall schedule, at least she'd have logged in a little teaching time today.
"We'll need screwdrivers." Sebastian pulled one from his belt. "Here's how we put the pieces together." He was fast and efficient, as if he used to install kitchens for a living, and the kids watched with interest, taking in everything he said and did. "And we're done." The cabinet, which would contain drawers, fit perfectly next to the stove, according to Daniel's floor plan. "Now let's do the corner cabinet that'll go beside it."
Instead of letting them try themselves, Sebastian put that one together too. Charlie didn't want to take over, but since teaching was a big part of the exercise, when Sebastian started to take on a third cabinet solo, she had to butt in.
"We probably need to split up and each take a cabinet, or we'll never get them all done." She tried to make it sound like an idea rather than a comment on his training skills.
For just a moment, frustration flashed in his eyes, then it was gone. He nodded and everyone took a carton to start work.
Charlie was usually a pro at this sort of thing, but honestly, today she was having trouble focusing on the job at hand. Sebastian was so damned sexy in his tool belt. And when she started to have visions of him wearing only the tool belt and nothing else? Her hands actually trembled, she wanted to reach for him so badly.
As if she'd transmitted her thoughts straight to him, their gazes met over the kids' bent heads. The look of love brimming in his eyes wrapped around her, as though he held her heart carefully in his hand. God, she loved him, falling deeper with every day, every moment.
She'd seen him on stage and at what seemed like a million galas, but it was a whole different level of sweetness to see how kind and patient he was with the kids. When Stacey started screwing in the corner cupboard carousels before they'd mounted the cabinets, he didn't get mad or banish her to the garage to fold cardboard for the trash. He simply said, "We'll hang the cabinets first, and then put in the carousels and drawers, okay?"
"Why?"
Sebastian was already moving ahead and said only, "You'll see."
Charlie touched Stacey's arm. "Since the cabinets are actually mounted on the wall, it's easier to hang them and get them straight when they're empty."
Stacey smiled at her. "Thanks, it helps to know that."
Meanwhile, EZ had forgotten to use the level on the cabinet mounting bars, ending up with one side lower than the other--and Sebastian had already stepped in to fix it while EZ stood back and let him.
Just as Charlie decided to butt in again, suggesting that EZ fix his own mistakes, she was interrupted by a gravelly male voice. "What have we got going on in here?"
A smile a mile wide creased Sebastian's face. In the open garage door, the big, bald, ruddy-faced man enfolded the much taller Sebastian in a bear hug. Then Bob stood aside so that Sebastian could gather Susan into a hug as bearlike as the one Bob had given him.
It was obvious who the couple was given the affection and adoration in Sebastian's eyes and voice. Charlie felt her chest squeeze tight. These people might not be his birth parents, but they meant the world to him.
