Page 14 of Take The Risk

​“The fireplace was in the basement at that point, crushed beneath—”

​She shook her head violently, her eyes seeking mine. “No. Please. I—I am so sorry. That had to be devastating.”

​ I needed to explain to her, to tell her what the aftermath was, but I still couldn’t.

Without thinking, I reached out, wiping away the tear that left a streak down her cheek. “Please let me fix your house. I swear it will be safe for you and your son.” You will be safe with me. I didn’t need to say it. My meaning hung heavily in the air.

​She searched my face for a long minute, then flicked her gaze back to Dad. “Okay.”

​I caught Dad’s inclination of his head out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t really see anything but Phoebe.

​“Mom?” Lachlan’s voice cut through the moment, and Phoebe jerked away from my touch.

​“Yeah, bud?” She sniffled, turning on the tailgate of Dad’s truck to look at her son, who was standing behind her opened car door.

​“Am I going to school today?”

​Phoebe blinked several times, looking at her watch. “Oh! I—” Her eyes darted between me and Dad. “Damn,” she muttered, before saying to Lachlan, “Yeah, I just—”

​“Perhaps you could feed me first?” Lachlan demanded. “It’s almost lunchtime and I’m a growing boy!”

​Rolling her eyes, she shook her head while Dad and I both laughed.

​“Look.” Dad patted her knee, and I found myself liking that even less than her sitting next to him. “Why don’t you take your son—er, Lachlan, is it?” At her nod, he continued, “To get some food and then to school. Ty and I will go through your house and see what needs doing. We can meet you or you can come back here to go over everything when we’re done. You just can’t go into your house again without one of us.”

​“I understand. I can take Lachlan to school and then I’ll come back here—” She trailed off, biting her lip, her fingers starting to rub together again.

​Dad frowned at it.

​“Is something wrong?” I asked.

​She let out a little sound I wanted to say was a grunt, but it also sounded like a breath had been caught in her lungs and she’d finally managed to let it out. “When you say go through my house…what exactly do you mean? I mean, I have things—”

​“We won’t be disturbing anything of yours unless it is directly in the way of our inspection,” Dad was quick to reassure her.

​Her cheeks flushed the shade of pink I’d found so enticing earlier. I found that despite still feeling like my skin was coated in slime, other parts of me were very much getting back in the game.

​“I didn’t mean to imply you’d go through my things. I—I just have some things—”

​“That are private,” I finished for her, not liking that instead of rubbing together, her fingers were now pressed hard together. “Is there anything specific we should avoid? We can wait for you to come back”—Dad’s jaw dropped in surprise before snapping closed in annoyance—“and I can lead you to what you need first, if that works better for you?”

​Oh, I was going to catch hell from Dad. It was against just about everything in us as contractors and men to allow a woman to put herself in the kind of danger there was in the house. But I’d keep her safe, and after what I did, I owed her this.

​“MOM! My pants are already loose!”

​Getting off the tailgate, she tilted her head to the sky, muttering a prayer. “I—I appreciate your offer. The—the only real issue is the room at the front of the house upstairs. I use it for my office. Well, I will. I have to keep some things confidential—”

​Waving a hand, I dismissed her worry. “I can wait to come back and check that room.”

​Her fingers relaxed, even if she didn’t smile fully. “Thanks. It’s not you guys. Well, it is,” she rambled, and I felt my heart thud a little at that, hoping it was her nerves from earlier causing it. “Actually, not you guys, you guys, per se, it’s just I’m required…I don’t…I’m not allowed…”

​I stepped closer and took it as a good sign that she didn’t run in the opposite direction. “You have to protect your work,” I said simply, even as my curiosity flared. I wanted to ask her what she did, but given the way I’d behaved, I had a feeling I needed to not press her too hard. Me and my big fucking mouth. “I’ll wait.”

​Her half-smile didn’t reach her eyes, which told me that she didn’t fully trust me.

​After I grabbed her purse, which she’d left inside, Dad and I went to work making our way through the house while she took Lachlan for food and school.

​“If she signs a contract with us, it removes the City violation timeline. I can shift a few things and we can start it for her in a couple of days. There’s no need for you to take this on, son.”