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“You’ve done a nice job with this,” he said. “It’d take some work doing the construction without her catching on before it’s done, but I think I have all the materials we’d need already on hand.”
I found myself grinning back at him. “Perfect. And no need to worry about the surprise. We can put it together during the times when she’s out of town. The other guys can keep a secret.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.” Dad clapped my shoulder again, with a crinkling at the corners of his eyes that turned his smile even more fond. “Thank you for coming to me with this. I’m looking forward to getting down to work with you again.”
An answering eager energy lit in me, melting the uneasiness I’d been trying to shake all morning. “Me too.”
Chapter Seven
Damon
The morning before Rose was due back from her latest venture, the buzz of a power drill brought me into the woods beyond the garden. I had the day off, and I’d slept late after dreams I couldn’t remember had left me waking repeatedly in a cold sweat that had fractured my night. No one else had been in the dining room when I’d grabbed breakfast. What the hell was going on out here?
I had to pick my way between the trees for several minutes before I spotted the source of the sound. In a small clearing up ahead, the sunlight streaming in caught on pale wooden beams. As I strode closer, the mass of them took shape: a raised, circular structure with a conical roof. Seth was perched on a ladder at the edge of that roof, just fixing another board in place. An older man I recognized as his dad steadied the base of the ladder. And Jin was out there too, leaning against a nearby oak with a sketchbook balanced on one arm while he drew.
I still didn’t know what this was all about.
Seth was just finishing with his current task. He eased his way down the ladder and caught sight of me the moment I emerged into the clearing. I folded my arms over my chest, looking up at the structure, which loomed about twice my height though still lower than the trees.
Seth came over looking friendly enough. Since my outburst last week, which admittedly I felt a little ridiculous remembering, the guys hadn’t treated me any differently, as if they’d all decided to pretend it hadn’t happened. I had to wonder whether that generosity was because they’d taken it as a typical Damon fit of temper… or because they knew I was right and didn’t want to admit it.
“Hey,” he said as he reached me. “Sorry if the noise got loud enough to wake you up.”
He said it casually, but a jab of annoyance at the reminder that I’d slept in prodded my gut. I’d been sleeping while he’d been out here constructing entire small buildings.
“I didn’t hear anything until I was already outside.” I jerked my chin toward the structure. “What’s this all about? I don’t remember Rose saying anything about adding to the estate.”
Seth gave me a conspiratorial grin that might have been welcome if I’d actually been in on the secret to begin with. “She doesn’t know about it. I wanted to surprise her. It’s a gazebo, big enough for us all to sit out here if we want to relax well away from the staff.”
“I can see that it’s a gazebo,” I muttered. “Are you sure she’s going to be okay with this?”
He shrugged. “If she isn’t, I can always take it back down again. But I think she’ll appreciate it. We need more parts of this place that feel like ours rather than ancient Hallowell history. We’re taking things in a new direction now.”
Jin ambled over, his sketchbook tucked under his arm. “When our resident architect has work complete, I’m going to paint the whole thing,” he announced, his eyes already gleaming. “I’m figuring out the plan now—it’s going to look spectacular.”
“Of course it will.” I might not be an art connoisseur, but even I could tell that Jin brought a hell of a lot of skill and talent to everything he made. Between the two of them, I already knew there was no way Rose wouldn’t love this gift to pieces.
A jolt of prickling heat ran up my arm from my scar. The malicious side of the energy it seemed to contain wanted to smash the building before our consort ever got the chance to see it. Maybe some part of me had the urge to do that too. I shifted my weight on my feet, tucking my hand under the opposite elbow as I clenched it against the mark’s power. “How long do you figure it’ll take you to finish? Rose is supposed to be back this afternoon.”
“We’ll be done with construction before then,” Seth said. “Jin will sneak out to do the painting over the next few days. I’m counting on her not happening to wander to this exact spot in the meantime. That’s another reason it’s a good distance from the house.”
He’d thought it all the way through—that was for sure. The muscles in my hand flexed. My jaw twitched with a remark I swallowed before it could come out. I wasn’t even sure what I’d have said, only that the words would have had acid in them.
Get it together, Damon. IwantedRose to be happy, in every way we could make her happy. Taking this offering away from her wouldn’t accomplish that. I was better than those feelings anyway, wasn’t I? What had all my best behavior over the past months been for if I wasn’t?
I coulddobetter. I shouldn’t be standing around fuming about Seth’s ingenuity when I could be mining my own. He and Jin had their talents; I had outright magic at my disposal. I’d be damned if I couldn’t top their project one way or another.
“Good luck with it,” I said with a nod, impressed with the genuine benevolence I managed to bring to my voice, and left them to it.
I wandered in a random but determined path through the Hallowell woods, turning over the possibilities in my mind. What would bring that perfect beaming smile to Rose’s face—not just the smile, but make her glow with joy in that way that transformed her from beautiful into divine? I needed to pull that off, and I wanted to pull it off before Seth and Jin presented her with their surprise.
After a long ramble, my steps slowed. I’d come to the far edge of the woods where the wild trees thinned around me, and the scene ahead hit me with a perfect tingle of inspiration.
I’d reached the little apple orchard that bordered the forest near the old hunting lodge. The hunched fruit trees in their neat rows looked like midgets compared to the grander pines and elms around me. But this had been one of our favorite spots to roam around when we were kids. During apple season, I wasn’t sure a day had gone by when we hadn’t snuck into the orchard to grab a snack fresh off the boughs. In an instant, I could bring up the image of a younger Rose digging her teeth into the shiny red skin and letting her eyes roll back with satisfaction.
The apples should be in season within a few weeks. For now, the globes of fruit I could spot amid the leaves were small and green. My consort wasn’t going to get excited over those.
But what if I could speed things along a little? Bring some of that past pleasure back into our lives… as if by magic.
