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“No problem. I totally get it. I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure when I was going to find the time. Melendez Cottages are taking more time and resources than I’d originally thought.”
“About the cottages, I have a favor to ask,” Trent said as they dropped the gear onto the field and opened the duffel bags.
“Name it,” Wes said, reaching inside for a stack of traffic cones.
“Angel’s boys are still struggling a little. Their father is making a ploy to get them to live with him in L.A., and I’d offered to help her with maybe setting them up with some part-time work here in town. Give them more motivation to choose to stay and also help her show the courts that they are doing well here.”
Wes glanced at him as he positioned the cones. “And you’re wondering if I could use a couple of apprentices?”
Trent nodded. “I’ll cover their wages. I’m not asking you to pay them.”
“Sure,” Wes said. “The Melendez Cottages are a no-go. I can’t have unskilled minors on-site at a job like that one. But I can give them some cleanup work around some local jobsites after construction is completed.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate that.”
Wes looked like he wanted to say something but then got to work setting up the tackle dummy.
“What is it?” Trent asked as he helped.
Wes hesitated. “Look, it’s none of my business, man, but you seem to be awfully concerned with helping Angel out.”
Naturally, that might come across as suspect. Trent took zero offense at Wes’s non-direct questioning. “There’s absolutely nothing going on there.” He paused. “It’s a big brother relationship thing. I feel compelled to help her, that’s all.”
“And Whitney’s okay with all this help?”
He remembered the conversation in the Jeep the night of the Halloween party and nodded. “We’ve actually had the discussion. Everything’s cool. Whitney knows I’m completely devoted to her.” And he hoped his actions that day proved it to her even more. “But you’re right. I’ll back off a little. Angel’s not my responsibility.” The only person he felt a responsibility to was Whitney. Normally, he wouldn’t care what his helping Angel looked like to the outside world, but he never wanted to disrespect Whitney in any way, and if their friends were starting to look at Trent’s friendship with Angel sideways, maybe it was best to put some distance there.
Wes seemed appeased. “It’s your relationship, man. I just care about the both of you.”
He was lucky to have a friend like Wes. They all looked out for one another in their circle of friends. Trent fist-bumped his buddy. “I appreciate it.”
“I’ll ask the boys to stop by the office,” Wes said as the team started to arrive.
“Great. I’ll give Angel a heads-up.”
Trent greeted the boys as they geared up and scanned the field for Eddie and Liam, but he didn’t see them.
He checked his watch and gave them a few extra minutes, but the boys were a no-show.
Odd of them to miss a practice.
He reached for his cell phone and started to text Angel but then stopped. If any of the other kids missed practice, would he call their parents to check in on them? Maybe hewastoo involved with Angel and her family. He knew there was no attraction between them, but he also knew how things could and would be perceived.
He had to be careful there.
He put his cell phone away and blew the whistle hanging around his neck, catching the team’s attention. “Okay, guys! Bring it in!”
Chapter Eighteen
Now…
Trent did what?
Sitting on her living room sofa late that evening, her swollen feet propped up on several pillows, Whitney stared at the email from Rejuvenation with the paid invoice attached. Her mother’s housing and new nursing requirement costs had been paid in full for the year. She blinked, not trusting her eyes.
That’s one keeper of a fiancé you have there, was Marla’s message.
Whitney’s conflicted heart made her chest tighten until it was hard to breathe. Such an amazingly thoughtful gesture…but something she couldn’t allow him to do. And he knew that—that’s why he’d done it without talking to her first.
