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If she didn’t have the same exact odd-colored hair as Larry, he’d question the validity of that in the document as well.
“This will has me twisted up as fuck. What the hell was he thinking?”
“He was looking for a way out. He was maxed out on every card, every line of credit, and even owed some to a loan shark before he came to me.”
Shane rubbed his hands over his face. “Thanks for bailing us out.” Pride pricked at him, but he knew his friend only wanted to help. Kain did have more money than God. Between his clients as an architect and the construction company, Kain had already made a name for himself. Kain wanted to make his own mark, away from his father. That was why he’d stayed in California after college.
Shane dug his fingertips into the bunched muscles along his shoulders. He’d thought he was being so clever with Avery Furniture. He’d been happy to adopt his stepfather’s name when his mother married him, but he and Kain both had a need to establish themselves away from their fathers’ reputations. Every penny he brought home from work had been poured into materials for his own company. If he hadn’t bought all that lumber from Hawaii, he wouldn’t be so strapped now.
Kendall came down the stairs. Soft pants hit just above her ankles, leaving her feet bare. A flash of silver winked from her toes. His gaze slid up to the flare of her hips and the matching gray hoodie that hugged her like another skin. The clothes would be too big, his ass. “I hope it was okay to dig into her workout clothes. Everything else made me look like a twelve-year-old playing dress-up.”
Nothing about Kendall said teen, but the street clothes did make her look far younger than when she wore the suit.
“Come and eat, `ânela.”
Shane’s head snapped to Kain. He’d already given her a Hawaiian nickname? Kain let his native language fly when he was drinking, but Shane was pretty sure he was sober.
She padded over and hopped up on one of the stools at the end of the island’s breakfast nook. “Make it a Dagwood for me.”
Kain grinned. “I love a woman with an appetite. If Shane fucks up, you’ll find yourself chased.”
Kendall blushed. “I haven’t eaten anything all day.”
“That’s because Shane forgot his manners along with his tact.”
Kain was laying it on a bit thick. Shane’s gaze rested on Kendall. He couldn’t blame his friend for the interest. Without the prim suit and mask of makeup, she was softer, even more beautiful than when she’d landed on his walkway. His voice gentled. “It’s been a shitty week.”
Kain laid a hand on his shoulder as he passed by and set a plate in front of Kendall. Shane drew in a deep breath. He didn’t want to alienate anyone, least of all his best friend. “So you took on my father’s debt for the names of all his clients?”
“As well as a meeting with each of them to make sure the transition would be flawless.”
And he’d been distracted working ten-hour days for Justice and then six or more hours in his shop every night. His goals had been more important than seeing that his father was floundering. What did that make him?
“We were meeting with the final few clients just before he died. He was going to tell his employees that they’d be under Kainoa Construction by the start of the new quarter.”
“Did you lose anyone?”
“Just a handful. Some were looking for a way to start their own firms, and Collins and Frederickson were fucked off— Shit, sorry, Kendall.”
She shrugged and swallowed. “I hang out with fishermen and hunters. You couldn’t insult me if you tried.”
Shane picked at his sandwich. He couldn’t quite rectify the idea of Kendall in hip waders and fishing poles.
“They didn’t like the idea of change. I have a feeling they’ll be in contact with me soon. Especially now that your father is…”
“It’s okay. He’s gone.” The grief sat inside his chest like an organ without a purpose. He didn’t know how to push it out or make it feel less. He’d lost his mother so long ago that she was just a vague memory of laughter and the sweet scent of vanilla.
Kendall’s attention was on her food and the slice of tomato that had slid from the roll she could barely hold with both hands.
“Your dad wanted to retire. I offered him a job, but he said he wanted to have his freedom,” Kain said quietly.
A freedom he’d never gotten. Larry Justice was always taking care of someone. Whether it was an army of employees, contracts, or friends. He rarely spent a moment alone.
“And he knew you’d be fine. You were almost self-sufficient with Avery Furniture.”
“Avery Furniture?” Kendall’s dark eyes met his.
Shane didn’t like to talk about the wood he was compelled to work with. Being a foreman for the job site was his life as far as his father was concerned. But he liked to build. He needed to feel the smooth wood under his hands and decide what would be created out of it.
