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“There are times, such as today, when Craig is not in the mood. There are other times he’s curious to see what we have for him. Today, he wasn’t in the frame of mind to talk to anyone. It’s better for you to wait until he’s more agreeable.”
“How am I going to know when he’s in the mood?”
“We’ll come up and try again.”
“How often?”
He glanced at her, and she swallowed. He was handsome. She’d met handsome men before, but there was something different about him.
“We can come back tomorrow and try again or wait a couple of days. Usually, it makes a difference who his gatekeepers are.”
“Gatekeepers. As in, the two leering creeps up there?”
He nodded and his lips turned up on the right side. “Yeah. I think it’s how they present the visitors to him. Those two were angry and hateful. So, my guess is he went into Craig with an attitude and Craig shut it down. Now, if someone else is watching the road, he can be more accommodating.”
“Have you found him accommodating?”
“At times.” Spencer dragged his long, masculine fingers through the waves of his hair, causing her to dwell on the contrast between soft and strong. “Sometimes his curiosity is aroused. I’m guessing, leading with the words ‘court papers’, set him off. Craig’s angry right now about anything that has to do with our laws and the fact that some folks have come down the mountain to work. He’s taking the money they’re making to help pay off the taxes owed on the land up there. He’s sort of caught between a rock and a hard place and it makes him a bit ragey.”
“Ragey?” She giggled.
“His world is changing and he can’t stop it. He can’t control it. So, he’s lashing out and controlling what he can. Today, that was a visitor who had court papers.”
He turned his head and looked into her eyes as they drove onto the construction site. Her tummy felt light and fluttery and she swallowed.
5
Spencer jumped from his truck and moved to the passenger side with ease. At least his movements seemed at ease. He felt conflicted or something. Puzzled? No, that wasn’t it. Defeated? Nah. He shook his head and opened the passenger door. He held his hand out for Kenna and she laid her hand on his as she exited his truck. Her hands were soft, his weren’t.
She swiped her long, dark hair off her shoulders and tilted her head up to lock eyes with him. She had pretty green eyes, framed by dark thick lashes. Her lips had a layer of gloss on them and the waning daylight lit them up when they moved.
“Thank you for going with me.”
“You’re welcome. Let me know when you want to go back up and we’ll try again.”
“I don’t want to keep taking you away from your work.”
He grinned at her. “According to the sheriff, this is part of my work. They brought us here to stop the BRR from destroying the base and to keep the peace in town until things settle down.”
Her smile faltered, but she recovered quickly and plastered on a smile. But it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Okay. Thank you for your time. I’ll let you know when I want to go back up there.”
“Sounds good. Drive careful, Kenna.”
He liked how her name rolled off his tongue.Kenna.
She hesitated a moment, then turned and strode to her Jeep. He watched her fluid movements as she hopped up and started the engine. She quickly buckled her seatbelt and backed from her parking spot.
“Were you successful?” He turned to Henry, who had snuck up on him.
“No.”
They both watched Kenna’s Jeep leave the construction site. Henry turned and clomped up the metal steps to the construction trailer, as he strode across the gravel site toward his tower and the cut wires he needed to repair so they could go home.
He pulled his tool belt from the locker near the tower and buckled it on. With a heavy sigh, he climbed the tower. They had cut the wires in two places. Nothing interesting or conspicuous about the location, just two random and close places.
While he was up there, he glanced toward the mountain to see if anyone was watching or lurking around. The BRR had been rather quiet and at least Gerard Weston, who was Craig Howard’s brother-in-law, and the vice president of the BRR, had been communicating with them. If they had any more issues with the kids coming down, he’d talk to Gerard, or his son, Jasiah. Gerard wanted peace. Jasiah did as well, but they were a divided community up there. According to Gerard, it was more volatile than before, mostly because those who wanted peace were now targeted by the old-school BRR who wanted things the way they had been. Change is hard and many of them up there had never had to abide by the US laws nor those of the town of Glen Hollow.
