Page 130 of Daddy By Design

Not exactly up to code at the moment, that was for sure.

A lot had been done since I’d been at the site last. I’d mostly been keeping myself busy with the boring side of a renovation. Scheduling, chasing down supplies when needed, getting things ordered for the rooms as they were finalized. Shelby had evened out with her pregnancy, but she tired easily.

Which meant I was picking up some of the slack. I was tired as hell myself, but the long days kept me from overthinking things about Nolan.

I missed him almost as much as I missed my cat.

Annoying as hell.

I climbed the front porch steps, happy to see they were among the finished projects. It was a grand stone entrance with an ornate arched covering. The columns were obviously hand-carved, showing off Archer’s artistry in a mix of floral accents with the sharper gothic flavor that had drawn me to the house in the first place.

“Hey, Dahl!”

I turned at the familiar voice of Lucky Roberts. “Hey, big guy. How are you?”

“Good, good. We’re moving things along, as you see. This Archer guy is a ball buster, but damn if he doesn’t do nice work.”

“Stunning.”

“He’s in the back with grumpy. They’re doing something on the beach.”

“Something?”

He shrugged. “Whatever they’re doing, they’re out of my hair. I don’t care.”

I laughed. “Are they giving you grief?”

“No. Well, yes, but not to an annoying level. We’ve got it handled.” He tugged his hair out of his usual bun and retied it up. “At least today isn’t as hot as balls. I gotta get back to the pouring though.”

“Everything okay in the basement?”

“Yep. One thing that doesn’t need a complete overhaul. Hallelujah.”

I laughed. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it.” I walked around the side of the house. Another two Dumpsters were set up beside the house, full of old sheetrock and crumbling ceiling medallions.

“Damn.” I’d hoped some of those could be salvaged. But it seemed like there was a mold element to it from what I could see. I backed away from it and wrinkled my nose.

No thanks on mold.

I started down the incline to the beach where Nolan and Archer were set up. My heart skipped as I spotted Gizmo bouncing around between them. I was about to rush forward when I noticed the neon-green harness around his chest and the extra-long lead.

Gizmo was playing tag between them for a treat, then he made a run for the waterline only to leap back before he could get his paws wet. Quickly, he returned to the dry beach.

My heart melted at the two grown men playing with the cat as if he was a dog. Gizmo loved it. He kept darting after a red and white ball that the two guys kicked between one another.

I shielded my eyes against the sun as I slowly made my way down to them.

Gizmo spotted me and zoomed my way, only to be jerked to a halt when his lead ended.

“Oh, baby.” I rushed forward and scooped him up. “Interesting operation you have down here.”

Nolan retrieved the ball and set it in the pen he’d set up beside their work area. “He likes it out here. I wasn’t sure about the harness, but he loves it.”

I peered down at Gizmo and brushed sand out of his whiskers. “You having fun?”

He wiggled for freedom. Guess that was enough lovings for his mama. I let him down and he scampered back down to Archer on the beach. I waved to him.

“Looks like lots of work is getting done around here.”

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