Why would I need to? I love what I do, and I have no desire to go lie on a beach somewhere, or hit up the nightlife in the big city, when my idea of fun is doing exactly what I get to do every day already.
But I wasn’t going to say no to a full week of getting this build on track, so I took him up on his offer.
“Okay, those are set to go,” Wolff announces, climbing down again. “The batteries have two hours of recording time, so unless you want to run out halfway through the day with all this activity going on, I suggest shutting them down until nighttime. You should actually be able to set a timer.”
While he hoists the ladder on his shoulder and makes his way back to his truck, I pull up the app on my phone and make sure the cameras are all powered down.
Wolff is checking his phone by the time I join him, and I just catch him cursing under his breath.
“What is it?”
There’s something about the look he shoots me that makes me a little uneasy.
“It’s from Bo. He needs a hand up by the gorge.”
He cocks his thumb over his shoulder toward Kenelty Mountain across the river. That feeling of unease becomes more of a burn in my gut.
“Why, what’s happening up there?”
“The dog team found something and Sloane is rappelling down to join them.”
I don’t think, I react, and immediately turn on my heel to make my way to my truck.
Dammit, Sloane, what the fuck are you thinking?
“Hold up, Captain America.” Wolff claps me firmly on the shoulder. “Where’s the emergency?”
“She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s doing going down that rock wall,” I snap.
“She doesn’t need to; Bo will do all the work. We have the full pulley system rigged up so he could probably do it with his pinky finger. And other than that, she’s doing what she’s paid to do.”
I flip my hat off with one hand, while running the other through my hair.
“Besides that, you can’t leave, you’ve got issues here you have to deal with,” he continues.
Not to mention, if I showed up on the mountain, riding in like the knight in shining armor she probably doesn’t need, I’m just going to piss her off. Although, that wouldn’t stop me if she really was in any danger.
“Point taken,” I concede. “Just keep me in the loop.”
Wolff looks at me from under the brim of his hat and grins, shaking his head.
“You’ve got it bad, brother,” he states the obvious.
I don’t think there ever was a chance of me being subtle about my feelings for Sloane, so I don’t see the point of denying them.
“Trust me, I’m well aware.”
I watch as he gets in his truck and heads down the driveway, before turning back to the house.
Most of the paint is gone, but there are still a couple of spots visible, especially in the seams between the logs. I grab the bucket with the rags and the rubbing alcohol—which seems to work best on the wood—and get back to scrubbing.
I’ve got to keep these hands busy while I wait for news.
Nineteen
Sloane
I freeze when Jillian steps to the side and reveals what she called me down here for.