Page 19 of Deep Waters
Drew: Shit, I’m sorry.
Zach: Will you help me set up the cameras?
Drew: Yeah. Let me dig them out of the garage. Be there in about 20?
Zach: You’re the best.
Drew: Laying it on thick. Already said I’d help.
Drew: Rae, if not you.
Zach: About that…
Zach: I still need to get her on board.
I glanced at my watch. Twenty minutes to sweet talk Rae into letting me put up cameras without clearing it with Jia first. She’d said she needed to think about it, but when it came to securing her and the kids, I only wanted action.
She looked cozy, snuggled up with Hana on the couch. She still wore her hiking clothes from their morning adventure. Her brown curls were loose, one long lock wrapping over her shoulder, tempting me to tuck it back in place. I dropped onto the cushion next to her, giving her a broad grin when she bounced a bit, sinking into me.
“This okay?”
“Sure,” she murmured, returning her attention to the animated dogs chatting on screen.
“I want you and the kids to feel safe here,” I murmured for her ears only, keeping my voice low. “Drew has a couple of cameras left from a project at the farm this winter. Why don’t I hang them with him? Worst case, we can take them down before Jia comes home if she doesn’t like the idea.”
Rae’s shoulder rubbed against mine. “I guess that’d be okay.”
“Good,” I gave her my most charming grin, “‘cause he’ll be here in fifteen minutes to help me set them up.”
She raised a brow, amusement flickering in her eyes. “What if I’d said no?”
I leaned closer. “I’d still have fifteen minutes left to convince you of the brilliance of my idea?” Threading my fingers with hers, I toyed with the delicate digits. Marveling at the way her blunt fingertips were meticulously clean. Always a surprise given the grime that was part of her workday.
She was fiercely capable. Strong when it counted. Able to run a rescue. A beast when it came to machines and anything mechanical. But beneath the stubborn resilience was something softer. Something precious.
She was a marshmallow when it concerned her family and friends. The kind of person who’d rearrange her entire life to make sure her loved ones didn’t bear a burden alone. And that, more than anything, helped me understand how she got caught up in Simon’s mess. She’d do anything for a friend. She didn’t consider the cost; she just acted.
I squeezed her hand gently, grounding myself in the warmth of her touch, in the quiet understanding that this was who she was. Strong. Capable. Reckless in the most selfless way. And even though it droveme crazy, even though it made me want to sail off and hide her away from the world, I couldn’t change her.
I didn’t want to.
Because it was exactly that stubborn, too-big heart of hers that made her impossible not to love.
Drew’s truck crunched in the gravel drive. “Gotta go help Drew.”
“Thanks.” Her soft smile reached inside my chest cavity and squeezed.
“Anything for you, Dawkins.”
“Fenwick, you don’t have to lay down the charm. I already said yes.”
“But not to everything.”
“What more do you want from me?”
Drew’s booted feet stomped on the porch.
“That’s a conversation for another time.” I glanced meaningfully at the kids. “With fewer young ears.”
