Page 20 of Deep Waters
A pink flush spread under her cheeks, like she realized finally,finallythat I was flirting with her. She’d call me out for trying to charm anyone with a pulse, but it wasn’t true. Sure, I was kind to everyone. Wanted to make them smile. But now that she was single? I only had eyes for Rae.
“Later,” I said, my voice huskier than I intended. Weighty with the promise of all I couldn’t say with an audience. With my brother on the porch.
I covered the distance between the couch and front door in two big strides, pulling open the heavy wood. Drew’s fist was raised to knock.
“Don’t do it,” I said, guessing from his expression that, for a split-second, he debated knocking on my forehead instead.
“What? I just want to make sure someone is home.” His grin turned his usually craggy face into something more befitting the Fenwickcharm. He was the spitting image of our dad. Drew’s gaze slid to Rae on the couch with the kids. “Hey, Rae.”
“Hiya, Drew. Thanks for coming by.”
“You know you’re one of ours, Rae-by-cakes.”
She groaned good-naturedly over the old nickname. “I’m thirty. When are you going to stop calling me that?”
My brother’s grin softened. “When you earn a new nickname.”
“How does one go about doing that?” she asked, sounding exasperated.
Drew clicked his tongue behind his teeth. “No one knows…”
I stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind me. Drew’s teasing smile faded. “Rae’s on board with adding video cameras?” I nodded. He shook his head. “I don’t get you two.”
“What’s to get?”
“Does she know you have feelings for her?”
I sputtered, caught off guard. His words too closely echoed my own thoughts.
He held up a hand. “Wait. Doyouknow you have feelings for her?”
Glaring only shrank him to regular human proportions in my imagination. My larger-than-life bigger brother didn’t do small. Didn’t do half-assed.
“Word on the street is that she and Simon finally broke up.” His brows rose. “That true?”
“Yep.” I said, uncomfortable with everyone sharing Rae’s business. I gave him a brotherly shove. “But ‘the street’? What do you know about ‘the street’?” I teased.
Drew shrugged off my gentle derision. “Anya’s the street.”
“I figured,” I said dryly.
My probable future sister-in-law wasn’t the gossipy sort, but she was one of Rae’s closest friends. They had to talk.
Drew gestured to his truck. “I brought a couple of motion-activated lights and the cameras. We might not have everything to wire a complete system today, but we can pick up anything else we need at the hardware store tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Drew. I know you’re busy at the farm. I appreciate you dropping everything to come help us.”
For all the grief he gave me, my brother was the solid sort. He frowned. “I wasn’t kidding. Rae’s one of ours, and we protect our own.”
“Damn straight.”
Chapter 9 - Rae
Icounted it a victory that I only had to turn up the TV once to cover the boisterous swearing outside. Drew and Zach were both reasonably handy, but I should have probably volunteered to grab my drill and help. Most of my tools were back at the shop, but I kept a few things in the back of my car in case I needed to go troubleshoot a system on the water. But it was nice to have someone do something for me for once. After you became known as the computer geek, the houseplant whisperer, or the boat mechanic, you turned into tech support for your family and friends.
“What’s for dinner?” Tae looked up from the game that had made him oblivious to Drew’s arrival.
“What do you guys feel like?”
