Page 21 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
It wasn’t until halfway back to the shed that she realized she had a shadow following her up the drive.
It started with a quick darting movement caught from the corner of her eye as she turned to watch a hawk ride the air stream down the mountain. Often the predator birds would start at the top and let the wave of air following the contours of the land carry them down into the valley while they surveyed below for hints of prey. Their wings, held out in a still, silent glide, flashed with touches of gold from the afternoon sun, and Erin stopped in the middle of the drive to savor the bird’s graceful flight. When the hawk disappeared around a curve in the landscape, she turned to restart her upward trek.
A glimpse of a mop of golden, curly hair, shining against the bark of the thick oak tree it hid behind, snagged her attention at the last moment.
She quickly hid her smile. Not wanting to give up the game, she began to hum, swinging her stocking cap back and forth in her hand, taking her time with each step. The occasional crunch of leaves or snap of a twig followed, but she had to admit the kid was pretty good at keeping his stalking quiet. The knee-high stone wall surrounding the estate was topped with thick cast-iron spindles that provided no cover, but the pillars at regular intervals allowed Thad to slowly advance as Erin passed the gates and continued on toward the building site.
By the time she arrived at the shed, she was winded. Bending over to prop her hands on her knees, she watched through the fall of her bangs as Thad ghosted around her truck, inched his way toward her, and at the last moment, made a final lunge to startle his “unsuspecting” prey.
She jumped at him before he could reach her.
“Arrrrgggghhhh!”
“Aaahhh!”
Thad’s surprised shout had Erin clutching her stomach, laughter overwhelming her. Once the boy realized that his target had outwitted him, he too began to laugh, the two of them enjoying the moment until their amusement settled and they were left breathless and grinning at one another.
“You’re pretty good at that, you know?” Erin nudged her chin toward the woods. “Not many city boys can be that quiet in the forest, especially not with dry leaves all over the ground.”
“I googled ‘how to follow someone in the woods without making noise,’” Thad said proudly.
Erin was torn between alarm and more laughter. Maybe she should warn Carter that he had a budding stalker on his hands before the FBI took an interest in his Internet searches. Scarlett had told her once that authors joked about their online queries drawing the wrong kind of attention; she had a feeling Thad’s might be equally interesting if this was the way his mind worked. She hoped Carter had invested in family-friendly security software or whatever it was parents used to keep their kids safe on the Internet.
“Well”—she opened the door to the shed—“you seem to be catching on pretty well.”
Thad hesitated at the entrance instead of following Erin into her makeshift office. She paused, glancing over her shoulder at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m not supposed to bother you.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “If you were bothering me, I’d tell you, Thad.”
That bright grin flashed across his face. “Okay!”
Deciding it was close enough to the end of the day, she pulled out her latest project and went back to work on sanding the butcher block sections she intended to cut for Claire’s stand. After a bit more practice with Thad, she let him take over the palm sander and began the detail work by hand to get the final corners and stubborn sections refined. Carter found them a while later, both happily silent as they focused on their respective tasks. When the creak of the door broke her concentration, Erin glanced up, surprised to see Thad’s father in a tight T-shirt that showed every ridge of his abdomen and jogging pants that emphasized the long length of his legs, eyes narrowed on his son as he carefully ran the handheld sander over the board in front of him.
“Thad.”
Thad glanced up, caught sight of his dad, and with the care of someone far older, lifted the sander, carefully powered it off, and removed his safety glasses. “Look, Dad! I did it all by myself this time.”
“I see that.”
Thad seemed to hesitate as Carter moved toward him. “Erin said I wasn’t bothering her, promise.”
“He’s right,” Erin put in. “He’s not bothering me. It was nice to have someone with strong hands working the sander instead of doing it all by myself.”
The mention of hisstrong handshad Thad grinning. The sight of that gap-toothed smile tugged at Erin’s heart. She only hoped Carter didn’t wipe it away.
Carter took a few moments running his hands over the board Thad had worked on, admiring the smoothness and his son’s patience in doing such a time-consuming yet rewarding task. He didn’t look at Erin, acknowledge what he’d said last night, didn’t even seem aware she was there until he said, “Thad…”
All it took was one look at his father’s face and Thad seemed to sense what was coming. “Dad,” he said in a comically similar tone, “you said you wouldn’t get mad as long as I wasn’t bothering Erin.”
Carter’s mouth twisted, seeming to understand that his son had him in the crosshairs. “I’m not mad.”
“You said that last time. I told Uncle JD where I was.”
Carter nodded. “You did everything right. But I’d like a chance to talk to Erin on her own. Can you let me do that?”
Thad considered that seriously for a moment. Erin had to hide her smile behind her hand at the adult way Thad was handling this. Handling his father, really. It was hilarious. She bet not a single woman had ever handled Carter so well.
