Page 16 of CADE & ANNA

Thomas indicated the coffee table with his head. “There is a temporary monitor set up over there. Once I attach this wire, go to the laundry room and turn the breaker switch on, and then check the monitor to see if the camera is working.”

“You got it.”

A few minutes later the camera was operational, showing a view of the entire room from its location in the upper corner of the space.

“Okay, now we need to install the dining room.”

Cade remained unmoving, staring at the monitor, a small frown creasing his forehead.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked when he didn’t follow him.

“Are these going to be on all the time?”

“They need to be if my team is going to protect my baby sister,” Thomas informed him.

“I’m not sure about this. Anna’s not going to like it if we can’t turn them off when we’re home.”

“Let’s just get them installed and I will show you the setup, and then we can talk about it.”

Cade continued to scowl as he followed Thomas to the next camera. Now that he saw what Thomas had in mind, he wasn’t at all sure this was going to end well. He was depending on Thomas to know what he was doing, as well as know his mother well enough to not get his balls in a vice.

*****

A couple hours later, Cade and Thomas were wiring the last of the cameras while Stefan and Simon continued to work on the furniture.

Stefan was carefully attaching the pulls to the drawers when an image of El entered his thoughts with her in nothing but red stilettos and matching nail polish. He practically choked on his tongue and leaned on the edge of the changing table for support.

Bad move. Very bad move.

The rickety table was barely holding its own weight upright. With Stefan’s added poundage, it went over like a domino.

Stefan gaped in horror as his table nailed Simon’s dresser with a solid thump. Simon managed to jump back as the two collided, avoiding injury. Too bad the dresser didn’t fair as well.

A loud moaning sound preceded the dresser slowly toppling toward Cade’s half-constructed crib. The poor thing never stood a chance. By the time Cade and Thomas slid to a stop outside the nursery door, the crib was flat as a pancake.

“What the hell happened!” Cade barked, horrified by the vision before him.

Stefan raked his fingers through his hair. “Sorry, man. All I did was lean on it and it crumbled.”

“It shouldn’t do that. Did you follow the instructions correctly?”

Stefan snorted. “Here,” he handed the papers to Cade. “See if you can follow these. I tried and couldn’t understand them, not even when I tried to follow the pictures.”

Cade frowned at the instructions in his hand. He had to admit, they seemed pretty sketchy and lacking in steps.

Cade handed them back. “Okay, I see your point. So, what are we going to do? We need to get these together and now all the pieces are mixed up.”

“I hate to say this, Cade, but I think you should scrap these and order something pre-assembled before Anna sees them,” Simon quietly suggested.

“Aw, hell,” Cade growled, rubbing his face. “I really wanted to do this ourselves.”

Thomas squeezed into the room and inspected the wreckage carefully. “Before we give up completely, let me try to help. Let’s take this one item at a time and do it as a group. Since the changing table is on the top of the heap, let’s start with that.”

Cade looked at Stefan and then Simon, they were both nodding at Thomas’s suggestion. “All right. We will give this another shot, but we need to hurry. Anna will be home soon.”

*****

The ladies had just finished lunch and were walking to the massage tables when Lucinda Le Beau, Emma’s sister-in-law, walked into the spa.

The instant she saw Anna, Rose, and El, her expression soured.

Anna, always polite, greeted her. “Hello, Lucinda, how are you?”

Lucinda raked her with a sneer. “Are you talking to me?”

Refusing to take the bait, Anna calmly said, “Of course.”

“I don’t speak to your kind,” Lucinda hissed.

El stepped forward, gently putting Anna behind her. “Perhaps you would like to revisit that bad attitude and try again?”

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