Page 49 of Unexpected Kisses

“Thanks, Emma. I guess I’ll leave you two to catch up.”

I move through their quiet home and step onto the back deck. The completed wall is sitting in the middle of the backyard beneath the shade of a tree, but Theo’s nowhere in sight. He must be in the workshop. Standing at the open door, I spot him wrapping his tool belt around his hips.

“Hey, Theo. The wall looks fantastic.”

He spins around to face me. “Oh, hey. Yeah, it turned out pretty great. Lachlan and I are thinking of making a couple more to sell.”

“Good idea.” I hold up the box containing the holds. “I can show you how the holds work so you know how best to attach them.”

“That’d be great.”

We step out of the hot workshop and head over to the climbing wall. I place the holds out on the ground in what I think will be a good layout, explaining the different holds to Theo as I go. I make some final adjustments and Theo helps me attach them to the timber. It’s so freaking hot, we’ve both taken off our shirts as Theo drills and I attach each hold where I want it to go.

The ladies are sitting on the back deck, enjoying a cool drink. Every now and then, loud laughter fills the backyard, but still no kids. “Where are the kids?”

“Em’s ex has the boys this weekend. He was supposed to have them last weekend but with Kenny’s birthday, he didn’t mind swapping it around. When the boys are with their dad, Kenny stays with my dad. It gives me and Em some time together on our own once a month. But boy do I miss the kids when they’re not here.”

“So, Sarah and I are intruding on your couple time. I’m sorry, man. I’m sure there are better things you could be doing with your wife than helping me. This could have waited another week. There’s no rush.”

He waves me off. “It’s okay. This is only a couple of hours and then I’ll have my girl all to myself.” A smirk crosses his lips as he glances at Emma.

“All right. Well, let’s get this finished, so you can get back to your lady.”

We get back to the task, quietly working together and before I know it, the job’s finished. “All right, let’s load this bad boy onto the back of my truck. I’ll grab the dolly.”

Once we have it loaded onto the back of Theo’s truck and secured, I grab Theo’s bank details and transfer the funds across immediately, with some extra to account for the time he and Lachlan spent constructing the wall. Even though he said he didn’t want to charge me for their time, I feel it’s only fair. He can’t really do anything about it now the money’s in his bank account. I smirk to myself.

“Come and have a cool drink before you guys head off,” Emma calls out.

Theo comes out of the house holding a couple of small towels. “Here, this’ll help you cool off.” He tosses one over, and it’s freezing cold, I look up at him in question. “I put them in the freezer before you got here.”

I rub the icy towel across the back of my neck and down my torso. “Aww, man. This feels sooooo good.”

Sarah steps outside with two large glasses of what looks to be iced tea. “Here ya go, boys. I think you’ve earned these.” Her eyes rake up and down my body, following the towel as I wipe away the sweat, and she gives me a wink. Talk about mixed messages.

“Thanks.” I take a long gulp, the cool liquid soothing my dry throat. “I needed that.”

Emma steps out with a tray holding four glasses. “I figured one glass wouldn’t be enough. Here ya go.”

She places the tray on the table and Theo goes straight for his wife and kisses her forehead. “Thanks, Peaches.”

We all sit around the large outdoor table, which I’m guessing was made by Theo, enjoying our cool drinks under the shade of the deck.

“The climbing wall looks great. Will your nephew be safe climbing it?” Emma asks.

“Yeah. I’ll teach him the correct holds and I’ve got a couple of padded mats to put at the base in case he falls. He’s pretty agile, though. I organized this for him because he’s climbing on everything inside the house and my sister and her wife are worried he’ll get hurt.”

Emma smiles brightly. “Austin could have done with one of those. That boy used to climb everything.” She looks at Theo with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Remember when he climbed up the side of my house to rescue his parachute Avenger?”

Sarah gasps. “Oh my gosh. How could we ever forget? He sprained his wrist. Poor little man.”

Theo chuckles. “Yeah, if I remember rightly, we had a few words that day.” There’s a certain nostalgia in his gaze as he reminisces.

“Oh my. Yes, we did.” She shakes her head with a smile. Obviously, the event holds some good memories for these two.

I glance between them. “Does Austin still like to climb?”

“Yeah, I guess so. There isn’t really anywhere for him to climb unless we go to the park,” Emma responds.

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