Chapter 33

Declan worked nonstop for days, pushing to get Renee's house as finished as he could get it. He still found time to read with Renee in the evenings, and they had a few afternoon quickies, but his focus was work.

Ronan wanted to get together tonight to talk about the new business. Declan had never been actually excited about work. But he was excited to start a business with his brother.

He finished cleaning up the brushes and roller from painting the dining room while Sadie colored at the kitchen table.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Renee asked.

"I'm going over to Ronan's. Sorry. I forgot to tell you."

Although she looked a little startled, she wasn't mad.

"Okay. Have fun."

Sadie sidled up to him and took his hand after he dried it on the towel. He looked down at her.

"Can we go for pancakes tomorrow?"

"Sadie!"

Sadie looked at Renee, wide-eyed and confused.

"You don't ask someone to take you out to eat."

"I ask you all the time." The poor kid was so confused.

"I'm your mom. Declan is?—"

"A friend she can always talk to and ask for pancakes."

Renee practically growled. "You should wait to be invited. Unless you have money to buy breakfast, and then you can do the inviting."

Declan shot Renee a look, then squatted in front of Sadie. "Sadie, my lady, will you do me the honor of taking you for pancakes tomorrow morning?"

"Yes," she said with a huge grin. She skipped away toward her room.

"I'm trying to teach her some manners."

"She's five. She's got plenty of time to be stuck with that. And she doesn't need manners with me."

Renee gathered the crayons and papers Sadie left behind.

"I think the real problem is that you still worry about her counting on me."

She stiffened but didn't turn around.

He took her by the shoulders and forced her to face him. "I'm not going anywhere. Sadie can call me in ten years because some dumb kid broke her heart, and I'll go beat him up."

Renee rolled her eyes. "That's real responsible. Getting arrested for beating up a teenager."

"It'd be worth every minute in jail for Sadie to know she deserves better."

Renee sighed and leaned her forehead on his chest. He rubbed her back.

"Do you need anything before I head out?"

"No. Although you're gonna miss book club tonight."

"Damn. I forgot. I'll try to make it back for the good parts."

"And what, exactly, are the good parts?"

He leaned close and whispered, "The parts that make me imagine you naked underneath me."

He nipped her earlobe and stepped away before she could smack him.

After taking a quick shower, he got dressed and grabbed the notebook he'd been using for ideas for Renee's house. "I'm heading out."

Sadie was watching a cartoon. "Bye."

"Make sure you go to bed early so you'll be up for pancakes."

She rolled her brown eyes the same way Renee did. "I'm up before you all the time."

"Not all the time."

Renee turned from where she was still huddled over Chloe's books. "You can take my car."

"You sure? I can call an Uber."

"I'm not going anywhere." She pointed to the dish by the front door where she kept her keys. "If Chloe's there, tell her to give me a call. I think I have this figured out."

He fought the anger that wanted to bubble up. "I'm guessing that means you found something illegal."

"I think so. But there's nothing dangerous here. I promise."

The only reason her words calmed him was because he knew she would never do anything to put Sadie in harm's way.

He drove to Ronan's. It was still early, but Ronan was usually home by four. If they got things hammered out, he could make it back for book club. Not that he'd ever admit to Ronan that was the reason he wanted to get home.

Chloe opened the door just as he was about to knock.

"Oh, hey," she said.

"Before you run, Renee asked me to tell you to call her. She thinks she has your books figured out."

"Damn." Chloe's face fell. "Figured out means it's not all clean. I didn't imagine it. Fuck. How bad?"

Ronan was suddenly at her back. "What's going on?"

She looked over her shoulder at Ronan. "Renee found the problem in the Rose's books."

"I'm just the messenger. I don't know what she found. But one night she did randomly yell, ‘Money laundering.' But she hasn't said more. Other than to assure me there's nothing dangerous."

"Thanks. I'll call her." She kissed Ronan and then went to her car.

Declan followed his brother into the house. They went to the kitchen. Ronan handed him a beer.

"I got a guy who's gonna help with the paperwork to incorporate us as a company. We need a name."

Declan twisted the cap off the bottle and shrugged.

"I was thinking Doyle Brothers Construction."

Wow. Declan hadn't considered a name. But a company—a business—with his name on it sounded really good.

"I'll drink to that."

They clinked bottles and then had a seat at the table.

"How are things with Renee?"

"I'm almost done with the work there. Windows are in. I just have to finish the painting. I should be done by this weekend."

"I meant with Renee. Not her house."

Declan sank back in his chair. "Good. She's still not sure I'm serious. I'm going to move back home. Take time to build my own life so that she can see I'm serious. That I can do it."

"You love her?"

His immediate gut response was fuck yeah, but he hadn't said it to Renee. Telling Ronan first felt weird. He didn't know what his expression said, but Ronan chuckled. "Yeah, I get it. Let's move on to business."

Declan slapped his notebook on the table and flipped to a blank page.

"For now, I think we'll run everything out of here. My garage is filled with tools. You have the code to access everything. When we grow and need more space, we'll look."

"Makes sense. Why spend money before we're making a profit."

"We need to figure out what kinds of jobs we want to take. What things you can handle. What you'll need me or other guys for."

"What other guys?" Declan asked.

"No one yet. But once we start taking on jobs, we'll need to man them."

Declan's shoulders tensed. He figured it would be the two of them working like they had on Renee's windows or Ronan's kitchen. Now he'd have to compete with other guys?

Ronan slid some printed pages across the table. "There are some classes offered at the community college. Construction management. I know school wasn't your thing, but this will give you the knowledge you need."

"What about you?"

"What about me? I've been doing this. Running a crew."

"Won't you be running the crew for our company?"

"Yeah, but so will you. Especially at the beginning." He took a long pull on his beer. "What did you think I was talking about building? We'll be big. Inside a year or two, we'll be handling huge projects. I want to be able to rival any company out there. Union or not."

Declan guzzled his beer, his throat suddenly dry. Could he do this?

"I know you've never done this. The classes will give you background. I'll fill in with the practical knowledge."

"I know fuck all about running a business."

"But you're a people person." He pointed a finger at Declan. "And the pretty face doesn't hurt. You're a salesman. But you'll be better than others because you actually understand the work. You won't be talking in hypotheticals."

"Fuck. I don't know what to say."

"Let's come up with a plan. Decide what we need to do now to get started and what can wait."

"Okay."

While Declan was gone, Renee made more notes in Chloe's books before putting Sadie to bed. She dumped some appetizers into the air fryer and considered cleaning the dining room table, but she didn't want to disrupt her process.

They never sat in the dining room anyway, and it wasn't like her friends would judge the mess.

Lisa and Julie arrived first carrying the margarita mix. Before she closed the door, she saw Zenia's car pull up, so she waited. Zenia approached the steps and the telltale bump had Renee doing a happy dance.

"You look so good! Congratulations!" She hugged Zenia tightly.

Zenia handed her a bag. "I got the chips and salsa, but be warned, I've been craving the super spicy stuff."

Renee led her inside where Lisa and Julie also gushed over the peanut-sized baby. Kim arrived by the time they'd poured their first drinks.

As she folded her sweater over the back of a dining room chair, she asked, "What's all this?"

"I'm going over some books for a friend who's planning to buy a bar."

"A bar? Which one?" Julie asked.

"The Black Rose?"

"I've been there," Kim said. "Nice neighborhood bar." She looked around at the other women. "You guys must've heard about it. That's where former Mayor Cahill keeled over."

They all nodded, except Renee, who hadn't known that.

"Who's the friend?" Zenia asked.

"Chloe. Declan's brother's girlfriend."

Lisa made a point of looking around. "Speaking of Declan, where is he?

"At his brother's house. He'll be back later."

"And how are things going there?"

Renee took a big drink from her glass. She'd known they'd ask about her relationship with Declan, but she hadn't formulated an answer. Finally, she settled on, "We're having fun."

"Fun, huh?" Zenia said. "But you're doing favors for the family."

Renee rolled her eyes. "His family build a huge jungle gym for Sadie in the backyard. It's the least I could do."

"And?" Julie prompted.

"And we're seeing where things go."

"Straight to the bedroom," Kim added.

They all cheered her on and clinked glasses. Renee laughed. She really loved these women. "This isn't a forever thing. Declan's ready to move on, I think. But it's been a great experience for me to get back into dating and relationships."

They all eyed her disbelievingly.

"Really. It's been great." She lowered her voice. "And I can't put the quality of sex into words. But Declan is figuring out his life. He doesn't need a ready-made family."

They nodded but Renee didn't think they believed her. Hell, she wasn't sure she believed it herself. They stuffed themselves on crappy food and caught up on one another's lives for an hour before even thinking about the book they were supposed to be discussing.

Taking snacks and drinks to the living room, they settled in to talk about the book. Just as Kim wrapped up the summary for those who hadn't finished reading (Lisa and Julie), the front door opened and Declan came in.

Silence filled the room as he entered.

"Damn. Did I miss all the good parts?"

"We just started," Renee answered.

"Good. I brought more margaritas. I know how you ladies like to go through bottles."

"Woo-hoo! Cabana boy for the win!" Kim yelled.

Declan stiffened for a second, almost imperceptibly. Renee got up and took the bottle from him. "I'll take this to the kitchen. Anyone need a refill?"

Kim and Julie both held up their glasses.

Declan followed her to the kitchen. "Help yourself to food."

"Thanks."

She stopped mid-pour. "You know Kim was joking, right? She didn't mean anything by it."

"Of course."

His face didn't look like he believed her. "Can I mix you a drink?"

"Margaritas aren't my thing. I'll have a beer."

She finished filling glasses. "You're coming, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it." He grabbed a plate and a beer and followed her back to the living room.

"Did you have a good time at Ronan's?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll tell you about it later."

Renee took a deep breath and tried to shake off the uneasiness of this whole interaction. She'd decided to enjoy more parts of her life, so that was what she was going to do. She would believe what she'd told the girls.

Her relationship with Declan was amazing and fun, but when it was over, she'd be fine.