Chapter 19

Chapter

Nineteen

Rhett hummed as he scrambled eggs, flipped pancakes, and turned sausage. He and Sloan had kissed for a long while in the wet grass with the sunrise beaming down on them.

He’d loved every second of it. She was back in his arms, and she occupied every bit of his heart. Was he in her heart? He could hope. He’d walked her home and given her a tender kiss goodbye. Things were tentatively incredible between them. Would they flip the other direction again? He hoped not.

It was almost seven when he heard a rap on the door. She’d insisted she’d walk down for breakfast. He’d wanted to go escort her, but he could tell when she needed to show her independence. Walking from two houses away wasn’t a battle he was getting into.

He hurried to the front door and yanked it open. Sloan was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, boots, and a flannel jacket.

“You are looking like the most gorgeous construction worker on the planet,” he told her.

She smiled and tucked a long dark curl behind her ear. “And you’re looking like the toughest.” She trailed her fingertips across the muscles on his chest and made his pulse spike. Smiling, she read his T-shirt. “ Every construction worker when you drive past a project they worked on … See that! I built that! ” She chuckled. “I can relate to that one.”

He captured her hand in his and drew it to his lips. He’d never kissed a woman’s hand before. It was somehow a captivating move. Especially as her breath shortened.

He tugged her in closer and bent to kiss her.

The world stopped moving as their mouths melded together. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her, the longing for her to be his was expressed in this incredible kiss.

Suddenly she tugged back. “Is something burning?”

“Oh, shoot.” Rhett ran from the foyer back into the kitchen. Thankfully it was just the pancakes that were blackened. He flipped the burnt ones into the garbage, turned off the eggs, rolled the sausage, and poured on a new batch of pancakes. Turning to Sloan, who had followed him into the kitchen, he winked. “Shall we ruin another batch of pancakes?”

She grinned, but she didn’t rush into his arms. “You can’t just kiss me every other second.” Her voice was playful, but was there something lurking beneath the surface?

“Why not? Sounds like the best use of time I’ve ever heard of.”

“Rhett …” Her dark eyes were cautious. “Are you only kissing me because it’s an enjoyable use of time?”

“Oh, Sloan …” He drew in a breath, hoping he could express his feelings accurately. “Kissing you is liking walking into heaven. The connection and joy I feel is unreal. I’ve never felt like that, and it is so much more than just enjoyment.”

She smiled tentatively. He thought she might come into his arms, but she said, “Pancakes.”

He chuckled and flipped them.

Her phone rang, and he froze. Had she set up a phone call with Kathy again?

She pulled her phone out, glowered at it, and then shoved it back in her pocket.

He turned off the sausage and grabbed milk and orange juice from the fridge. Facing her again, he said, “Everything okay?”

“My dad,” she admitted, her voice cold, picking at the button of her flannel.

Her phone started ringing again. She pushed the button to silence it.

“Does he call often?” Rhett asked.

“Not anymore. I rarely answer.” The phone started ringing again. “Oh my goodness!”

Rhett’s phone rang as well. He pulled it out. Andy? They weren’t supposed to meet at the site until eight.

“You can answer that while I tell my dad to leave me alone,” she said firmly.

“Okay.”

She turned her back and swiped her phone on.

He pushed the button to answer his. “Andy?”

“Rhett! There’s been … I don’t know. They’re saying it was a mudslide, but it’s … almost the entire bluff. One of Paul’s guys was there. You know Colt Sweeten? He’s okay, but the houses … they’re a mess. The entire property … it’s a mess.”

“I’m on my way,” he told his foreman. His stomach flipped over. The homes they’d worked so hard on. Sloan’s development. Could it all be gone?

“Okay. Not sure what any of us can do.”

There probably was nothing, but … a mudslide that took out the entire bluff? On the morning the rain finally stopped? He’d worried about that bluff above the river, but the testing had all come back good.

“No casualties?”

“No. Nobody but Colt was there that I’m aware of.”

Rhett unplugged the pancake skillet and turned to Sloan. She was arguing with her dad, her shoulders bunched, pacing and telling him it was none of his business where she was.

His spine tingled. He couldn’t imagine ever talking like that to his dad. How bad was their relationship? Her father didn’t even know where she was?

“Sloan.” He approached her and touched her elbow.

“What?”

“There’s been a mudslide at the site,” he told her.

Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened. She slid her phone off and dropped it in her pocket without saying goodbye. “How? That makes no sense. We tested … Are you sure?”

He shrugged. He felt as upset as she looked. “That was Andy. One of Paul’s guys was there.”

“Let’s go,” she urged, rushing for his garage entry.

He ran after her, grabbing his cowboy hat and sliding into his boots in the mudroom. She was already loaded into his truck. He jumped in and they took off. They rode in tense silence, except for her phone that kept ringing. She turned the ringer off, but he could hear the slight buzz. Her dad was persistent.

Sloan’s face was pinched and pale.

“It’ll be all right,” he said, reaching for her hand.

She let him hold her hand but snapped, “Will it?”

“It’s a crazy setback for sure, but it’s not your fault.” Was it a setback or was the land unbuildable now? All that hard work and the materials. Gone. “Nobody plans on a mudslide. We have insurance for this. We might have to start over, re-test, move farther away from the bluff, but five acres is a lot to work with. The homeowners will be upset, but it’ll all work out in the end.” The contractors, developers, and even the homeowners all had insurance to cover things like this. No matter how distressing the loss of time, material, and hard work was, he had to look for the positive.

“Rhett.” She clung tightly to his hand. “The insurance had me sign something about not covering an ‘act of nature’. Since all the tests and the surveys came back good, my insurance agent said it was a waste of money. What if we don’t have insurance to cover it? What if I’m liable since I signed that?”

His eyes widened. Why had they had her sign that? A mudslide was always a possibility on a bluff above a river. Especially with the spring they’d had.

They were almost to the property but Rhett pulled the truck to the side of the road, stopped, pushed the park button and turned to her. “Sloan.”

She stared at him with wide eyes. He’d never seen her so uncertain. No matter his stress level, he would focus on her and support her.

“Whatever happens, we’re in this together. I’ll be here for you, and we’ll figure it out.”

She studied him.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

Sloan blinked, and a tear ran down her cheek. “I do, Rhett, but … this isn’t your mess.”

“Sloan, I want to be yours. Anything you have to deal with, I will be by your side.”

She drew in a breath. “You are the best man on the planet, Rhett Coleville.”

He wanted to grin and tease, but he drew her hand to his lips and gently kissed it instead. “I’m your man, Sloan, and that’s my most important role.”

She gave him a watery smile, undid her seatbelt, arched across the console, and kissed him fiercely.

Rhett thought that was a fabulous response.