Drew had to admit, it all sounded pretty sweet. Very Christmasy in a small town. Rory would love it.
His heart gave a little thunk in his chest and his next thought was, well, hell.
Not only was he thinking of the woman at random moments when he didn't mean to, but he actually cared that all of this came together as planned.
According to everything Jordan had explained, it really was going to be an amazing event that Rory would be very proud of. Something that she’d either dreamed of or experienced as a kid. Before her dad had ripped their family apart. Either way, it would mean a lot to her.
And the next next thought made him think, well, fuck. But it was less of a surprise. In fact, it was very in character for him.
He was going to help her pull this off.
“So what do we need to do?” Mitch asked. “I can get up there and paint. Or lay down those bricks or whatever needs done.”
Fletcher nodded. “We’re out of school for the holiday break as of tomorrow, so I'll have some free time.”
“Yeah, I can get up there after the last tour,” Sawyer agreed. “Josh and Owen too.”
The other men nodded.
“No need.”
They all looked over at him and Drew realized these were some of the first words he'd actually said to the group at large. Other than Hi and Thanks for having me.
“No?” Jordan asked.
“I talked to Rory today. She's got it all under control. No worries.”
Rory did not have it all under control and she definitely needed some help. But it would kill her if these people came to her rescue. These were the people she wanted to impress. She wanted them to include her, to know they could depend on her, to consider her one of their group, to trust her with big projects like this. If they all came to her rescue, she'd be embarrassed and feel like a failure.
Drew wasn't going to let that happen.
Of course, he also wasn't going to leave her to try to handle this all on her own.
Jordan lifted her brows. “She has a plan? Are you sure?”
Drew nodded, working to exude confidence. “Absolutely. She said she knows it looks like things are running a little behind but everything's going to come together right on time.”
Charlie smiled. “Awesome. I knew that Rory could do this. She was so happy to get involved and I know this means a lot to her. We’ll let her do this her way. I'm sure she knows we’re here to help if she needs us.”
Drew nodded. “Oh, she definitely does. She really admires and likes all of you. She knows you all have her back.”
Jordan was watching him closely. But she didn't say anything else. She simply nodded. “Okay then. It all seems like it's under control.”
Drew sat back as they moved on to other topics, wondering how long he needed to hang out before he could excuse himself without stirring up any suspicion.
Because it looked like he had a couple of hours of painting ahead of him tonight.
6
“Come on, Donna,” Rory coaxed. She tugged on the lead. The reindeer didn’t move an inch.
In fairness, this might not be Donna. Which might explain why the animal wasn't coming with her. She also didn't have any treats or food, which might also be the reason. Personally, Rory wasn’t going anywhere with anyone at two a.m. without the promise of at least a cookie.
“I just need you for a few minutes. Please just help me move this carriage and then I’ll let you go back to sleep.”
Rory understood the animal’s reluctance to work at this time of the night—okay, morning. Rory didn’t want to be at the barn right now either. But, as usual, Roger Robins showing up suddenly had turned her routine—and her common sense—upside down.
As soon as he'd left her at the barn, she'd panicked and headed to New Orleans for cardboard boxes and wrapping paper.
Of course, she hadn’t realized she was panicking at the time. In fact, she’d believed she had a very solid plan. Even a very creative, solid plan.
And she wasn't ready to admit that the plan had its flaws. Because it truly was her only option. So, she was just going forward with it. Two a.m. or not.
Just then, she heard footsteps outside the barn.
Oh, that motherfucker was her first thought.
Roger had come back.
What now? Had he forgotten to make her life and all of her plans an even bigger mess? On his drive back to wherever he was staying, had he come up with another way of completely fucking with everything that mattered to her?
She would not put it past him to suddenly realize, even in the middle of the night, that there was one more way he could make things difficult for her and to immediately turn his car around and come back to do so. It wouldn't be unlike him to forgo sleep in order to make sure that he wreaked as much havoc as possible.
Well, that was it. He wasn’t getting out of here this time without at least a little bit of a fight from her.
Rory looked around, spied the first heavy item that she thought she could lift herself, grabbed it, and ducked just inside the barn door.
For just a second, she acknowledged that her eyes were a bit blurry and her brain was foggy. She'd been working long days even before Roger had showed up and she’d been under more than a little pressure. Roger’s appearance tonight had pushed her stress and I’ll-do-anything-to-make-this-work levels into the red zone. She didn't remember the last time she'd eaten today and knew that the three Diet Dr. Peppers she'd had earlier this evening were not adequate sustenance. She was also just really fucking tired. But she shoved all of that away and focused on the task at hand—making Roger Robins really sorry he’d bothered to come back here tonight.
Roger stepped through the barn doors and without registering anything else, Rory heaved the bag of feed at him. Okay, half a bag of feed because she wouldn’t have been able to lift a whole bag. Still, it connected with the target.
“Oof.”
Roger stumbled back as the bag hit him in the gut.
Rory realized it was more from surprise than her actual strength, but he took a few steps back. The heel of his boot hit the edge where the wooden floor and the dirt yard met and he tripped, falling backward onto his ass, just outside the pool of light from inside the barn.
Rory stomped to the door, planted her hands on her hips, and glowered down at him.
“What the hell are you doing back here?” she snapped. “Just get the hell out of here. You already done enough.”
“Me? What the hell are you doing here?”
“I'm—” She snapped her mouth shut. That was not Roger’s voice.
A second later, that actually sunk in. That wasn’t Roger’s voice. Then she sighed. Of course it wasn’t. She’d assumed it was Roger because who else would be skulking around the barn at this time of night? But now that the shot of adrenaline from the surprise and anger was clearing, she realized she was staring down at Drew Ryan.
And of course it had to be him.
The man who already knew too much about her vulnerable state and background. Whose truck had been up at Ellie’s tonight when she’d driven by to head to New Orleans. He’d probably been surrounded by Landrys and elbow-deep in amazing gumbo. While she was literally on the outside, in the dark, trying to clean up the mess her scumbag father had created for her. Again.