“Morning,” Sam greeted when he entered the dining room. She was sitting at a table with Sandy, Heff, and Smoke. “How’s Kate?”
“Sleeping. I’d like to take something back for her.”
“Breakfast in bed.” Heff smiled. “Now, that’s the way to do it.”
Sandy frowned at him. “You didn’t bring me breakfast in bed.”
“Sweetheart,” he told her with a wicked smile, “you were breakfast.”
Sandy flushed a brilliant shade of red.
Smoke scowled. “TMI, man.”
Sam ignored them—though her cheeks were pink, too—and rose. “Sure. Let me get you something you can carry back.”
“I’ll come with you,” Sandy said quickly, leaving Heff smirking.
“Speaking of TMI,” Smoke said as they disappeared into the kitchen, “Sam said she and Kate were talking about some of the plans we have for this place.”
Mad Dog shrugged. “So?”
“So, she also said that Kate knew about the greenhouses because you went to Handelmann’s and talked to her father about special-ordering a bunch of shit.”
“Yeah, I did. Again, I ask, so?”
Smoke pinned him with a what the fuck is wrong with you look, which really wasn’t that different from every other expression the stoic motherfucker had.
“If you have a point, get to it.”
“You know how Church feels about oversharing,” he said finally.
“It’s not like I’m sharing classified intel. I fail to see how ordering a few building supplies and fostering goodwill with a local business are bad things.”
“The more they know about what we’re doing here, the more opportunities they have to screw with us.”
Mad Dog knew what he was talking about. More often than not, when they filed for permits, tried to rent equipment, or scheduled inspections, something conveniently happened to screw it up. Permit applications got lost. Backhoes and loaders were booked out from underneath them. Things “came up” at the last minute, and county license inspectors didn’t show.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that those things weren’t a string of random coincidences. There were those in town—namely, Daryl Freed and associates—who were trying to sabotage their efforts. They liked to play on people’s fears about the project, basing their resistance on the totally fabricated instability of the men and women Sanctuary were trying to help. Using whispers and innuendos, they suggested that vets having difficulty transitioning back into civilian life could be a potential danger to the fine citizens of Sumneyville.
That was a crock of shit. Planting seeds of fear without substantiating their claims was a powerful tactic employed by cowards and bullies. They had no factual basis. Vets had a much higher chance of hurting themselves than hurting someone else. They knew it, too, which was one of the many reasons Church and the rest of them believed Daryl Freed’s subterfuge had nothing to do with local civilian safety and everything to do with something far more personal.
“Look, Mad Dog,” Heff said, “I know how you feel, man, but Smoke has a point.”
Mad Dog scoffed. “Says the guy whose woman shared a house with one of Freed’s sycophants.”
Heff’s features hardened, all traces of levity vanishing from his expression. “I didn’t tell Sandy what was going on here, did I? And Sandy used her job in the township office to help us, not hurt us.”
The thought of Kate doing anything to hurt them was ridiculous.
“Are you saying Kate’s batting for Freed’s team, like some kind of fucking spy?”
“No, no one is saying that,” Smoke said calmly. “What we are saying is, she’s smack dab in the center of the web of people who are.”
Mad Dog pressed his lips together. As much as he wanted to argue that point, he couldn’t. Kate had history with Luther Renninger and volunteered at the fire hall where Lenny Petraski and his buddies hung out, and Handelmann’s was providing the preppers—some of their biggest critics—with the shit they needed to create a substantial bunker.
The bottom line was, he couldn’t be objective when it came to Kate. If one of the other guys were in the same position, he’d probably be voicing the same concerns. In fact, he’d originally had similar thoughts about Sandy and Sam. Trust but verify was branded into their DNA.
“So, you want me to keep Kate away from here; is that it?”
“Fuck no,” Smoke said, shaking his head. “Sam loves having her around.”
“Sandy does, too,” Heff agreed.
“And for the record, we like her,” Smoke continued. “None of us believes that Kate is knowingly accumulating information to use against us.”
“But that doesn’t mean others aren’t going to take advantage of the fact that she’s cozying up to you,” Heff pointed out.
Mad Dog could see Renninger trying to subtly coax information out of Kate. Petraski, too.
Smoke nodded and drained his coffee. “As long as there is a shadow of doubt, best to keep a lid on the inside info.”
He nodded. Didn’t mean he had to like it though.
Sam returned with an insulated grocery bag and handed it to him. “Here, this is for you and Kate. French toast sticks, sausage, fresh fruit, plus two large coffees.”
“Thanks, Sam. You’re the best.”
She beamed. “Tell Kate to come over when she’s ready, okay?”
He glanced at Smoke and Heff to confirm that they were cool with that. Both nodded slightly.
“I will.”
Kate was awake and dressed when he returned with breakfast.
“Hey, baby. Feeling okay?”
“Much better,” she said. “In fact, I’m going to cut down on the pain meds and switch to OTCs. My brain is just too foggy on those things, and I want to enjoy every minute I can with you.”
The woman held the key to his soul in the palm of her hand, and she didn’t even know it.
“Keep saying things like that, Miss Handelmann, and you’ll never get rid of me.”
“Pfft. Like I’d ever want to. What do you have there?”
“Breakfast and coffee.”
“You are a god,” she said, sticking her nose in the bag and inhaling. “But you didn’t have to do that. I could have made something.”
“You are supposed to be recovering,” he reminded her.
“I am. That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything.”
She started pulling containers out of the bag, but he gently took them from her.
“No, it means that I get to take care of you. Please sit and let me get this.”
She blinked rapidly two or three times. “I have told you that you’re the most thoughtful man ever, haven’t I?”
He shrugged. “Maybe you’ve just been surrounded by assholes.”
“No argument there,” she murmured and then went up on her toes and kissed his jaw. “But I just want you to know how much I appreciate it.”
There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, but the fact that she recognized and appreciated it? Bonus.
He plated the meals and sat down to eat with her. “So, why are you up and about instead of resting?”