“So, this was payback?”
“Has Landon asked you to blame me?” Reid asks, his lips twisting, but there’s no denying he did it. I can tell by the twitch of his lips and the way his eyes crease with suppressed laughter.
Her lips pull into a hateful smirk as she crosses her arms over her chest.
“No. Because I raided Mum’s fridge for the ingredients that were missing, so don’t expect your breakfast.”
“What?” he roars, outraged. “I’ve got work all day. I need sustenance.”
“Yeah, so did Landon. You can eat the porridge I kindly left for you on the kitchen side,” she snaps, as Landon steps into view, grinning at his girlfriend.
He kisses the top of her head.
“Babe,” he mutters, his lips twitching.
“No, Landon. He needs to learn boundaries.”
“And you could have taken food from your kitchen downstairs in your bed and breakfast,” Reid argues.
Hands on her hips, my sister steps forward, poking him in the chest.
“Yes, I could have, but then I wouldn’t have taught you a lesson.” She turns on her heels, her expression morphing into a wide smile when she spots Evie. “Hey Evie.”
“Hey Paisley,” she greets softly, her voice silky, smooth.
“Come to the bed and breakfast for lunch. Landon’s sister and cousins are coming, but you’ll like them.”
Jaxon steps forward, his ears perking at that.
“Is Lily going?”
“Do not speak to me, Jaxon, not until you control that,” she snaps, making me grin when she points to Reid, who is still sulking.
“Um, I’m good. I have a packed lunch,” Evie explains.
Paisley waves her off. “You can eat that another day. I’ve had the cook rustle us up something. You are always busy.”
“I, um—I…” She helplessly looks around, and my gaze narrows on her.
“You don’t want to have lunch with Paisley?” I ask, an edge to my tone.
As much as I’d love to fuck her, I won’t have anyone stick their nose up at Paisley, not when she’s done nothing but be kind.
Something tells me, though, that this isn’t about Paisley but more to do with the fact she doesn’t want to talk about herself.
She looks to me, her eyes flashing. “No, I—”
“You don’t want to have lunch with me?” Paisley whispers, and Landon’s gaze hardens, his jaw clenching.
“I just don’t want to intrude if you have your friends coming over.”
Sagging against Landon, she gives Evie a bright smile.
“They’ll love you. I’ll come over and walk over with you, so you don’t forget. Being in here you can sometimes forget the time.”
The smile looks forced on Evie as she runs her hand over the mouse mat on her desk.
“Then I’d love to.”
“Alright, I’ll see you later,” Paisley tells her, before turning to me. “Did you find Cluck?”
“Cluck?” Evie blurts out, but then her eyes widen, and she clamps her lips closed, looking down at the desk. “Sorry. Carry on.”
“My duck. Well, he’s technically the farm’s now. Has been ever since Charlotte stole him and brought him here.”
“Ah, you have a duck,” Evie gushes, smiling wide when she gazes back at Paisley. “I love ducks.”
“Not this duck,” Landon mutters.
I clear my throat, drawing their attention.
“No, I didn’t. He always comes back though. I’ll ask Earl if he got back onto his land,” I promise.
She nods, sucking in her bottom lip. “Call me if any of you see him.”
Reid snorts. “Afraid Landon cooked him?”
Landon grins but loses it before Paisley can see. “I don’t like duck.”
Rubbing a hand over his chest, Paisley sends a smug smirk at Reid. “See, he doesn’t like duck.”
“Let’s get the last of these boxes on the van,” Jaxon orders, and we move.
I lean over the desk slightly, a smile pulling at the corner of my lips. “Later, Evelyn.”
“It’s Evie,” she murmurs, her gaze still on the door Paisley and Landon left through, her expression somewhat lost.
CHAPTER TWO
WYATT
I down half of the bottled water, spraying the rest over my head to cool myself off. The breeze is just a teasing shimmer in the air, fluttering the leaves on the trees around us. It’s doing nothing to cool my heated skin from lugging boxes and furniture out of the house.
I press my back against the box on the back of the van, taking five for a breather.
It’s only half one in the afternoon and already we have got most of it done. With only four vans on the job, we had to do more than a few trips each. Now there’s only one van left, but all that’s left is stuff either being skipped or taken to the charity shop, both of which can be done once Eli returns with his van.
There were a lot of belongings in the nine-bedroom home to go through. However, with the extra help Jaxon hired, we’re getting ahead of everything and should be finished before dinner.
The house isn’t a mansion, but it’s as close as, especially around here. It has so many rooms and hallways it’s surprising no one got lost.
The one thing we have been grateful for is the lighting. The house is creepy enough, it doesn’t need to be gloomy on top of that.
Large open bay windows span the building, and though the ones upstairs are clouded with dust and grime, they still allow for plenty of light to flood the inside.
From our time here, I have come to the realisation that the man who used to own the property never used downstairs. Instead, he converted the old study into a bedroom and shower room.
A window on the second floor creaks open, rust falling in flakes to the gravel below. I look up in time to see Reid stick his head outside, just as the handle breaks off in his hand. He grimaces.
“Whoops,” he mutters, throwing it on the inside windowsill before leaning back out and yelling, “I can’t find any secret passageways.”
I turn to Tim, one of our team leaders, and roll my eyes, before answering Reid. “Did you really expect there to be?”
He arches an eyebrow. “Well, yeah. I know there’s one here.”
“It’s just a house, Reid,” Jaxon yells, stepping outside the door, eyes on me. “Throw us a bottle.”
I lean back into the van, reaching into the cooler for a bottle of water before throwing it his way. “I’m going to go up. Keep him from knocking any more walls down.”
Jaxon grits his teeth at the reminder, and I wisely don’t mention the window handle.
“The owners are okay about it. They were planning to do some touch ups before selling anyway.”
“I can’t believe the idiot actually thought it was a hidden door,” Tim mutters, before taking a swig of his drink.
“Apparently, the bedroom and the shower room used to be one big study until they put the studded wall in, which is why they aren’t too bothered. They want to restore it as best they can,” Jaxon explains.
Reid’s head pops out of the window again. “I’ve removed every fucking book from that shelf and a door didn’t open.”