Page 41 of Wrecked By You

“That’s for me to worry about.” His frown deepened.

My heart raced, and I reminded myself that the kids were waiting for us.

“I was going to talk to you really quickly about my thoughts on your worries the other night,” he said, changing the subject. “Could my brothers and I install some cameras? They would be hooked up to some apps on our phones.”

I was concerned about that. “Who would be able to look?”

He shrugged. “Anyone you want.”

“Could anyone get access to this? From a different server or anything?”

He shook his head. “Noah is a pro on this stuff, and he would be able to make it just for people that we want.”

I shrugged. “Can I think about it?”

“You bet.”

As if on cue, Jason called out, “Can we go inside the barn?”

“Yep.” Damon began walking with me toward the barn; our hands were still linked together. I was grateful for the brave front he was putting on, so we didn’t worry the kids.

When we got inside the barn, the boys had already gone to the other end of the building and opened the back door. There was a main overhead light that lit up the barn well, shining down on a lot of covered things.

“Wendy said that a lot of this was junk and that I could go through it,” I told Damon. “I’ve been using the paintings for the walls in my home. Well, I painted over them.”

Damon turned to me, looking surprised. “You painted those paintings on the walls? That one of Refuge Falls, the actual falls?”

Satisfaction wove through me as I looked away. “It’s no big deal.”

Damon put his arm around me, pulling me against him. “You were always good with painting and drawing. But you’ve gotten better. Wow. You could sell those.”

His praise felt really good, but I tried to shrug it off and waved the boys over. “I think there’s some old bicycles over here. I don’t know if we could get them running.” I remembered seeing four or five bicycles for kids. After a bit of searching, I pulled back a sheet and revealed the bikes.

Jason said, “Wow. These are cool. Dad, can you get them running?”

Trent picked one up. “This is cool.”

Damon helped them inspect the bicycles and found some WD-40. He expertly put the chains on, and then he noticed the wheels needed pumping up.

I looked around, pulling the sheets back. “See if you can see a bicycle pump anywhere.”

The boys immediately started looking.

Damon and I looked too, pushing back the sheets covering all the stuff that was out there. After about five minutes, Damon said, “Here’s one.” He knelt and pulled it from the pile.

The boys pulled the bikes over, and he pumped the wheels up. Some of the tires were broken. Damon had to remove other tires from other bikes.

Finally, after an hour, the boys were riding around on bikes.

Damon and I stood in the backyard, and he put his arm around my shoulders. “That was a good idea to get the bikes running.”

Joy filled me, and I couldn’t express how amazing it felt to be standing here like a family. “I’m just glad it worked out.” I took his hand in mine. “This is really nice.”

He looked down and smiled, and then he focused on my lips. “I’m not going to kiss you in front of them yet. But soon.”

Attraction sizzled through me, and I had to smile. “I already thought we were taking things too fast anyway. You should have time to think things over when you get involved with someone like me.” Even though I knew it sounded like I was playing the victim, I meant it.

“Hush now.” He gave me a little squeeze. “Let’s let them ride around, and we’ll go put your kitchen together.”