In Too Deep

ChapterTwenty-Six

Ronan met with Thomas Walsh and the other superintendents at the Cahill office. They all looked and felt out of place. Alan and Danny kept a small office storefront not far from where they lived, but everyone knew that the real business was always conducted at the Rose. When Danny needed to talk to one of them, it was either at the Rose or he came to the site. With the exception of the day they were hired, Ronan doubted any of them had spent any time in this office.

Thomas cleared his throat. “For any of you who haven’t heard the news yet, Alan Cahill, Danny’s father, died last night. Danny is stepping away from daily operations for the week as he deals with his family affairs. Most things won’t change. Your jobs will continue as usual. If anyone is interested in paying their respects, there is a wake being held at the Black Rose tomorrow afternoon into the evening. The family asks that we assemble then. They want to keep the funeral small and we are not invited to participate in that.”

Ronan looked at the other guys. No one said anything. What was there to say? Although they all knew Alan, except for a few old-timers, Danny had been their boss since hiring. Thomas dismissed them and they filtered out to their respective trucks. Ronan moved on autopilot once again. Brendan had no new ideas when they spoke yesterday.

When Chloe had texted about the wake, he wanted to respond. He wanted to talk to her, see her, hold her. But once again, he felt stuck in his life. For him, Chloe was movement forward, toward a new future. He just couldn’t see that future until he found the answers he’d been searching for.

And it felt like they were close. At least closer. On the brink of getting somewhere. Until now. Then again, maybe it had all been in his head.

He went to the job site and shared the information with his crew. The attitude of the older guys shifted. Ronan saw their realization of mortality. Sure, Alan was older than any of them, but he had been younger once. He had worked on the crews, unlike his son. It was part of the reason so many people respected him. He was a man of the people.

Ronan knew it was bullshit. It didn’t matter how a man got his money. Once he was rich, he was like every other rich asshole out there. Only out for number one. Somehow, Danny Cahill knew something or played a role in his father’s disappearance. He was sure of it now. But for the life of him, he couldn’t think of any next steps.

Instead of spending his day telling everyone else what to do, he joined his crew in doing the heavy lifting. He needed the physical exhaustion to keep his mind quiet. By the time he was heading home, he was sweaty and dirty and beat.

He parked in the first spot on the block he saw because he didn’t want to circle the block to look for parking closer to his house. He grabbed his tool belt in case he couldn’t sleep and wanted to do more work at home. His brain was foggy, so it took a full minute for him to realize that Chloe was sitting on his front steps. At first, he thought it was a mirage. As he got closer, she stood. For the first time all day, he was able to breathe deeply. The tightness in his chest loosened. His muscles relaxed.

“Hey,” she said quietly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I know you want some space, but I didn’t think you should be alone right now.”

“My asshole brother didn’t let you in?”

She smiled. “I don’t think Declan is home. No one answered when I knocked.”

“With him, that doesn’t mean anything. He might be taking a nap. Or just ignoring the knock.”

She took a deep breath, stepped closer, and moved to wrap her arms around him.

He jerked away. The shocked look on her face made him feel like an even bigger asshole. “I’m gross from work. You don’t want to touch me right now.” He reached for her hand. “Let me take a shower and then you can hug me all you want.”

He led her up the stairs. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I spent the day planning Alan’s wake. I’m going to be there running things all day tomorrow. Being here was more important.”

His chest thumped at her words. He couldn’t remember the last time someone treated him as important. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Inside, he dropped his tools near the entryway. Then he peeled off his shirt. “Grab yourself a beer and get comfortable. I’ll be out in a few.”

“I’m going to order some dinner. What do you want?”

He turned and smiled at her. “Whatever you want is fine. I might not be great company tonight.”

“I don’t care. I want to be with you and it doesn’t matter how much you try to push me away. I know you want to be with me.”

His lungs froze. He didn’t know what to say to that. She was right on every count. He crossed the room. With his left hand, he cradled her jaw and lifted her lips to his. He kissed her deeply and the contact relaxed every racing nerve in his body. A sense of peace wafted through his brain.

When they separated, whispered words fled from his mouth. “God, I love you.”

As soon as they were in the open, he froze again. Waited. Did he just fuck up a perfect kiss?

Her eyes fluttered open and her gorgeous lips curved up.

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m going to take my shower.” He pulled away, not wanting to hear that she wasn’t ready or that she wasn’t there yet, and might never be. He’d wash his regret down the drain.

“Wait.” She tugged his hand. “I love you, too, Ronan. I wasn’t expecting to be ready to say it right now. But it fits. It feels right.” She stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his again.

This time as he stepped away, their eyes remained locked until he got to the hall to turn into the bathroom. He had no idea what he’d done to deserve to have a woman like Chloe in his life at all, let alone have her love him, but he had to make sure he didn’t fuck it up.