Cuddle bear, p.7
Cuddle Bear, page 7
“Bye,” he said abruptly.
I frowned and went out into his office to start looking for the file he’d mentioned. By the time I’d arranged the backhoe another twenty minutes had passed, and I wanted to call Maurice to see where he was on his trip. I was worried because the thunder was getting louder and more frequent instead of passing through. I paced Maurice’s office and had almost talked myself into going over to the elementary school work site when my phone rang again.
“Fuck, you were right, Maurice,” I grumbled, then answered. “Hello?”
“The library lost half its roof and they’re panicking. They’re not clients of yours, but they’re calling all around town begging for anyone who can help. They say they’ll pay whatever, but they’re worried about their books, and I know you folks know everyone.” Ironically, I had no idea who I was talking to.
The door that led into the hallway opened, and I’d never been so relieved in my life to see Maurice. His face was tense, as if maybe he’d prayed his way here and still wasn’t over the experience, and he gave me an I told you so waggle of his eyebrows as I pointed from my phone to him.
“My assistant just walked in. I’ll put you on with him. He is a miracle worker and will get you in touch with the right people.”
Maurice took the phone from me and was already jotting down notes on a pad as I stepped away. It took almost four hours to get the library situation sorted out, and I helped as much as I could by calling around town to locate tarps and other materials to save all the books. Maurice rustled up volunteers to help.
“Do we need to go pick anything up?” Maurice asked, blinking his brown eyes in my direction. I’d been pacing around his office while I talked to people. My heart warmed the longer I stared at him.
“No. Everything is being delivered to the library.”
I’d barely laid my phone down on his desk when it rang again, and I groaned to see Ewell Smalls’ number pop up once more.
“Yes?” I said as soon as I answered.
“Don’t suppose you want to come over and help us? This is turning critical.” He laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound.
I swallowed hard. St. Loren was my community, and I would hate to see the money the parish had already spent go to waste. “Yes, I’ll be right there.” The line went dead almost immediately.
Maurice glanced at me, eyes wide behind his glasses. “Right where?”
“We’re going over to the elementary school to help with sandbags. They’re desperate for anyone.”
“Damn it,” he muttered, glancing down at his shoes. He was dressed to be here in the office, same as me. “I have boots in my car.”
I shrugged. “This is all I’ve got because I wasn’t planning to be out of the office. I don’t care. I’m going.”
He nodded, jaw jutting. “I’ll go with you.” All the awkwardness from last night faded in the face of a true emergency and he grinned at me. I dumped my suit jacket on his chair, and he did the same before we took off out the door.
We barely spoke on the drive to the construction site because the weather was so bad all my concentration was fixed on the road. When we reached the new building, I didn’t have time to breathe before we were both out and rushing through the pounding rain that whipped and stung my skin toward a flatbed full of sandbags. About thirty other people were already helping, and I immediately hopped up into the bed and started passing down bags. Maurice took two, shocking me with how easily he hefted one hundred pounds, and stomped off toward the line of sandbags about twenty feet away.
“They need to turn the row of bags so the water will hit and go toward the diversion ditch!” I called after him, immediately spotting an issue. “Use physics!”
The backhoe was already out in the large stretch of lawn that was eventually meant to be a soccer field, digging a long line. The machinery wouldn’t be able to get too close to the river, and hopefully there were no hidden gas or power lines we didn’t know about. How Frank had gotten the work started so quickly, I didn’t know, but all he needed to do was coax water out toward a nearby field, which had been left vacant because it was what had been dubbed an actual floodplain. I shook my head. No one should’ve built anywhere near here. I’d told the parish council, but they didn’t listen.
Maurice dumped his bags on the stack that was already quickly being lengthened, and he pointed at an angle, talking to someone over there, so I knew he’d understood me. I had no idea how long we worked, but we unloaded five more trucks of sandbags and my arms, shoulders, and back were burning with overuse. The diversion ditch wasn’t pretty, but it stretched far out into the floodplain where there were no buildings, and I hoped it would keep most of the water, which would likely flood the tributary banks, from ruining the school.
I stared at the frothing brown water, full of mud and branches, and gasped as a small wave lapped over the edge. It wouldn’t be long now. I jumped from the truck bed I stood on and raced, slipping and sliding in my dress shoes, over toward the backhoe, waving my hands. My lungs burned, and my clothes were stuck uncomfortably to my skin.
“You gotta get it out of here!” I yelled, pointing toward the embankment. I shouted again when Frank, an older man with gray hair, glanced up at me and nodded. He raised the bucket of the backhoe, and I stood there catching my breath and shivering until he started for the relative safety of the work site with the heavy equipment. Now it was down to prayers. I started to jog back because another flatbed full of sandbags had arrived, but I slipped, landing hard on my ass with a curse. I got back up and hobbled much more slowly toward the line of sandbags, which were piled higher than my waist now.
Water poured over the embankment nearby with a gush that caught my attention, and I ran faster as terror clawed at my chest. The overflow hit the ditch, but there was too much and it kept coming toward me.
“Wick! Move it!” Maurice shouted, squinting through his watery glasses. How he even knew it was me out here, I didn’t know, but I ran toward him. I jumped over the makeshift sandbag wall and beat the water that slammed against the barrier by seconds. Maurice punched my shoulder and glared at me. “What were you doing?”
“I saw the water was breaking and told Frank to get the backhoe out of there.”
He bared his teeth but nodded while fruitlessly wiping his glasses on the tail of his soaked, filthy shirt. I laughed, and he shook his head at me, and then cheers from the workers and volunteers that lived nearby went up as the sandbags held and did their job. Frank and the backhoe got caught up in the water, but the tread on the heavy equipment kept turning and it wasn’t very deep yet. We all stood around watching his progress until he finally made it clear of the immediate danger; although, if rain kept pelting us, eventually none of this would matter. I hoped it would slow down soon.
“Thank you for your help,” Ewell said, coming up to me. “You were amazing just now, beating the floodwater.” I hadn’t spoken with him since I’d arrived because we were all too busy, but the tall, skinny man blasted me with a warm smile. His blond hair was plastered to his head and he resembled a dunked puppy. Ewell shook my hand, then Maurice’s.
“No worries,” Maurice said, but there was a snap in his tone. I wasn’t sure what that was about.
I wrapped my arm around Maurice’s shoulders, and he leaned against my side. “Well, I think we’ll go back to the office.”
Ewell shook his head. “The lights are out in the whole city, except a few of the areas in the Business District. There’s a couple of hotels I’ve heard still have power.” He gave me an apologetic grin. “Most of the roads in and out of the city aren’t passable at the moment.”
“Want to go to a hotel?” I asked over a rush of wind, glancing into Maurice’s face.
He nodded, and we both gazed skyward. It was darker than it had been a few minutes ago, and I thought that was possibly because the day was over and we’d been too busy to realize it was passing us by. My phone was in the car along with Maurice’s so we didn’t ruin them with the rain, and I wasn’t wearing a watch today. “Yeah, if I can’t get home, I want to at least be able to shower and sleep somewhere dry with a bed.”
“After we clean up, would you join me for dinner? Especially since you stood me up last night. Please?”
He took his glasses off and glared at me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. His bow tie was drooping, his white shirt was sheer with the water and mud, and only his undershirt kept him decent.
“That’s what you want to talk about right now? Dinner with me? How did I stand you up?” Maurice snapped his mouth closed and studied my face.
“You said you would have dinner with me, then took it back. Seems like the classic definition of being stood up.”
He laughed and shook his head.
“This would be a date, too. In case you’re wondering.”
“We work together.” He shouted just a little as thunder smashed overhead. We both cringed as lightning forked across the sky.
“I know.”
Maurice stared at me, then rested his forehead against my jaw for a moment. “I have clean gym clothes in my trunk. I won’t look fancy.”
“I have no clean clothes, so you’re a step ahead of me.”
He shook his head and smiled. “You’re on. Let’s eat dinner together.”
I couldn’t help but feel like I’d won a very important prize as he backed away, still smiling, and gestured toward my car.
6
MAURICE
My ass was dragging.
I hadn’t exercised this hard in years, not all at once—those sandbags were no joke—and I had a strange adrenaline-exhaustion combo powering me along. After we stopped at the office to grab my clothing and our laptops, Wick and I rode together to one of three hotels that still had electricity.
The parking lot of the Maison St. Loren was full, and Wick chuckled as I shook my head. I’d never stayed at this hotel; however, I’d eaten in the restaurant and been to the ballroom several times because it was popular for weddings and events. It reminded me of a much bawdier version of Wick’s house because it was painted red. Three stories of rooms each had their own wrought iron balconies, and tasteful crystal lights glowed over them. A patio full of tables stretched out in front of the building, and the beveled glass front doors reflected the people who ambled past with drinks in hand.
“Looks like everyone who can is trying to get somewhere with air-conditioning,” I grumbled. “It’s a regular party.”
He nodded. “I don’t blame them. Once the rain lets up it’s going to be nasty and humid.” We both glanced toward the sky. “We should celebrate.”
“Celebrate?” I asked, blinking at him.
He winked. “You did help save a school today. I would think that deserves a drink or two.”
“I need a shower,” I grumbled, and he snorted, glancing at my ruined clothing as he guided his car into a parking spot far from the building. “Before I do that, I’ll talk to Hyeon Yoon. He owns this place, and he might be able to rustle up some clothes that will fit you.”
“Oh, that would be great. I was worried I’d have to go to dinner in a towel.” Wick grinned at me and the tiny lines around his eyes deepened. Heat hit my face and I couldn’t get over how cute he was right now.
I scratched my chin and grinned at him. “You might get your wish. There’s no guarantee he can help.”
Wick snorted, and I was surprised when he reached into the back seat to grab our laptop bags and my duffel.
“I can take something,” I said, but he only smiled at me.
“No, I have it.”
We got out, and even though I didn’t want to get drenched again, we didn’t rush. We’d been soaked so thoroughly and for so long that it didn’t really matter anymore whether we got wet or not. As we neared the patio at the front of the Maison St. Loren, I noticed a few other power players from around town, who must have decided to skip being at home in the dark. Wick waved and said hello to Torrance Whitaker, our local representative who regularly made the trek to Baton Rouge, and several people who were braving the elements clapped nearby.
“Heard you boys saved that new elementary school! It was a doozie!” Mrs. Johnson called. She worked at the credit union where I had an account. Her husband was a judge, and he sat next to her, nodding. They had a collection of glasses on the table, as if they’d been there for a while.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to hear how the class nerd became the town hero!” Wick stiffened, and I spotted the man who’d spoken farther away from us. He had red hair, a flushed face, and at least a dozen beer bottles surrounding him.
“We would be delighted to tell you all about it as soon as we’re clean and presentable for company,” Wick said, resting his arm across my shoulders.
There was general laughter as he guided me forward, and we went inside through the glass doors. I shivered when the air-conditioning hit me as we entered the lobby. Since my boots were wet and I didn’t want to slip, I stared at the glossy red marble tiles as we crossed them. The walls should’ve been severe since they were stark black, but they were the perfect backdrop for an arrangement of round globes that hung overhead at different heights and created a blazing, chandelier-style centerpiece for the room, reminiscent of stars dotted on the night sky.
We went to the front desk, a wooden affair decorated with delicate floral designs that reminded me of my grandmother’s love of damask wallpaper. Wick beat me to the punch, getting his wallet out first as he flashed a smile at the teenage girl behind the counter. She was very put together in a white dress with a high neck, her curly brown hair anchored perfectly in place with a white barrette, but her eyes were wider than I thought they should’ve been. Her lips thinned as we came toward her.
“I’ve got three rooms left, and Mr. Yoon asked me to get people to stay together, if possible,” she blurted the second we were standing directly in front of her. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, gentlemen, but we’re a bit overwhelmed.”
Wick nodded and leaned closer to blast her with that smile of his. “We’ll take the largest room you have left.”
She shrugged. “They’re all the same. We have single queen-sized beds with a connected bathroom. I would say you could go elsewhere, but we have word every place is booked to the roof!”
Wick nodded and said something quietly to her I didn’t catch, but I’d already noticed Hyeon rushing around with a stack of towels he handed off to a boy in his twenties, who I thought might be related to him. I felt like I should know the guy’s name, but it escaped me.
“Hyeon,” I called, and he startled, then turned toward me, smiling as he walked over.
“Reece! Wow, what a day. Are you. . . okay?” He looked me up and down. “Did you get into an accident?”
“He helped save a school from being flooded this afternoon.” Wick knocked his elbow against my side.
Hyeon’s mouth fell open. “That’s amazing. You’ll have to tell me about it.”
“Wick already promised story time to the folks outside,” I said, with an eye roll that had him laughing. “I was wondering if you could help me. Wick’s clothes are trashed, and we can’t get to his place out of town.”
“No one can,” he muttered direly, glancing toward the front doors as a bunch of people came in. He groaned, then spun toward the desk. “After this group, you need to put a sign on the door saying we’re fully booked.”
The girl behind the desk nodded.
“I was wondering if you had any ideas on where we could get Mr. Guidry some extra clothes,” I said, gesturing at Wick.
Hyeon looked Wick over, which made me uncomfortable. It was stupid to be jealous, but I couldn’t stop it. I happened to know he preferred men, and if Wick liked me well enough to flirt, maybe he would do the same with Hyeon because we had similar builds. He smiled and nodded. “Yeah, my cousin probably has something. He just ran upstairs. What room are you putting them in, Pearl?” he asked the girl behind the desk.
“Thirty-seven, sir.”
He nodded. “I’ll see if I can drop off pants and a shirt, and we might have other things laying around. I would offer to send someone out to buy something, but we’re extremely busy.”
“No, you’re helping us a lot. Thank you, we’re in your debt,” I said, and I really meant it because I was too tired to contemplate trying to fight the rain to go shopping somewhere that still might be open—assuming such a place existed. I stuck out my hand, and Hyeon grinned as we shook. I’d always had an easygoing friendship with Hyeon because we were similar in a lot of ways, and we’d gone to the same private Catholic school together. Neither of our families were religious, the school had been strictly for the education, and we’d complained to each other when the bullies, nuns, and schoolwork got to be too much.
“No worries. Get to your room.” He snagged two key cards off the desk and passed one to me and one to Wick. “You look like you need the break.”
Laughing, I nodded. Outside the thunder rolled, but the people drinking on the patio didn’t come in. Nothing could deter the party atmosphere. It was like we were on the Titanic. Things might be dire, but if the ship was going down, everyone would have a drink in hand when it happened. Wick and I shared smiles as we walked up the large central staircase together, all the way to the top.
“Our room is on the right,” he said with a smile.
I nodded and followed him. Turned out he was wrong, and we had to go the other direction, but I was too tired to think up any snappy one-liners about it. I shut my eyes as we plodded along, and he rubbed my back between my shoulder blades. I wanted to moan out loud. My muscles were getting tense and his touch was perfect.
“Open your eyes, sleepy bear,” Wick whispered. “You’ll trip.”
Grunting, I did as he said.
When we got to the room, I was delighted with the interior. It was very over the top, done up in what I lovingly referred to as Arsenic Green, a very brilliant classic color. The gilded furniture gave the décor a bit of a bordello vibe, and I chuckled nervously as Wick closed the door.
