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“It wasn’t his fault. It was an accident.”
“Ty doesn’t always see things that way.”
That sounded strange but Cassidy had no time to probe deeper. She stepped around him, pulled the door closed and used the keys Elizabeth had sent her to lock it.
“Things will probably be back to normal on Monday. Why don’t you come back then.”
He nodded, turned away. “Ty will have nightmares tonight.”
Cassidy frowned as she watched him leave. Ty? Nightmares? What an odd thing to say. Maybe he’d meant Jack.
As Cassidy drove to the hospital, her thoughts flew to the young boy who’d lost so much blood and to the man who’d seemed more traumatized than the child.
Not that it was any of her business.
But when she weighed her own electric connection with Tyson St. John with the unusual way his nephew had touched something she usually kept buried deep inside, Cassidy couldn’t help being intrigued by Ty and Jack’s relationship.
You’re here to do a job and not to get sidetracked by a good-looking man and his nephew.
Her brain issued the message, but it also conjured up an image of Ty leaning against the counter, winking at her. Her pulse fluttered in response.
Don’t even go there. Focus on your future.
And the dream.
Yeah, she’d concentrate on the dream.
Chapter Two
Cassidy Preston was late.
Ty tossed two more bags of garbage into a plastic bin, then glanced—for the tenth time—at the big metal clock on the kitchen wall.
“Seems like the cook must’ve slept in, Elizabeth,” he muttered as he swept up a pile of debris. “How is she going to handle breakfast at six if she can’t get to work on a Monday morning by eleven?”
“You might be surprised by what I can handle.”
Ty whirled around. Cassidy leaned against the door frame, wearing a short espresso-toned jacket shot with the same silver as her eyes. Her smug expression told him she hadn’t been sleeping in. He was stupidly pleased by the way her eyes lit up when she looked around.
“Very nice.” Her gaze rested for a moment on the saucepan he’d left on the counter—the sparkling clean saucepan. A smile eased the severity of her lips. “I hear Jack was released. Everything okay?”
“He’s doing very well. Thanks for asking. The doctors sent him home once they were sure he was okay and the stitches were holding. He’s supposed to be on bed rest till school starts, but I doubt anyone can hold him to that.” Ty grimaced. “Keeping him quiet while he heals is going to be the hard part.”
“Well, he is a boy. I don’t suppose it’s all that easy to lie around when all your friends are outside.”
Ty could’ve told her that Jack didn’t have many friends, that ever since his mother’s death he’d grown more introverted. He could’ve told her that he was concerned by the boy’s aimlessness, by his lack of interest in the swimming team on which he’d once excelled, or the Rollerblading that had worried his mother. He could’ve told her that, since Gail’s death, he’d tried a thousand things to draw the boy’s interest and that none of them had worked.
Thankfully, he didn’t get a chance to relate that sad history.
“You’ve made quite a difference in here. Did you work all weekend?”
“Nope. I started at the crack of dawn.” No way would he tell her why. “Someone tried to break in Friday night so I hired Mac to act as our night watchman. He was a cop once. He says you’ve met.”
She nodded.
“When I showed up here this morning it was pretty early. I think I scared the wits out of him.” The old man’s disgruntled complaints still rang in Ty’s ears.
“Well, whenever you started and however long it took, you’ve done a great job.”
“Thank you. Does that mean you’re cooking lunch?”
She tossed him a “when pigs fly” look.
“Regarding that.” Cassidy frowned. “I wonder if it would be possible to haul out those old refrigeration units while you’re in your cleaning mode. They smell.”
“Haul them away?” Did he look like an ox? “Sure—if I can scrounge up about another six men and some kind of pulley system.”
“I can help you.” She took another look, shaking her head. “You’re right. We’d need Hercules.”
Ty probed past the friendly smile, glimpsed something she wasn’t saying.
“These old things are all we have. If we throw them out—”
A satisfied smirk originated in Cassidy’s silver-gray eyes and swooped down to tip up the corners of her generous mouth. Funny he hadn’t noticed her great smile before, but then she hadn’t smiled all that much on Friday.
“They were all you had.” A spark of mischief played with her smile. “I found something better.”
“You bought new refrigeration?” he asked in disbelief, temper rising at her temerity. He tamped it down with difficulty. “Cassidy, there is no way we can lay out expenditures like that without sourcing all possible providers and getting quotes for the best price. I know you want to get started but you can’t rush ahead on your own.”
“If you’d only—”
“Wherever you got it from, it will have to go back. I’m sorry.” Ty pinned her with a glare, hoping she understood what he wasn’t saying—he was the boss. “You have to take it back.”
“Could you listen—”
“I don’t have to hear any more. It goes back.”
Ty was in charge so she’d better realize he would make the major decisions about where the money was spent. He could be more blunt if he had to, but confrontation wasn’t his usual style.
Apparently their new chef had no such problem.
“How dare you?”
Silver flashes from her eyes speared him. So she had a temper. Well, he wasn’t any pushover, either.
“There is no dare about it,” Ty informed her with a firmness that, thanks to Jack, he’d recently learned to apply. “Elizabeth Wisdom’s foundation donated money to turn Gail’s dream into reality. But I can’t authorize—”
“Stop!” She took one step toward him, anger shimmering around her like a field of overcharged electricity. Her voice had risen but her next words were modulated. “I realize you’re in charge here, Mr. St. John. I’m well aware that everything must be approved by you. You are the boss. Got that.”
“Then?” He would not back down.
“I have no intention of threatening your power. I was merely trying to help get this place off the ground. As quickly as possible.”
“But—”
Cassidy’s upheld palm stemmed his protest.
“That’s why I contacted a friend of mine—to get a lead on some equipment. Davis was willing to donate some very good units for which he has no further use.”
His anger shrank to the size of a shriveled pea. “Donate?”
“As in free. Gratis. No charge.” She glanced at her watch for the second time. “They’ll be delivered in about two hours. Also free. If we have everything ready, they might just agree to move the units into place.”
Ty had jumped to conclusions, neglecting to ask questions first. In short, he’d done exactly what he always counseled his patients not to do. Like some power-hungry freak that sensed his control was threatened, he’d waved his big stick of authority to prove to her that he knew what he was doing.
“I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t much of an apology, but at least it was sincere. Ty stared at his toes, waiting for her response. What happened now would signal how their relationship progressed. Yes, he’d messed up, but they still had to work together.
She could have called, he told himself, and alerted him to the possibility that she’d found some equipment. She could have mentioned she was going to ask some friends for help. She could have—
Ty didn’t have time to analyze his defensiveness.
“Clearly, I made a mistake. You don’t want them.” Cassidy shoved a length of hair behind one ear. “Fine. I’ll phone Davis, see if he will take it all back. I didn’t realize that you had something else already planned. I got so excited when this was available for free that I guess I thought—” She heaved a sigh, closed her eyes and shook her head. “Never mind. I’m sorry I interfered with your plans.”
Now he felt like a first-class jerk.
“I didn’t actually have any plans. Yet. I’m very happy you found this opportunity for us, Cassidy.” Ty caught himself waiting for the glow to return to her face.
“You’re sure?” Who could blame her for being confused?
“Positive.” He took a deep breath and said what he should have said in the first place. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little awed by the responsibility of getting this place up and running. My sister, Gail—” he struggled to find the right words “—she had a very precise idea of what she wanted the Haven to be like. She spent a lot of time working in this community as an outreach worker. She chose this place because our brother died near here.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t have. As much as I can, I intend to make her dream come true, preferably without spending all the money Elizabeth provided us before we open the doors. Most of the time I’m in way over my head, just trying to stay afloat. And it scares me to death. I guess I took my fears out on you.” Forcing that admission cost Ty but he pressed on. “I sincerely apologize.”
Cassidy’s body language told Ty she wasn’t ready to accept his apology quite yet. He tried again.
“If it seems like I’m a little overprotective about the place, it’s probably because I am. Organizing a shelter—” He held out his hands, palms facing upward. “It’s not my area of expertise and I don’t want to make any mistakes. I’m feeling my way through.”
“What is your field?”
“Counseling. I’m a psychologist. I used to work in the military with the soldiers serving in Iraq.”
“You don’t now?” Curiosity lit up her expression. “Why is that?”
“I quit.” He struggled to find words that would make sense of a situation that even now confused him. “Shortly after I came back, Gail had a massive coronary.”
At first he’d considered coming here charity work, but the longer he concentrated on the Haven, the more Ty began to imagine Gail’s vision coming alive for the residents of this neighborhood—for people like Donnie, who had fallen through the cracks.
In running the Haven Ty saw himself finding his way back to counseling, to helping people improve their lives, work he’d loved.
At least that was his hope.
The truth was that he’d latched onto the Haven like a life preserver because he never again wanted to relive the gut-wrenching horrors he’d seen, terrors he still dreamed of every night.
And of course there was Jack. Ty hoped seeing his mother’s dream come true would help Jack get past the grief that still showed in his eyes, help the two of them bond.
But that wasn’t the entire truth.
In reality, Ty desperately needed the myriad details of this place to keep from panicking about raising a twelve-year-old boy alone.
“Losing your sister must have been devastating, both to you and to Jack,” Cassidy murmured. “Especially for you, having also lost your brother. I’m so sorry.”
That she could be so considerate, especially after his temper tantrum, touched Ty.
“Thank you. It was difficult. But knowing her vision for the Haven is going to become real—that helps a lot.”
“Would you mind telling me what that vision was? How it started?”
Ty closed his eyes, raked a hand through his hair as loss squeezed a grip around his heart.
“Gail and Elizabeth Wisdom were friends for years. They sat on lots of charity boards together.”
In fact, it was Gail who’d introduced Ty to Elizabeth. He recalled the Christmas benefit as if it were yesterday. He’d attended just before he’d been shipped out and found himself caught up in their projects, in the joy they took lending help where it was needed. Those had been happy days.
LaterTy had been glad of the connection when he’d contacted the Wisdom Foundation about making Gail’s dream come true.
“The two of them were like twin caped-crusaders, hunting for things that needed to be done to make the world a better place, and tackling them till they got the results they were after.” He shook his head ruefully. “The Haven grew from an idea Gail had at her last high school reunion. Our brother died of a drug overdose in his senior year. When Gail found out this school was going to be demolished, she decided to use it to make this neighborhood better for the people who live here.”
“She sounds very generous.”
Good thing Jack wasn’t here. Ty longed to talk about his sister, but since Jack hadn’t yet opened up about losing his mother, Ty wasn’t sure exactly how to broach the subject. So he kept silent, never speaking about the sister he’d loved, allowing Jack time to deal with his grief in his own way.
Someday he hoped to share all the funny stories from his childhood. Someday he’d pull out the old photos, talk to Jack about Donnie, how he’d gotten messed up because he made the wrong choices. Someday Ty and Jack would laugh, push past the strained relationship they now shared.
“I’m sorry if it’s painful—”
Ty shook his head.
“Gail had a very successful career in real estate. She left it to work in this community as an outreach worker because she felt that God had blessed her so much she had to share, to make a difference in the world. And for several years she did.”
“I see.”
Ty breathed deeply, forced his shoulders to relax and his fingers to unclench.
“The Haven was Gail’s last dream. I made myself a promise that I’d see my sister’s final project through to completion.”
