Bas got out of the car and shoved his keys into the pocket of his jeans, appreciating Jason Kilgore for making arrangements for him to have a place to stay while in town.
Just being back in Newton Grove was stirring memories of how closely he had worked with Jim that summer, the bond they"d made and the special friendship that had been forged. He took a moment to lean against the fender of his rented car and glanced around, reflecting. In his mind he could actually see Jim loading lumber into his pickup truck while preaching to Bas in that strong, firm, yet caring voice. He"d told him the importance of a man being a man, about handling your responsibilities and taking advantage of every opportunity. The memory tugged at Bas"s heart, and emotions swamped him. They were emotions that Jim had effectively shown him that it was okay to possess.
Bas suddenly blinked when the sound of a car"s horn reclaimed his attention. Sighing deeply he went to the trunk to get out his luggage, thinking of his encounter with Jocelyn Mason. If the woman had her way he would be headed back to Charlotte by now. He could almost feel the daggers she had thrown in his back when he"d walked out of Kilgore"s office.
He sighed again and glanced up toward the sky. "Jim, old friend, I hope you knew what you were doing because I don"t think your daughter likes me very much."
"Aren"t you that same young man who used to give us trouble?"
Sebastian glanced up from signing his name in Sadie"s Bed and Breakfast"s registration book and met the old woman"s eyes. Something hard and tight settled in the pit of his stomach. It was a reaction he got whenever anyone recalled his less-than-sterling past.
If she had been someone from Charlotte, he would have shamefully admitted to it. But he distinctly remembered being on good behavior that summer while living in Newton Grove. For that reason he stared at her and said, "No, ma"am, you must have me mistaken for someone else."
Evidently she thought otherwise and her blue eyes sparked as she said, "No, I don"t think so. I might be old-I"m pushing seventy-but I have a fairly good memory about some things. You worked with Jim, as part of his construction business one summer, over thirteen or fourteen years ago."
Bas"s stomach began feeling unsettled again. She certainly did have a good memory. "Yes, but I didn"t get into any trouble," he said defensively.
The old woman laughed. "Not any of your own making, trust me. But whenever you worked outside at a construction site on those extremely hot days, you drew an audience every time you took off your shirt."
She barked out another laugh and continued. "Yeah, I do remember that summer. You had all the young women acting like silly fools whenever they could take a peek at you. And I remember Marcella all but salivating whenever she saw you."
She studied him for a moment then said, "I understand you"re going to be helping out at Mason"s Construction again."
He took his Visa card out of his wallet to hand to her. News traveled fast in small towns. "Yes, ma"am, I am."
"I"m glad you saw fit to come help Jocelyn for a while now that Jim"s gone. Lord knows she wouldn"t ask for it, even if she needed it," Sadie went on to say. "And I"m curious as to what Leah"s going to do. I expected her to leave town right after the funeral."
Bas put his charge card back into his wallet after she returned it to him. "She lives in California, right?"
"So we hear. Leah left here at eighteen. She hated this place, claimed Newton Grove was too small town for her. She wanted to see the world and headed to California."
After a quick pause she added, "She broke Reese Singleton"s heart when she left. They"d been sweethearts. He"s a good man who didn"t deserve what she did to him. You"ll get to know Reese rather well over the coming months."
Bas leaned against the counter. "I will?"
"Yes, he"s the foreman at Mason Construction. But he might not be there for too much longer."
Bas lifted a brow. "Why not?"
"Because he"s better suited as a carpenter than a builder, and I heard that Jim left him a bunch of money to start his own business."
Bas turned to follow Sadie up the stairs to his room. Once he got settled he would check out what was happening over at Mason Construction.
The nail was taking a beating as Jocelyn hammered it relentlessly into the wood. A part of her wished it was Sebastian Steele"s head.
If there was one thing she didn"t need it was aggravation, and the man had gotten next to her like n.o.body"s business. The nerve of him, thinking he could just waltz in and take over. Mason Construction was now hers and she would run things the way she saw fit, regardless of what he had to say.
It wasn"t as though she didn"t know what she was doing. Heck, she"d been reading blueprints practically since she could walk. Growing up, she"d spent hours at every job site with her father, learning each aspect of a builder"s trade, from the ordering of the supplies to the overseeing of each structural design. While many construction workers had their specialties, Jocelyn was truly a jack-of-all-trades. She handled a paintbrush just as expertly as any artist; she could fit a pipe together as well as any master plumber, and she worked with brick, stone, concrete block and structural tile with the skill of an accomplished mason. For years she had worked alongside her dad and his crew as a fill-in, doing whatever task was needed and learning just about everything she could, before school, after school, weekends, whenever. She practically lived at Mason Construction except for those summer months when Jim Mason would ship her and Leah off to Aunt Susan in Florida.
Their mother"s sister was as refined and proper as the words could get, and had been determined to pa.s.s those characteristics on to her nieces no matter how much they"d balked at the idea. After a while, Jocelyn and Leah discovered it was easier to just go with the flow and accept all the lacy, frilly dresses, the tea parties and the countless hours of walking with a book on their heads to perfect that graceful walk.
Now that she was a grown woman, Jocelyn appreciated her aunt"s teachings and guidance to a degree she"d never thought would be possible as a young girl. She was glad she"d had the chance to express her grat.i.tude to Aunt Susan before she died a few years ago. Jocelyn thought about the deaths of the three people who"d meant a lot to her-her mother when she"d turned sixteen; her Aunt Susan around six years ago and now her dad.
"If you keep beating that nail to death you"ll whack it all the way through and bust up that board. Who ruffled your feathers today?"
Expelling a deep breath and clutching the hammer more tightly in her hand, Jocelyn decided Reese was right. There was no reason to take out her anger and frustration on a piece of wood.
She glanced up at him and knew he was waiting for an answer. It hadn"t taken much for the men who worked for her to tell she was in a relatively foul mood, which is the reason they had been avoiding her. Reese had been at lunch when she"d arrived. Evidently the guys hadn"t wasted any time giving him fair warning. Too bad all those deeply ingrained proper manners and stiff rules Aunt Susan had taught her weren"t working for her today, especially the one about a lady not letting a man get on her last nerve, at least not to the point of showing it. A lady kept her cool and handled a man with charm and diplomatic grace.
Today, thanks to Sebastian Steele, all she could say to that notion was hogwash!
After leaving Jason"s office she had gone home long enough to change into her work clothes, then joined the men at this particular jobsite. The only reason she hadn"t been here at the crack of dawn like they had was because the mayor had requested her presence at a meeting in his office at eight. He liked being kept abreast of the plans for the city"s Founder"s Day Celebration next month, and since she was this year"s chairperson, she had brought him up to date over bagels and coffee. And then there had been that ten o"clock meeting in Jason"s office, the one she wished she could delete from her mind.
Jocelyn put the hammer down, deciding at the moment it was rather dangerous in her hand. "If you must know, Sebastian Steele is the person who ruffled my feathers. He has to be the most infuriating man I"ve ever met."
Reese smirked at her. "In other words, he wouldn"t let you have your way with anything."
Jocelyn picked up the hammer again and hit it a couple of times in the palm of her hand. "You like your face, Reese?"
He grinned. "Yeah, I like my face, considering it"s the only one I got."
And Jocelyn knew all the local girls thought it was a rather good-looking face, making him the most sought-after bachelor in town. But he was also the most elusive. She"d known Reese for six years, ever since his family had moved to Tennessee from Alabama when Reese was nineteen. The first time he"d seen her and Leah together out at the county fair, he had decided the then seventeen-year-old Leah, who was about to become a senior in high school, would one day be his wife. He was convinced he could erase the thought from Leah"s mind of ever moving away from Newton Grove.
He"d been wrong and had gotten a broken heart to prove it.
"Well, if you like it so much, then knock it off. I"m not in a teasing mood."
"So I gather. Hey, this Steele guy can"t be all bad since Jim thought enough of him to leave him part of the company."
Jocelyn frowned, narrowed her eyes, preferring not to be reminded of that. "Just because Dad liked him doesn"t mean that I have to like him, too."
"No, but still I"d think you"d respect your father"s wishes and try to make things work."
Jocelyn started hitting the hammer in the palm of her hand again. "You"re really making me mad. Don"t you have something to do?"
Reese grinned. "Yeah, but I thought I"d come over here to make sure you"ll be more help than a hindrance today. You know how I feel about going behind you and-"
Oh, that did it! He had really pushed her the wrong way, and just from the smile on his face she knew he was enjoying every single minute of getting her riled. She shot him a dark look. "Okay, just wait until you have to follow Steele"s orders and see how much you like it."
Reese leaned against a window cas.e.m.e.nt. "I don"t mind following orders as long as they"re solid and sound. And like I said Jim evidently trusted this man"s judgment or he wouldn"t be here."
"And it doesn"t bother you that Dad didn"t leave you a part of the company?"
The smile on Reese"s face suddenly disappeared and he said in a quiet tone. "The only thing I ever wanted from your father was his baby girl. But that"s history. Some days I wish I had never laid eyes on Leah."
Jocelyn nodded, understanding his feelings completely. Because of the four-year gap in their ages and the differences in their personalities, she and Leah hadn"t been particularly close while growing up and she could never understand how her sister could walk away from a man who loved her as much as Reese had.
She waited, knowing Reese had more to say. For years he had kept his battered feelings locked inside, refusing to talk to anyone, even her father, about Leah and the hurt she"d caused him. But they"d known and accepted that the main reason Reese had joined the army within months of Leah"s departure was to get away for a while. And he"d stayed away for two years.
"And why is she still hanging around? When is she returning to California?" he asked, with deep bitterness in his voice.
Jocelyn asked herself those same questions every morning when she awoke to find her sister still there. It wouldn"t surprise her if Leah left during the night without saying goodbye. That was how she"d done it the first time. Her father had been devastated, Reese heartbroken and Jocelyn left wondering if she could have done something, anything, to improve their relationship while growing up, if she should have been less overprotective and smothering as Leah had claimed.
"I don"t know why she"s still here, Reese. A part of me would like to think she"s finally decided to come home to stay, but I won"t get my hopes up wishing for that one."
"And I"m hoping for just the opposite. I wish she would leave and go back to wherever the h.e.l.l she"s been for the past five years."
Jocelyn felt Reese"s pain and a part of her knew that even after all these years, he hadn"t gotten over what Leah had done to him.
"Hope I"m not interrupting anything."
Jocelyn swirled around and her gaze collided with Sebastian Steele. She was surprised to see him, but should have known he would show up sooner or later. Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, your very presence is interrupting everything."
And with nothing else to say, she walked off.
No woman, Bas quickly decided as he watched Jocelyn cross the floor into what would be a master bedroom, should look that good in a pair of jeans. He scrubbed one hand across his jaw, pondering that phenomenon, as he continued to stare at her. He had found her utterly attractive earlier that day in a skirt and blouse, but seeing her dressed in work wear was having a more potent effect on him.
Well-worn jeans clung to her body like another layer of skin, but then gave a little with each step she took, providing a comfortable fit. Then there was her T-shirt, the one that boldly advertised Mason Construction across her chest, that made him appreciate, as he always did, a woman with a nice set of b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
The work boots and the bandana she wore around her head did nothing to detract from her femininity, and he had to concede that no matter what kind of clothes Jocelyn Mason wore, she was one of the s.e.xiest-looking women he"d ever seen.
"I gather you"re Sebastian Steele."
The man"s words pulled Bas"s attention back into focus and he shot him a curious glance. He had seen Jocelyn talking to him when he"d arrived, and the conversation had seemed pretty tense. Did the two of them have something going on more personal than business? "Yes, I"m Sebastian Steele."
The man studied him a moment and then said, "And I"m Reese Singleton, Mason Construction"s foreman."
Bas remembered the name and everything Sadie had scooped him on earlier that day. This was the man who had gotten his heart broken by the other Mason female. He offered his hand. "Nice meeting you."
"The same here. I heard a lot about you from Jim."
"All good I hope," Bas said, returning his gaze to Jocelyn. He could tell from her body language that she was mad, from the way she was slapping the paintbrush against that wall as if she was brandishing a sword instead.
"She"ll be fine. Jocelyn has a tendency not to stay mad for long."
Bas switched his gaze off Jocelyn and back to the man standing beside him-someone whose presence he had momentarily forgotten. Reese was grinning, his dark eyes flashing amus.e.m.e.nt behind the lenses of his safety gla.s.ses. "Is that right?" Bas asked, not liking the fact that Reese thought he knew Jocelyn so well.
"Yes, that"s right," Reese said, hooking a thumb beneath his tool belt and leaning back against a solid wall. "I"ve known Jocelyn for almost six years now and her bark is worse than her bite. She"s upset that her dad left you in charge of things for a while, and also that you got part of a company she felt was rightfully hers. But like I said, she"ll get over it."
He studied the younger man and suddenly felt something he usually didn"t experience with men other than his brothers-trust. For some reason, though, Bas knew that Reese Singleton was a man who could be trusted.
"I hope she gets over it because I have a job to do, one Jim left for me, and whether I want it or not, I plan to see it through. I owe him that much and more."
"Me, too," Reese said, following Bas"s gaze as it moved to Jocelyn once more. "My family moved to the area when I was nineteen. I worked for Jim in the day and took college cla.s.ses at the university at night. He replaced the father I lost at sixteen. He was my voice of reason when I didn"t have one, my mentor and a good friend. At one point he stopped me from making a grave mistake, one that could have cost me my life."
Bas nodded. It sounded as if at one point he and Reese had been tortured by similar inner demons and in both situations it had been Jim who had helped to take them out of the dark and lead them into the light.
"How about if I introduce you to everyone?" Reese said, breaking into Bas"s thoughts. "The sooner you know what"s going on, the better. Right now everything"s running smoothly but we can"t expect things to stay that way since this is Marcella Jones"s house we"re presently working on and she"s known to change her mind a lot. This is the third house we"ve built for her and her husband, and with this place she decided almost at the last minute that she wanted to add a huge lanai off her living room and bedroom. If nothing else changes, we"ll be wrapping up things here in about three weeks."
"Thanks and yes, I"d like to meet everyone."
Bas glanced around as they made their way over to a group of men who were working on the cooking island that was part of the summer kitchen. Marcella Jones wasn"t just getting a gla.s.s-enclosed lanai; she was getting a huge area that would be well suited for any and all her entertainment needs. He had to admit he liked the layout of the house and had admired each and every detail while pa.s.sing through earlier.
The open-beam cathedral ceilings and the floor-to-ceiling windows would make the home light and airy, and provide a full mountain view no matter where you looked. In his mind he could see the finished product decorated with the finest of furnishings and beautiful art work.
Bas glanced over at Jocelyn and caught her staring at him. In that quick instance, something pa.s.sed between them, and he felt it all the way to his gut. He frowned and told himself silently that the last thing he needed was to get interested in any woman, especially Jim"s oldest daughter, no matter how tempting she was.
He had a job to do and he needed to get his mind on doing it and not on doing Jocelyn Mason.
Jocelyn swallowed back the knot that threatened to block her throat. Why did Sebastian Steele have to look so d.a.m.n good? And those jeans he had on weren"t helping matters one bit.
She gritted her teeth, wondering why she found him so attractive, then quickly decided his good looks and well-built body definitely had something to do with it. She jumped when she felt the mobile phone in her back pocket vibrate. Putting aside the paintbrush, she pulled the phone out. A quick check of the caller ID indicated it was Leah.
For the past five days, ever since the funeral, her sister had mostly spent her time going through their father"s belongings and packing things up to give away. At first they had started doing the task together and then the memories had gotten too much for Jocelyn and she"d asked Leah to finish without her. Her sister had agreed. That was the one thing Jocelyn noticed about Leah since she"d been back. She was a lot more agreeable and less argumentative these days. There was a time when the two of them would disagree about almost anything, including the weather.
"Yes, Leah?"
"Just wanted you to know I cooked dinner and I thought it would be nice if we invited a guest."
Jocelyn moved her shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. She definitely didn"t have a problem with Leah preparing dinner since her sister was a pretty good cook, but she did have a problem with the suggestion of a guest. She couldn"t help wondering if Leah was finally going to come out of hiding and face Reese by inviting him to dinner. She had done a pretty good job of avoiding him the few times she"d returned home over the past five years.
"And just who will this dinner guest be?" she asked, curious as to how many languages Reese would say the words h.e.l.l no h.e.l.l no in when he got the invitation from Leah. in when he got the invitation from Leah.
"Jason called for you a short while ago and happened to mention that Mr. Steele arrived in town today."
"And what of it?" Jocelyn asked, leaning back against a wall she hadn"t started painting yet.
"I think it would be a good idea to invite him to dinner. After all, he was Dad"s friend."
"But that doesn"t make him ours," she snapped, looking down at the hammer she had placed at her feet. She then glanced across the room at Bas. It was a tempting thought but she quickly decided that nothing and no one was worth going to jail.
"But I want to meet him. Aren"t you curious?"