Page 13 of Crewe (Nelson’s Honkytonk Saloon & Bar #3)

Chapter Thirteen

C rewe lay beside Ry in the bed. He hadn’t fucking slept a wink.

He’d been a total creeper, listening to the sweet sounds Ry made as she slept.

And when the room had cooled during the night, she’d snuggled up against him for warmth.

Her head was currently resting on his shoulder, with her hair tickling his ribs.

He deserved a medal for lying still while she lay against him. He’d been hard enough to pound steel, and he was wondering what he was going to do to extricate himself from this.

He wasn’t going to make a move on her because when it happened, he wanted her wide awake and the perfect moment.

His phone buzzed, and it was one of the older widowed ladies he’d helped before.

He carefully moved Ry’s head back to her pillow and quietly answered the phone while walking into the bathroom.

“Hello,” he said.

“Crewe, it’s Mavis. I’m sorry to bother you, but I don’t know who else to ask,” she said, with tears in her voice.

“Oh, you’re not a bother. What’s going on?” he asked.

“We had a huge storm come through last night. It knocked out the power, and they don’t expect it to be back on for a couple days. My medicine is expensive and has to be kept cold. I just don’t know what to do,” she said.

“Okay, let me contact a few people, and then I’ll call you back,” Crewe said .

He hung up and texted his contacts, waiting for replies.

Crewe loved solving problems for people, and he’d gotten the reputation for fixing things and taking care of issues.

If you needed a mattress, Crewe could find someone who was moving and didn’t want theirs.

He thrived on helping people, and Mavis was one who was close to his heart.

She’d taught third grade to his cousins and him.

She was retired now, and her daughter lived twelve hours away.

Her husband had passed a couple years ago.

His phone beeped with multiple texts, and he ran through them. Yep, he had a solution. He dialed Mavis back.

“Hey, Mavis, I’ve got a couple options for you.

I have a friend who can bring a generator over and get it running for you.

He’d even come back periodically to check on it and refill it.

If you’d rather stay someplace where you don’t have to worry about that, the apartment manager at the complex says they have power and have open places.

If you want to go there, I’ll have someone come get you and the food and stuff you need.

Whatever makes you the most comfortable,” he said.

“I think if it’s not too much trouble, I’d rather be at the apartment,” she said.

“No trouble at all. I’m going to give everyone a call back. I’ll text you the name and number of who will be coming. Now you call or text me if you need anything else,” he said.

“Oh, thank you, Crewe. I knew you could solve it,” she said, still with tears in her voice.

He hung up and texted Therese, the coordinator at the apartments, and his maintenance manager. Between the two of them, they could get her moved and comfortable. When he walked back into the bedroom, Ry was sitting up on the side of the bed.

“Did I hear you taking care of someone?” Ry asked.

“Yes, Mavis had an issue,” he said, pausing at the end of the bed to gauge Ry’s mood. He’d never seen her first thing in the morning. He wondered if she was a morning person or not. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her drink anything besides a Coke or water.

“Are you a coffee person in the morning?” he asked.

“Coke, no ice if already chilled. If not, enough ice to cool it off,” Ry muttered.

Banging on the door had him turning, not needing to hide the huge smile on his face regarding her specifications on the drink. He answered the door in his shorts. The smiling faces of Vivi and Ellie met him.

“Good morning, Nelson family! Here are your shirts. The kids are already in theirs. I bought two for each person just in case you wanted to wear them more than one day, and our family picture, including all extended family, I’m talking to you, Ry, is at noon at the falls.

See you all at breakfast at nine,” Vivi said, loud enough for not only Ry to hear but the next room down the hall as well.

Ellie was just grinning at him, then winked, pointing at the room and mouthing, my idea .

There were days his Vivi and Ellie got on his nerves, but today, he was so thankful for them.

“Thank you,” Crewe said, taking the shirts. He brought them in to Ry so they could look at them. Ry grabbed one and immediately started giggling.

Crewe looked at the shirt and chuckled too. Nelson’s Forced Family Fun with Christmas lights was on the shirt. He had to admit they were kind of cute, and after having to wear the pink betting penalty shirt, he was just glad they weren’t pink.

“Freya and Wyatt are going to love these,” Ry said, fingering the shirt.

“Well, I’m going to run get you a Coke and be back as soon as I figure out where the vending machines are,” he said, staring at her face, wanting to taste her lips but worried he’d be moving too soon.

Crewe left the room, and Ry grabbed her clothes, running into the bathroom.

She was equally relieved and disappointed about Mavis’ phone call.

She’d woken as Crewe scooted out from under her.

She’d known that she was on his shoulder.

She’d awakened during the night to her head on his shoulder, his arm around her.

She hadn’t been ready for more, so she’d kept her eyes closed and drifted back to sleep.

Ry slipped on her clothes and fixed her hair while continuing to chuckle about the shirts.

The kids would be ecstatic to be part of the Nelson clan.

She brushed her hair out and left it loose.

She had enough curl and waves that it would look good.

She was excited about the family picture.

She brushed her teeth even though it would change the taste of the cola.

There was no way she was hitting Crewe with morning breath today.

She walked out and grabbed tennis shoes, putting them on. She looked at her options and chose the purse that doubled as a small backpack. Even though nature photography was her main love, she wanted to get some pictures of the Mistletoe Canyon sights and the kids .

A knock on the door heralded Crewe’s return. He walked in smiling, handing her an ice-cold bottle of Coke along with a cup with a lid.

“I wasn’t sure if you drank from the bottle or wanted a cup,” he said. She stared at him for a minute.

“Did you really run out in only your shorts to get me a drink? You could have waited and gotten dressed,” Ry said.

Crewe’s blushing face was the cutest.

“I didn’t even think about that I was only in shorts. Just wanted to get you your morning drink,” he said.

Until she’d come to Nelson’s, she’d thought her dad was the anomaly in how to treat women.

No man before had given any thought to her needs.

But then she met the men of the Nelson clan and found out that there were kind, strong men who not only treated women and kids well but penalized the jerks who didn’t.

The first time she’d watched Hennessy and Whiskey drag someone out of the bar for being inappropriate with her while she worked, she’d been amazed.

They’d come behind the bar and changed the How Many Days Since We’ve Booted an Asshole from the Bar sign back to zero.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined they would consider someone being inappropriate with an employee a reason to boot someone from the bar.

“Well, thank you for getting me my addiction this morning. The kids will thank you too,” she said.

Crewe grinned. “Let me get dressed and we can go down to breakfast. That shirt is really cute on you,” he said, pulling some clothes from his bag and going into the bathroom.

Ry breathed in, glanced back at the bed, then the bathroom. Crewe, with his washboard abs and thick arms, paired with one bed and her extremely shaky control, had her hoping she could just get through this vacation with her heart still intact.