Page 8 of Matthias’s Protective Embrace (Cardinal Falls #3)

Chapter Five

FRANK

Pros to spending my nights at the diner: hot french fries, extra study time, not listening to my parents berate me for wasting my life. Cons: I’m so tired.

It’s like I’m dragging my body through a pit of Jello while I work.

And not in a fun way. Every movement takes so much extra effort and focus that I swear I’m under some sort of spell.

And none of those things make sense together because I’m delirious.

I’m not sure I’d even be able to count to ten if someone asked me to.

“You okay?” Benji asks. “You look a little under the weather today?”

It takes me far too long to respond, trying to remember how to connect my brain to my mouth. “Just tired.” He doesn’t seem convinced by my answer. Neither am I, honestly.

“Well, we’re almost done here.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and glances at the screen. “‘Scuse me a second.” He taps the screen and takes a step toward the side. “Hey, sweetie, what’s up?”

I shake my head, hoping it knocks some of the fogginess out of my system. Okay, he’s right. If we can do these last couple of things, we’ll be done for the week. Since I don’t have classes on Fridays, I can rush home and go straight to bed.

Or not. Shit . The study group assignment. There’s no way I can work on it tonight. I won’t make it through a single sentence. Okay, I can still do this. Go home. Go to bed. Get up early to study. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to slip into the house without having to stop and chat.

Ugh . Thinking about my bed makes it even worse. Focus . Finish restacking and organizing materials, cover everything in tarps, go home. I repeat the list in my head over and over, afraid I’ll forget something.

“Hey, Frank?” I snap my head back toward Benji. “You okay to finish up on your own? My kid’s running a fever, and I need to go grab her from daycare.”

“Yeah, no problem. Tell her I hope she feels better soon.” We’re already down today. Devon’s out sick, and Rex left early for an appointment.

He nods and takes off. I love how much he cares about his toddler. If I’m ever a father, I hope I’m as dedicated to my children as he is.

List. Focus. It’ll take longer on my own, but I can do this.

I grab a few stacks of lumber and start piling them up near the edges of the fence, placing them close together to make them easier to cover.

The first winter frost is predicted to arrive this weekend, and we don’t want it to do too much damage.

There’s not much we can do about the cold, but we do our best to keep materials from getting wet as the ground freezes and thaws.

Benji got tarps down on the ground earlier.

Now I’ve got to finish getting all the supplies on them and then cover them up with more tarps.

Benji and I got about three-quarters of the way, so it shouldn’t take much longer.

I rub my hands together and blow into the middle, trying to warm up my fingers. I should put my gloves on, given the rapidly dropping temperature, but if I work fast, it’ll be fine. I’m more worried that any breaks will derail the inertia carrying me through.

Fast and focused. Fast and focused. I repeat the mantra to myself as I work.

Finally, I get the last load moved, sliding the boards in place to keep them as neat as possible.

Wouldn’t want my sexy homeowner to find any reason to get bent out of shape over the state of his backyard.

Though, I wouldn’t mind having him give me a piece of his mind.

Especially if it means getting to be close to him again.

The daily coffee offering only takes three minutes at most. And those are pre-caffeinated minutes, so my flirting skills are non-existent.

Not that he thinks of me that way. Even if I did manage to turn my flirting up, he’d probably go off to work laughing about the help thinking he had a shot.

I drop a tarp on top of the pile, tugging it into position.

It’s like some terrible version of making the bed where no matter which way I pull it, the cover doesn’t line up on one of the sides.

I’m met with resistance when I give the back corner a tug.

“Must be stuck on something,” I mutter to myself.

Digging in with my heels, I pull again, giving it everything I’ve got.

Which is, apparently, too much. Whatever held it back gives way, and the whole thing comes to my side, sending me tumbling backwards onto the ground.

Yep, that’s my luck today. I lean against the fence and take a few deep breaths.

Wow, that hurts . And now, I’m stuck. Not literally, but I’m not sure I have the necessary energy to pull myself back up.

I’ll wait a few minutes, let the pain subside, and gather my strength.

I close my eyes and try to think nice, warm thoughts.

My mind drifts to images of Matthias and the warm smile he gives me every morning when he hands over my caramel coffee goodness.

Hmmm… I let my mind wander to think about it for a moment.

Warm. Cozy. Maybe just a second of sleep.

Then I’ll be able to get up and go home.

Yeah, just a minute.

MATTHIAS

It’s later than I expected when I finally pull into the garage at the back of my house.

It’s been a long week full of client meetings.

It’s nice to have a full schedule, but it doesn’t allow much time for all the between-meeting tasks.

Answering emails, prepping for the next meeting, and following up on the ones I had.

All the numbers on my computer wobbled a bit when I looked at them.

That’s always a sign that it’s time to give up and start again tomorrow.

For tonight, I’m looking forward to a hot bath, a glass of wine, and a lot of sleep.

The kitchen is woefully low on anything of substance, but I find a microwavable meal tucked in the back of the freezer that will do the trick.

Turkey and mashed potatoes. The countdown timer is slow tonight, the seconds barely moving.

A watched microwave never dings, so I abandon the kitchen to check the backyard.

I don’t expect much progress in the last day, but I like to check anyway.

Every time I glance out the back door and notice a few more things done, a stack of supplies missing from around the fence, I feel a little better.

Soon, all I’ll be able to see is the amazing new space for my friends and I to gather.

I squint as I look out the glass sliding door, but it’s too dark to make anything out. Maybe once Daylight Saving time ends this weekend, I’ll have a chance of catching a glimpse each night. At least for a couple of weeks.

Not wanting to grab my coat, I turn on the porch light.

The light floods the deck and spreads across the grass.

As expected, it’s pretty much the same. The deck is in place but lacks banisters and railings.

The grass still looks barren, but the outline of the fire pit is there.

Hopefully, that’s done by the next group get-together.

It’ll be cold, so sitting around a fire pit sounds like the perfect way to bring people together.

I’m about to turn the light off and go grab my dinner when I spot something at the far end of the yard, against the fence. It looks like a set of supplies covered by a tarp, but the longer I look, the less sure I am of my assessment.

It’s too irregular to be building supplies.

Any tools of value are packed up each day, so it’s not a saw or anything like that.

It might be the way the light reflects, but I swear it’s moving.

Slightly, but it’s there. Shit . The raccoons are back.

I swear, no matter what I do to drive them away, they always return.

The first year I lived here, they had babies under the porch and claimed the whole yard as their territory.

It took months, six calls to animal control, and a big bag of bait to get them out.

It’s still a constant battle, keeping them from invading.

The key, I’ve found, is intervening early. I grab the pair of slip-on shoes I keep by the back door and head out into the yard. The wind immediately chills my entire body; the dress slacks and button-down shirt do nothing to keep me warm.

I approach the edge of the yard slowly, keeping my footsteps light. When I pass a garden rake, I grab it. If I’m going into battle, I’m going to be armed.

As I get closer, I turn on the light on my cell phone to make sure I don’t trip over anything.

I shine the light over the lump, trying to get a better sense of what I’m walking toward, putting the spiky side of the rake between me and the creature. I scan the canvas tarp until I reach the far end.

Fuck . The light lands on Frank’s face, locks of red hair standing out in the darkness.

Is he dead? A lump swells in my throat until I see his chest rise a few times.

I hurry over and kneel next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Frank jerks awake, sitting up straight and pulling away. “Shit!”

“Hey, it’s me.” Idiot, he can’t see you in the dark. “Matthias.”

He squints, and I move my flashlight down so it’s not right in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” A list of possible reasons he might be here runs through my head.

Fucking Sam shouldn’t let him work alone.

What if he gets hurt? What if I hadn’t checked the yard before going to bed?

I shudder at the thought of coming out in the morning and finding him frozen to death.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened.” He starts to jump up, but I put a hand on him, forcing him to stay where he is.

“Slow down. Are you hurt?” In the darkness, I can’t tell if there’s blood .

“No. Fuck. I can’t believe I fell asleep.” Asleep? Against a fence? In this cold weather? I’m not buying it.

“Let’s get you up and inside. Do you think you can walk?” I move the tarp and get my hands under his arm to help him up.