“I’ll handle that for you,” Austin called out.
“Thanks, I can show you where it’s located. The paint and supplies are in the bed of my truck if y’all want to grab those.”
“Awesome. The furniture is on its way. Once we get it inside, Sydney and I will run out and grab some décor items, so it really feels like a home. We’ve seen Shelly’s apartment in New York, so we have an idea of her style,” Nikki added, making Preston feel like he had definitely bitten off more than he could chew.
“Wow, I hadn’t even thought about those things. If those paint colors won’t work, let me know and I can run out for something different. I went with a neutral light gray.”
“That’s perfect,” Nikki replied as she hitched her lithe body over the tailgate and sorted through the supplies, handing them over to Sydney and Dylan.
Preston was left speechless as he watched the Connelly women take charge and direct their husbands toward various projects to finish before the furniture arrived. Thankfully, cold air was gloriously pumping through the vents keeping the hot summer air at bay, allowing everyone to tackle a room for painting. He wished that he’d had the forethought to ask Cassidy for Shelly’s favorite colors so that he could make the place feel even more like a home for her and her son, but while he was at the hardware store, he figured he would go with something neutral and she could change it if she wanted. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure she’d still want to rent his cabin once she knew that it belonged to him. He knew from the Harposia drug file and Shelly’s monitoring due to her ex, DeShaun, that she was wary of law enforcement. Many of his colleagues had accused her of being an accomplice to the cartel and pushing drugs through the restaurants and bars she had worked at. Even accused her of using mafia money to pay for school. Preston and two of the other agents that had worked undercover with him in New York and Raleigh knew her innocence and fought for her release from the investigation. Unfortunately, because of her ties to DeShaun, the FBI did keep an eye on her whereabouts.
“The furniture will be here shortly,” Nikki called out from the smallest bedroom just as he finished the last stroke of paint on the living room walls. One of the features he liked best in the cabin were the high ceilings and picture windows. He had left the wood paneling on the ceilings, which gave the home a rustic look, and he hoped Shelly liked it. Painting ceilings wasn’t one of his favorite things to do.
In the kitchen, they worked together to clean the painting supplies just as beeping alerted them to a truck backing up toward the cabin. Nikki rushed outside to help direct the delivery team where to place the large items. Preston should have jumped up and helped, but honestly, he was exhausted from painting in the heat all morning.
It took about twenty minutes for the furniture to get set up in a way that Nikki was happy with before the deliverers left. Preston thanked everyone for their help, wondering if the Connelly family was finally coming around to him. He hadn’t expected any assistance with the cabin, but for the four of them to show up out of the blue meant more to him than any of them would ever realize, except for maybe Sydney. Even when she had only known him as Caleb, her campus police boyfriend that was really an undercover FBI agent, he had always told her how important family and friendship was to him. It was one of the major downfalls of his career choice; close relationships were difficult to maintain.
“Thank you guys for the help today.” Preston didn’t want the group to feel obligated to stay. He knew they both had children to get home to.
“It was fun. And Sydney and I will be back tomorrow with some items to decorate. . .if that’s okay. I never even asked. I’m so sorry.” Nikki tacked on an apology as if he would be upset that they stormed in today and took over.
“It’s absolutely okay, it’s not something I had even considered and I’m sure she’ll love it all.”
Consoled, Nikki smiled as she followed her husband out the cabin, Dylan and Sydney following closely behind.
“Thanks again, guys.”
Just as Sydney crossed the threshold for the cabin, she turned around to look at him, leaning her petite frame on the door jamb.
“For the record, I think it’s great what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?” he asked in fear, unsure if Sydney knew about his past with Shelly.
Instead of responding, Sydney shook her head and turned away from the entrance heading into the arms of her husband.
More confused than ever, Preston closed up the cabin and headed back to the main house. Silently he strode through the back door into the kitchen, where he grabbed a beer from the fridge, immediately popping the top and gulping half the liquid in quick succession.
Besides his heavy breathing, Preston decided that his house was too quiet; maybe to fight his wayward thoughts about Shelly coming to live on his property, he should get a pet.
/> Yes, a dog would definitely fix that problem.
***
Cassidy had taken Shelly and Abel around the downtown of Carson. Things had changed a lot in the two years since she had last visited. It was definitely bustling more than she remembered. Abel had loved every minute of the tour, especially when they passed one of the local farms that had horses grazing out in the field. Unfortunately, Cassidy and Harlan were headed back on tour for his band, Exoneration. They had only come home to welcome Shelly to town. The couple had even offered to let Shelly and Abel stay at their house for the next three weeks while they were gone, but she wanted her own space.
The sun had been awakening the town for a couple of hours by the time Shelly and Abel made their way down the sidewalk glancing in all the store windows. A fabric store pooled mounds of fabric in their store window so delicately Shelly couldn’t help but stop and stare.
“Mommy, I’m hungry,” Abel reminded with a tug on her shirt. She had promised him cinnamon rolls from Sydney’s bakery last night and he hadn’t forgotten. He jumped on her bed at the first sign of daylight, insisting that they go get the gooey goodness she had promised.
“I know. We’re going.”
The trip worked in her favor since her new landlord was meeting her at Wake and Bake at 9 a.m. Cassidy had assured her that the place was perfect and fully furnished, but Shelly was skeptical. She had lived in furnished apartments before and the furniture was always a disappointment leaving her having to disinfect all of the pieces before she felt comfortable even sitting on a couch. But Cassidy tried to put her at ease, explaining that everything was new, making Shelly feel even worse. She had a very eclectic style and seriously doubted the landlord would pick out items that she would have. But she would appreciate it either way. Shelly had enough money in her savings account that she could buy decorative items to liven up the place as she needed.
As they approached the bakery, the door opened with a whoosh, surprising Shelly and the tall, dark man that was exiting.
“Sorry,” he said in a low rumble as he held the door open for her, but never looked up from his gaze on the ground. She was so distracted by the occurrence that she almost fell to the ground as Sydney wrapped her in her arms tightly.
“I can’t believe you’re really here! Oh my gosh!” she said exuberantly. “Abel, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you. Are you driving yet?” she joked and her son laughed.