Tansy straightened her spine and frowned at him. “No one helped me. I’m perfectly capable of installing panels on my own.”
“In the middle of freaking nowhere. Up on a forty foot tall roof. In the snow. By yourself. Are you kidding me?” Sam knew his voice was too loud, too rough, but he was pissed. “Anything could have happened.”
Tansy narrowed her eyes. “Something did happen. The lodge is now ready to be completely off the grid once I finalize the hookup.”
“You could have fallen. No one would have even known anything was wrong. You’ve been out here for months by yourself.”
“I have a phone and wifi. And nothing happened.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “You’re telling me you actually know where your phone is right now? And that you had it with you every time you climbed up there?”
Tansy’s soft-brown skin flushed darker. Obviously, she still couldn’t keep track of her phone.
A thousand details about a million different projects, those she could track. Remembering where she’d put down her phone? Not a chance.
“I was perfectly safe.” His snort of disbelief had her narrowing her eyes. “I didn’t have a single accident.”
Something flashed in her eyes, and his heart jerked. “But you almost did. I can see it in your eyes. You almost fell off.”
“I’m fine. I was figuring out how the surface tension of snow allows it to overhang the roof in such large chunks without falling. Did you know—”
Sam cut her off. “No wandering downDid You Know Lane. Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? Do you know what happens to a body when it drops forty feet? “
Fury and helplessness roared through Sam in equal measure.
He’d recently seen what happened to a small body dropped from a few floors up.
He hadn’t been fast enough to save Hayley Armstrong and he sure as hell hadn’t been in the neighborhood when Tansy had her slip.
His father’s voice from when he’d lived with the man pounded on his skull.
Useless.
Worthless.
Waste of skin.
Sam turned and stormed out of the lodge.
You've Got a Friend In Me
Tansy had no idea what had caused the despair and anger visible on Sam’s face and in his eyes before he’d stomped out.
She should know.
He was one of her best friends and she’d been so focused on her own world, she’d missed something huge happening in his.
Another thing she could blame James Stephens for. She’d retreated into herself after learning he was using her. Dating her so he could steal her ideas.
What else had she missed during these past few months? She didn’t know, and she couldn’t fix anything until she did.
At least Sam was here, and she could fix what she’d messed up with him.
She’d thrown their wet clothes in the washing machine that was hooked up to the first lot of solar panels and their hiking boots were drying under a heat lamp. Tansy slipped on her snow boots and hoped that Sam had carried some other footwear in that duffle.
She didn’t see him on the deck or near the dock, so she moved around the lodge, not surprised to find him checking out her improvised scaffolding setup. In sneakers.
His body tightened as she approached and she hoped he wasn’t about to launch into another big brother lecture. One big brother was enough.