Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
“Oh, I don’t need—”
My words broke off when he rubbed his flat stomach. “You’re not going to make me eat alone, are you?”
I shook my head with a soft laugh. “I guess not when you put it that way.”
As he turned away to give me time to get ready, it hit me how strange it was to be included without having to ask. And comforting.
We had a quick—but not small—snack before we got in his truck to head to the site. I was surprised by how easily I left my car behind, as though I trusted his neighbors to watch over my most prized possession while we were gone. But I kept my backpack with me.
The construction site looked different in the daylight. Stripped back to dirt and timber, with excavators and bulldozers I hadn’t noticed last night.
Garner walked a few steps ahead of me, unhurried but alert, his gaze constantly scanning the ground.
“These flags mark the property boundaries,” he explained, gesturing toward a row of bright survey markers stretching along the tree line. “Equipment stays inside them, same with the access roads.”
We rounded a slight bend near the edge of the site, where the ground sloped gently toward the trees.
That’s when I noticed one of the survey markers was tipped over, its bright flag half-buried in mud. The soil around it looked disturbed, churned more than the rest of the ground, like something heavy had passed through recently.
Garner must’ve spotted it too because he veered in that direction. The change in him was subtle but unmistakable—every muscle going still as his gaze locked onto the marker. He crouched beside it, careful as he inspected the ground, his expression unreadable.
He pressed the marker back into place, testing its resistance. It held firm under his hand.
“Storm wouldn’t do this.” He glanced back at me. “Too deliberate.”
He wasn’t alarmed, but he was intensely alert. And somehow, that worried me more than if he’d cursed or raised his voice.
Garner moved through the site with an easy confidence that made it clear he belonged here. He checked the excavator first, running a practiced hand along the metal housing before climbing up to peer inside. He made a few notes on his phone, then moved on without fuss.
I stayed a few steps back, not wanting to get in the way, but I couldn’t stop watching him.
Something was mesmerizing about the way he worked. I noticed the strength in his hands as he tested bolts and controls. The way his attention sharpened when he focused on a problem, his brow creasing slightly before smoothing again once he’d figured it out. Everything he did felt deliberate and controlled.
“This one’s fine.” He glanced back at me. “But I’ll have maintenance check it anyway. Better safe than sorry.”
As we walked farther along the site, he pointed things out without being asked. He explained why the ground needed time to settle, how the drainage had to be redirected after the storm, what signs he watched for when something wasn’t right.
No one had ever included me like this before, not without expecting something else in return.
I’d always been on the outside of other people’s lives, peering in without being invited. But Garner spoke as if I belonged here. As if my curiosity mattered.
Watching him work, I understood something that unsettled me more than the potential sabotage ever could.
I didn’t just feel safe with him. I felt seen.
A sharp metallic shriek split the air, followed by a grinding thud that vibrated through the ground beneath my feet. I startled hard, my pulse spiking as the excavator behind us lurched unexpectedly, its arm jerking sideways with a groan of stressed hydraulics.
“Garner—”
I didn’t even finish the word before my heel slipped on loose gravel. The world tilted, my balance gone as I stumbled backward.
Firm hands caught me instantly, hauling me back against a solid chest before I could hit the ground. The impact knocked the breath from me. Not from pain, but from how fast everything happened. One second I was falling, the next I was held tight, my back pressed flush to Garner’s front.
“It’s okay.” His voice was rough. “I’ve got you.”
His heart hammered against my spine. I could feel it through his jacket, fast and furious, like he’d just sprinted a mile. His hands tightened for a split second before sliding down my arms as he turned me gently to face him.
“Are you hurt?” His eyes searched my face, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
“I-I’m okay,” I managed, fisting my hands in the front of his jacket. “I just got startled.”
He scanned me anyway, his gaze sweeping from my feet and back up to my face. When he was satisfied, he let out a slow breath through his nose.
“I don’t know how that happened.” He twisted his neck to look back toward the machine. His body stayed angled toward me, like he was shielding me without thinking about it.