Hold Me (Fool's Gold #16)(48)

“I’m going to divide you into groups. You’ll be assigned specific tasks. Let me be clear, this isn’t a democracy. You volunteered to help, and help you will. Under my terms.”

“You’re hot when you’re bossy,” a male voice called out.

Kipling wondered how long it would take Charlie to flatten the guy, only instead of pummeling him, she flushed.

“Ignore my husband,” she told the group of people standing in front of her.

The combination of bravado and blushing was kind of appealing, Kipling thought, thinking this was the damnedest town with the most interesting people.

Charlie explained how the playground sprucing up would work.

“As I was saying, you’ll be divided into teams. Each team will be assigned to a playground. You’ll have a list of things to do there. Do not deviate from the list. Don’t do more than asked. Don’t use your own supplies. There are reasons for all this, but it would waste time to go into them, so please, people, do what you’re asked, and this will all go smoothly.”

She went on to list rules and instructions. Kipling was only half listening as he glanced around at the people who had volunteered to start work at eight on a Saturday morning. There was more turnout than he would have expected. A lot of the people were obviously couples, with wives leaning against their husbands, all of whom were still drinking coffee.

He saw Destiny and another woman. They were listening to Charlie and looking more than a little worried. Which probably made Charlie very happy.

The blonde was pretty enough, but Kipling was only interested in Destiny. But before he could head over, Shelby walked up to him.

“Hey, big brother,” she said and hugged him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Sometimes fixing things is good.” She smiled. “Charlie has promised me duties fit for my skill level.”

“Which is?”

Shelby grinned. “Basic. Very basic.”

“Listen up, people,” Charlie said, staring directly at him and Shelby. “Those of you who brought tools are in the first group. You’ll be going to a couple of different playgrounds, fixing equipment. The rest of you, line up and I’ll put you into your teams. If you have a preference, let me know. We need people with muscles to remove the old mats. Dirty bark has to be raked up and hauled away. Wood needs sanding, and there’s plenty of painting for all. Let’s move. Daylight’s wasting.”

“Did she used to be in the army?” Shelby asked idly.

“It sounds like it.”

They waited in line. Charlie took one look at him and pointed to her left. “Go with the muscle. It’s macho work and should make you happy.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Charlie waved Shelby toward a group of women. “Raking and painting.”

“Isn’t your process a little sexist?” Shelby asked.

“Yes. Do you see that as a problem?”

Shelby grinned. “Nope. Just asking.”

Kipling went over to join several other men. He greeted Gideon, one of the partners at The Man Cave. Carter, Gideon’s son, was with him.

“Hey, G-Force,” Carter said. “I’m with you guys today.”

Kipling did his best not to react to the nickname. The one he no longer deserved. “I see that. Impressive.” He shook hands with Gideon. “How’s it going?”

“Good. Too early for me, but Felicia said it was important to help.”

Kipling figured that for a man who worked from ten in the evening until the early hours of the morning, this would be a difficult start time.

“Mom’s big on giving back to the community,” Carter said with an easy grin. “She says connecting with the core group is biological. That it’s a need in all primates. She knows stuff.”

“Apparently.” Kipling had only met Felicia a few times, but he would guess she was probably the smartest person any of them had ever interacted with. He wondered how she and Gideon had hooked up in the first place. They seemed so different. Of course there were people who would probably be surprised that of all the single women in town, Destiny was the one to capture his attention.

Attraction was always interesting and sometimes complicated.

Thinking about Destiny made him remember Starr. “You’re at the summer camp, right?” he asked Carter.

The teen nodded. “My second summer. I’ve been a buddy to a bunch of new kids. It’s pretty cool.”

“Do you know Starr Mills?”

“Sure. We hang out some. She’s into music and singing, but we’ve had a few classes together.”

“Good. She’s new, and I know her sister is worried about her fitting in.”

Carter nodded. “Yeah, my mom was worried about that when I moved here. Starr’s doing good.”

“Checking on the kid sister?” Gideon’s expression turned knowing. “Whatever it takes, man.”

Before Kipling could respond, they were called to the trucks that would take them to the various playgrounds. Gideon walked with him.

“You hearing anything about the bar?”

“Hearing what?” Kipling asked.

“Complaints.”

“No. We’re doing well. Business is steady. Why?”