"Like what?" Harry shouted, running past Teague, which had Morgan letting go of his hand so that she could take off after her brother. "We can help."
"No damn way," he muttered, with one more glance up at the silent cottage to his left.
At the moment Teague had no idea what he was going to do with his day, but one thing was for certain … whatever it was wouldn't involve two kids. He was many things, but babysitter wasn't anywhere on that list.
Chapter Four
The phone rang and Sabrina woke with a start. She lay still for a few more seconds, enjoying the breeze coming in off the lake, but the phone rang again and the moment passed.
With a sigh she slid from the sofa and winced. The kink in her neck was bad, but not as bad as the wrinkled clothes she hadn't bothered to change out of the night before; or the reflection that peered back at her from the window as she reached for the phone.
Ugh. She looked like crap.
"Hello?" she managed to say, pushing the word past the frog that was stuck at the back of her throat. What time was it? She glanced to the digital display on the oven but her blurry eyes wouldn't focus.
"Sabrina?"
The male voice wasn't exactly familiar but …
"Yes."
There was a sound, like wind in a microphone and she thought whoever was on the other end of the line was outside. "It's Josiah Duff."
It took a moment for the fog to lift. Josiah. Big man. Big smile. Big heart. She'd known him ever since she'd been a teenager and moved to Gravenhurst with her father. In fact she'd been on a date with Josiah the night she'd met Brent.
The man was a townie for life. He had a carpentry business but also doubled as a volunteer firefighter on the side.
"I ran into Mrs. Giles from the post office and she told me you were back for the summer."
"Wow," Sabrina murmured. "News travels fast."
He chuckled. "You have no idea." A pause. "I'm out this way to quote a job for a client and thought I'd pop by to say hello. It's been … well, it's been a while."
Sabrina's eyes slammed shut. She hadn't seen Josiah since Brent's funeral because she'd spent most of her time in the city. It was hard coming back here. Back to the place they'd called their own slice of paradise.
"It has," she replied softly and then frowned. "Where are you?"
"I'm parked in your driveway."
"Oh," she said with a quick glance at her reflection in the window again. Wow. She must have had a restless night because she wasn't even sure that she could pull a brush through her hair.
"Can I … " She began. "I just … rolled out of bed," she finished lamely.
He chuckled. "No rush. Teague's in town as well, so I'll head over there first and say hello. But if you have time for a coffee, after that would be great."
"Sounds good," Sabrina replied.
Blinking rapidly, she was surprised to see that it was eight o'clock and her place was as silent as a grave. The kids were usually up by seven, but she decided to let them sleep and headed to the bathroom. The hot water worked wonders and half an hour later, she was showered and changed, pulling on old denim cut-offs and a pale blue tank top. She slipped on her favorite flip flops and pulled her still-damp hair into a ponytail.
Her eyes were a tad puffy from tears and lack of sleep, but there was nothing she could do about that.
"Whatever," she muttered. It's not as if she was out to impress anyone. Teague Simon didn't like her all that much anyway so why should she care what she looked like?
The fact that Teague came to mind should have made her pause, and maybe it would have, if she hadn't pushed open the kids' bedroom door only to find their beds empty.
Thinking that they'd woken up while she was in the shower, she headed back to the main room of the cottage but it too was empty. The throw she'd slept in was on the floor where she'd left it, her sandals by the sofa as well. Where the hell were they? And where was that damn dog?
The cottage wasn't all that big and Sabrina quickly checked every room. The sound of a motorboat in the distance drove her into action, and, heart hammering against her ribs like a jackhammer, she darted for the door. Sabrina ran down the steps that led to the water, and was damn lucky she didn't trip and break her neck considering the flip flops on her feet.
It was Friday morning and the lake was already busy with early weekenders. Eyes scanning the water, Sabrina shouted their names before checking her boathouse and then the Simon boathouse. Nothing. They were nowhere.
"Oh, God," she said brokenly, dashing back onto the dock. Had they gone in the water? She shouted their names again. This can 't be happening.
Again nothing.
Running up the Simon steps, she didn't bother to knock but slammed into the house like a hurricane hitting the coast. She managed to stub her toe on the corner of a kitchen cabinet before banging her hip into the counter.
It should have hurt like hell. In fact it probably did. But the sight that greeted her took all of that away and left her standing in the middle of the kitchen, hopping on one foot, feeling pretty much like an idiot and decidedly … pissed.
She swore-said something that would have emptied her entire purse into the swear jar-and didn't bat an eye at the horrified look Morgan gave her.
Her children were sitting at the kitchen table as if everything was right in their world. In front of them was a plate of what looked to be steak and eggs, as well as several boxes of sugared cereal that Sabrina would never allow into her house, a bowl of blueberries, and a half eaten banana.
The other half had just been stuffed into Harry's mouth.
Bingo was happily gnawing on a bone or something while Teague and Josiah stood near the island, watching her warily as she took a moment. She could not lose it. Would not lose it.
"No one thought I might like to know where my children are?" Her voice was icy but she didn't give either man a chance to reply. Instead she turned her focus back to said children.
"Since when do you two get up and leave the house without letting me know where you're going? Since when?"
Her voice was calm and that was a bloody miracle. Still, the twins-or at least Harry-knew that he was in trouble. His eyes slid from hers as he tried to swallow the banana in his mouth and once he accomplished that, he stared at the table in silence.
"Sabrina," Teague said. Her hand shot up to stop him before he got started, and she cocked her head at her daughter. Morgan met her gaze full-on and at any other time she would have taken a moment to admire her daughter's spunk. But right now she was furious.
"We wanted to let you sleep because you were crying a lot last night."
Like a balloon stuck with a pin her anger deflated. Oh God. They'd heard her? It was like a punch to the gut.
"And you looked like a princess, like sleeping beauty." Those words came from Harry and Sabrina fought to keep her shit together. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.
Sabrina's mouth tightened and, ignoring the men, she took a step forward, wincing once more as pain spread out from her big toe. "I'm going to make this perfectly clear. Never. Never leave the cottage without telling me. Understand? The lake is right out there and it can be dangerous. You both know this."
Harry nodded, his precious bottom lip trembling, while Morgan reached for another blueberry.
"Do you understand?" Sabrina asked again, her words directed at her daughter. "You know the rules, Morgan. If you can't follow them, then we'll have to pack up and go back to the city."
"But I hate the city," Morgan said. Her eyes, so much like Sabrina's, were dark and stormy.
"Then you'll follow the rules." Sabrina's gaze moved to the men. "And Teague will follow them as well or else."
Teague took a sip from his mug, a half smile on his face. "Or else what?"
Sabrina's eyes flashed. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
He held her gaze a heartbeat longer and when Sabrina finally tore her eyes away, she had the distinct feeling that if the kids weren't there he would have said something entirely inappropriate.
"Sabrina, everything okay? Besides these two rascals giving you a heart attack?"
She turned to Josiah. He had a few inches on Teague and that was saying something considering Teague was pushing six-four. The carpenter was like a bear, with wide shoulders and long muscular legs. With his shaved head and assortment of tattoos, he was a bit of a roughneck, but it was the kind of roughneck a lot of women found irresistible. He had a ready smile, nice eyes, and a great big laugh that was contagious. He'd always been a bit of a player though, and she wondered if he'd finally settled down.
"It's going," she said slowly. She didn't want to talk about herself. "What about you? Anything new?"
Josiah shrugged and smiled. "Nah. Same old, same old."
"No woman in the picture?" Small talk had never been her thing but she attempted to be polite.
Josiah cleared his throat. "Not since Katie McKelvie demanded a ring."