Dynamiting Daddy's Dream House Read online

  "It's all right," he comforted. "I think you're wonderful."

  "You think I'm a brat," Annie answered. "You never wanted me. You had to come back because mother died. And now you won't let me be friends with Jill."

  "Who said you were a brat?"

  She rolled her eyes. "Everyone. Duh."

  "Well everyone is wrong, then. I think you're a terrific kid."

  "Yeah. I'm so sure." He wasn't positive, but it looked as if she perked up a little despite her negative words.

  "Come on, Annie. I'll buy you some breakfast at that fast food place we passed on the way to the grocery store."

  "It's all right. I'm not hungry anymore."

  Troy's hunger wasn't anything a fast-food breakfast could satisfy. Ever since he'd met Jill, he'd ached for her touch, starved for the type of affection, of love, every instinct in his soul told him she was capable of. And she’d accused him of being a backstabbing bastard.

  Jill didn't walk them out to his car.

  Troy helped Annie fasten her seatbelt, then climbed into the driver's side of his car. The physical attraction he and Jill shared wasn't close to enough. He'd never known how his years in the jungle had spoiled him, but they had. Out there, things were so simple. Friend, foe, and civilian. Everyone fit into one category or another. Here, Jill had been ready to put him in the enemy category without a moment's hesitation.

  Annie didn't need exposure to a woman who could turn so quickly, he rationalized.

  "You aren't going to run away anymore, are you?" he asked.

  With no place in particular to go, he headed back toward what, for a few brief hours, had been his new home.

  Annie stared out the car window for a moment, then folded her arms across her narrow chest. "I didn't want to run away," she explained. "I just couldn't stand being in that hotel anymore. It's yucky."

  "You scared me half to death."

  "I wanted to see Jill." She looked at him rebelliously. "I still want to see Jill. She's my friend and it isn't fair that I can't see her."

  Illogical as it was, Troy wanted to see Jill too. He still longed for Jill's touch, her smile, and her kiss.

  ***

  Jill watched Troy drive out of sight then tossed the food-filled plate into the kitchen sink. Her stomach felt so tightly knotted, she doubted she'd ever be able to eat that day.

  Losing her insurance had been a blow. Watching Troy and Annie walk out of her life forever had been worse than a blow, it had been a tornado that tore her comfortable and predictable life to shreds and left her with the crumbs of loneliness. Not that she'd ever really had Troy in her life, she reminded herself. She was Annie's friend. Troy just wanted her for a servant.

  He must have cleaned as quickly as he'd dirtied her dishes, she realized. Other than the pans that actually held food, Troy hadn't even left enough of a mess for her to bang around the kitchen and persuade herself she was doing something useful.

  After half an hour of feeling useless she gathered up her blueprints and headed for the construction site. By now, the police would be finished with their investigation. Of course the way her luck was going, she'd probably run into the property owner and have to tell him about her little insurance problem.

  Her truck rattled and wheezed its way along the coast. Every hill felt like it might be the last the poor vehicle could manage. She needed to invest in a new truck, but she'd never been able to get that far ahead in her business.

  She pulled into the construction site, her engine conking out just as she coasted to a stop. She intended to examine every inch of the blast site until she came up with some answers.

  Fifteen minutes later, she was as confused as she had been when the explosion had sent Troy's house into the drink. Every charge had been properly set. She hadn't accidentally doubled any of the charges. The explosives locker held exactly as much dynamite as it should.

  Triple-checking the positioning didn't help either. It was hard to tell, of course, with so much of the cliff in the ocean now, but everything looked right. So what could have gone wrong?

  She'd have to look more closely.

  Her heart in her mouth, she lowered herself over what was left of the cliff. Bits of soft white rock flaked off in her hands as she scrambled down and little rockslides accompanied each step.

  She'd never liked heights, but watching rocks tumble into the ocean a hundred feet below turned her ordinary acrophobia into terror.

  The cut from the blast didn't look right. She poked her flashlight into a crevasse.

  "Hi Jill. Whatcha doing?"

  Jill dropped the light and grasped a fissure convulsively. Cold sweat made her grip slick and unsteady. The light tumbled and winked as it dropped, then smashed into a pile of rocks and steel piers at the foot of the cliff.

  "Annie?"

  "Are you going to blow up our house again?" Annie peered over the edge of the cliff.

  "I told you that was an accident."

  "I know. I don't mind, really. I don't think it was going to be as nice a house as yours. Yours is on wheels so you can take it anywhere."

  Jill shook her head then slowly clambered back to level ground. Her hands were shaking as she tried to reach for Annie. "Why don't you back away from the edge of the cliff?" she suggested. "Heights make me nervous."

  "I like heights. You have to like them if you're going to do gymnastics."

  "I thought you did water ballet."

  Annie nodded. "And regular ballet. And gymnastics. And violin. My mother tried to make me play t-ball too, but I wouldn't."

  Annie gave Jill a mischievous look, just begging for a lecture. Jill had played t-ball but she hadn't done any of those other sports so she didn't think she was in any position to give unsought advice on this one.

  Instead of lecturing, Jill took Annie's arm and coaxed her away from the cliff. She was watching Annie so intently, she smacked into something hard. Hard and male. She dropped Annie's arm and stumbled back, arms pinwheeling.

  Troy followed, grasping her before she did something really stupid like falling off the edge of the cliff.

  His grip made her want to do something even more stupid, like kiss him silly and beg him to take her any way he wanted.

  "I didn't know you were here." Her words sounded inadequate but Troy had been the one to walk out on her that morning for no reason. Let him deal with it.

  "I didn't think you did."

  "I've been trying to figure out what happened when I blasted."

  "You know what happened," Annie scolded. "Troy's stupid house fell into the ocean."

  "It was our house, not my house," Troy corrected.

  "You didn't let me help choose it. I want to live in a trailer like Jill. That way when I want to move, I can just hook it up to my truck and go."

  When she'd been only a couple of years older than Annie, Jill had devoured a string of books about kids living on their own--from the Boxcar Children to Tom Sawyer to My Side of the Mountain. She could identify with Annie's fantasy. "Trailers are fun that way," Jill agreed. "Of course, it's nice to have a real house too. That way you can settle down and enjoy things a little."

  Troy gave her a funny look as if trying to decode some secret message in what she was saying. Tough. She was too tired for secret messages.

  "I overreacted back at your place," Troy's voice was a growl as if he'd never had to force an apology out before and certainly didn't ever intend to do so again.

  "Do you really think so?"

  "Damned right I--I mean, darned right I think so." Troy was still getting used to the difference between the soldiers he was used to hanging around with and a four-year-old girl. Overall, Jill had to give him a lot of credit. Unfortunately, her body wanted him to cash in those credits in a hurry. She knew what a disaster that would be. "Your apology is accepted."

  "I still think it would be a good idea if you considered my suggestion."

  "That I give up everything I've worked for so I could be a nanny for your child? I'd love to
be Annie's friend, Troy. But I’m just not nanny material."

  Or mother material. The words formed so strongly in her mind that she glared at Troy to make sure he hadn't heard them. Where the heck had that come from? Sure, she'd always assumed she'd be a mother one day. But she had also assumed she'd go about it in the normal way. Instant motherhood had never crossed her mind. Neither had replacing one of the world's most beautiful women in Troy’s bed. It didn't look like she'd have the chance to try either.

  "Don't get mad now," Troy began, putting one hand in front of his body as if in self-defense. "But it seems to me that if you lost your insurance, you'll have to do something. Why not consider hiring on with me and Annie for a couple of weeks? At the end of that time, we can discuss how it went."

  "And just let my business rot? I can't do that."

  "I already told you, I can take it over for you."

  Panic hit her hard. Had her father’s partner whispered those same seductive words? “I can help out when you can’t handle everything yourself. I’ll be there for you. Just give me the signing authority. Just give me access to your bank accounts and customer lists.”

  "That,” she said, “is all I need. Somebody stealing my business." She crossed her arms across her breasts. Her voice had risen when she made that accusation but she couldn't help herself. This tied into too many of her hot buttons.

  When she’d accused him of calling the insurance company, he’d gone in a huff. This time his reaction startled her even more.

  "Do you want to tell me what that is all about?" Troy sat on a stump, pulling Annie into his lap.

  To Jill's surprise, Annie nestled up against Troy-almost as if she was getting used to him.

  Getting used to Troy and snuggling up against his broad chest, both seemed like wonderful ideas to Jill too.

  "It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Jill demanded.

  "It's pretty obvious that you've got a burr under your saddle," Troy said. "Why don't you tell me about it?

  Jill took a deep breath. What would it hurt for her to explain? "I told you my father was in construction. Since he didn't have a son, he taught me everything he could. He always said he would pass on the business to me."

  "But that didn't happen? You said something about a partner."

  She shook her head. "That’s right. It didn't happen because he took on a partner. The partner signed for some big projects without telling Dad. The next thing he knew, they had to come up with capital or lose everything. My father didn't have that kind of money. His so-called partner squeezed him out. At sixty years old, he was out there with a jack hammer."

  "Ah-ha."

  "What is Ah-ha supposed to mean?" Jill had never told her story to anyone before. For that matter no one had ever seemed interested. If Troy laughed at her, she would put all of these silly fantasies behind her forever.

  Chapter 8

  "I just mean ‘ah-ha’." Troy felt like he was finally getting a handle on this complicated woman. "The way I see it, you have two choices. Hire an insurable sub-contractor and honor your construction commitments until your insurance gets straightened out. Or cancel the jobs you have, pay off your completion bonds, and sit on your hands while your reputation goes south."

  Jill wouldn't meet his gaze. She knew he was right.

  "We'll sign a contract outlining my specific responsibilities," he cajoled.

  "Why do you want this so bad?"

  Now that was a good question. He could argue that he wanted it for Annie's sake. A week with Jill would settle his daughter down. He would see her in the evenings and have the chance to ease into this father thing, let her come to slowly trust him. Plus, he'd be helping out someone he liked and admired.

  Another, more honest part of him admitted that he simply wanted to continue his association with Jill. He wasn't quite ready to let her go.

  He didn't say anything.

  "Oh, all right," Jill finally said. "You're right, I have limited choices. But you just remember, I'm still the boss."

  He saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."

  "Does that mean Jill gets to take care of me?"

  "Only for a little while," Jill said hastily. "A few days, maybe a couple of weeks. Until we get the insurance straightened out."

  "Yay!" Annie launched herself off Troy and threw her little arms around Jill.

  Jill smiled despite herself and returned the hug.

  Seeing the two of them together felt ... right, somehow, Troy thought. Then he shook himself. He'd better not get too used to it. Jill playing nanny was, as she'd just said, only a temporary situation.

  ***

  "Move it out." Troy waved the dump truck out of the lot. Incredibly enough, the swimming pool would actually be completed on time.

  He whistled tunelessly as he packed up the last of the tools, checked to make sure the explosives were safe, and then locked the construction trailer.

  Each morning this week, Troy had dropped Annie off at Jill's trailer before heading for the construction site. Jill had been somewhat standoffish, but she'd agreed that the three of them would go out that evening. It was as close to a date as Troy had experienced since he'd been back in America.

  Jill's truck sputtered into the lot and Annie exploded from the passenger side.

  He knelt to put his face near Annie's level.

  "Troy, guess what? We went to the zoo today. It was fantastic. There was a snake big enough to eat me." She stretched out her arms in an encompassing reach. "And I saw another snake with two heads."

  Troy smiled back. Annie hadn't called him dad yet, but this was getting closer. "Wow. That would be one smart snake."

  Annie giggled. "I guess it'll never be lonely."

  Troy sensed sadness behind Annie's laughter. For all of her lessons, she must have been a very lonely girl. When Troy had appeared and dragged her away from everything she had known, it could only have made things worse. If Jill hadn't come onto the picture, who knew what sort of a mess he would have made with his parenting?

  Jill scowled as she emerged from her truck, but the frown was reserved for her vehicle rather than for him. She popped the hood and stared for a long moment. "Looks like you're driving tonight. Unless you've changed your mind about getting something to eat."

  "Let me take a look." He stepped toward the truck, grasping his socket set.

  "Anything else, boss?" Renaldo retied his do-rag and eyed his pickup, obviously hoping for a quick get-away.

  "Get out of here." Troy jerked his thumb toward the road. "I'll finish locking up."

  Renaldo looked over toward Jill. "Need a hand with your vehicle?"

  Jill slammed the hood shut. "Trust me, I don't need help from either of you."

  "What did I say, boss?" Renaldo looked imploringly in Troy's direction.

  "She's not mad at you," Troy told him. He wasn't sure why Jill was mad, but he had a pretty good idea he was the target.

  "Right." Renaldo looked relieved. "See you Monday."

  Troy nodded. "Later."

  "Just a couple more seconds," he called out to Jill. "Hey peanut, want to lift the storage wagon?"

  Annie's eyes widened. "With the crane? Really?"

  "Sure. Let me put the padlock on and I'll help you."

  A couple of minutes might give Jill time to cool off from whatever had bothered her. He hoped so. He'd been looking forward to this evening all day, ever since Jill had agreed that they could make a real threesome tonight.

  He boosted Annie into the driver's seat of the crane.

  "I'm ready," Annie called as he walked toward the storage wagon. "Can I do it now?"

  "Almost."

  He snapped the lock and gave it a yank to make sure it was secure.

  "Now?"

  "One second." He jogged over to stand next to her. "Do you remember which lever to pull?"

  "I'm not a baby." Annie put her hands on the correct lever but, before she yanked it, she checked with him for confirmation.

  "Right. Let's raise it up."


  She pulled gently on the lever. "It isn't moving."

  "You've got to be a little forceful."

  A harder yank generated a screeching clatter and the tool wagon slowly lifted itself into the air.

  "Fun. Today was perfect." Annie giggled as he lifted her down and she skipped away, leaving the final shutdown to Troy.

  Annie's enthusiasm could get catchy. If Troy could figure some way to get Jill in a similar mood, this really might be a perfect day. Or a perfect night.

  He took a long look at Jill. Clouds still shadowed her face. Getting lucky tonight appeared about as likely as his house climbing back out of the ocean.

  "Something the matter?" he asked.

  Jill stared at him for a second. "Maybe this is a little too much déjà vu for me."

  "I don't understand."

  "Renaldo called you boss. He's always called me Jill," she admitted.

  Troy shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

  "The big deal is he didn't call anyone else boss."

  Troy shook his head. "It's your company. I'm just helping out while we get your insurance sorted out. Like a foreman."

  "I'll bet." She turned away from him.

  "Hey." He stepped after her and grasped her arms, gently turning her until she faced him again.

  Tears glittered in her eyes and she pulled a bandana from her jeans pocket and wiped them. "Got something in my eye, darn it."

  "Let me help." He took the rag from her hand and gently dabbed up the moisture.

  "I know I'm overreacting, I'm sorry." Jill clutched his arms. Her beautiful hazel eyes stared into his.

  Despite a day at the zoo, she smelled good enough to make his mouth water and a certain male part of his body stand at attention. "Don't worry about it."

  "I really don't think you'd do what my father's partner did. It's just that--"

  "I know." Troy felt like a complete heel. He didn't want to steal her company, but having Jill available to watch Annie on a full-time basis, and having something constructive to do himself, seemed like the perfect solution to all of his problems. He had to believe it was the answer to Jill's problems as well. After all, how much business could she count on bringing in after the coverage her demolition had gotten in the Los Angeles papers? He wanted to kiss her and tell her everything would be fine. It would be, he was certain of that. Sooner or later, Jill would come around and see that this was for the best.