Page 15 of Dark Flame

“We had a little trouble with a guy at the campground last night, but we handled it.” Spook walked past Nat and winked.

“You okay, Nat?” he asked intuitively.

“I am, thanks to these guys. Thank you, Kane.”

He nodded at the young woman and looked at the huge amount of stuff that needed to be unpacked.

“What do we do with all of this until your place is complete?” asked Flip.

The one cabin that was complete belonged to Uri Bellum and his family. It was more like a luxury log home with three big bedrooms, two floors, and two large fireplaces. The other cabins, all under construction, would be similar in size. Kane smiled at the big man and nodded.

“Uri’s construction team is a group of undocumented Russians who need the work to earn money for their papers. They’re working like dogs around the clock to get things up quickly. They have a team of a hundred guys. You can hear them at night, the echoing of the hammers and saws.” He laughed and shook his head, remembering the sounds the first few nights that kept them awake.

“They have three of the cabins already framed, the roof in place, and walls going up. They’re telling us the cabins will be done in 30 days.”

“Thirty days?!” yelled Flip.

“Yep. I’m suspicious of what the outcome will be, but Uri promises it will be similar to this place. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s amazing to watch them. Of course, we’re avoiding any permit lines we can, so that helps to speed things up as well.”

“Okay, well, I hope they got the specs for my place. I’m damned tired of leaning over every countertop, sink, and ledge in the average house. I want something suitable for my size.” Kane laughed as Adam strode up to the group.

“You know you’re not the only tall guy in the group, right?” said Adam, standing to his fullsix feettwo[PC1].

Where Adam was tall and muscled from workouts, Flip was tall, full, thick, and solid. If they were standing side-by-side, Adam would look like the center for a basketball team, and Flip would look like the center for a football team. That was the difference in the men.

“I know, Doc, but you know how hard it is when everything is made for the ‘average’ person. I just want to not have a backache every time I cook a meal.” Flip acknowledged the other big man, grinning as they spoke.

“Don’t worry, my friend,” said Uri, standing on the porch, “my men know to build everything giant-sized for you.”

“Thanks, Uri,” said Flip with a grin.

Nat stood beside Flip and slid her hand inside his big paw, staring up into his dark eyes.

“What about me?” she asked shyly. “Should I build a place of my own?”

The other men smiled at Flip and Nat. They knew what the big man should say, but whether or not he would say the right thing was a toss-up. Flip wasn’t known for eloquent speeches or flowery discussions, so this would be amusing at best. Kane almost wanted to help him but decided he would wait and watch the show first.

“Do you want a place of your own?” asked Flip nervously, suddenly very unsure of himself and their relationship, or if they even had a relationship! “I mean, if you want a place of your own, we can build one, but if you don’t, well, we can figure that out too. I mean, I don’t want you to feel obligated or anything, and there’s plenty of land. I mean, if you want plenty of land…”

Flip tripped over the words as they flowed from his lips. He was nervous and didn’t know how to say what was racing through his mind. He saw Spook roll his eyes, Kane and Adam covered their mouths, shaking their heads, and that made him even more nervous.

“You are such an idiot, Phillip Cho! You know that, right?”

He looked down at the hurt in Nat’s eyes, the blue depths swimming in tears. With that, she stormed off into the house to find Aislinn and Fiona.

“She’s right. You’re an idiot,” said Kane, laughing at his big friend.

“What? What did I say?” Flip looked shocked at the sudden outburst of emotion from Nat. He was used to her tough girl exterior and hadn’t expected such emotion from her.

“She was trying to get you to ask her to share your place,” said Adam. “She wanted you to make that decision. A woman doesn’t want to have toaska man if she can move in with him. What did you think she was doing?”

“Why the fuck didn’t she just ask me?” said Flip, running his hands through his long black hair.

“Because women prefer to be asked, you moron!” said Spook.

“What the fuck do you know about women? And how am I supposed to know these things? Am I supposed to guess?”

“You are so adorable, my sweet Flip,” said Aislinn from the front steps. “She’s inside, and I think you should go speak with her before this gets worse for you.”

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