Page 57 of Pain in the Axe
“You see that one? Up there?” Mrs. DuPont pointed a bony finger at a lean, muscular man on the Gagnon team. “That’s Remy Gagnon. He’s a professional timbersports athlete. Been on magazine covers and stuff. It’s not much of a competition with him here, but it’s all for fun.”
As the crowd chanted the Gagnons’ names, my stomach twisted. The strange feeling was only compounded when I got a look at the green buckets overflowing with bills.
I reached into my small crossbody bag and pulled out my wallet. “Here,” I said, handing JJ a one-hundred-dollar bill. “Go bet on our team.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s for charity.”
“Boss lady does love an underdog,” Karl joked.
As volunteers hauled out the equipment, music blasted from the speakers on either side of the stage. Once it was all set up, Victoria explained the rules of the standing block chop.
I stood on my tiptoes so I could see the stage as she continued. Each competitor had a giant block of wood that stood vertically in a metal stand. The goal was to chop through it from both sides as quickly as possible.
Huh. So they were simulating chopping down a tree.
I found myself sizing up the Gagnons. I wanted to watch with detached amusement like Karl and JJ, but I did care. This was my company, and those were my employees. Jude was there, hisexpression mostly shuttered. And Gus. He stood tall, listening politely as people booed him.
It was so him. He’d probably let people throw rotten tomatoes at him if it increased donations for the food pantry. The sight of him made my heart melt. Dammit, he was good. Deep down, in all the right places. And he’d been through hell with his father and the police and losing the company. Yet after all that, he was here, doing his part.
Suddenly, I was hit with a pang of guilt. I’d forced him to stay. He could be across the country, with a new job and a new home in a new town. A town where no one cared what his last name was or what his father had done.
But he’d given up the opportunity in order to make the sale. To guarantee his employees would have jobs and that his brothers would be compensated. A bolt of white-hot shame washed through me. Because I’d contributed to his unhappiness. I’d leveraged my own anger and hurt to punish him.
My resolve wavered. Regardless of how badly he’d behaved twenty years ago, did he really deserve this punishment now?
God, Chloe. It was all getting to me. The sex, the winks, the morning lattes. I had to stay strong. He was the villain here. And sure, he was charitable, but why shouldn’t he be? It was the least he could do. I had a mission, and my poor heart could not afford to veer off course.
I pushed closer to the stage, cheering and whistling, desperate to show my support for the Heberts, despite my determination to keep my distance from Gus. It was unfair how much the crowd loved the Gagnons.
The competitors, all carefully spaced apart, were given axes.
Once they were lined up and equipped, a loud air horn blasted, and then they were swinging.
I had not anticipated the sheer heat that would overtake me as I watched Gus swing an axe. He was not as quick as some ofthe others, but he was powerful and precise. Every movement was graceful and strong. Time ceased to exist as the muscles in his forearms rippled and his powerful legs flexed, anchoring him to the floor.
The stage was lined with a certified lumberjack buffet, all ages, sizes, and types. But I only had eyes for one.
His expression was one of pure focus, and his body was performing a delicate dance of strength and grace. Down here on the grass, I was a puddle of pure hormones, yelling and screaming and cheering his name. I didn’t care who heard. All I wanted at that moment was for him to feel like someone was on his team.
Every swing and crack ripped through me, every move he made pulled me toward the stage. Around me, people were cheering. One of the men had already finished his log, but I didn’t care. I was too busy watching Gus.
When he finished, he dropped his axe and mopped his brow with the hem of his T-shirt, exposing a few inches of tanned skin and dark hair.
And when he looked out at the crowd, his eyes immediately met mine, as if he were as drawn to me as I was to him.
I bit my lip so hard I thought I might draw blood as the intensity in his gaze hit me.
His chest heaved from exertion beneath his T-shirt, and the muscles in his forearms flexed.
Shit. I clenched my fists, willing my body to stay put. My legs wanted to carry me up there and send me jumping into his arms. But that was insane. Maybe the heat was getting to me. Had I had enough water today?
“That was so much fun,” Karl said, pulling me out of the staring contest I’d inadvertently entered.
I turned, blinking, and focused on him. “Yeah.”
“That Remy guy was so fast,” JJ said as the Gagnons were crowned the winning team.
I floated in a daze as people around us chatted and music played. That had been… something. I was wandering toward a row of tents, in search of bottled water, when a strong hand landed on my shoulder.
