surge.”
“I’m impressed. Windswept survived the 1900 hurricane. She
was used as a shelter for the homeless and for some of the survivors from the
orphanage.”
“She deserves to be preserved.” West covered her hand with
his.
“Yes, she does,” Maddie agreed. “Tell me about your family.”
West could see Madeline was truly interested, so he began to
talk. “My family grew up in Winnie. My dad is a rice farmer and Mom is a
housewife. I have two brothers. Dallas, who is a lawyer here on the island, and
Aiden, who owns a construction firm.”
“Do you all get along better than Morgana and I do?”
He picked up her hand and started absentmindedly tracing her
fingers. “Yea, we just have some rules we follow.” At her raised eyebrow, he
answered, “We never date the same women and we do our best to keep our mother
happy.” This made Maddie laugh. Before he knew it, Weston was talking to her on
a variety of subjects. They discussed his childhood and teenage years. “I swam
in the irrigation canals and worked on a shrimp boat during the summers. I put
myself through college at the University of Houston working construction with
Aiden.”
“I worked the desk at the Galvez Hotel while I attended
Rice. What I learned there helped me decide to turn the Windswept into a Bed
and Breakfast.”
“What was she before?”
“My home.” At the moment, she felt so close to him, Maddie
wanted to lay her head on his shoulder, but she refrained. “Windswept has a
long history. I’ll tell you about it sometime.” Not wanting to talk only about
herself, she asked him more questions. Soon he was discussing his love of
diving, how he’d explored some of the sunken ships off the coast. “The Selma
always intrigued me. She was a reinforced concrete tanker. And another time I
was with a group diving at a wreck and we discovered a solidified tar volcano.”
“A what?” Maddie was fascinated.
“They call them tar lilies, where a seam of asphalt erupts
underwater and hardens.” Before he knew it, West was sharing about his love of
blues, especially Texas artists like Edgar Winter and ZZ Top. He laughed and
told her he liked to read Nic Pizzolatto who wrote the book Galveston and was
the mastermind behind the show True Detective. He talked and she listened, she
really listened.
“You’re a Renaissance man,” she told him, setting her empty
glass on the bedside table. “Why don’t we look at these now?” Not waiting for
his permission, she uncapped the tube and withdrew the blueprints. “Wow, you’ve
done a lot of work on this.”
Weston wasn’t really in the mood for work, but he took one
side and began to explain what he’d done. “We don’t want to change the way the
Windswept looks or remove any of its historic ambiance. What we want to do is
make her structurally sound and strong enough to withstand high winds. Steel
reinforcements and a framework we can anchor into the ground is what you need.”
Madeline looked at every feature he pointed out. She didn’t
understand everything, but his suggestions seemed on target. “Ike caused quite
a bit of damage. We were lucky to escape as well as we did.”
“Study these tomorrow, look at the cost estimate, and we’ll
discuss it further.” He rolled them up. The hour was getting late and he was in
bed with a pretty woman. There were some things more important than work. “Come
on, let’s relax.”
When his hand slipped under her hair and he brought their
heads together, time almost stood still for Maddie. “Please, I don’t know what
to do. This is different than before.” She blinked up at him, hope and desire
making her blue eyes shine like jewels.
“How?”
“No one’s watching. You don’t have to do this.”
As if it belonged there, he let his hand glide down her
back, easing her down on the bed until they lay face to face. “I want to do
this.” He stared at her mouth, and when her small pink tongue licked her lower
lip, he bent to
“I’m impressed. Windswept survived the 1900 hurricane. She
was used as a shelter for the homeless and for some of the survivors from the
orphanage.”
“She deserves to be preserved.” West covered her hand with
his.
“Yes, she does,” Maddie agreed. “Tell me about your family.”
West could see Madeline was truly interested, so he began to
talk. “My family grew up in Winnie. My dad is a rice farmer and Mom is a
housewife. I have two brothers. Dallas, who is a lawyer here on the island, and
Aiden, who owns a construction firm.”
“Do you all get along better than Morgana and I do?”
He picked up her hand and started absentmindedly tracing her
fingers. “Yea, we just have some rules we follow.” At her raised eyebrow, he
answered, “We never date the same women and we do our best to keep our mother
happy.” This made Maddie laugh. Before he knew it, Weston was talking to her on
a variety of subjects. They discussed his childhood and teenage years. “I swam
in the irrigation canals and worked on a shrimp boat during the summers. I put
myself through college at the University of Houston working construction with
Aiden.”
“I worked the desk at the Galvez Hotel while I attended
Rice. What I learned there helped me decide to turn the Windswept into a Bed
and Breakfast.”
“What was she before?”
“My home.” At the moment, she felt so close to him, Maddie
wanted to lay her head on his shoulder, but she refrained. “Windswept has a
long history. I’ll tell you about it sometime.” Not wanting to talk only about
herself, she asked him more questions. Soon he was discussing his love of
diving, how he’d explored some of the sunken ships off the coast. “The Selma
always intrigued me. She was a reinforced concrete tanker. And another time I
was with a group diving at a wreck and we discovered a solidified tar volcano.”
“A what?” Maddie was fascinated.
“They call them tar lilies, where a seam of asphalt erupts
underwater and hardens.” Before he knew it, West was sharing about his love of
blues, especially Texas artists like Edgar Winter and ZZ Top. He laughed and
told her he liked to read Nic Pizzolatto who wrote the book Galveston and was
the mastermind behind the show True Detective. He talked and she listened, she
really listened.
“You’re a Renaissance man,” she told him, setting her empty
glass on the bedside table. “Why don’t we look at these now?” Not waiting for
his permission, she uncapped the tube and withdrew the blueprints. “Wow, you’ve
done a lot of work on this.”
Weston wasn’t really in the mood for work, but he took one
side and began to explain what he’d done. “We don’t want to change the way the
Windswept looks or remove any of its historic ambiance. What we want to do is
make her structurally sound and strong enough to withstand high winds. Steel
reinforcements and a framework we can anchor into the ground is what you need.”
Madeline looked at every feature he pointed out. She didn’t
understand everything, but his suggestions seemed on target. “Ike caused quite
a bit of damage. We were lucky to escape as well as we did.”
“Study these tomorrow, look at the cost estimate, and we’ll
discuss it further.” He rolled them up. The hour was getting late and he was in
bed with a pretty woman. There were some things more important than work. “Come
on, let’s relax.”
When his hand slipped under her hair and he brought their
heads together, time almost stood still for Maddie. “Please, I don’t know what
to do. This is different than before.” She blinked up at him, hope and desire
making her blue eyes shine like jewels.
“How?”
“No one’s watching. You don’t have to do this.”
As if it belonged there, he let his hand glide down her
back, easing her down on the bed until they lay face to face. “I want to do
this.” He stared at her mouth, and when her small pink tongue licked her lower
lip, he bent to
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