to the cabin.
“Elle’s titled this one Last Resort since it’s the cabin farthest from the main part of the camp.” He shook his head. “I was going to call you. Is that offer for a lot in Hammock Cove still open?”
Owen glanced at him and then chuckled. “Yes. Why? Do you need a bigger place now that Aubrey’s moved in with you?”
“Yes,” he answered with a smile. “And no, not because of her. But because the trailer was a temporary fix. Besides, the rent of the place is as much as I’d be spending on building a home of my own.”
“You’re renting the trailer?” Owen asked.
“It was my only option at the time. Not a lot of banks wanted to take a chance on an unemployed worker pooling everything he had on a chance to open his cousin’s summer camp back up.”
“Right.” Owen chuckled. “Worked out pretty well in the end.”
“Yes, it did.” He ran his eyes over the eight-hundred-square-foot cabin he’d almost finished. The cedar shingles set the little building apart from all the green surrounding it. High windows allowed an almost panoramic view from inside. He had plans to have a deck built off the front but needed the basics to be finished first. “So?” He turned back to Owen.
“It’s actually why I was coming out to talk to you. Hannah had this idea.”
“Oh no,” Aiden said with a chuckle. “When she has ideas, it usually means more work for me.”
Owen laughed. “True, but I think you’ll like this one. There’s a patch of land near where you built Dylan and Zoey’s place that’s up for sale. She convinced me to purchase it and separate it out into four lots.”
He knew where Owen was going with this. “How much do you want for a lot?” he asked.
Owen nodded. “The ladies all want to talk about that over dinner, which is why I was sent out here to get you.” He motioned behind him. “We can talk on the way back. I assume you were done here for the day?”
Aiden nodded towards his tools. “Help me load up and we can drive back.”
Stepping into the employee’s lounge, he realized a few things. First, he desperately needed a shower. Second, he’d skipped lunch.
Since food was set out buffet style, he filled a tray full of food before heading back to the large corner booth where Aubrey and her friends normally sat.
He was the last one to take a seat and immediately started eating after kissing Aubrey hello. He made a point to showcase his feelings for her as often as he could in front of her friends. He could tell she was becoming more relaxed and accustomed to the PDA.
“I know it’s not supposed to be here for another week. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan,” Hannah was saying to Elle. “The second we stop taking these sorts of things seriously is the moment something bad will happen.”
“I’m just saying, this will be, what?” Elle tilted her head as she thought. “The seventh storm we’ve ridden out?”
He glanced up. “Storm’s coming?” he asked. He’d been too busy to pay attention to the news. Besides, most of his evenings had been filled with pleasing Aubrey since they’d returned home.
“Next week. It’s just a tropical depression at this point. They don’t think it’ll turn into anything bigger, but…” Aubrey filled him in quickly while Elle and Hannah continued to talk.
“I’ll make sure everything is tied down as far as construction. I just finished the roof on Last Resort,” he said to Elle. “I’ll move up roofing the other two cabins so they won’t get any water damage and see to it that windows and doors are installed before then.” He thought about the extra work that would have to be done before the storm hit.
Elle was correct, they’d ridden out half a dozen bigger storms since opening their doors.
“You don’t live in Florida without knowing to prepare for a storm,” Elle reminded Hannah. “I’ve ridden out more depressions and hurricanes than I can count. We have plenty of time to prepare,” she assured Hannah.
He pulled out his phone and started looking over his storm preparation lists. He shot a quick group text to his team about preparing not only the campgrounds but Hammock Cove and all the work they’d done over there before next week. Even if the storm didn’t come their way, he wanted to be ready for anything.
Heavy equipment had to be moved, tools and temporary construction equipment had to