“You said she would cooperate.”

“Would you let your kid sign a contract without someone looking it over?”

Ed gathered his papers off the table and waved them at him. “If we don’t hear from her within the week, we’re going to talk eminent domain.”

Colin ran a frustrated hand through his hair and watched the brass file out of the room.

Asshole.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Friday nights in the Sinclair household were either stone-cold silent or filled with loud music and tons of testosterone.

Parker listened to a soft rock radio station and enjoyed the calm. Football season would end before she knew it, and Austin would be inviting his friends to tear apart the engines of their cars in their massive garage. Even Mallory was out with friends. She mentioned a football game at the college, but Parker knew the game was an excuse for a Friday night party.

With Scout panting at her side, the tennis ball in his mouth, Parker utilized the last rays of daylight to run the dog. After retrieving the ball from Scout’s slimy mouth, she stood at the railing of the patio and tossed it over the slope of the house and watched it bounce in the yard. Scout shot down the stairwell, across the driveway, and searched for the bouncing ball. By now it had settled, so he was nose to the ground to look over the acre of lawn in search of a prize.

Activity coming from the guesthouse had Scout forgetting about his ball and bounding in that direction.

Erin stood on the edge of the covered deck and bent down to greet the dog.

Parker walked down the path and started talking when she came within hearing range. “I hope you like dogs.”

“Love ’em.” Scout’s tail wagged as he leaned into Erin’s leg.

“He loves people. Barks when he doesn’t know ya, but runs up and licks you just the same.”

“Not a very good guard dog then,” Erin said.

“I wouldn’t say that. He barks at strangers, but never growls.” Parker sat in one of the patio chairs. “It’s going to be hard keeping him locked up,” she mused out loud.

Erin stopped showering the dog with attention and took a seat opposite Parker. “Why do you have to lock him up?”

Parker sighed and leaned back in her chair. For the next fifteen minutes she explained what Colin and the city people had told her. “I have my attorney looking over the contract. I need to put a clause in there that whatever damage the trucks do to the property they are mandated to fix. Make sure I’m not liable if anyone gets bit by a rattlesnake or anything like that.”

“Sounds like a lot of people coming in and out.”

“I know. Can’t say I’m happy about it, but I don’t really have a choice. If I say no and neighbors downstream lose their houses, they will come after me. If I say yes, we all have to deal with whatever traffic and noise comes with the trucks and workers.”

Erin ran a hand through her hair, looked out over the lawn. “And here I thought this would be a quiet, private place.”

Parker cringed. She didn’t want to lose her tenant this soon. “I didn’t see this coming. I’m sorry. I knew the wash would pose a problem, but the amount of money the county is talking about dropping on this project is huge. They’re obviously worried.”

Erin met her eyes. “Are you worried?”

“I’m just tired.” She huffed out a laugh. “I feel like I’m twenty years older than I am. I have an itchy feeling things are gonna get worse before they get better.”

Erin stood. “Do you drink white? I’ll open a bottle.”

“You sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have to—”

“I try not to drink alone so . . .”

Parker smiled. “In that case . . . white sounds fabulous.”

Parker stood beside six of her neighbors while a team from the city and county descended upon the property. It was the first time the engineers were getting sight of the landscape after the attorneys gave her a green light and she’d signed the contracts with a couple of revisions. Two of the faces were familiar . . . Colin and Ed. Everyone else, the whole dozen of them, were strangers.

Tracy, one of her closest neighbors, leaned in. “Are they all engineers?”

“I know Colin isn’t, but other than that . . . your guess is as good as mine.”

The pocket of men and women walked down into the empty wash and hiked up the canyon.

“I don’t see why they don’t dig behind the old dam,” Susan said.

“That’s forest land. Apparently they won’t sign off.” Parker told those listening what she’d heard. Her eyes tracked Colin as he walked ahead with the team. Every once in a while he’d look over and offer a smile.

“It sounds like they’re gearing up for a really big project,” Mr. Richards added. “Rightfully so. I remember back in the seventies when this whole area was underwater after an unprecedented winter. That was before half the street was developed.”

“And without a fire,” Susan reminded them.

“We’ve been in a drought for years,” Parker said.

Her neighbors agreed and continued to talk about storms in the past, and times the wash had overflowed and caused problems for people who had to cross it in order to get to their homes. As they did, they kept several yards behind the engineering team, who pointed and scribbled inside their notebooks.

Slowly the crowd made their way back to where they’d parked their cars and Parker’s neighbors walked home.

Colin approached as the last of his people funneled out.

“Did they get everything they needed?” Parker asked him.

“I think so.”

“What happens next?”

He leaned against the side of his truck, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses. “They come up with a plan, the city gathers the permits . . . and I assemble the on-site team.”

“Sounds easy.”

He laughed, flashing his dimples with enough charm to make her push a lock of unruly hair behind her ear. “I wish it was. The good news is, there is a time limit, so there won’t be a lot of back-and-forth before things are finalized and moving.”

“I’m glad they understand the urgency.”

“Let’s hope it’s not needed. Ideally, it would be nice if we build all this and none of it fills up due to a lack of rain.”

“Then what happens?”

“We come back in, empty the basins, and wait for next winter.”

Parker looked up, but couldn’t see his eyes because of his glasses. “And if things aren’t ideal?”

“Then I bring the team in and empty the basins throughout the winter to keep them clear and functioning.”

She placed her hands in the back pockets of her shorts and looked up the canyon. She was grateful that Colin didn’t treat her as if she were too young to be handling things on her end. “This group of people that was here today, will they be around?”

“Not really. Only during inspections and even then, maybe two of them.”

“Ed?”

Colin nodded. “Yeah.”

She scowled. “I don’t care for him.”

Was that a grin on Colin’s face? “He, ah . . .”