“Great.” I followed her out. I swear I needed to be a freaking electrician to do anything for this venture.
A truck was parked at the top of the long drive. The first thing I’d done was repave the road and drive to my folks’ old farm. The place had been in serious disrepair and the gravel was a headache I didn’t need with all the construction going on. I’d bought the farm back from the bank at a steep discount after my old man had finally given up fighting against the ugly writing on the wall.
The Reynolds farm had been in trouble when I’d been in high school. The entire town had fallen on hard times since very few of the new generation wanted to stick around in a dying town.
I couldn’t blame them.
I’d been one of them. After high school, I’d sprinted out of here on a football scholarship. I’d even managed to enjoy it for a few years. Until my mom had gotten sick.
They needed me to come back to help take care of her and the farm.
Things had swiftly gone downhill after that—both on the farm and with my father. What little profits we’d had in the business were eaten up with medical bills. And my father didn’t know how to deal with my mom not being his rock. Instead of being there for her, he withdrew, leaving it all on me.
She managed to stave off the end for a few more years, but a lifetime of hard work and putting herself last had caught up with her.Losing my mom had destroyed my father. I’d had to try and run the farm and work another job to keep the lights on. I hadn’t been able to do that either.
When I won the lottery, I knew it was my chance to start over.
To maybe help others who had been in the same sinking boat as my family. At least my father could live out his senior years on the land he loved. I’d set him up in a cabin at the back of the property. There had been too many memories in the ranch house for him. He was happy taking care of his horses with a couple stable hands I’d hired to do the heavy lifting.
“Tate! Your order saved my whole damn year.” Jessie Billings came forward with his hand stretched out.
I peered into the truck with all the inflatable characters in shrink wrap. The zombies I’d ordered for the back of the east corner looked pretty damn convincing.
“Glad to help. How are the Christmas inflatables going?”
“They’ll be in next week. I just have to look them all over and make sure they’re in good shape.”
“I appreciate that.”
For this delivery I had at least three dozen inflatable guys—large ones—in the truck.
“They all inflate themselves, but it does require a power source.”
Which meant either generators or cords everywhere.Hell.
“Okay. Can we rent a few generators from you, then?”
The older man tipped his ball cap back on his head. “That wasn’t in the order.”
I stuffed my hands into my jeans pockets. “Okay, can I add it?”
“I don’t think I can get them to you before the parade, Tate.”
“Of course not.”
“A couple extension cords and you’ll be just fine.”
With thirty-six inflatables. Sure. Not a fire hazard at all. “Okay, I’ll figure it out. Let me help you get these off the truck.”
“That would be great.”
I called over to Dylan, one of the dozen people I had working for me. “Can you grab the big wagon?”
“On it!” The kid was eager and one of my best workers.
Molly hopped up on the truck and we had them unloaded in no time. The zombies and ROUSes fromThe Princess Bridemovie were a little trickier. But they were going to look great on the back pasture for the trick-or-treaters in the parade.
The Princess Bridehad a resurgence in town thanks to a movie night over the summer and I figured the kids would get a kick out of it. I had it on good authority that there were at least four Princess Buttercups in the parade and nearly a dozen Westleys and Inigos.
