For a second, a full pound of his heart, Bede found himself wanting what he simply could not have: a new, law-abiding life with this guy. A lawn raking, show shoveling, grocery buying, bill paying kind of life. Full of the laughter that teased him now from Galen’s gray eyes.
Yes, Bede had come to a crossroads in his life. He was willing to admit it, but at the same time, he had no idea whatsoever which direction he should take. But if taking the straight road made him feel the way that looking at Galen made him feel, then maybe he would say yes.
Chapter 20
Galen
The first week of any job was always tough, and sitting in Royce’s tent, even with all its graceful touches, from the Keurig coffee maker and dozens of pods to choose from, to the little swamp cooler that made Royce’s tent an oasis of comfort, Galen felt a little wiped out. There was no escaping the fact that this summer was coming down warm, warmer than any summer Galen could remember.
Granted, they were all sitting a little close, their knees brushing. Two men sat on the cot and two men sat on small, wooden folding chairs that Royce had acquired from somewhere.
“I’ve got ice cold lemonade here in this cooler,” said Royce, gesturing to it. Gratefully, Galen reached out his hand.
“Thank you,” he said, and looked down at the printed agenda in his lap. Royce’s idea, no doubt, because while Gabe was the head team lead, Royce seemed to be the main organizer of meetings. He took a sip of the freezing cold citrus drink and winced with pleasure.
“Jonah went all the way to Chugwater to get them,” said Royce, pleased.
“Shall we get started?” asked Gabe, eager, it seemed, to get down to business.
Galen cast a sidelong look at Marston, who was eyeing the drinks, but hadn’t taken one when Royce had offered. “You got another of these frozen drinks?” Galen asked.
“Raspberry,” said Royce, handing it to him, puzzled that Galen would take two. But Galen handed the drink to Marston, who took it, a small pleased smile on his face as he unscrewed the top.
“Thanks.”
“Welcome.”
Settling back in his seat, Galen paid attention to Gabe, and then to Royce, whoever was speaking, as they went over their concerns. The main issue seemed to be that they were discontinuing the token system for the showers.
“What token system?” asked Galen.
“It had been a way to get an estimate for water and propane usage, but we’ve already pretty much discontinued it.” With a smile, Gabe added, “Turns out, Gordy takes the longest showers at forty-five minutes a pop, but far be it from me to ask him what he’s doing in there.”
Galen laughed under his breath, found himself relaxing, and followed along as the conversation shifted to the next topic, which was riding lessons and horse care.
“I realize you’ve been busy with the knapweed, Galen,” said Gabe, and suddenly Galen felt all three pairs of eyes on him. “But will you be able to pick up the riding lessons and horse care this coming week? It’s an important part of the program.”
“I just figured—” began Galen, straightening up, thinking he’d somehow misunderstood what he was supposed to have been doing all week. “That the knapweed job was kind of critical?”
“It was and is,” said Gabe. “And you’ve been doing a good job with it, too. It’s just that I was on the phone with Leland and he was asking. Figured you could split the days between the knapweed and the horses. You might have to start carting hay out to the pasture along the river, since it’s been so dry.”
“Will do,” said Galen, letting out a small sigh of relief that’s all Gabe was worried about. Though he might be worried about more, if he knew what had been going on in Galen’s head since day one.
That though the team was coming together pretty well, he still sometimes felt out of control when attempting to get his team to focus on the work.
As for Bede, Galen didn’t think there was any way to ask Gabe what to do with Galen’s feelings for Bede that seemed to have taken on a life of their own. He’d seen Bede cry in the dark. He’d seen Bede, under the influence of pot, flirty and smooth. At the time, he’d not thought to wonder whether Bede would be as flirty when sober, but there wasn’t a really good way to ask that. Nor a good time.
Bede had done him a huge favor with the IRS. So huge that Galen’s troubles with them had all but vanished into smoke.
As for the unexpected hospital bills, they, too, were firmly under control. All due to Bede’s knowledge of the system. He owed Bede, frankly, but had no idea how to repay that debt.
The meeting trundled on, focused on low-level issues such as littering by the parolees, and an old joint that had been found behind the first aid hut.
Galen had seen Beck tuck a used joint carefully away in his Sucrets box, but maybe one had fallen by accident. He wouldn’t mention it then, keeping Bede and Beck’s secret safe.
Lastly, they discussed the heat, and what would happen in the following summers when actual guests had paid to stay in all the tents.
Royce suggested his little swamp cooler for each of the tents, and Gabe agreed that was a good idea, and they could always raise the nightly fee to something closer to five hundred dollars. At which point Galen had to stop himself from scoffing out loud at the amount of money some people had.
