Yeah, I know.
Dad
I don’t mean anything by that. I just don’t want you to get discouraged. Losing that money at the coffee shop really shook your confidence.
Vaughn
Dad…
Gage
Oh boy. Did I tell you someone told me I was incompetent today? Wanna weigh in on that too?
Dad
Ha! They called you that? I’d say they just caught you before your second coffee.
Look, I’m just saying Jasper’s got a good thing here. Be a shame if it fell apart ’cause of timing or he lost focus or whatever.
Jasper
Yeah, I’m on top of it.
Dad
I know you want to be.
Jasper
I’m gonna get going. Bye.
Vaughn
I’m glad to hear the mecca thing was true.
Gage
TTYL.
CHAPTER SIX
Hank
I knew I’d been a little unfair to Jasper when I teased him in the feed store. But seeing him crouched by the chicks, looking all soft and sweet? I just wanted to muss him up a little. Every time I was around him, I felt too flustered and off-kilter not to spread the chaos a bit.
It was a short drive from the feed store to Bert and Faust’s place. It gave me a few blocks to pull myself together and brace for the inquisition I knew would be waiting. Sure as shit, they were already on the porch when I rolled up, perched like two old foxes watching for their prey.
I parked alongside the house, grabbed their birdseed order from the truck bed, and snagged my toolbox while I was at it.
“Hey, fellas. Sorry, I’m late. I got held up at the feed store.”
Faust paused mid-fan to peer over the top of it. “Interesting. What a coincidence you needed to stop by there today.”
“I go there all the time,” I countered, but I could already see the anticipation in their eyes. If anything moved faster than the gossip grapevine in Comfort, I hadn’t met it. The speed of light had nothing on two old men with a front porch and a working phone tree.
“You said your faucet was leaking?” I asked. I had no defense against their questions, so it was best to evade. Before he semi-retired, Bert was one of the best criminal lawyers in the state. There was no damn way I’d weasel my way out of a cross-examination with my ego—or my secrets—intact if he got started. “Kitchen? Bathroom?”
“Kitchen. I’ll fix you a glass of sweet tea, and we can catch up,” Faust offered.
