She ran out of sight, but I heard her jump on the bed, squealing in delight. “This is so cool! It’s like the ultimate treehouse!”
I grimaced at her words. Now, this cute little house no longer felt like a temporary solution, but something that was made for couples who didn’t have their shit together.
“Don’t worry, big brother. Just think of all the rooms of the house you can christen,” she grinned, tapping her chin. “One, two, three…three and a half?” she asked, laughing to herself.
“Well, we should all leave and let the newlyweds have some time alone,” Ma shouted, ushering everyone out of the house. “They still have to get hooked up to electric, and…well, I certainly hope this thing has running water.”
“It does.”
“I’ll bring by a casserole in the morning. That way you don’t have to worry about breakfast.”
“Thanks, Ma.”
She kissed me on the cheek before stepping carefully outside, followed by Krista and Lizzy. Pop was the last one out, but he stalled, giving a heavy sigh.
“Never thought I’d see the day you’d waste your money on something like this.”
“Don’t start, Pop.”
“You could have saved money. Dammit, why didn’t you just ask for help?”
“Because I didn’t need help,” I snarled. “This was what we wanted. It’s just temporary.”
“Right,” he huffed. “Just like leaving the ranch was temporary.” He slid his hat over his head and sighed. “Well, you did return, just not in time to save the ranch.”
And with those parting words, he walked out of our tiny home and headed back to the house I’d grown up in.”
Tension bracketed my body, and it was only Blake’s soothing hands that eased the strain in my shoulders.
“We’re gonna be happy here.”
“You think?” I grunted.
Her teeth nipped at my ear. “Oh yeah. This is gonna be good.”
21
BLAKE
“What does it say to do?”
I snatched the directions from Liam, reading them by flashlight. “Attach part A to part B using tool F.”
I stared at the ground, at all the tools spread out, wondering why it was so hard for the guys to figure this out. Everything was clearly labeled, and the instructions were clear as day.
“This one,” Jeff said, holding it up triumphantly.
“No, that’s E,” Parker snapped. “The bottom of the letter is smudged.
“Oh, well, that’s just great. Smudged letters are very useful.”
What was so hard about putting this together? They were acting like they’d been given an alien diagram.
“Listen, I think if you just made four pairs of the same?—”
“Honey, it’s very sweet that you want to help, but how about you go make us some dinner,” Parker smiled sweetly.
Okay, lesson learned. Parker did not want me to do anything that should be his job. “Sure, that sounds like a fantastic idea. And since we have all this food, I’ll just grab some fishing rods and catch something from the river.”
