Surprised, Mitch stared at her. “So, wait, he talks about after the rodeo?”
Miz Halley came back by carrying a trash can. “Of course he does, honey. Rodeo is a young man’s game.”
Leanne nodded. “Even for a roper, he’s going to have to find something to do with the rest of his life.”
Well Mitch sure didn’t see him coming to town and becoming a roofer, that was for sure.
“You mind holding my little one for me?” Leanne handed him the baby without even waiting for his answer, which was fine with him. He knew about babies. That was something hewasgood at. “You think you’re going to go back to roofing after you’re all healed up?”
“What else would I do? It’s what I’m known for.” He was good at it, and he didn’t mind the job. He would rather run a crew than work it, of course. But he liked being outside.
He liked the challenge, especially on some of these newer custom homes with all the different angles and levels. Every so often, there could be a real art to it, making the house look pretty. The thing was you couldn’t have a safe house without a good roof.
“You ought to talk to Wilder at some point. You know he’s a contractor. He’s always looking for roofers. Somebody to bid jobs. He’s got a whole thing. He’s doing a big load of custom homes.”
Her husband was a good guy. He had met him a number of times around town, as you do. Mitch had never heard a single person say something bad about the man, which given that he was a contractor, was saying a ton.
“Thanks. I mean, I’ll let my boss know.” Jorge would love the intel.
She shook her head at him. “No, that’s not what I mean. I mean you should talk to him about maybe doing a job for him on your own. You know, if you started small, you could do it, build up a solid business.”
They were trying to save him. And it was sweet, even if it was embarrassing.
But he wasn’t going to turn down that kind of an offer just out of hand. So he smiled at her and nodded. “As soon as I’m back on my feet, I’ll talk to him. If we can start with something small, and I can bid it out to him, then we’ll do it.”
“Good deal. He would help you with the payouts to begin with, but you don’t even have to order the supplies until they pay you half up-front.”
Sounded like Leanne must do the books for her husband. He chuckled, “Sure, I don’t reckon Jorge would kill me for being competition.”
“Well, Jorge could use some competition. I’m not saying he’s not a good guy, or that he’s not a good roofer, but when he’s got such a stranglehold on the market, he can raise prices on people. So, it would be nice if there was a way to get some healthy market pricing.” She gave him a broad wink and left him sitting there with the little girl. He thought it was a little girl. She wasn’t wearing a giant bow on her head, but in general, she looked like a baby girl. Her ears were pierced, for one thing. While boys got their ears pierced, they didn’t usually do them at birth, like they did girls.
He snorted at himself. He’d probably get in big trouble for thinking something as sexist as that if Allison was still standing right there next to him. He tried real hard not to lay that on his girls, but the first inclination was always the one someone was raised with, right? The second one was the one that proved a guy was a good person.
He grinned down at the tiny drooler, who was chewing on her fist and staring up at him. “I know, baby girl. It’s a lot, huh?”
She squealed and whacked him in the nose with her wet hand. Lord, he’d forgotten how that felt.
Miz Halley went by again, handing him a Tupperware container of Cheerios. “For one of any of the littles that wander by. I’ll be by with a bottle in a second.”
“Yes, ma’am.” It was like being in the middle of a tornado or a hurricane.
Maybe not a blizzard.
He knew all about those. It wasn’t a thing, being in the middle of a blizzard — those were either in or out—but totally like a tornado.
People were cleaning and singing, and kids were running and there was laughing. He was fairly sure even Bekka was laughing, which didn’t happen very often. Sarah and Bekka were both playing with other kids, and he thought he might live.
Which he should never think, because naturally, that was when all the weird shit happened. But this? This was okay.
It just needed Cam.
And where the absolute fuck had that come from?
Cam was here on a favor from his mother, not because of anything else.
He had to be honest with himself, if not with anybody else. He was a broke-dick roofer without savings or a future.
And Cam was a dude with petty cash. Not wealthy. Not like rich, but way better than middle class.
