“Beers later if you’re interested.”
Jace smiled.Beers with the guys was a good way to start this half-hatched plan.
“I definitely am.Just need to get a little further down this line before I take a break.”
Brad patted him on the shoulder and laughed.“How far you planning on going with this?”
Jace shrugged.“All the way I guess.Hadn’t given it too much thought.”
“You know, it’s gonna cost a fortune and take years to reno this place the way you’re going about it.”Jace hadn’t seen the second cowboy, Paige’s husband.What was his name again?Owen?He seemed to be a good guy, albeit with a wary eye for what was going on around him.No one had said anything, but Jace got the sense he’d been military.
“Money, I got.Time’s something I’m working on.”
“You sticking around, then?Sounded last night like you were farming this out, no pun intended.”Brad smiled warmly as he sat in the dirt next to Jace.Owen remained standing, arms crossed over his chest.Jace leaned back against the post he’d torn the last boards away from.He didn’t know when he’d been so damned exhausted.Peaceful, too.
“Was the plan.Plan’s changed, though.Think I owe it to myself to fix up my dad’s place myself.”Jace tore into the sandwich from Joe’s like a man possessed.It felt good to be home, eating from a place that tasted like nostalgia as much as it did steak, peppers, and onions.
“Owe yourself or him?”Owen asked.
The whole thing—the sandwich, the questions, the sun on his shoulders, the feel of his father’s work being undone at his hands—it was raw, real.
He shrugged a second time.Words resembling nothing close to answers lodged in his throat somewhere between regret and guilt.
“Hmmm.We’ll check in with you in a sec, right, Owen?”Owen nodded but didn’t comment.
“Thanks again, guys.The sandwich was nice, but the company was nicer.”
He didn’t need to wait too long for more of that.Just moments later, Brad and Owen were at his side, hammers and crowbars in hand.
Jace didn’t think in his whole life he’d been close to tears more times than he could count on one hand.And here he was, heat seemingly permanent behind his eyes since arriving in Banberry.He wasn’t at all sure that was a good thing, but right now it didn’t feel too bad.
“You sure?”
Brad nodded, ripping off a board in half the time it’d taken Jace.He watched Brad’s technique and copied it.Well, hell…
“Yeah, brother.What else we got to do?”
“Manage our own farms?”Owen quipped.Jace opened his mouth to tell them not to bother with his dilapidated porch, then, but Owen continued.“But the quicker we get you to a stopping spot, the quicker this guy buys me a beer, so I’m happy to help.”
The words were gruff, a rancher’s directness.But Owen clapped him on his back and got to work, a gentle smile on his face.First, he tossed Jace a pair of construction gloves.
“Don’t want those pretty hands of yours getting scuffed up.They’re probably insured for more than my barn.”
Jace laughed long and hard at that one.“Not sure whether to thank you or not.You teasing me ’cause I kissed your wife when I was five?”
“Nah.I’m the one that gets to kiss her now, and that’s all that matters.”They all three chuckled, and Jace could see the love in Owen’s eyes when he talked about Paige.Owen grew serious, then.“The teasing’s ’cause I want to see how serious you are about this.It ain’t easy here, and most people leave.These guys may have grown up with you, but I didn’t.I wanna make sure you aren’t one of the quitters before I decide I like you or not.”
Jace put on the gloves and pulled a couple boards off the base of the deck before replying.
“Fair.Hell, I’m interested in finding that out, too.”
The men worked in silence until the sun hid behind the peaks, staining them purple and the sky a deep magenta in the late afternoon light.By the time they laid down their tools, most of the deck was torn down, and the still-okay boards salvaged.Jace would need a dumpster delivered, not to mention the laundry list of machines he’d need to rent if he was going to tackle this project himself.To that end, he had a few more pressing questions.
“You guys know a few ranch hands I can get to manage this place and keep the cattle on schedule while I work on tearing this place apart and rebuilding?”
“We do.Actually have a few we don’t have work for right now if you want us to send ’em your way.”
Relief settled over Jace’s sore shoulders.“Yeah, that’d be great.Thanks again.I’m buying beers tonight.What’s still around?”
