“No apologies needed,” Brad said, handing over a shot glass filled to the brim with what looked like straight whiskey.“But it does come with a heftycatch-upfee.”
Jace clinked glasses with the guys and let the shot slide down his throat.Yep.Straight whiskey.The good stuff, too.
“Damn, that was needed,” he said, collapsing into the bench seat next to Owen.“I don’t know the last time I’ve been that physically wiped.”
“Yeah, I’d imagine there was a disconnect between the ranching you did in LA and here,” Owen said.
He waved over the server and made a sweeping gesture to the table, indicating another round was in order.Owen was quiet, serious, but the twinkle in his eyes now that he was out and away from the ranch told Jace he was probably down for a good time if the situation called for it.
“That’s an understatement.We were missing about three thousand acres and about forty heavy spotlights.That, and the most I lifted was a script.Today was…”
“Hard as hell?”Brad offered.
“Fuckin’ exhausting?”Owen chimed in.
The server reappeared with the second round of whiskeys, this time in rocks glasses and more than a healthy pour in them.Jace would need food soon or this night was going to ruin him for any work he hoped to do tomorrow.
Jace sipped on the whiskey, letting the burn wash away any remaining reticence about sticking out this renovation instead of leaving Banberry with the same speed he had at eighteen.
“It was nice, actually.”
Owen’s mouth twitched into a half smile, the most Jace had seen on the guy yet.
“I didn’t appreciate it much when I was a kid, but it’s worth the break in acting to be here, I know that much.Even if it hurts.”
“So, you’re really sticking around?Man, your dad would get a kick out of that,” Brad said, shaking his head and taking a long sip of his drink.“He was always kidding around that if you came home, the pigs in the barn would sprout wings.That didn’t help him thinking you would at some point.He even bet our friend, Steve, that you’d be back before he retired.”
“Your dad was a good man,” Owen added.“Helluva rancher.You’ve got big boots to fill.”
“Don’t I know it.”It was hard to hear about his dad, about the kind of man these guys had gotten to know, a man Jace never had or would know in that way.His chest ached with regret and loss, the result mingling with the whiskey into a melancholy cocktail of emotion.“Well, hopefully, I’ll do him proud.”
“You will,” Brad said.“Just being here’s enough.Hey, where is Steve, by the way?”
“Probably working on baby-making.”Owen turned to Jace.“Steve and his wife, Jackie, just got married.They’re trying to get pregnant and aren’t shy about telling us that’s why they’re leaving a party.”
“Or dinner.”
“Or a hike.Those two can’t keep their hands off one another.”
Jace swallowed the rest of his whiskey in a single gulp.
“Not to switch subjects, but what can you tell me about your tenant, Brad?She friends with you guys first, or you rented your space out to her when she moved to town?”It was the most innocuous way he could think to get to the heart of what he was curious about: Who is Aurelie?
With so much else going on in his life of late—losing his dad, quitting acting, and deciding to become a full-time rancher—he shouldn’t have anything as ridiculous as a woman on his mind, but she was taking over a heckuva lot of his bandwidth.
Brad’s smile was knowing, but he did Jace a favor and just nodded.“Yeah, she and my sister were best friends in Turks and Caicos.When Aury’s mom died, she came here and nursed Paige through her cancer diagnosis.”
Jace almost choked on his drink.“Paige hadcancer?”
“Yeah, scary time in our lives.Aury was a goddamn saint, though.Saved her in more ways than one.”
“Hey,” Owen said.
Brad smiled and slapped his brother-in-law on the shoulder.
“You did, too, bud.Don’t think I don’t appreciate you every day for what you’ve brought to my sister’s life.Maddie’s the best thing to happen to any of us, too.”
Owen cleared his throat, his eyes misty.“Well, my girls are pretty great.I’m the best version of myself with them.”
