“Bobby says he didn’t steal the barn wood, he didn’t steal it,” Daisy says, annoyed. “And I agree, if someone leaves something on the side of the road…”
“Adler…” I whisper and I think of Tate and then I think of the sex…and give my head a shake and try again. His barn…with the one wall that had been burned during the cider press fire. My eyes go wide and I point at Bobby but before I can say anything he explodes.
“I didn’t steal it. I was by the property line trying to wrangle Crockett and Tubbs. You know they’re total escape artists and they were sneaking around by the fence, and I didn’t want them to end up on the Adler property because George would shoot ’em,” Bobby explains about two of our Angora goats. We have fourteen and just like all our other goats, they’re named after television or book characters. Crockett and Tubbs are characters from some show Bobby loved as a kid calledMiami Vice. “Anyway I heard Louise yelling at Vince to take the damaged barn wood to the dump and he yelled back he was busy and he told Jace to do it. So I snuck over there a couple nights ago, and low and behold the wood was still there. No one had taken it to the dump. So I just decided to get rid of it for them.”
“Do they know you took it?” I can’t help but ask.
“Nah. I think Vince probably thinks Jace finally took it to the dump and Jace probably thinks Vince did and George probably thinks Louise did,” Bobby says. “They have a serious communication problem over there.”
I feel bad, but I know Bobby is right. Tate probably wouldn’t care that we had it and he’s the only Adler whose opinion matters to me. I sigh. “Fine. Whatever. It does look really amazing, Bobby.”
“Thank you,” he smiles again. “Next up are the windows and door.”
He points to the plastic opening we came in through.
“Don’t steal those from the Adlers too,” I quip.
He rolls his eyes but I feel a little flutter of excitement. This is really happening. But that flutter quickly sputters and drops from my belly to my sneakers. We’re going to have our first, fully functional, eco-friendly cabin for a property we don’t own, that the Adlers do not want to give up. That used to be something I didn’t think about, but now I do. Because I’ve seen Tate naked. And liked it.
“Also the composting toilet gets here tomorrow, if the Amazon package tracker thingy is right,” Bobby says and motions for us to follow him around the false wall he built at one end of the rectangular room.
He’s already tiled the entire bathroom in these great oversized slate gray tiles. The walk-in shower is huge. And the vanity is an old dresser with a bowl sink on top and it’s perfect. “Bobby you’ve really outdone yourself.”
“Ben helped with the tiling,” Bobby says and grins. “We’re on budget so far and I don’t see any hiccups, so this experiment is gonna be a winner, Mags. Now we just need the land for this. And the thingy you guys are working on for the bank.”
“The business plan,” Daisy says and pats his head like he’s a toddler. “We’re working on it …but first the Adler’s have to put it on the market, or the bank does.”
Bobby nods and I feel squirmy inside. “Any more intel on that?”
“Well, I went to see Hank again,” Daisy says. “Actually I went to get more hot wings. God they have the best sauce I have ever had, and Hank was there and we talked again. Anyway, he says he heard from Jace that they’re a month behind on the mortgage and the bank sent them a warning letter already.”
“What?” I say it way too loud to be normal and Daisy picks up on that immediately.
“They gotta be thinking about throwing in the towel,” Daisy says.
“Can we not…” I mutter and turn to head out of the container.
“Not what?” Daisy asks. “Talk business?”
“Gossip about the misfortune of other people,” I reply and jump down out of the container home, which we have on blocks so it doesn’t kill the grass.
“It’s not other people, it’s the Adlers,” Daisy says following me out into the sunshine. Bobby is trailing behind her. “The family that took Rascal to the pound fourteen times last year because she wandered onto their property.”
Daisy and her stupid cat. But she had a point. They knew who Rascal, our Maine Coon, belonged to and that cats wander. That’s what they do.
Bobby nods even though he doesn’t give a rat’s patoot about that cat. “And let’s not forget the time Vince got drunk at the town fair and tried to sucker punch me.”
“Because you were hitting on his ex-wife and she’d only been an ex for like a month or something at that point,” I remind him as the wind picks up and I notice Ben is herding the goats back into the pens with Clyde, who is swearing at them.
“Tanya was hitting on me,” Bobby replies with a shrug and then a furrowed brow. “And why are you defending an Adler?”
I pull out my phone and look at the time. “Daisy, we gotta head back if we’re going to make the outdoor movie night. I need to shower first.”
“Okay,” Daisy says and sprints ahead of me. “I’m driving. You’re all emo or something and I don’t want you driving us into a tree.”
I roll my eyes at her dramatics. Bobby walks us to our car. “Who is hosting the movie night?”
Bobby asks because he used to go to Moo U and they did the movie nights when he was there too. “This time it’s the hockey team,” I say as I climb in.
