Trip naturally doesn’t respond, though he does turn his head at the new voice, and Rhino offers Trip a chin lift.
“Meet my son, Trip,” I tell them, then explain, “He’s non-verbal.”
Barking a laugh, Rhino slaps Token’s back. “Hey, looks like there’s a friend for you here. And what did you call it? Non-verbal? Sounds just like you, man.” Token shoves his brother so hard that he almost falls down. But Rhino recovers quickly. “And who are you?” His tone has turned flirty as he regards Trixie, his eyes filled with easily identifiable hunger.
“Trixie,” she answers and winks at him. “I’m the person you come to if you want to have fun.”
“Just you?” he asks with a raised brow. “Arizona must keep you busy.”
She chuckles and shakes her head. “There’s no way I could handle them all. No, there are four of us. Star, who you probably saw out by the bar, Heaven, and Sweetie are the others.”
A slow, lazy grin sweeps over Rhino’s face. I reckon he’s remembering Star, and the blatant, though silent, invitation she’d extended to him. “Oh, yeah,” he comments, which could have meant anything.
Trixie glances at Token. “Do you really not speak?”
“I speak when I’ve got something to say,” Token growls.
I go to put Trip down, but he clings onto me. As I really don’t want to trigger a meltdown, I relent. “Guess you’re coming with me to inspect what’s going on outside. But you’ve got to be good and get in no one’s way. You understand?” To that question, I get a little up and down movement of his head. “Let me get you on your feet. You can walk beside me and hold my hand.”
This time, he releases his hold on me. “You coming, Brothers? Want to see what you’ll be working on?”
“Lead the way.” Rhino obviously speaks for them both.
As soon as I open the door at the back of the kitchen, the air’s filled with crashing, banging, loud voices shouting, and a myriad of other sounds. Quickly, I slip the ear defenders hanging around Trip’s neck up over his ears. Taking his hand in mine, I lead our little procession over to the source of the commotion.
There’s a heap of rubble to the side of where our barn used to be, and next to it, some other stuff that appears to be shit they’ve managed to reclaim and that, perhaps, we can use in the rebuilding.
The brothers must have worked their asses off, as the footings of the original building are almost completely cleared. Spying Lunatic and Hardcore deep in conversation with Prez and the VP, all of them gazing at the open screen of a laptop,which I’d bet good money is displaying the plans, I lead the two men with me over, still hanging onto Trip. He seems to be wide-eyed watching the men working, transfixed on the mechanical digger they’ve got from somewhere.
Prez notices and watches us approaching. As we close the gap between us, he puts a welcoming smile on his face. “Fuckin’ grateful you’ve come all the way from Georgia. We could do with some extra hands.”
“Rhino and Token.” My introduction is followed by the obligatory round of handshakes and backslaps.
“It’s good to meet you, Bullseye. Heard a lot about you from mutual acquaintances. Oh, and we brought a third with us, but he’s currently comatose.” As Prez raises a brow, he explains, “Had to knock him out to get him on the plane. He’ll come right when the gummies wear off.”
Next are the introductions I’ve been wary of. Lunatic and Hardcore, come walking up. When they’re close, they step forward and give their names. When sparks don’t immediately fly, I look around. “Where’s the East Texas crew?”
“Hard at work.” Lunatic laughs. “They’re fuckin’ great labourers. Might not have the finer eye for detail, but they do know how to construct a decent barn. Good men to have around, but need some direction as they haven’t had experience of a project of this size.”
“Well, we’re here now,” Rhino says in his customary growl. “We’ll put you on the right track.”
Lunatic and Hardcore exchange glances and frowns. “Think we’ve already got it in hand.”
Rhino snorts. “We own and run Gold Wings Construction. We’re the experts in saying how shit like this should be done.”
“And we’re continuing the construction business started by my dad.” Lunatic’s face has tensed, and his hands have formedfists. “The family business goes way back. We know our fuckin’ shit.”
“I won’t work with fuckin’ amateurs who don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Both Lunatic and Hardcore look incensed now and they both step forward…
“Brothers!” Bullseye steps between them and snaps, his voice cracking like a whip, getting their attention. “Lunatic and Hardcore have come up with plans we’ve approved. But we’d welcome your input and ideas, as long as the proposals are within budget and fit with our needs.” He shakes his head. “I might not be an expert in this field, but the plans we have look pretty comprehensive to me. Why don’t you take a look at them and see what you think?”
Worried, I glance down at Trip, but with his ear defenders on, he hasn’t picked up on the argument, and is still transfixed on watching the clearance that is continuing.
For a moment, I think the Georgia and California Kings are going to come to blows. But it’s Token who snatches the offered laptop and walks off, closely followed by Rhino.
Lunatic bristles, his shoulders come back, and his eyes flash fire. “Looks like you got the fuckin’ experts now. If you don’t need us any longer, we’ll ride home.”
