“How’s Reese doin’, anyway?” Keegan asked.
“Good from what I can tell. I ran into him at the diner the other day,” Ethan said. “They’re inundated with cold cases from across the state.”
Reese Tavoularis was a good guy. He’d been running Walker Demolition since his return from the air force a few years back. After their older brother Jared got married and moved to Dead Heat Ranch, the place had been in limbo for a bit. Jaxson had filled in for a while, but he said he wasn’t suited for an office job. That was about the time Reese was looking for employment.
It was interesting how things worked around here. It was like a puzzle. Every now and then there would be a hole that needed to be plugged and a piece would be moved in. Sometimes that piece would shift to a different puzzle, fitting perfectly into another gap, and another would seemingly come along.
Not that their world was perfect. Not by a long shot. There was always one issue or another arising, but when it came to family, there was someone there to help out along the way. Kaden and Keegan had fallen into that role on numerous occasions. After all, it was how they had landed this job at Walker Demolition.
Speaking of their job…
“Hey, E, we need to chat about somethin’ important.”
Ethan stopped what he was doing, standing tall and wiping his hand on a rag. “You’re leavin’ to go live the high life on the ranch, huh?”
Kaden could feel Keegan’s eyes on him. He hadn’t yet discussed this with his brother, although they both knew it was inevitable. The ranch would require more time than they had while maintaining full-time here.
“That’s the plan. We haven’t talked to Autumn yet,” he tacked on. “Wanted you to hear it first.”
Ethan nodded. “I figured as much, so I’ve been puttin’ out some feelers.” He smiled. “Turns out, Beau wants to come back part-time. He’s worked out a deal with his mom to watch the kids a few hours a day so he can get outta the house.”
“I heard a rumor that Ryan Brehm’s lookin’ for somethin’,” Keegan added.
That seemed to perk up Ethan’s ears. “Yeah? Who’d you hear that from?”
“Brehm,” Keegan said with a chuckle.
“I guess that speaks to the validity of the rumor.” Ethan laughed. “I’ll reach out to him.”
“We won’t run out on you,” Kaden promised. “We’re here until you’ve got the help you need.”
“I hate to see you go, but I get it.”
Kaden knew Ethan was telling the truth. This was where Ethan wanted to be. It’d been his legacy all along, probably one of the main reasons Travis came up with the idea in the first place. And this place suited Ethan. He’d be the first to admit he wasn’t much of a people person and he preferred his solitude. This gave him both of those things.
Kaden was sure there were plenty more folks in Coyote Ridge looking for jobs. A couple of good heavy-equipment mechanics, perhaps a couple of ranch hands.
The fact that things were changing again wasn’t lost on him.
*
After chatting it up with Ethan for a good half hour, they let him get back to what he was doing while they did a full inspection of Bristol’s car.
“Man, I think this ol’ dinosaur needs to give up the ghost,” Keegan told his brother. “Damn thing’s clingin’ to life as it is.”
Hell, he figured the only thing going for it was the fact that there were so few miles since Bristol didn’t do a whole lot of driving. Then again, it was a Honda, and while he wasn’t a fan, he knew it would likely last longer than most. If they were lucky, the only thing it would need besides a new alternator would be a tune-up.
They spent another thirty minutes doing a rundown on it only to find a variety of things that needed to be fixed or replaced altogether, including, as they’d suspected, the alternator and battery. Plus an oil change, some transmission fluid. That was the bare minimum. New brakes and some new spark plugs would go a long way, too.
“We’ll get the parts ordered,” Kaden said, his head still ducked down near the engine.
“I’m in no rush to get my truck back,” he told Kaden. Most of the time, Keegan let his brother drive him around. It was easier that way. “You wanna let her know? Or shall I?” Keegan grinned. “I noticed the heated text messages between you two this mornin’. She prompted it, huh?”
Kaden stood tall, wiping his hands on a rag. “I didn’t expect it, honestly.”
Keegan hadn’t either. When he’d seen the sexually charged back-and-forth between Kaden and Bristol, he’d been more than a little surprised to see Bristol had been the one to instigate it.
“I like this side of her,” he admitted.
