“I don’t care if we win or I lose my hundred bucks, but Jack is like a kid at Christmas with all the progress being made,” Eddie said as he and Gabe built trusses for a roof. “Lottie, why don’t you and Knox go on down to cabins five and six and get the sill plates down and start building walls while we put the roof on this one.”
“That ought to light a fire under all of the others,” Lottie said with a grin. “You are right about Uncle Jack, and if we get done early, we might have a few days to spend with our families before all you guys have to go to El Paso.”
“And it will give you time to find something closer to this place,” Eddie said. “Is there no way that we can make you change your mind after the summer?”
“Nope, not even if you offer me something up around Randlett, Oklahoma. I want to be close to my folks. See you guys at lunchtime.”
“At this rate, I’ll be home by Mother’s Day for sure,” Knox said.
“And we’ll be back in Randlett in time to help our wives get things organized to go to El Paso,” Gabe agreed with a nod. “That’ll make them all very happy.”
“For a little while.” Eddie chuckled.
Knox had never been in a long-distance relationship. Tripp often said that all three Callahan brothers had commitment issues because they would never find someone like their mother. Knox and Brodie had argued with him, but maybe he was right.
Was the heat between him and Lottie only a flash in the pan, so to speak? Would the old saying about “out of sight, out of mind” come into play after they had been apart for a few weeks?
“Do you want to cut the boards or drill?” Lottie asked.
He slipped the right bit into a drill. “I’ll do this part until you get them all laid out.”
“Then I’ll help finish the job. I bet we can get the sill plates down on both cabins before the rest of them finish putting the roof on number four.”
“Probably so,” Knox agreed, but his mind was two hours north in Spanish Fort, not at Swan Song Estates.
Once the deal was finalized for his new land, Knox intended to ask Lottie to move to Spanish Fort and helphim build an estate on a little larger plan. He envisioned ten new homes with five acres of land for each one. While he was getting the land marked off, wells drilled, and electricity for each place, and all the building permits taken care of, he would begin advertising for prospective buyers. He was pretty sure his sister Bo and her husband would be the first ones to jump on the chance. The prospective buyers could design their own homes, or they could work with him to draw up blueprints.
Lottie could move her trailer to the backyard, and after a while, he would ask her to move into the house with him. If they proved that they could live and also work together, they could possibly wind up in a permanent relationship.
Knox silently scolded himself for making big plans after being only two kisses into the real deal. He warned himself to back up and slow his roll. Just because his brothers had found their soulmates was no sign that he had to jump into the fire.
Lottie laid out the first board and measured the next one. “What are you thinking about? You’ve got that look on your face.”
“What look?” Knox frowned.
“The one that says something is going on in your mind,” she replied.
“I was making plans for the future, which is crazy, because I don’t even know if the plans I am making will work.”
She laid the second board down. “Ain’t that the truth, but what is it that has you in a turmoil?”
“I have quite a bit of equipment, but I wouldn’t mindbuying some of this extra stuff from Jack when this project is finished.” He didn’t actually lie since he had been thinking about that very thing.
“It will most likely go to Walter since he’s the one buying out the business,” Lottie said with a long, drawn-out sigh. “You disappoint me.”
“What did I do?”
“You could have said that you were arguing with yourself about kissing me,” she teased.
He slid a wicked wink her way. “That could be arranged, but I’m not sure I could stop with one. And right now, we should probably work, and kiss later. I promise I will not disappoint you again.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
She finished laying out the sill plates, picked up a second drill, checked the battery, and began to sink the pilot holes for Knox. “Hey, I forgot to ask about Cheeto. I didn’t hear him crowing this morning. Did he die?”
“How did you get from kissing to drunk roosters so fast?” Knox asked.
“I have an Oprah mind,” she answered.
