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“Makes sense to me,” Murphy said.
Pretty much everyone around here knew that Cruz’s partner, Nolan, was crazy rich and would support Cruz doing anything he wanted with the Double C, so cutting corners didn’t make much sense—especially when they could do so much good if they expanded.
“The hope is that most of the horses will find permanent homes after they’re rehabilitated, which means we need to have top-notch training facilities. I’m thinking that I’ll go with a U-shaped horse barn here.” He tapped the place where the front pasture was now with his finger. “I was looking at one that could house up to thirty-two horses. Each one would have a large stall and an outdoor run. The center would be an exercise paddock, and we could put in a covered arena right behind it so y’all could work with the horses no matter the weather.”
“That sounds amazing,” Murphy said. “We’ll be able to help so many more horses.”
Cruz grinned at her. “We’ll also do some separate paddocks with some run-in sheds for the horses. I figure those would be good for overflow or horses who don’t do well penned up, but anyway, yeah, that’s the plan.”
“It really is a great plan. I’m so excited to be here and be a part of it,” I said.
“We’re glad you’re here, too, Nash. I wouldn’t be thinking about expanding like this so soon if I didn’t have such a great crew.” It wasn’t the first time Cruz had told me how much he appreciated me, but it was still always good to hear.
“It’s gonna be great, but if I’m going to get my truck to Cody’s shop early enough for him to get it done today, I better get going.”
“If he can’t get it finished today and you need a ride, just give me a call,” Murphy said.
“Will do, but he’s pretty fast.”
I hopped in the truck and made the twenty-minute drive to River Gorge with my windows down and the radio playing. I may have grown up in Vesper, but I’d always been a country boy at heart, and I loved hauling ass on these country roads. Something about the wide openness of it felt like home to me.
I pulled up in front of Cody’s shop and went inside. No one was in the customer service area, so I walked to the door for the main garage. Cody and a young guy were both leaning over under the hood of a car. He’d told me he’d recently brought on another mechanic to help him out around the shop, and I assumed that was the new guy.
“Hey, Cody,” I called.
He looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, Nash. What’s up?”
“I wanted to see if you had time to take a look at my truck. Nothing’s wrong; it’s just due a tune-up.”
“Sure, Kevin here has this one under control, so I can fit you in.” He grabbed a rag from his back pocket and wiped his hands while he walked toward me. “Let me start you a ticket.”
He stepped behind the counter and started typing on his keyboard. I was standing there waiting for him to get me all checked in when a door opened behind the counter, and Spencer stepped into the room. I’d completely forgotten he was renting the apartment over the shop. He froze when he saw me there for just a second, like maybe he thought he’d come through the wrong door, but he recovered quickly, nodding at me and speaking to Cody.
“Hey, Cody, I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s a leak under the kitchen sink, and I wasn’t sure who to call.”
“Did you turn off the water?” Cody asked.
“I did.”
“Okay, give me a few minutes, and I’ll come take a look.”
“I can look at it for you,” I said to Spencer before looking back to Cody. “I’ll have time to kill while you’re working on my truck.”
“Is that okay with you, Spence?” Cody asked, and Spencer just shrugged. Not a glowing endorsement, but he didn’t say no either, so I’d take it.
“Do you have tools upstairs?”
“I do. Not that I ever use them, but when I got my own place, my grandfather insisted I had to have a loaded-up toolbox.” He ducked his head, and a light blush flooded his cheeks. “I’ve never been handy like that, so I’m not sure what he thought I would use them for.”
“Don’t worry, cutie. I’m happy to help. Cody, you know where to find me if you have any questions about the truck.”
Judging by Cody’s look, I might have been a little obvious in my eagerness to help, but hell, I wanted to get to know Spencer better, and I was all for taking opportunities that came my way.
Spencer
While I led Nash up the stairs, I did a short mental inventory of my apartment. Lucky for me, I’d discovered the leak while I was putting away my cleaning supplies, so I knew my place was in good shape.
I opened the door and walked in with him right behind me. I looked around my little apartment, trying to see it from Nash’s point of view. I was comfortable here and was surrounded by the things I loved most, like my theater posters, my graphic novels, and my knitting, but what did it look like to a guy who barely knew me? Probably like nerd central, but that was who I was, not that it mattered what Nash thought, anyway. It wasn’t like I was trying to impress him.
