AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Axel? Where is everyone?”
“Oh, hey boss. Carl and Jude are repairing a section of fence in the east pasture.”
“Okay. I didn’t know a section was down.”
“The transmitter went off about an hour ago. Carl called me to say it looked like an animal ran into it.”
“I’m glad you guys caught it.”
“Yes, sir.” Axel looked at Levi then back to Cody.
“This is Levi Thomas. I’ve hired him as the manager. Levi, this is Axel Hiller. He worked for me in Helena. Same with Carl and Jude. You can meet them when you start here.”
“All right.” Levi stuck his hand out for Axel to shake. “Nice to meet you, Axel.”
“Yes, sir. You too.”
“No need to call me sir. Levi is fine.”
Axel nodded. “All right.”
“Let me show you your office, Levi. Axel, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yes, sir.”
Cody gestured for Levi to follow him as they made their way into the office located in the barn. “Did you live on the ranch you worked at?” Cody asked as they settled into their seats.
“Yeah, I had a small cabin there. But I can look into renting if you don’t have housing available here.” Levi responded.
“There is a cabin on the property, but I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet. There’s also a bunkhouse you could temporarily stay in until we get the cabin sorted out. We just finished building it,” Cody explained.
“Is it possible for me to take a look at the cabin? If it’s not too bad, I wouldn’t mind fixing it up while I stay there. And honestly, I’d rather not bunk with the men I’ll be supervising.” Levi requested.
“I completely understand. Let’s take a look, then. I just need to grab the keys from inside the house. It will only take a minute.” Cody said, as he stood, and Levi did the same. They walked from the barn, then Cody strode to the house and retrieved the keys. He returned to the truck and motioned for Levi to hop in before starting the engine and driving past the gate onto a dirt road.
“I probably should have checked out the living situation before looking for someone to hire, but it slipped my mind with everything else going on. I recently moved here from Helena and have been busy settling in.” Cody explained while navigating through a pasture.
“What brought you here to Clifton?” Levi inquired.
“My sister lives in Hartland, and I’ve wanted to move away from Helena for some time now,” Cody replied with a shrug.
“Do you have any other family nearby?”
“Not anymore. My parents relocated to Arizona recently, and as I mentioned earlier, my sister lives in Hartland with her husband. How about you? Do you have any family nearby?”
“No.”
Cody glanced at Levi before turning his attention back to the road. They drove in silence until they arrived at the cabin. It was clear that no one had lived there for quite some time, as the grass was overgrown, and the porch needed some maintenance work.
“I’d say this place hasn’t been used in a while,” Levi commented.
“I agree.” Cody parked beside the porch and gestured for Levi to get out before doing so himself. Together, they climbed the steps and entered the cabin. The musty smell hit them as soon as they opened the door.
“It definitely needs to be aired out,” Cody said, approaching a window and opening it.
“Does the furniture stay?” Levi looked around the room.
“Looks like it. If you have furniture, we can remove these pieces.”
