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“Cole. Just Cole.”
“Okay, Cole.” Thom stared him down while putting his shoe back on. “I’m curious. What made you decide to come all the way out here to babysit a bunch of addicts?”
While the rest of the men gave him their undivided attention, Cole, suddenly much more uncomfortable than only from the impending heatstroke, said, “Madigan needed help. He’s my friend. That’s all there is to it.” That was sonotall there was to it, but he wasn’t about to tell these relative strangers that he had a hopeless, probably ill-advised crush on the town’s baker and would have done just about anything to have a reason to see her again. And now he was thinking about Mira again, missing her, wanting her, imagining her naked body sprawled out on his bed in ways he should not be imagining while he was surrounded by other people. But it couldn’t be helped.
He hadn’t had time to see her at all yesterday, too busy introducing himself to the men, sitting in on their morning group, walking the trails they’d be clearing with Madigan, getting a crash course on the ins and outs of running Little Timber—including the sordid details of bathroom duty.
“Yeah, but you’re getting paid at least, right?” Stanley asked after using his shirt to dry his face. “For your time?”
“Paid? No. That thought never crossed my mind,” Cole replied honestly.
“Wow,” Kev said, his blue eyes flaring. “You’re a really good friend. That’s, like, so admirable.” He tugged the brim of his hat down again. “I’ve never had a friend like that. I’ve definitely neverbeena friend like that.”
Knowing the thought that appeared in his head—Isn’t Davis that kind of friend for you?—should absolutely not make its way out of his mouth, Cole only said, “Thank you, Kev,” even though he wanted to say so much more.
Breaking the suddenly heavy mood, Tex jumped up, settling his cowboy hat back onto his head. “We’d better get back to work if we want to make it to the stake before quitting time.”
Cole held up a hand, shielding his eyes from the sun beating down over Tex’s shoulder, making a mental note to wear his sunglasses tomorrow. “The stake?” he asked. “What stake?”
Pointing downhill, Tex said, “See it? Down there?”
Dread crept along Cole’s spine as he followed the path of Tex’s finger to a tiny red stick poking out of the ground, literal light-years away from where they were now. “That thing?”
“Yep. That’s our goal for today.”
While Cole bit back a groan, Sam said, “Let’s get cracking,” rising smoothly to his feet. “I’ve got a phone date with Izzy and Sara tonight.”
On his first attempt to stand, something twinged in Cole’s back, the sinister kind of twinge that could mean nothing, or it could mean trying to get out of bed in the morning would remind him of his own mortality. Taking mercy on him, Kev held out a hand and pulled him slowly to his feet. Once they were standing eye to eye, Kev said softly, and with a raw honesty that made Cole want to grab the kid and hug him for a solid minute, “I mean it. Madigan’s lucky to have a friend like you.”
Cole was chatty by nature, but he couldn’t think of a single thing to say to that. Or maybe it wasn’t that. Maybe it was that he couldn’t think of therightthing to say. This moment felt like it needed arightthing, and he didn’t have it. So he clasped Kev’s shoulder and squeezed instead.
* * *
One hand bracedon his royally pissed-off lower back, the other holding his phone so he could text Mira, Cole staggered toward his cabin.
Cole: No wonder Madigan’s so stacked these days. One day in and my soft city-boy ass is broken.
He pushed through his door, making doe eyes at his shower, imagining how good the steady, hot stream would feel on his neck, back, shoulders…
Mira: I guess I didn’t think about the manual labor aspect of the job. They’re clearing the mountain bike trails, right?
Cole: Yep.
Mira: Woof.
Cole: You can say that again. But why did I, a fifty-four-year-old man, feel the need to try and keep up with a bunch of mostly twenty and thirty-year-olds today, you ask?
Mira: I didn’t ask, lol. But go on.
Cole: The answer is, because just yesterday, I was one of them. In my head, anyway.
Groaning, he squeezed the boulder that had taken up residence in his left shoulder ever since he’d decided he could pull lodgepole saplings out of the ground with his bare hands like the other guys.
Mira: Well, be careful. I happen to like your soft city-boy ass. Hmm, maybe it just needs to be rubbed. I’m pretty sure I have some Tiger Balm around here somewhere…
She was driving up tonight, bringing him a “special delivery,” which, at this point, he actually hoped included Tiger Balm.
Cole: If you find it, bring it. I can barely move. Not to be presumptuous, but you don’t mind being on top, right?
