Gunther shook his head. “None of that right away. Just a few dreams we have.”
Brogan stroked the dog, which bounded around as if greeting an old friend. “It sounds nice. All of it.” They arrived at a detached garage, where the truck had been towed.
Not surprisingly, it was out of commission. Gunther was using his wife’s small car, but he didn’t like to leave her without transportation.
“Me, a mechanic, driving on bald tires and with low coolant.You’d think I’d know better. It’s just …” Frustrated, Gunther let his words trail off.
“You’ve got a lot on your plate. No one is perfect. That storm came out of nowhere.” Brogan felt as if he was tossing out clichéd statements, but he meant every word. Seeing how well Gunther kept his property, he knew the young man took pride in what he owned, and he wasn’t a slacker. “Will you be able to replace the truck?”
“I have my eye on one. The owner had promised to hold it for me a bit longer until I can come up with the rest of the money. Then Cort Easton—he said you know him?”
“I do. I’m renting his lake house.”
Gunther nodded. “He said he had a few odd jobs for me, and if I agreed to do them, he’d front me the rest of the money.”
Nice move on Cort’s part. “Sounds like a deal.”
“Yeah.” His son picked up a rock to throw, and Gunther said, “Not in that direction, Toby. Never where it might hit the house or a person.”
Brogan was pretty sure Toby couldn’t have thrown the rock far enough to do either, but it did seem like a good lesson.
“Pitch it toward the field. Remember how I showed you. That’s right. Overhand.” After Toby let the stone fly, Gunther patted his shoulder. “There you go. Good job.”
Yeah, throwing rocks with a kid. That seemed like a very “dad” thing to do. It couldn’t be envy Brogan was feeling, especially since he’d rarely bothered to think of his AWOL father. Besides, there hadn’t been any fields where he’d grown up. Just other apartment complexes. The only nearby park had been a hangout for the druggies and gangs. He thought of Andy, though, and knew he’d like to practice throwing rocks with him.
Would he still be around when Andy was old enough? Brogan decided he’d do his best to make that happen.
Brogan stepped forward. “Toby, can you show me how tothrow it?” For the next few minutes, while Gunther stood there grinning, Brogan “practiced” tossing the rocks the exact way Toby instructed.
When he wanted a minute alone with Gunther, he said to Toby, “I think Pixie has a gift for you.”
“She does? What is it?”
Brogan laughed. “You’ll need to ask Pixie.”
When Toby turned toward the others, Gunther stopped him. “Nicely, Toby. Don’t go demanding anything.”
“I won’t, Dad.” He took off at a run.
Both men watched him, until Gunther turned to Brogan. “Your wife didn’t need to do that.”
My wife.A bolt of lightning wouldn’t have stunned him more. First Dee’s not-so-subtle hints, and now that statement from Gunther. Brogan stared at him while his entire being wished it was true, wished that he could claim Pixie as his own. Of course, that didn’t make sense. He’d just told Gunther that he was renting the lake house.
Pulling himself together, Brogan gave a wry smile. “Thanks, but I have no claim on Pixie.”
“No?”
“Not that I’d mind.” In fact, he’d love it. “Remember, I’m just here for the summer.” Then he added, “But I’m trying to figure out a way to stay longer. I’m told it’s not easy to move to Bramble.”
“True enough,” Gunther said. “The mayor is real picky about expanding the population. We like keeping the town small. We have our own laws—Home Rule governing, it’s called. State powers can’t tell us how to live.”
Brogan had never heard of such a thing. “Interesting.”
“Some exceptions have been made lately.”
“Oh?”
“Cort married Marlow. Marlow brought in Pixie. They were both outsiders, but when Cort said he’d move away if theycouldn’t stay, no one wanted that. He’s our local hero, you know.”
