“Today, yeah. That’s all.”
Rae laughed under her breath, stealing more of mine. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”
I struggled to swallow, watching how her gaze lingered on my mouth. “I…we need you guys to find somewhere else to stay. And I’m sorry. It’s a…finances thing. We didn’t budget to have four extra mouths to feed without the help of prepping for opening the ranch?—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. I get it.”
The tension in my shoulder blades loosened. “You can leave the RV here if you need to. We don’t care about you guys taking up the space. It’s the extra resources like food we have to consider.
Rae stepped back, shoving her hands into her back pockets. “You guys are behind, and we weren’t supposed to take this long.”
“I had hoped we’d be able to at least be halfway ready to open the ranch doors at this point. Close enough to start marketing.”
“How about this? We move out, but we also start helping around here. Make up for the extra time we’re taking to clean up this mess.”
I opened my mouth; only a disbelieving laugh escaped.
“What? It’s a good idea.” Rae leaned against the porch railing. “The hands of four people—during the time I canspare them, of course. I only ask that you cook us one meal a week. We’re all obsessed with Wilson’s stew; it’s enough motivation to get us through an entire week.”
“Do any of you have experience doing labor on a ranch?” I asked.
Rae waved a hand. “It can’t be that hard.”
I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Come on, you see what we’re capable of. We’re quick studies.”
“I can’t have you guys half-assing it.”
“You know good and well I don’t tolerate a half-ass.”
I laughed. “Alright, you’ve got a deal. And if you guys do an exceptional job, I’ll tack on another meal.”
Rae held her hand out so we could shake on it. “Deal.”
“You’re goingto want to make sure you line it up right—” I repositioned the post, angling my upper body out of the way so everyone could see what I was doing. Esther handed me my hammer, standing by as my number two for the day.
The wind bit at our backs, a cold reminder that the day would be shorter than usual. We wouldn’t be able to mend even half of the fences today. But proper instruction was my biggest priority.
“—before you even consider nailing it in. See?” I gestured at the post. “Try to get it as level as possible.”
Rae looked down at her fingernails as I spoke, the once perfectly almond-shaped tips in need of repair. December snuck glances at Nico, who was trying not to sneak a glanceat her. And Jonah leaned in with adamant interest when I showed them how to tell when the wood was no use and rotting through.
“Do you guys think you’re ready?” I asked. Jonah nodded shyly. The rest didn’t answer, lost in their own worlds.
“Oh my god!” I gasped. The change in volume and tone made them all jump. Rae, Nico, and December reached for their weapon belts. Esther just looked at me, all too familiar with my real panic voice to be tricked.
“What is it?” Rae looked around, gaze searching for the danger.
“Nothing.” I shrugged and gestured my hammer to them. “I just think you all probably shouldn’t work with tools that could seriously injure you if you’re not going to listen.”
They relaxed, releasing their collective on-guard stances to resume their casual, daydreaming energy.
“We know how to hammer and nail,” Nico promised with a smile.
“I think if we can survive living on the road twenty-four seven,” December added, “we can survive a little manual labor.”
“It’s not our first rodeo,” Rae agreed.
