“That’s tough, man.” Ira thought about it for a moment. No man should hurt a woman. Ever. Physically, mentally, or emotionally. “If you ever need a hand with him, let me know.” The offer was out before he realized he was thinking it. He shrugged to himself. It didn’t matter that the words had been unintended, he meant them right down to his soul. Hell, he’d shoot the man himself if he was an abuser and heaven knows, as a sniper he had the skills to do so.
“Thanks, bro.” Jason smiled weakly. “It means a lot. But I’m pretty sure it isn’t easy to kill a man. Maybe we could just beat him up a bit.”
Ira nodded. Jason was right, killing wasn’t easy. The shots he’d taken as a sniper had been necessary and militarily sanctioned, which didn’t stop him from having nightmares about them. Especially after he was shot himself. In the drugged stupor post surgery, his nightmares had intensified. Fortunately, during his long convalescence, he’d received endless hours of counseling. Still, Jason was family, and Ira had his back. “You may be right,” Ira said at last. “But I’m here if you need to chat.”
“So, how about those Stampeders?”
Football? Really? Ira stifled a laugh at the obvious subject change. “I’m more a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan myself.”
“Dude, don’t say that. This is Alberta. You have to cheer for the Edmonton Eskimos, er Elks, or the Calgary Stampeders.”
The Eskimos had recently changed their name to the Elks in an effort to be more politically correct. “True enough,” Ira agreed. “But a huge percentage of this province’s residents have Saskatchewan roots. I started following football while I was in the army. Several of the guys in my platoon were from Saskatchewan.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. Sports weren’t really his thing.
“Guess I’ll have to accept your team preference,” Jason said just as Carl returned to them.
“What team is that?” Carl asked, rejoining them.
“This yahoo is a Roughriders fan.” Jason jabbed the air toward Ira with his thumb.
Carl groaned.
“Hey, if I had to pick a hockey team it would be the Oilers, and I’ve been a Rush lacrosse fan since they were in Edmonton. I’m not much into sports,” he admitted. “But I try to cheer local. More or less.”
“At least he’s for the western Canadian teams,” Carl said. “We don’t have to lynch him out behind the barn.”
Laughing companionably, they headed toward Tammy’s.
Honey quickly took their order once they were seated. Maybe Ira imagined it, but it seemed like she had an extra smile for him.
“Dude, she is so gone on you,” Jason teased once Honey was out of earshot.
“Naw. Not me. We’re just friends.” He wondered if his brother was right. Thinking of having a brother felt weird after spending his whole life as an only child. He was learning to like the idea of siblings. There was something comforting about having the family you always dreamed of.
“You want her.” Carl said. “I can see it in your eyes. You can’t take them off her.” Carl nudged Ira with his elbow.
Ira snorted. “I know about Jason’s love life. Tell me about yours,” Ira said, turning the tables on his new brother.
Carl’s face fell and he looked stony. “Nothing to tell. I don’t date. I don’t do women. Or men, to be clear. I’m more than happy alone. Thanks.”
Whoa! There was a lot of emotion in those words.Anger, disappointment, maybe even disgust or self-loathing. Best to drop the subject.
“My brother here, did a brief stint as a model,” Jason said. “Took off to Hollywood after he was discovered by an agent passing through on his way to someplace more important. You should see his tighty whitey abs.”
“Stuff it up your arse,” Carl growled. “I’m done with that crap. I’m a mechanic and a damned good one.”
There had to be more to the story, but Ira knew better than to pry. “My Jeep is due for some routine maintenance; I’ll book it in with you.”
“Good luck with that,” Jason said. “He’s so backed up he can’t sleep. He needs at least two more mechanics to keep up.”
“I’ll fit you in, despite being busy. If it’s not urgent, it will likely have to wait a couple weeks.” Carl chugged back half a glass of water.
“I’m not in a rush.”
They fell silent a moment, everyone lost in their own thoughts. “Have you advertised for help?” Ira asked, just to break the silence.
“Yup. Precious few people want to live this far out of the way. I’ve got a friend, Mark Sterling, he lives in the mountains in Haven. He’s got a garage too. He’s got the same trouble. Nobody wants to live in seclusion.”
“Could you find someone local, and help them with training? Mechanics go through an apprenticeship, don’t they?”
“They do. I never thought of training someone. There has to be someone in town looking for work. Hell, I don’t even care if it’s a woman. As long as she can use her hands.”
Ira stifled a laugh at Carl’s unintended double meaning. Jason had no such qualms. He laughed aloud.
“I’m sure you don’t,” Jason said, still chuckling. The three of them laughed together.
Maybe having a family would turn out okay after all. If only Ken hadn’t been so irate over Ira’s arrival.
