Page 81 of Broken Boundaries

“What’s so funny?” Harper comes around the stable doors with two bags from the sandwich shop in town. “Thought you two might be hungry.”

We drop our hammers and walk over to her. Even though it’s the end of September and there’s a slight breeze in the air now, we’ve still worked up a sweat rebuilding this fence.

“Thanks, Harp,” I say, taking one of the bags from her.

“Brooks here has been whistling while he works,” Beck tells her in answer to her original question. I was hoping we could all move on from that, but I guess not.

Harper looks at me with furrowed brows. Apparently, I’ve never whistled while I worked. Note to self to never do it again. “Did you get laid last night or something?”

Beck laughs again. “That’s what I was thinking.”

“What the fuck? No,” I say quickly, hoping they don’t pick up on the lie. “Just slept good.”

I wonder how badly they would judge me if they found out what I actually did last night. And with who. Would they tell me I’m a terrible father? I already know I am, but to have someone confirm it to my face would hurt more than I care to admit.

“You slept good?” Harper repeats. Yeah, she definitely doesn’t believe me.

“Am I not allowed to be in a good mood? What’s with the third degree? It’s not like I’m always a grumpy asshole.”

Harper holds her hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright. Calm down. As your friends, we’re just looking out for you. If you’re happy about something, we want to be happy with you.” She gives me a pointed look, and I know she’s on to me. The seed is planted in her mind about Aspen and me, and she thinks she knows what’s going on.

I wish I could talk to her about it. Harper has always been my sounding board when I need it, but this is something I need to handle on my own. At least until I can wrap my own head around it.

“I appreciate it, but really, there’s nothing to report right now.”

“Alright. Well, I wanted to see if you wanted to go to town tonight. Maybe catch a movie or something,” she asks as we all sit down at the picnic table by the stables.

“Can’t tonight.”

“Why? What’re you doing?” At this moment, I’m regretting letting Harper in on every aspect of my life. She knows I hardly ever have any plans after work. Most of the time, I sit in my house on my own. She always tries to get me to go out, which I normally appreciate, but today, it’s getting on my nerves. Now I’ve got to come up with a believable lie.

“I’ve got a lot of laundry to do.” Dammit. I could’ve come up with something better than that.

“You’re gonna sit in your house and do laundry all night?” she asks skeptically. Beck chuckles next to her. This is one of those times I wish I were better at lying.

“Yes. I’ve been putting it off. So, unless you all want me wandering around the ranch in my underwear, I’ve got to do it.”

“The ladies might like it,” Beck quips.

“Alright, Brooks. Have fun with your laundry then.” She turns to Beck. “What about you, Beck? You busy tonight?”

“Nope. Free as a bird. Jade is with her mom tonight.”

“Cool. Text me when you’re done here, and we’ll meet up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Harper stands from the table and gives me one more disapproving look before heading back toward the lodge.

“Thanks for lunch!” I call out after her.

“I put it on your credit card!” she yells back.

I roll my eyes. Of course she did. Not that I care.

“So, how’s Jade doing?” I ask Beck after realizing I haven’t gotten an update on her recently. Beck has been a single dad for a few years now. I’ve seen him struggle in the same ways I used to when Zach was little. I’ve always tried to do whatever I could to help Beck when he was getting on his feet, including giving him a place to live here on the ranch.

“Man, she’s great. I swear she’s growing so fast. I’ll bring her by the lodge next time I’ve got her to say hey.”