Page 110 of Daybreak

Holly took the shovel and carried it back to the Jeep, glad to get in out of the sun, then sat watching as the three men began a discussion. All she got out of it was a lot of handwaving and pointing and assumed they knew what they were doing. She knew everything there was to know about buying and selling real estate, but she knew very little about building a house from the ground up.

As they were talking, she glanced up and saw an eagle soaring high in the sky above. “Yes, we’re about to invade your space,” she said and then watched as it soared out of sight.

Moments later, Gunner was back behind the wheel, and they were driving away.

“They’re going to start by building a pad for the house, and then grade a road from the project to the highway that will come out on the east side of the Tumbleweed. We’ll get it blacktopped ASAP before delivery trucks and cement trucks start coming and going. They’ll bring a backhoe to dig out a basement. After that, the contractor and his crew will start building forms to pour concrete in the basement and then marking where electrical and plumbing have to go at the house site before they begin building forms for the footing.”

“Do you have to be on-site every day?” she asked.

“No. I know nothing about carpentry and would only be in the way. But I will be available by phone every day to answer questions. Dylan gave me a thumbs-up on my choice of contractors, so I know he’s good at his job.”

“Armadillo!” she said abruptly, pointing right in front of them.

Gunner braked to let the critter pass. “We’re probably disturbing their territory,” he said.

“I saw an eagle flying over while you were talking to the men,” she said.

“Really? That’s a good omen, I think. Are you going home now or…”

“I’m picking up some stuff at the supermarket before I go home. Granny wants to make a cobbler, and I’m getting some baking stuff for her.”

He pulled up and parked beside her car. “Be careful going home, then.”

“I’ll text you,” she said.

“You don’t have to unless you want. We have that Life360 app. It tells me when you leave home and when you get home. And if you look at the app, you can see where I am, too.”

“Oh, I keep forgetting to look at that,” she said.

“I need to turn on the notification for you, and then you’ll hear it. Let me have your phone a sec,” he said and then pulled up the app, scrolled through the system, turned on the notification signal, and then closed the app. “Now you’re good to go. Every time I leave home, you’ll hear it beep to let you know. And when I get home it will beep at you again, and I did the same for your phone. You don’t have to check in with me all the time. I will know where you are, and you can track where I am at any given time, as long as my phone is on me.”

She beamed. “I love that! You’re the best,” she said, gave him a quick kiss, then got in her car.

He watched her driving away before he went back into the house, then into the bar. “Hey, Dad, we’re through shoveling dirt. What can I help with?”

“If I haven’t said it before, I’m saying it now. It’s so good to have you home.”

“It’s good to be home, and I am at your service. What do you need?”

* * *

A month later, the bones of the house were now visible from the highway, and both Gunner and Holly were becoming accustomed to a slower way of life.

Gunner already knew Holly would be at the ranch all day today, helping out at the sale barn and the arena for one of Garrett Dillon’s roping competitions. The traffic passing through Crossroads consisted mostly of big pickup trucks pulling loaded horse trailers, and he knew where they were going.

After helping Jacob get set up to open, he went down to the Yellow Rose to have a late breakfast and see Pearl. She was always gone before they got up, and he missed her. He could see firsthand how much she meant to his dad and how she adored the ground Jacob Kingston walked on. He had moments of wondering what their lives might have been like if she’d been their mother, then let it go. What had been did not control what is, or what the future might bring. Being a cop had taught Gunner one really important thing—to live in the now.

He was sitting at a table, sipping coffee and listening to the chatter of a dozen different conversations surrounding him without focusing on any of it—just letting the drone of voices be backup music to the beginning of this day.

And then a phone rang at the table beside him. He glanced up, watching as Dale Curry, the bank president, took the call, then watched the color fading from Curry’s face.

“Oh my God!” he yelled. “The bank is being robbed! I have to go—”

Gunner was on his feet in seconds. “No! You’ll either get yourself killed or become another hostage. Call the sheriff!” he said and was out the door in seconds, then in the Mustang and flying out of the parking lot. His loaded handgun was in the console, and he was seeing the layout of the bank in his mind as he raced up the street.

The getaway car was obvious—parked directly in front of the bank and a driver behind the wheel. He didn’t know how many were inside, but he was about to find out. He reached for his gun and got out, then before he took a step, he saw the driver open his door a bit and spit. Probably has a lip full of chewing tobacco, and the driver’s door is not locked.

* * *