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Chase’s chest tightened. He missed his father. The void of his absence never seemed to heal within the family.
Desperate to get away from it all, he had begun brushing Mac’s neck when Houdini growled at the barn door. Not a second later, Gus burst through the door like his tail was on fire. He slammed into the wall then ran past Mac, spooking the horse.
“Gus!” Chase snapped, quickly scooping up Houdini as he got close to Mac’s hooves.
“Get outta here,” Nash shouted, entering the barn wearing a white T-shirt and Levi’s.
Gus ran all the way down the aisle to the end of the barn then whizzed past Mac again. The horse struggled against the crossties, head high, eyes wild.
Chase grabbed Mac’s halter. “Shhh. . . .”
Gus sped out of the barn toward the horses in the pasture. “Goddamn dog.” Nash leaned against the barn door, crossing his arms. “He does not listen to a damn word I say.”
Gus had been a handful since day one. Which at times amused Chase greatly, since Nash was often a pain in the ass too. “Ever think about dog training?” Chase placed Houdini back near the hay bales far away from Mac’s hooves.
Nash sighed. “He failed group dog training. Twice. And the next trainer I brought in gave up on him and said by three he would grow out of his insanity.” He arched an eyebrow. “Got any other ideas?”
“No.”
“Date someone who knows more about dogs than you do,” Shep offered, entering the barn wearing his black T-shirt with BLACKSHAW SURVIVAL written across the front. “Or that is never going to end.” He pointed out the barn doors.
Chase followed the direction of Shep’s finger. Gus chased the horses out in the field, sending everyone into chaos. Chase sighed and looked away, unable to think about anything but himself right now, no matter how pitiful that was. He turned back to Mac, stepping under the crossties, and began brushing his neck again. Before his brothers could start in on him about Brody and Harper, he revealed one of his recently discovered truths. “We need to consider delaying the grand opening.”
Silence.
Nash eventually snorted. “That’s a stupid idea.”
“No, actually, it’s not,” Chase rebuked.
Nash began tapping his foot, the clicking of his boot on the cement carrying loudly through the empty space. “Why, because of the shit you’ve got going on with Harper and Brody?”
“This has nothing to do with either of them.” Chase moved in behind Mac, running his hand over his rump, letting him know he was there. He brushed the other side of his neck and down over his shoulders. “My reputation is on the line here.” He explained what he had come to realize this morning. “I’ve invited major investors and developers from all over the state. I won’t bring them here when my work hasn’t passed the inspection.” He turned to his brothers and looked between them, stating the truth he knew they didn’t want to hear. “I’m not going to get the work done, and I’ve been fooling myself to think I could. One stair alone takes hours of work. Let alone getting the windows realigned, which is a huge job. We need more time to do this right.”
From Nash’s spot leaning against one of the wooden beams, his arms folded over his chest, he said, “You’re taking this too personally. This is business. Shit happens. We need to sit and form a new plan, and go from there. Perhaps it’s time to dig into our savings to finish this.”
Chase let the too personal comment slide off his back. For him, nothing was more personal than his business. This was his dream. And for some reason, this inspector was determined to stop it from happening. “I’m not saying we need to delay for long, but the grand opening is six days from now.” He finished brushing down Mac’s hind leg. “If I rush the work, we’re only going to fail the inspection again.” He tossed the brush back into the tack box. “My reputation has already taken a hit. Word has to be getting out about this. Now we’ve got a reporter sticking her nose into our project. We need to be realistic. I need more time.”
Nash said, “Those sound like excuses. Man up, you’ve got this.”
Chase’s skin flushed hot. He shut his eyes, pressing a hand against Mac’s neck, inhaling deeply. “This isn’t a negotiation. I’ve made the decision. It’s done.”
“Come on—” Nash began.
Chase slowly opened his eyes and glared at Nash. “Did you not fucking hear what I said?”
Nash didn’t give the smile he usually gave whe challenged. His brows drew together, concern laying heavy on his expression, telling Chase how bad he looked.
Now adding guilt for being a prick to his brothers to the long list of shit weighing on him, Chase hurried to pick Mac’s hooves then entered the tack room next to the office. He got into his tan-colored chaps with white fringe then grabbed his saddle, pad, and bridle off the hook before returning to Mac. Heavy silence filled the barn as he added the saddle pad onto Mac’s back before sliding the saddle into place.
When he fastened the girth, Shep offered, “We can fix this, Chase.”
Chase sidled up to Mac’s head, undoing the crossties and removing his halter. Mac immediately opened his mouth for the bit and Chase slid the bridle over his head. “How exactly shall we fix all this?”
Shep’s voice softened. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’re thinking it is.”
“Really?” Chase fastened the cheek strap on the bridle then faced Shep. “How do you plan on fixing the fact that Harper is likely feeling that she’s not only caused a rift between Brody and me, but her heart is torn in two directions? How can we fix that my closest friend thinks I’ve betrayed him? How can we fix that a fucking reporter got wind of the problems on the build? How can we fix the fact that my goddamn first job is failing inspections?”
Shep frowned, eyebrows drawn tight. “The personal shit will sort itself out. It always does.”
