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“I was on my way past so I thought I’d stop in for a moment. Have I interrupted something important?”
“No. I’m just mending this gate and then it’s going back to the field before I let the cows in there tomorrow.”
“I’ve got a couple of gates that need mending, too,” Jesse commented.
“Come out of the sun. At least we can talk in the shade.” Ashton led the way inside the barn and upturned a couple of bins for them to sit on. He took off his welder’s helmet and retrieved his water bottle, then sank gratefully onto the bin.
“Thanks.” Jesse sat down and looked around the barn. “It’s a bit cooler in here.”
“How are you and Mac getting along? Does married life suit you?” Ashton threw a grin in Jesse’s direction and took a swig from the water bottle he’d left nearby.
Jesse’s face lit up. “Sure does.” He paused. “But I was thinking …” he let the words hang as he looked around the barn.
“Did it hurt?” Aston teased.
Jesse gave him a withering look. “No.”
“Well, what’s this thought of yours? Do I need to be worried?”
“Depends on whether you say yes or no.”
“Uh-oh. This could be trouble.”
Jesse took a deep breath. “It’s Mac’s birthday soon,” he said. “I was thinking of giving her a surprise party. It’s her thirtieth.”
“Does she like surprises?” Ashton asked.
“As long as they’re good ones.”
“So, she won’t freak out because she would’ve preferred some warning?”
“You know Mac. She doesn’t freak out about anything.”
Ashton grinned. “Well, I guess she is married to you. If she can manage that …”
Jesse chuckled and threw a small clod of earth at him. Ashton ducked and it sailed over his head.
“Just wait until you find someone,” he said good-naturedly. “I have a long memory.”
“Well, that’s not likely to happen, is it?” Ashton retorted. “Knowing how that’s worked in the past, I’d say I have nothing to worry about.”
“Someone will come along,” Jesse said confidently. “It’s a shame it didn’t work out with that girl you broke up with last year. I didn’t actually meet her, but she sounded nice.”
“It was a stupid thing to break up over,” Ashton muttered. “It wasn’t only me, though. It was a mutual thing. All I can say is that if I could go back in time, I’d do things differently and maybe we’d have had a different outcome.”
“What happened?” Jesse asked. “If you’d rather not say, that’s fine.”
Ashton sighed. “It was a misunderstanding over something my mom said. It was innocent on her part, but Lily misunderstood. I said something that didn’t help, and Lily got mad. Before I knew it, we’d said some pretty mean things to each other and broke up. I wish I’d handled it differently.”
“There’s nothing like the wisdom of hindsight,” Jesse agreed.
Ashton looked at him. “You haven’t actually said why this birthday party idea of yours might affect me,” he said.
“Well, I was thinking that maybe you’d be willing to provide the entertainment,” Jesse said, trying to look serious.
“What? Are you crazy? What kind of entertainment do you think I could provide?” Ashton was incredulous.
“Singing? Dancing? Clowning around?”
