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"Why not?" she asked, genuinely curious.
"Mostly because what one Griffin does, we all do."
"But you are all four different people. You don't all have to be cowboys because Roy is."
"Oh, for sure," Jack said, "but being a cowboy, it's what we all are."
"We definitely all want to be here," Ronald assured her, "but you're here... Did you do all of this already?" He gaped, looking from her to the newly constructed frame of the toolshed.
"With a little help from Roy, yes," she said.
"Emphasis on the little," Roy said. "Doesn't she do amazing work?"
Ronald especially seemed impressed by her skills. "Do you work alone?"
She nodded and tried not to let sadness wash over her.
"Wow, that's commendable," Ronald said. "It must be so hard for you to do all of this work alone. It blows my mind. Seriously."
Beverly smiled, loving that she felt so appreciated already.
"But..." Ronald turned to Roy. "Seriously?"
"Seriously, what?" Roy asked.
"You know what," Parker said.
"No, I don't," Roy said.
"We thought we'd help out with the construction," Jack said, "but Roy just went to town and hired an extra hand."
"Clearly he doesn't trust us or our abilities enough," Parker added.
"It's not as if Roy is some Construction King," Ronald added.
Roy sputtered, "You know I couldn't ask y'all to drop what you were doing. We all have so much to do on the orchard already, and there's plenty of other areas where you guys can help after that storm, so..."
But the brothers continued to tease Roy even as he continued to try to defend himself. The atmosphere was one of genuine brotherly love, and Beverly was glad she was there to witness it.
She shook her head in disbelief and amusement before she heard Ronald begin to lecture Roy, saying, "Family should always come first. You know full well there's no one more important than us."
"Is that so? I'm not so sure anymore," Roy teased right back.
"Yes, that's so! Including any hired hand for a construction project." Ronald glanced at Beverly. "No offense. Just ribbing my brother here."
"It doesn't meant anything," Parker rushed to say.
"We just like to have a little fun with him," Jack added with a laugh. He gave Roy an exaggerated wink. "Teasing is how we show our love, after all."
Ronald nudged Roy playfully and flashed him a mischievous smile before turning back to Beverly with a shrug."I just really can't get over my big brother here hiring someone instead of letting us help out," he said, elbowing Roy again for good measure.
The whole scene was absurd, yet somehow heartwarming at the same time. She realized then that even though these men loved each other so fiercely the they would never hurt one another. Their bond was as tight as could be.
Just like the bond she had shared with her father.
Roy just laughed and shook his head, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "They know I'm not going to turn them away if it turns out that we might actually need their help. Not saying we will. I hope we don't in fact, but..."
"But you hired her," Jack said playfully.
