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He opened the bottle and took a sip. “So, why are you here?” He sat on a stack of lumber and took another drink.
“I heard you hammering. I wanted to check out this house of yours.”
He glanced at the building. “It’s coming along.”
“Are you doing it all yourself?”
“No. I’ve got some help. Sawyer will be here soon.”
“I heard he moved to Missoula after he graduated.”
“He did. But he comes back. He’s been here a lot lately, actually. Since…” He let the sentence drop.
“Since…?”
He took another drink.
She let it go and smiled. “It looks pretty big.”
“Three bedrooms. Living room. Kitchen. The usual.”
“When will it be done?”
“Late summer.”
“Cool.” His minimalistic answers made it quite obvious he didn’t want her there. “So, I guess I’ll leave you to it.”
J.T. nodded. “Where are you staying? Until your house is inhabitable, that is.”
“With my dad. Mandy went back to Boise.”
“Can’t say I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shook her head. “You two never did get along.”
“I’m pretty sure she never thought I was good enough for you.”
Joey looked down at the grass for a moment. “I should be in the house by next week. I need to get out of my father’s house asap. You know how my dad is.”
“I do indeed. He never liked me either.”
She started to tell him they were wrong, but stopped when she heard someone coming. An extremely muscular man approached the house and when he got closer, she recognized him as Sawyer. He was seventeen the last time she’d seen him. But there was no mistaking those blue eyes of his. He’d always had long hair, but it was almost to his shoulders now. He stopped walking when he saw her.
“Joey Pierson.”
“Sawyer O’Connell.”
He grinned. “Are you here harassing my brother?”
“No. I just came to see his house.”
Sawyer continued walking and stopped at the ice chest to take out a beer. He opened it and looked at J.T. “Is that true?”
“So she says.”
Joey took a few steps back. “So, I guess I’ll let you two do your manly construction thing. I’ve got cupboards waiting to be sanded.”
Sawyer smiled. “Sounds fun.”
