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“Yeah. Ever since the O’Connells had the public land behind this property declared historically significant and the forest service closed it off to grazing.”
“The Indian burial ground.”
“Yes. J.T.’s great-grandmother was Chippewa.”
J.T. returned to his truck, not quite believing Josephina Pierson bought the Bradford property. He’d heard rumors the place was finally being sold. It was five hundred acres of decent grazing land that cut into the ten thousand acres they bought six months ago. The Bradfords refused to sell to them. Had it gone to anyone other than Joey, the O’Connells would have a shot at buying it.But like the Bradford’s she’d never sell to them. They didn’t need it. It was just the fact that it sat on the edge of their property like a pimple on the edge of their nose. They could live with it. But they’d much rather absorb it.
He drove the quarter mile to his trailer and parked in front of it. He scowled at the thought of her complaining about his eyesore trailer. It was a quarter mile away. He could barely see the big monstrosity of the Bradford house. There’s no way his trailer could be considered a problem. But this was Josephina he was talking about. The woman who broke his heart and somehow blamed him for it.
He sat for a few moments, trying to remember what was in his sparsely stocked cupboards. Not much. He backed out and headed for the ranch house. He could make it in time for dinner. Tonight was Thursday. Granddad would be making stew.
He parked in front of the house, but walked to the barn instead of going inside the house. He wanted to get a few things from the loft. He’d be leaving most of his stuff there until the house was built. But he needed some more clothes and some things from the kitchen.
He walked in the door, expecting the loft to be empty. But Sawyer was a few feet inside the door.
They both jumped and Sawyer said, “Shit.”
“Sorry, I thought you’d be in the house already.” Sawyer moved into the loft when J.T. moved into his trailer three months ago. While Jake and Ember were on their honeymoon, Sage moved into their grandparents’ house, J.T. moved into the trailer, and Sawyer moved into the loft. That gave the newly married couple some privacy. The second floor of the main house was all theirs.
“I was just going to pick up a couple of shirts and a few more dishes. It’ll stretch out the time between having to wash them.”
Sawyer laughed. “No, man. It doesn’t work that way. It just gives you more to wash. But help yourself. I barely eat here. And they are your dishes, after all.”
J.T. headed for the closet and Sawyer perched on a barstool in front of the breakfast bar and watched him dig through the clothes still in there. They’d been pushed to one side to make room for Sawyer’s things.
J.T. held up a plaid flannel. “Is this yours or mine?”
Sawyer shrugged. “Don’t know. Take it if you want.”
J.T. hung it over his shoulder. Then took two more shirts before closing the closet door.
“You’ll never guess who I ran into today.”
“So save me the trouble and tell me.”
“Josephina.”
“No shit. Is she here visiting her dad?”
“No.” J.T. set the shirts on the counter, then took two bowls and a cup from the cupboard. “She bought the Bradford place.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
“I heard through the grapevine that Bradford’s daughter was finally selling.” He laughed. “Joey is going to be even less inclined to sell than Emily was.”
“Yeah. She still hates me. But she won’t last. It’s just a question of whether she gets bored or runs out of money first.”
“She’s not trying to fix that place up, is she?”
“That’s her plan.”
“She should burn it to the ground and start over.”
“I told her that.”
Sawyer grinned. “Seems you have a neighbor.”
