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He stepped over the gap in the beams, following Sarah as she moved to hold the pre-cut wood in place. They’d spent all day yesterday on the ground, working the saws and getting the pieces cut. Today, they’d hopefully go through a large majority of them and get them nailed in place.
After that, the huge, flat pieces of plywood needed to be attached to the studs, and finally, the stable would start to take shape. They’d been laying the foundation of the skeleton for a while now, and Luke actually really loved that part of construction the best.
He didn’t care about the outside structure once it was complete. He found beauty on the inner workings of something, which most people didn’t get to see. How everything came together to house wires for electricity, and ducting for heating and air conditioning. Water lines, and heat-proofing liners. It all had a spot to belong, and if pipes got installed in the wrong place, the building could have problems for years and years.
He had to maintain enough concentration to put the nails where they belonged and make sure he didn’t fall between the slats in the floor. Other than that, his mind wandered where it wanted to go, and it liked lingering on Hannah. He’d had a decent visit with her parents and family, though they were definitely unlike anyone else he’d ever met.
They’d been kind, and no one had fought. The tacos had nearly been gone when he and Hannah had arrived at the table, but they’d each gotten two. Considering that Luke could eat one in only three bites, he and Hannah had stopped in Sweet Water Falls for more to eat before they’d returned to the ranch.
Another week had passed since then, and then another, and Luke liked Hannah more and more with every conversation they shared, every touch of her hand against his, and every kiss he snuck behind the existing stable.
At the same time, her mother’s question burned through his veins at night, especially after they’d separated and he lay in his room all alone, trying to fall asleep. Her words twined with the doubts which already existed inside Luke, and he couldn’t root them out no matter how hard he pulled on them.
A dangerous fire simmered in his mind, and he couldn’t get it to go out. He’d asked Uncle Tucker and Joey about Atticus Stein and Stephen Whitechapel, and neither of them had seen either of the men again. Neither of them seemed all that concerned about having problems with the manager or the boxer, and Uncle Tucker said they usually just stuck to their gym on the south side of Beeville.
Luke wondered why they’d shown up at his birthday party then. He couldn’t get them out of his mind. They went with him all the time, and he couldn’t shake them. If he wasn’t thinking about them, Nate’s words about him still not accepting the truth haunted him.
He honestly felt like he should be farther along in his recovery and healing than he was. The other guys had gotten out of prison and moved right on with their lives, even Slate, who’d worried so much about going back to the drugs. Even Dallas, who’d lost his entire support system when his wife had filed for divorce.
Ka-chink. Ka-chink.The nail gun fired again and again, and Luke’s mind went round and round with it. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his elbow, took a breath, and followed Sarah to the next row over.
“Luke,” she said, and he looked up from where he’d just put two nails. Something beeped, and he realized his phone alarm was going off.
“Sorry,” he said. “Are we close to done? I’m supposed to head down for the horseback riding lessons.”
“Me too,” she said. “We just need to notate where we are, so when Marc and Jack come up, they don’t have to search for it.”
“Right.”
She held the board, and Luke nailed the last beam in place. “Rooftop, section four.”
Luke usually knew stuff like that, but his brain held too much information at the moment. All he could do was nod at her and flash a tight smile.
Back on the ground, Luke took a couple bottles of water from the cooler and drank one before reaching the entrance to the stable. Ginger harped on everyone to drink enough in the summer heat, and Luke knew better than to let himself get dehydrated.
“Do you teach the horseback riding lessons?” he asked Sarah.
“No,” she said with a smile. “But this year, with all the new sign-ups, Ginger wanted everyone there.”
Luke nodded. He hadn’t helped that much with the lessons last year, because he’d been building cabins. He didn’t remember it being that big of a deal, but the moment he stepped out of the stable and heard the noise of children’s voices, he knew this was going to be a bigger deal than last year.
The moment he and Sarah rounded the corner, Ginger grabbed them. “You two are on the front rows. One, Sarah. Two, Luke. You’re helping with mounting today.” With that, she turned to someone else, baby Ward strapped to her chest and along for the ride.
Luke smiled at how seamlessly she’d integrated motherhood into the ranch, and once he was in place, he had a moment to watch as Nate approached his wife, kissed her and then the little baby, and then went to the front of the crowd.
He raised both hands and whistled between his teeth in an ear-splitting sound that got everyone to settle down. “All right,” he called, his voice loud and authoritative. He started explaining the rules for the lessons, and the first rule was “There will be no crying here at Hope Eternal Ranch.”
Luke chuckled, as did a couple of kids, but Nate wasn’t kidding. By the end of the day, Luke felt like crying a little bit, if only because he’d never been so tired in his life. He’d been taking care of horses his whole life, though he’d taken a break during his boxing career. It didn’t matter how long he’d been away from horses. They spoke to his soul in a way nothing else did.
He spent the next week riding after the kids did, talking to a particularly gentle silver roan named Whitewashed. He was a good horse, tall and proud and very obedient.
He didn’t have any answers for Luke, but Luke was starting to get a clearer picture of what he needed to do to in order to find the closure he needed.
He had to accept and admit that what he’d done in the boxing ring over five years ago had been wrong. Unintentional or not, he’d done something terrible, and it was time to face what that was, deal with it, and find a way to move forward.
