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21
Will bent his ear closer to the construction foreman to hear the progress of the barn taking shape in front of him.
“…and then we’ll get the roof shingled before that storm that’s supposed to be comin’ in, and then I’ll have my guys out here to clean up, and then we’ll get the stalls in.”
“Just three,” Will said, reiterating what he’d told Curtis several times now.
“Yep, three,” he said, consulting his clipboard. “But the cement is cured now, and it looks great. We’ve got all the fixtures comin’ in the week after next, and then it’s paint.”
“Perfect,” Will said. He put a smile on his face and shook Curtis’s hand. “Thanks for everything.”
“Of course.” Curtis went back toward the barn, where he spoke with another man in a hardhat, and Will reached up to remove his. He did know a few things about construction, and he hadn’t meant to sound critical when he asked Gretchen about why the crew at her shop did what they did.
Doesn’t matter what you think you sounded like, he thought as he walked away from the barn. He’d fought hard to get this barn, as Lee and Daddy had wanted to spend the money on something else.
They needed this barn, and Will had been overseeing it’s journey from foundation to completion. It wouldn’t be done for another month or so, and Will could hardly wait. He was tired of squeezing their hay into the barn they had, and that barn was a mish-mash of equipment, tack, broken tools, and hay.
Will had to get that cleaned out, but he couldn’t really do it until the new barn was finished.
“There you are,” Travis called, and Will looked up from the dirt at his feet. He’d just tossed his hardhat into the back of his truck, and he just wanted to get on home to his new cabin. It wasn’t new by any means, but he hadn’t lived there for more than a couple of weeks. Maybe fifteen days.
“Hey,” he said as casually as he could. He hadn’t been getting along with Trav all that well, and he certainly didn’t feel like talking to his brother right now.
“Goin’ home?” Trav asked, coming closer.
“Yeah,” Will said. And he wanted to go alone, so he didn’t reach for his door handle. Trav wouldn’t have much patience for talking out in the evening heat. Will certainly didn’t. “What’s up?”
“I’ll tell Shay to come over there,” he said, pulling out his phone.
Will sighed and opened his door and got behind the wheel. Trav joined him in the truck, his fingers still flying across the screen. That done, he tucked his phone under his thigh and focused on Will. “How’s the cabin?”
“Just fine,” Will said, not looking at his brother. “Yours?”
“I…you know what?” He sounded sour, and Will honestly didn’t have the energy to deal with him tonight. “I don’t like living there alone. You didn’t have to move out so soon.”
“You’ll be married soon,” Will said. He didn’t owe Travis any explanation. True, he’d packed his things and moved out in secret, without talking to Travis about it at all. But again, Travis wasn’t his father or his keeper, and Will didn’t need his permission to move. He’d spoken to Daddy, and no one else needed the cabin.
“Not for two more months,” Travis said, a growl in the words.
Will bumped down the dirt road. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Why did you move out so soon?”
“Were you just assumingIwould be the one moving out?” Will glanced over to Travis.
“I mean, I don’t—no. I thought we’d talk about it.” He frowned at Will, who quickly switched his gaze back out the windshield.
“Yeah, well, all you were doin’ was yellin’ at me about Gretchen. I didn’t feel like talking about anything.”
“I—” Travis started, plenty of punch in that single-letter word. He closed his mouth and breathed in through his nose. “How is Gretchen?”
“Fine, I’m assuming,” Will said. “I don’t want to talk about her.”
“You’re assuming? Did you two break-up?”
“No,” Will said, when he could’ve easily said,not yet.
“When’s the last time you saw her?”
