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“Make sure you do, because Ramie’s a good friend and I promised I’d front her a security deposit for any damages.”
“Damages beyond the roof?”
Brand’s left eye twitched. “Yeah. Look, she’s good people. Just think of her like a big sister with a whole lotta sarcasm and the occasional choice bit of wisdom.”
This Ramie woman sounded a bit like his stepsister Lily. “I can do that. I really appreciate this. Not all bosses would put in the effort to make sure an employee, especially a brand-new one who chose to uproot his whole life, had a place to stay.”
Brand glanced at Hugo, and Wyatt couldn’t begin to guess the meaning behind their shared look. “Woods Ranch is a family business,” Brand finally said. “We do our best to treat our employees like part of the family, which means making sure they got a place to stay and aren’t sleeping in their cars. Ramie also agreed to the same eight weeks minimum that you’ll be trying things out here. Not sayin’ she’ll kick you out if it doesn’t work out here, just that you’ve got a spot for at least two months.”
“I really appreciate that. If she’s used to living alone I can’t imagine she’ll want a roommate indefinitely, but it’s nice knowing I’ve got a place for a while. Thank you.”
“Not a problem. Like I said, we’re doing her a favor, too.”
“I wish I could say I’ve got handyman experience and can help with her roof but I don’t. I mean, I can use a drill if I have to but the last time I used a hammer, I ended up losing my thumbnail.”
Brand finally cracked a smile. “Why does that not surprise me in the least? Rem was like that when he was a kid, always skinning a knee or cutting himself with the bread knife. You two should compare war stories one day.”
“I’d like that.” It amused Wyatt that Maybe Uncle Rem was accident-prone, too, and still worked full-time at the ranch. Maybe there was hope for Wyatt, as well.
“Great. Well, if you follow me, I’ll take you to Ramie’s house. She’s working but said she’d take her break when we were ready to meet her.”
“Cool.”
Wyatt hoped for another Jackson sighting before he left for the day, but no luck. He followed Brand’s pickup into Weston, taking care to observe the town like he had that morning. The homes and businesses and people on the sidewalks. Pretty typical small town. He’d driven through dozens on his way here, and if he ever found a thriving town without at least one church in it, he’d eat his overpriced cowboy hat.
Brand parked on a quiet, tree-lined street full of squat midcentury homes. Some had bikes and kid toys in the yards, and he spotted one car up on cinder blocks in a driveway. None of those things were in the yard of the house Brand approached. White with black shutters, grass in need of a cut, flowerbeds with nothing but mulch and a scraggly bush. Wyatt left his suitcase behind for now and followed Brand up the cement walkway.
Instead of knocking or making a phone call, Brand produced his own key and let them inside. “You have your own key?” Wyatt asked dumbly.
“Yeah, in case she needs me to do something for her.”
Wyatt briefly wondered if Brand and Ramie had always been “just friends” or maybe something more, but Brand was with Hugo. Whatever, he’d get those details eventually, if he asked the right questions.
The front door opened into a tiny patch of linoleum that was the foyer, and beyond it was the living room. Beyond that was the kitchen, and a hallway to the right had a few doors, so probably the bathroom and bedrooms. The décor was “old cat lady meets single bartender” chic, with a mash-up of the same stuff he’d find in his grandparents’ house and new technology. A flat-screen stood on top of a boxy TV set that had come straight out of the sixties.
“Who’s her decorator?” Wyatt asked, his mouth acting on its own accord.
Brand snickered. “Ramie spent a few summers living here when she was a kid and once told me she has fond memories of the place. Didn’t want to change it too much.”
“Obviously.” Not wanting to sound rude, he added, “It’s cozy. Did the roof leak damage anything?”
“Just some boxes in the attic. Fortunately, it didn’t leak through the attic floor, and she’s got it patched for now, but it needs to get fixed right before spring. It rains the most around here in April and May.”
“Got it.”
“You heating the whole outdoors, Brand?” a sharp voice asked from behind them. A short, curvy woman with thick black hair and darkly lined eyes shut the front door and scowled past Wyatt at Brand.
“Sorry,” Brand said. “We were taking a moment to admire your killer decorating skills.”
The woman who had to be Ramie flipped him off, then turned a pleasant smile to Wyatt. “Hey there, you must be Wyatt. I’m Ramie.”
“It’s a pleasure, ma’am,” Wyatt replied, with a polite nod of his head.
“Oh God, don’t ma’am me, I’m not your mother, your teacher, or your boss. I also work more evenings than days, so we probably won’t see a lot of each other. All I ask is you clean up after yourself. You cook? You do your own dishes. I’ve got a washer and dryer in the kitchen, and if you don’t know how to use it, I’ll show you. No parties without permission, and I don’t care if you bring a girl over to fuck as long as you don’t leave wet towels on the bathroom floor.”
“I hardly know enough people yet for a party, but I appreciate the rules ma’—um, Ramie.”
“Good. Brand over there is vouching for your character, but just in case you’ve got some hidden drug problem I don’t know about, the pipes are plastic, the TV has a weird line at the top, and I don’t have any jewelry that I didn’t buy at a swap meet, so there’s not much of value here to hock or pawn.”
