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I nodded toward the men talking amongst themselves now. “Is this all of the guys coming over today?”

“Yeah. Gardner himself”—I could almost hear the capitalization on ‘himself’—“might drop by, but he’s unpredictable.”

I nodded. “Okay. Well I’ll be back around one with goodies.”

We shook hands, and I got into one of the Harringtons’ trucks that I’d borrowed. I really needed to get my own because it was getting ridiculous now.

Maybe I’d ask Bodhi to go with me to the Springs one day soon. We could go do some truck shopping and have lunch and just hang out? It was a nice thought. And besides, if he was too busy with Yellow Ribbon, I could always bother Ville.

I was driving back with a massive cooler and a couple of large bags of food in the back. I was going to treat these guys well, even if their boss was an asshole.

My phone rang when I was five minutes out, and I smiled when I saw the caller ID.

“Hey, Mike, how goes it?”

“Good, good. How’s the crew?”

“They seemed fine. I’m actually just going back with lunch. I went into town so I wasn’t underfoot.”

“I might pop by if I can get away, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course! They started with the barn and are doing that today.”

“Okay. Well I’ll see you in a bit, son.”

“See you.” I ended the call, ignoring the way my heart felt fuller with one goddamn word.

I saw the back hoe and the guys had gotten a lot done in my absence. The piles they were separating as they went for recycling in various ways were high already. I liked the idea that some of the stuff would be reused where they’d be able to, and the rest would be dealt with accordingly.

Parking on the other side of the yard, I hopped out of the truck and decided to make a buffet on the truck bed and tailgate for the men. I was putting the coffees and cold drinks on one side when I heard a truck. Goddamn Mr. Gardner, of course. I could see Mike’s truck behind him, though, so that was good, at least.

Dave came around a barn corner and noticed me, then the older men, and seemed to steel himself. He turned back to holler at the guys, and pointed toward me.

In short order, I had five men walking over to me from one direction, two from the other. At least I’d gotten spare drinks and food.

“Mr. Gardner,” I said politely, trying not to visibly grit my teeth.

“Paxton.”

Mike rubbed his hands together. “I can’t eat here, Jenn will get annoyed, but if there’s extra coffee…?”

I laughed and a couple of the guys did, too. “Yeah, there’s definitely enough for everyone.” I turned to the old man. “Mr. Gardner?”

He shook his head. “I’m good.”

“Well, then. Dig in, everyone.” I smiled at the guys and grabbed a coffee for myself.

Mike took one, and I gestured at the stairs of the old house. “Want to sit there?”

“Sure.”

We walked over and settled on the creaky steps. I liked that we didn’t need to talk to have a nice moment together.

Gardner and Dave, the latter with a coffee and a wrapped sub in his hands, walked over to the house, but Gardner didn’t want to come to us, so they went around the building, I assumed to talk about tomorrow’s job.

I snorted softly.

Mike shook his head. “I’ve never liked that man.”