Page 10 of A Home for His Omega

“Is he the boss now?” Juan asked, brow raised.

Carter laughed. “Don’t worry. He knows I’m in charge.”

“Wait, you’re in charge?” Juan looked surprised.

“I’m the one who started the company, so of course I’m in charge.”

“No way. I bring more to the company, so I’m obviously the boss,” Juan countered.

Tomás came to a stop in the mud and glared at the two men. “Listen, assholes. I want at least a third of the walls on the first floor down before lunch. Don’t make me call Gramps.”

“Do you hear this?” Juan asked, giving Carter a disbelieving look.

Carter shrugged. “I told you. It’s his mating dance. He’s meeting Henry for lunch and wants to impress him.”

“Threatening to call Gramps,” Juan grumbled, shaking his head. “The nerve of some people.”

Carter set Tomás’s thermos down and pulled a few boards from the back of Tomás’s truck. “Seriously. Like we’d be afraid of Gramps.”

“There’s one of him, but two of us.” Juan grabbed some boards as well and followed Carter through the mud. “What’s there to be afraid of?”

Tomás smirked. They could bitch all they wanted, but they were properly motivated now.

A few hours later, Tomás had patched the walls of the shed and had almost finished framing the floor. He’d need to pick up some plywood in town after lunch, but he had some spare vinyl flooring he’d squirreled away from a previous job. It’d make clean-up in Sophie’s coop easy and keep pests out.

He checked his phone for the time, then hiked back through the muddy yard to the house.

Juan danced in place to the music blasting from his Bluetooth speaker, and swung his sledgehammer, breaking apart another piece of the wall in front of him.

Carter grinned when he saw Tomás and tugged his earbuds out. “Plaster on lathing is a bitch, but the walls are coming down.”

He could picture what the house would look like pass the mess in front of them and hoped Henry would too. They’d made good progress for their first day, and Tomás thought he’d have the coop ready by the time he needed to start on the electrical.

“Wow, this looks so different already.”

Tomás spun around. Henry stood at the front door, looking crisp and clean cut in tight jeans, a gray sweater, and a navy overcoat. A gray beanie was pulled low over his ears, covering most of his hair.

Journey watched them from the navy pooch pouch hanging from Henry’s chest, a matching grey beanie pulled over his furry head. His tiny ears poked out of slits on the top of the hat.

“You’re here,” Tomás said, suddenly a little breathless.

Henry grinned and waved a thick folder at him. “I have ideas for Columbo.”

“Great.” Tomás cleared his throat. “Uh, you know Carter, but this is my other friend, Juan.”

Henry’s bright smiled, dimmed, turning shy. “Hello. It’s nice to see you both. Thank you for working so hard. I can already envision what this place will look like.”

Juan paused his music and set the sledgehammer down. “It’s going to be nice. What’s this about Columbo?”

Tomás let Henry’s voice flow over him as he explained to Juan and Carter about the new addition at the sanctuary. He studied Henry’s boots, noting the new wear on the heel and the splatters of mud at the bottom of his designer jeans. He wanted to know how Henry spent his days, what made him smile so brightly.

“What do you think about adding a picture window right here where you want to put his cage?” Carter asked, waving toward the back wall. “It could take place of these two smaller windows.”

“I love that idea.” Henry patted Journey’s side. “That will make it a little more entertaining for Columbo and Journey both.”

“Where are you going for lunch?” Juan asked, giving Tomás an innocent look. “Maybe Carter and I can come.”

Tomás glared at his friend. “You said you were meeting Jackson for lunch. Remember? Henry and I should go.” He ignored Carter completely and took Henry’s hand. “Have you been to Zoe’s bakery, Honey Buns?”

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