Page 50 of Mustang Summer

“The garage roof will need to be replaced.Probably the barn.And the house.Dammit.We just had a giant insurance claim and had to buy new equipment because of your brother.Our main source of income might be crushed by hail in the field.”

Josie spun to face him, her eyes wide.“Oh my god, Brock.I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault,” he grumbled and stomped off to start inspecting the buildings.

Josie hung behind, but followed him.

The chickens were first.He dug out their water bins and filled them up.Some minor fencing issues were all he found, but nothing urgent.The chickens were contained and fed; he moved on.

Josie stayed at the fence watching the chickens while he peeked inside the barn.More leaves and small branches littered the inside, but if any hail had gotten blown in, he couldn’t see any damage.Some water spots on the ground hadn’t evaporated yet, but he wasn’t worried about rain on the cars.

Josie appeared from behind the barn as he came out.He waited for her before leading her to the garage.He didn’t say anything, and neither did she.They circled the large, rectangular building.Brock ran his hand along the steel siding and it bumped and jumped over the dents.The west side that faced into the wind was the worst.

His stress level climbed another notch.

Going inside, he opened one of the large overhead doors.Locating the ladder hanging on the wall, he heaved it up and hauled it outside.Careful of the gutters, he leaned it against the roof and scaled it to the top.

The black shingles were already heating up.He paced the length of the building on one side of the peak.He glanced over his shoulder when he heard scraping sounds behind him.

Josie hopped up and looked around.His mouth quirked.If any of his cousins followed him like she had all morning, he’d have bitten their head off by now and figured out a reason to go do…something.Something by himself.

“Tread carefully,” he warned.“Those sandals are probably slippery as hell, but you shouldn’t go barefoot.The roof might be too hot on your feet.”

“Wish I packed my other shoes, but…” She peered around.“What are you looking for?”

“Missing shingles.We’ll probably find chunks in the grass.Bald shingles.I doubt there’ll be any holes.From the sounds of it last night, I doubt the hail was bigger than golf-ball size.”

He finished his inspection and helped Josie off the roof before relocating his ladder to the house.

“I’ll sit this one out and see how the garden held up.”Josie drifted toward the beat-up plot of land he’d had some nice produce growing in.

From the roof, the damage visible in the garden probably foreshadowed their crops.

It was turning into a financially shitty year.Par for the course, but still sucked.

The shingles under his feet were torn and missing pieces.At the bottom of the gutters, small piles of asphalt debris that’d been pounded off the coating of the shingles soaked into the grass.

What a mess.The next round of mowing would clean up the yard, and he could live with a beat to hell garage, but the roofs would need replacing.

He heard the engine before Cash’s truck pulled in.Brock glanced down to where Josie stood frozen in the middle of tamped down peas.

Brock had seen enough, the insurance agent could do the rest.He scrambled down the ladder in time to hear Cash’s angry question.

“What the hell are you doing here?”Cash’s truck door slammed.He hadn’t even parked by any of the buildings but hopped out as soon he’d seen Josie.

Brock jumped off the ladder the rest of the way as Josie answered, “None of your business.”

“Brock, what’s this about?”Cash’s arms were spread as he approached them.

Josie stayed in the garden.She held the bottom hem of her shirt to form a bowl.The rounded forms of tomatoes rested in her makeshift pouch.

Brock ignored the question and brushed his hands off on his pants.If Cash couldn’t figure out what Josie was doing here, he wasn’t going to spell it out.“Are we inspecting crops already?”

His cousin was glaring at Josie.“Yeah.What’s going on, Brock?Did she stay the night?Are you two…”

“Yes.”

“Fuck, man.What are you thinking?”

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