Page 31 of Astrid
John lookedup when all five of his brothers, and Chuck joined him in the room they had set up their beds in. It surprised him to see Justin and Alex there also.
“What’s up?” he asked in confusion.
“You tell us,” Justin said as he sat on the bed across from him, with Josh on one side of him, and Alex on the other. “What’s crawled up your ass?”
John frowned at his brothers and best friend, then sighed heavily. “I’m assuming you’re talking about how I ignored Astrid at dinner.”
“That and the fact that you didn’t help clean up after dinner. You know the rules, you don’t cook, you clean up.”
“Fuck that shit, I had something to do.”
The men before him stared at him in open-mouthed shock as they watched John jump up from the bed, go to the dresser, and pull out several sets of clothes. After stuffing them in a bag he found beneath the bed, he looked at them, and nodded once. “Later.” Then, he quickly walked out of the bedroom, and instead of going up the stairs that led to the rest of the house, he walked over to the office the girls used, and accessed the door that led to the tunnel, then to the garage. The others were too stunned to react, and by the time they did, they were outside just as John drove his truck by them, and out the driveway.
“What the fuck?” Justin looked at the rest with his eyebrows buried in his hair. “What the fuck is his problem?”
“No clue,” Alan said, then shook his head. “I was going to ask him how the meeting he had with a potential new client went.”
“Me too,” Josh said, and scratched the back of his neck in confusion. “Let’s let him settle down for a couple of days, then corner him and get to the bottom of this. In all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him act this way with a woman, not even when those club skanks kept coming around back home.” He shook his head, and the others made their way around the side of the house, and instead of going back in, they decided to start a fire in the pit. Once they were settled, and Chuck had gone in for beers, Alan looked at his siblings and sighed heavily.
“Problem?” Alex asked.
“Maybe.”
“Talk to us, bro,” Justin said as he opened his beer, and took several swallows before he came up for air. “What’s on your mind?”
Alan didn’t waste any time, he jumped right in. “I have three weeks to finish those cupboards for that guy Carl said was dealing with the Cartel and the mob.”
“And?” Justin frowned at his younger brother. “Are you having trouble meeting your deadline?”
“I might. I’m going to need help with sanding, and then painting.”
“I’ll help,” Alex said as he saluted him with his good hand, holding a bottle of water. “I might only have one hand, but it’s my dominant hand. I think if I can cook for you guys, then I should be able to weld a sander, or a paint gun. That is how they’re going to be done, right? Not by hand?”
“Correct. I wanted to talk to John about his appointment today, because I wanted to know if you guys were at the point in the office that you could help me.”
“Yes,” Chuck spoke for the group. “The office is done, all except for the last minute things in the tunnel. I was going to have you guys work on getting those boxes of the desks set up tomorrow.”
“I can work on that when I get back from my own appointment,” Justin said as he stretched his legs out, and used the long stick to poke the logs in the pit, shooting flames and sparks into the air. “I have two meetings with two new clients.” He turned and looked at Chuck and Josh. “But, I don’t think they’ll be needing Stuart Construction. These are engineering jobs.” The others nodded to him and stared into the flames, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
“Where do you want us?” Alfie asked several minutes later, rousing himself enough to look at his brother with a frown.
“At the lean-to behind the bunkhouse. Wilson helped me set it up for my workshop.” At their confused looks, he grinned. “Where the campers are.”
“Shit, I forgot all about them.” Josh admitted, then sat up quickly. “Do you think that’s where John might have gone?”
“It’s possible, but I’m not going to go look for him,” Justin said firmly. “And neither are any of you. Let him cool off, then in a few days we’ll corner him to discuss what bug crawled up his ass.”
“And Astrid?” Chuck asked. “What about her?”
“If she’s smart, she’ll tell him to get lost,” Justin sighed and settled back in his chair with his beer while looking each of his siblings, and Chuck in the eye, he asked, “Remember when he gets in some sort of snit where he thinks someone has done him wrong? He runs away to clear his head, then we can talk sense into him.” They all started the ‘remember when’ game about the things that John would do when they were growing up. It was several hours before they went back into the house, and while everyone except for Justin and Alex went downstairs, the other two went up to their women, and crawled into their nice warm beds.
* * *
“Really?”Morgan looked at Chuck standing in the entrance to one of the office upstairs. He had just told her that the office was done.
“Yes, I have a few things to do in the tunnel, but it should only take today to complete. The other guys are over at Alan’s workshop helping him work on those cabinets for that guy, and when Justin gets back from his meetings today, he said he’d start putting together the desks for the office.”
“That’s great, thanks, Chuck,” Morgan said, and because she’d known him her entire life, she jumped from her chair and rushed over and gave him a quick hug. By the time he thought to return it, she was already walking away from him.
