Page 133 of Just Friends
“Did you get a lot done today?”
Dad finally caught up and clapped his hand on Jax’s shoulder. “This man is amachine,” he said, grinning like a fool. “At the rate we’re going, we’ll have the rest of the property fenced off by tomorrow.”
“Don’t you wear him out, now, Daddy,” I warned, squeezing myself tight against Jax’s torso—ugh, he smelled so good and manly. I couldn’t wait until we were alone. “Don’t forget, next year’s a contract year.”
“Ha! I couldn’t wear him out if I tried.” Dad laughed and walked away, a limp in his step. But he only made it a few feet before he turned around again. “Oh, hey there, Nate! Almost forgot about you. How’s the family?”
“Good,” Nate said.
“Good, good,” Dad said, and continued on his way.
Then it was the three of us. For a moment, a quiet came over us, and I wondered if I needed to do introductions, but Jax took control of the situation.He turned to Nate and stuck out his massive paw and said, his voice a low rasp, “Jax.”
Nate’s hand disappeared in Jax’s. “Nate,” he squeaked.
It was something to see them standing together. Nate straightened his shoulders and stood as tall as he could, but even still, Jaxtowered over him.
“I was just swinging by to see how things are going around here,” Nate said. “Was wondering if you guys had any plans for the new property?”
Jax nodded and gave him a brief run down. “Ned and I are fencing off the edge of the property. We’re getting the land ready so we can lease it for grazing. ”
“I see. Anybody moving into the farmhouse?” Nate asked.
Jax shook his head. “Nah. We took a good look at fixing up the old house, but honestly, it doesn’t look like it’s worth saving. We’re going to demo it in a couple weeks.”
Nate’s eyes widened when he heard the worddemo—short for demolish—and even I felt a little bad for him. It had to suck knowing the home you’d grown up in was being torn down. But the Bowers kids had agreed to sell the property, after all.
“Not worth saving?” Nate puffed indignantly. “How so?”
“To start, it needs a new roof and foundation. It’s also got a bad mold problem, which would be a nightmare to deal with,” Jax said. “Plus, the old house is just too small. Easier to knock it down and build a new house in its place for what we’re envisioning.”
“And what’s that?” Nate asked, sullen.
I could answer this part. “Our dream house,” I said. “We chose the architect and everything, so it’s going to be exactly what we want it to be. The plan is to move there after Jax retires—hopefullythat’s not for many more years—butuntil that day comes, Mom, Dad, and Paulina will live there.” I hooked my arm through Jax’s and smiled up at him. “I’m so excited for them to finally move out of those old yurts and live in anactualhouse for once.”
“Yeah, me too,” Jax said, his eyes on mine. “And if Mom and Dad need help in their later years, we’ll have plenty of room for everybody.”
I beamed. Jax was such a great guy—he knew how important my family was to me, and he took that as seriously as I did.
“Well … I’ll be damned …” Nate swallowed. “Sounds like you guys got your hands full. But at least it sounds like you know what you’re doing.”
“Thanks, bud,” Jax said with a wink.
A loud and metallicclunkrang out, and our heads whipped around to see Dad unloading the fencing supplies from the back of his truck.
“Aw, hell,” Jax swore. Hehurriedly shook Nate’s hand one last time and said it was nice to meet him, then took off running.“Hey, Ned!”he yelled.“I told you to leave that mess for me! You go relax!”
Nate watched the athlete sprint off, as fast as lightning, then turned to me. “Well. Guess he doesn’t fit the mold I had in mind.”
I snickered. “Nope. Jax grew up on a massive farm in Iowa, so he more than knows his way around this tiny place.”
“Hell.” Nate blew out a defeated gust. “Makes a little more sense now.”
We both watched as Jax coaxed my dad away from the truck. Daddy didn’t want to go—hewas a hard-worker, too—but Jax finally made him drop the supplies and walked him back to the yurt to relax instead.
“Yeah,” I said, my heart warming. “He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a man.”
“I see that now,” Nate murmured with a begrudging respect. “Guess I’ll get outta your hair.”
