Page 60 of Love Like Ours

Chapter Eighteen

First thing the following Monday morning, Palmer parked his rental car next to his brother’s truck and got out to watch his crew unload the excavator.

“Morning.” He shook Parker’s hand and then took another sip of his coffee.

“Morning.” Parker leaned against his truck. “Now the fun begins.”

“You know it. I can’t wait to get in there and start working on the inside.”

“First things first. We’ve got to dig up the old pipes and replace them, along with the well.” Parker sighed.

“Yeah, all the hard stuff first.” He groaned. It was an ongoing joke between them. “So, Sophia had another run-in with Aaron and Leo. Well, more accurately, the brothers caused another ruckus on Friday night at the restaurant.” He turned to his brother. “It makes me realize how thankful I am that you took me in.” He held out his hand.

Parker smiled. “Don’t go getting all mushy on me this morning.” His brother shook his hand and then hugged him. “I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. The best day in my life was the day I was gifted a brother.”

“Isn’t this sweet. I can feel the brotherly love from across the field,” Larry, one of their crew members, said as he stomped the mud from his boots. “So, who wants to drive the excavator?”

“Me!” Palmer said as he pushed his brother out of the way and raced towards the machine. Parker laughed behind him.

Four hours on the excavator and not only had they exposed all the old plumbing pipes, but they had found at least four leaks along the way. The plumbers would spend the next few days replacing the old with new. After lunch, Parker took over the excavator and started digging a new well, while he and the rest of the crew got to work tearing down the old well house. The new well would be farther away from the edge of the cliff and closer to the barn. The old shack, which was half falling down, had to come down the rest of the way.

It didn’t take long. Some of the better pieces of wood were kept for a project Max would be doing in the barn.

By the end of the first day of work, the lighthouse property looked worse than when they’d arrived. He knew more than anyone that this was the norm. He and the crew were all caked in mud when they climbed into their trucks to head home.

“Need a ride?” Parker joked as Palmer tried to clean off before stepping into the rental car.

“No, thanks.” He shook his head. “I’ll get my truck back next week.” He sat and removed his muddy boots.

“Any other incidents?”

“None, you?” he asked, tossing his boots in a bag and shoving them in the back seat.

“No, but we’re still at the B&B until tomorrow night. Aiden assures me that they’re keeping an eye out for them.”

“Everyone in Pride is,” Palmer said. “See you tomorrow.” He climbed into the car. Thankfully, he’d brought a change of shoes, because he wanted to stop off and grab Sophia those flowers he’d wanted to get her all those days ago.

He took his time picking out her favorite flowers, white carnations, more than two dozen of them. He chose a bright multi-colored vase and had Suzie, Aiden’s wife, arrange them with a few green leafy plants.

He sent Sophia a text and told her that he’d pick them up takeout dinner from the Golden Oar and meet her at home.

One of his first jobs with his brother had been in the kitchens at the Oar. They had added shelving to their walk-in pantry. He and his brother had had a lot of good times at the place learning about one another. Growing, becoming brothers.

Not knowing each other for the first part of their lives made them appreciate their time together even more. He was thankful Sophia and Lucas had the same type of relationship. He could tell they loved one another.

Would their children, if they had any, be close? He hoped. For as long as he could remember, he’d sworn he’d never stop at just one kid. He’d been lonely growing up but had also been thankful his parents hadn’t put another kid through what he’d gone through.

He walked into the Golden Oar and went over to the bar area to order their takeout. He sat down and had a beer while he waited. During the next fifteen minutes, he caught up with a bunch of townspeople who came and went.

When he stepped outside with their food, he was feeling pretty good about his life, the town he lived in, and the woman he loved. Then he saw his mother standing next to his car and groaned.

Before he approached her, he sent a group text to Aiden, Nick, and his brother.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” he told her, setting his food inside his car. “Where’s your partner in crime?”

“I left him,” his mother said, crossing her arms over her chest. “He… wanted to do things, to cross lines I didn’t agree with.”

“You’ve played that card before,” he pointed out. “You tried to persuade Parker that you left him years ago.”