AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thomas settled back in his seat. “You’re sure nothing is going on?”
She laughed if only to stop herself from dwelling on that strange sense of sadness she’d felt over finding out Zeke’s true intentions. “Yes. I’m absolutely certain. Zeke is the kind of guy who likes his privacy. If he wanted me to stay, he wouldn’t have found a way to get me out of here sooner.”
Her son frowned, staring at his plate of food. “Yeah, okay. I guess you’re right.”
She leaned forward, placing her hand against his cheek. “Of course I’m right. We were lucky he was willing to let me stay in the first place. Now, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. In a few days I’ll know approximately when the building will start. I’m sure Zeke will ask some of his wranglers to help out. Would you be interested?”
He shrugged. “Actually, Adeline has sorta taken a shine to me. She says I’m a natural with the horses. She wants me to shadow her and learn what I can. I’d like to learn how to train them like the professionals do.”
Agatha shifted her hand to his and gave it a squeeze. “Then you do that. I’ll be overseeing the house, and you can come for dinner any time you’d like.”
“Anytime? I’m coming every night. The food at the ranch isn’t as good as the stuff my mother makes,” Thomas said.
Agatha smiled, warmed by the compliment while also knowing there was a deeper meaning to his need to spend the evenings with her. It wasn’t that he was so attached to her he couldn’t leave her side. On the contrary, he was fiercely independent. But he still loved his mother, and he wanted to make sure she was okay.
She saw nothing wrong with that. As long as he didn’t overstep and start bossing her around. Agatha was her own person, and she wasn’t going to yield to anyone. Not her ex. Not her son. And definitely not the man who insisted on helping her. They would all just have to accept that she was as wild as any of those mustangs roaming free in the more uninhabited parts of the West.
Thomas picked up his fork and dug into his meal, leaving her to her own thoughts—most of which concerned none other than Zeke Callahan.
9
Zeke
Birds chirped in nearby trees despite the sound of the hammers and nail guns that made the most intolerable racket. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Zeke hadn’t been kept up all hours with every last sound he heard in the underbrush.
What else did he expect when he was stuck in a tent not even twenty yards from the cabin he should have been staying in? He wasn’t sour about the fact that Agatha was staying in his second home. On the contrary, he wouldn’t have had it any other way. At least there, he could keep an eye on her.
There was no telling the kinds of people there were out in the world who might do her harm. Copper Creek was small enough, but if she’d ended up moving to Colorado Springs in the interim, she most definitely had a higher chance of getting hurt.
Zeke wandered along the exterior of the house. Over the month or so, the entire interior had been gutted, stripped of all the Birch belongings and furniture. Agatha had insisted on saving as much as she could, but being the skeptic he was, he didn’t have much hope for her.
Still, she was planning on sending whatever she could to a specialty cleaner in the city.
Now, they were left with removing the damaged wood siding and reframing what had sat beneath it. That was what they worked on today. Wood, both charred and new, lay scattered along the property. There were about a dozen men working today, more than he’d expected for this kind of work.
Zeke stopped for a moment to admire how the community had come together to aid in putting this woman’s home back to rights.
“I don’t know how you did it, but we’re going to get this thing framed in one day.” Tuck sidled up next to Zeke, but his gaze was on the clipboard in front of him. “I’ve never seen so many willing men.”
Zeke chuckled. “Well, I have seven daughters and one girl I call daughter. Their husbands know better than to tell their father-in-law no.”
Tuck chuckled, his raspy voice louder than Zeke had ever heard it. “I suppose you make a good point.” He glanced around the area, his brows furrowing. “Isn’t Shane Owens one of those husbands you were referring to?”
Zeke nodded. “Mr. Owens took a trip to California two days ago. Something to do with family matters. He said he’d help when he gets back, though I don’t know if there’s much he’d be capable of.” He gave Tuck a knowing look. The city folk around here could pretend all they wanted that they could do what the locals did, but it didn’t make it true.
His friend seemed to understand exactly what he was referring to. He didn’t make any further comment about Shane’s absence or what they might assign him to when he returned. Instead, he gestured toward the back side of the house. “With the damage being localized back here, the structure didn’t need as much work as we were expecting. I’d like to redo all the siding, though. It’d be a good idea to upgrade for insulation purposes.”
Zeke’s eyes followed Tuck’s motion. “I think you’re right. Ms. Birch would probably appreciate that. I’ll make sure to tell her when I see her.”
“That might be sooner than you think.”
Zeke shot a confused look at Tuck, only to find the man staring off in another direction. He followed Tuck’s gaze to find Agatha wandering through the construction zone. “What in the Sam Hill is she doing?” Zeke muttered as he charged forward, not waiting for Tuck to respond.
The woman should know better than to be hanging around right now. He’d left her at the cabin for a reason. On purpose, he hadn’t even knocked on her door to tell her he was heading out.
She had her hands behind her back, and she was wearing those ridiculous-looking overalls. At least this time she was wearing sensible shoes.
Zeke took the steps two at a time up the back porch and skidded to a stop right beside her. Agatha glanced at him, surprise not even registering. “Oh, good morning, Zeke. I didn’t realize you were starting today until my son called.”
