Dad: Call your mom. She’s worried about you.
I roll my eyes as I pull into the parking lot of the ranch. I park and then grab my notepad from the passenger seat before snatching my phone and tucking it in the back pocket of my blue jeans.
Running a hand through my hair reminds me I should get a haircut this weekend. I look over when I hear galloping to see the horses being let out of the barn. Walking toward the glass door and pulling it open, I see Lilah sitting behind the desk. She looks up and smiles at me. The two of us dated a while back. To be honest, dated is a stretch since we technically went out a handful of times. Each time, it felt like I was sitting across the table from a best friend, not someone I wanted to take home and have my way with. In the end, it made sense to just stay friends. Besides, she’s engaged to Emmett now, who she had been secretly in love with. “This is a nice surprise,” she says.
“Hey,” I greet. “I have a meeting with Charlie.” I look over to the side when I hear the sound of boots coming closer to us.
“And me,” Emmett interjects, walking into the room and going straight to Lilah.
“Hey, baby.” He bends, kissing her lips.
“You know I dated her first, right?” I tease him because it’s so easy to do.
“Yeah, but I’m the one she ended up with, so who is the winner?” He puts his hands on his hips.
“Definitely not her.” I motion to Lilah with my chin, who snorts.
“Stop bugging him.” She points at me. “And you.” She points at him. “Did you come in here just because you saw him arrive?”
“Yes.” He doesn’t even care that it’s not the right answer to tell her.
“You are incredible,” she huffs, picking up the phone. Then I hear her voice on the intercom.
“Charlie, Caleb is here and Emmett is also here waiting,” she announces before she hangs it up.
It takes a full thirty seconds before Charlie walks into the room. “Did I miss it?” he asks, and I look over at him, confused. “He goes all barbarian when a man comes in and talks to Lilah.”
“I do not go barbarian,” Emmett scoffs at the accusation. “I’m just making sure she’s safe.”
“Is that what you’re going with?” Charlie asks, trying not to laugh in his face.
“Yup,” Emmett clips. “Should we head over to the new building, or are we just going to stand here discussing shit we shouldn’t be discussing?”
“I vote for discussing when Lilah and Caleb were dating.” Charlie puts his hand up.
“Let’s go.” Emmett doesn’t pay any attention to him before he strides away.
“Sounds good,” I agree and follow them out to the back where the barn is.
“We’ll take the golf cart,” Charlie states. I get in the back and look around as we make our way over to the very far end of the property to a red barn that looks like it’s about to fall down if the wind blows too strong.
“What in the…” I say when I see it even closer up. “Is it even safe to walk into?”
“It just looks bad,” Emmett says. “It’s rough around the edges.”
“Yeah.” Charlie parks and gets out. “Like him.” He points at Emmett, who walks over to the barn door and opens one side before walking over and opening the second. I walk next to Charlie as we step into the darkened barn, and the only light comes from the missing pieces of the roof.
It’s completely empty. The concrete on the floor with caked-on mud has been there for what feels like decades. “So what do you think?” Charlie asks.
I take a look around. “We’ll have to take the whole roof off and then probably reinforce the sides. Depending on what we find when we take the roof off, it will give us a better idea.” Emmett nods. “Then what are you going to do with it?”
“We want to make this a rehabilitation center for the horses until they are ready to be put out with the population.” He explains to me about the ranch that he is running now. It’s been in his family for a long time. They do equestrian therapy, and deal mostly with soldiers who come back from war and suffer with PTSD and domestic violence survivors. “So we are going to need stalls on both sides, and then in the back, we’d like to have an open area for the foaling pens.”
I nod. “It’s going to be a lot of work,” I tell him. “We’ll have to get a couple of cranes to come in and take apart the roof.”
“We know,” Charlie replies, “but it has to be done.”
I nod at him. “I’ll get you the quote by tomorrow, and you let me know.” I’m about to say something else when my phone rings, and I look down to see it’s Mikaela. “Excuse me,” I say, turning and walking out of the barn.
