That done, he got behind the wheel of his truck and left the homestead.
He couldn’t believe he only had twelve days left on his contract. If he took out Sundays, his agreed-upon day off, it was only ten. Now that he’d gotten both the well house and the smokehouse done in a single week, he wasn’t sure what the next ten days of projects would look like.
He asked Lenore every day what she wanted him to work on, and he kept a list on his phone. But he didn’t dare make any suggestions. He simply asked her and let her direct him.
He pulled up to the IFA a few minutes after eleven, not caring one whit that he was late. His friends were used to him walking in after the meeting had already started anyway. Now that they had coffee and food, they didn’t truly start until a quarter after.
Brandon sat in his truck for another few seconds, gathering his courage to go inside, and breathed out. Then he got out and went in through the side door. Men’s voices came down the hall, and he realized hedidwant to be there. He’d never done very well alone, despite his desire to have a cabin of his own.
He walked with strong, sure steps into the room, the scent of coffee and freshly baked bread hanging in the air. He found his friends—Alex, Paul, JJ, and Henry—already sitting down with bowls in front of them.
“It’s a soup bar,” Finn called from down at the end of the table, where they normally put the food. “I picked it up from my grandmother’s bakery.” He pointed to one of the pots. “We’ve got creamy chicken noodle, clam chowder, and hearty vegetable beef.”
Conrad lifted a piece of bread that looked puffy and delicious. “Focaccia, too,” he said around the food in his mouth. “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
The warmth and familiarity swirled through Brandon so quickly, he thought he might start crying in front of everyone. He managed to grit back the tears and stabilize his feelings as he moved down the table, nodding at Dawson, Link, and Wilder, who had all arrived ahead of him too. The Walkers were here—including Tate—and everyone from Three Rivers.
He didn’t see Mitch, but the man ran perpetually late. He got in line behind Ty, who hadn’t even picked up a bowl yet, so he couldn’t have been here that long.
Men chatted around him, and Dawson ladled himself two bowls of soup and set them in an open place at the other end of the table before going to fill his coffee cup.
“No Lenore today?” Ty asked, which should’ve been a totally benign question.
Brandon’s throat tightened as he reached for a sugar packet. “No.”
Thankfully, Ty didn’t push him, and he turned from the coffee bar just as Colt walked in with his little boy.
“Come on, bud.” He swept the child into his arms. “I want you to sit right here and Daddy will get you something to eat.”
Brandon smiled at him, but Colt wore his stress on his face. He settled his son into a seat that was far too big for the child and looked at Finn. “Sorry I had to bring him,” Colt said. “My mother couldn’t watch him today, because my dad’s not feeling well.”
“It’s totally fine,” Finn said. “I’ve brought my boys before.”
Colt bustled around to get food and coffee. When he finally sat down, Brandon had made it through one of his bowls of soup and Finn called the meeting to order.
“This is our Q&A meeting,” he said. “Some of y’all sent your questions to Alex, and he’s put them together for us to gothrough one at a time.” Finn nodded to Alex, who stood up at the head of the table. “We had quite a few, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, about fifteen,” Alex said. “If we want to run through them all, that only gives us four or five minutes for each one.”
“We want everyone to participate,” Finn said. “But it’s okay if you don’t have an answer for every question.”
Brandon had forgotten about the questions, and he wondered if Lenore had sent any in.
Alex held a sheaf of papers in his hands. “This one came from JJ at Seven Sons,” he said, and he posted a slip of paper on the whiteboard, securing it with a magnet. “What do we think about the Gypsy Vanner breed of horses?”
His eyes moved to JJ, his eyebrows raised. “Anything else to add?”
“I’ve been thinking about breeding some,” JJ said. “To go with my longhorns. It’s a different kind of ranching than cattle ranching and growing crops, but Ilovethe longhorns. I’ve been thinking about doing some Vanner breeding, and selling the colts.”
“They’re great horses,” Angel said. “And they’re really pretty.”
“They have a calm temperament,” Henry said. “I think if you have the money, they do reasonably well as breeders.”
“We had one as a therapy horse once,” Paul said. “It was everyone’s favorite because they’re so patient, and they looksogood when they’re cleaned up.” He smiled at JJ. “If you can get a couple, I’d totally do it.”
“Thanks,” JJ said. “I’ll look more into it.”
Alex nodded and put another piece of paper over the first. “This one comes from Lenore out at the homestead.”
