“What’re you working on?” Grant asked.
“Rewiring Sierra’s building. It’s a mess.”
Jace pulled a beer from the tap for Morgan and put it in front of him. “Nice to see you, Morgan.”
“You, too. Thanks, Jace.”
“Put that on my tab,” Mac said.
Morgan lifted his beer. “Cheers, and thank you for meeting me.”
“We were looking forward to it, and Luke said he’d catch you another time,” Mac said. “His wife is having a tough time with this pregnancy, so he went home to relieve her with their daughter.”
“Ah, I see. Hope his wife is okay.”
“She’s just really tired. And speaking of your electrical talents, we sure could use someone with your skills around here. Our power grid is a disaster waiting for a place to happen. We’ve already had one major blackout, and any time we lose power, it’s for days.”
“What’s the town doing about that?”
“Our dad and the other town council members are working with the state to secure funding for an upgrade,” Mac said, “but they’re looking for someone to oversee the project and not getting any takers.”
“Huh. That’s interesting.”
“It’d be a multiyear project with a lot of one-of-a-kind aspects to it,” Mac added. “Not to mention the regular need I have for electricians for my company. I bring people over for a week at a time, but it sure would be nice to have someone local.”
“Is this an organized campaign, by any chance?” Morgan asked, smiling.
“Nothing of the kind,” Mac said. “I’m merely passing on info that I hope you’ll find intriguing.”
“It’s a great company to work for,” Jace said. “I can attest to that.”
“I am, in fact, intrigued. Talk to me about living here year-round. How do you keep from going batshit crazy?”
“It’s all about the company you keep,” Grant said. “I usually decamp for Southern California in the winter, but I’m staying local this year because my wife is due with our first baby in January. She wants to be near her midwife and our family when the baby arrives.”
“Understandable,” Morgan said.
“But even knowing we aren’t escaping this year, I’m fine with being here because we have so much fun with family and friends—and especially when it’s just us hanging out at home. We’re never bored.”
“Spare us the gory details, bro,” Mac said.
“Shut up. Your details are just as gory.”
Morgan laughed. “Nothing like brothers to keep it real.”
“We sure are sorry you lost yours,” Mac said.
“So am I.”
“Any time you need some brotherlike bonding, we’ve got you covered,” Grant said.
“I may take you up on that.”
“We wish you would,” Mac said. “Back to your question, though. Grant is right, as much as it pains me to say it.”
Grant snorted.
“We have a lot of fun with our people all year long, and you’d be welcomed into our crew if you decided to stay. Everyone is welcome. Our gatherings just get bigger and louder all the time, and as long as you don’t mind a shit-ton of kids, you’ll have a great time.”
