Chapter Five
Caleb
Istood in my bedroom, pulled my phone from my back pocket, and shot off a text.
Me: Where are they?
Lloyd’s response popped up a few seconds later.
Lloyd: Not sure what you mean.
Yeah, my ass he didn’t know what I meant.
Me: Don’t jerk me around. Where are they?
This time his reply came a little more slowly.
Lloyd: Workshop, second shelf over the workbench.
Dammit.
Me: Did my brothers have anything to do with this?
The dots danced, disappeared, then…
Lloyd: There might have been a conversation.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or swear. As if my brothers didn’t meddle enough in my life, now Lloyd was getting in on the act.
Lloyd: Gemma staying the night? Not enough light out front to replace those sparkplugs now I wouldn’t think.
If I didn’t know the soft spot he had for Gemma, I might have told him what he could do with his thinking. As it was…
Me: She’s staying. In the guest room.
As if there was a snowball’s chance in hell of Gemma sleeping anywhere else in my house.
Lloyd: None of my business, one way or another.
Nowhe was going to act like he was minding his own business?
Me: Damn right. Plan to work extra tomorrow to make up for the time I’ll have to waste fixing Gemma’s car in the morning.
Lloyd: Not sure how that’s different than today. Or yesterday. Or the day before.
He had a point. We were working ourselves into the ground. I shouldn’t have accepted Millie, even though we had room, but I couldn’t turn her away. Maybe I needed to give some more thought to hiring someone. It would mean accepting some – not all – of the money from Gemma, but it would give Lloyd a break now and then and give me a jump on training someone for when he eventually hung it up.
Me: Go to bed, old man. You need all the beauty sleep you can get.
Lloyd: Nah, this ugly mug gets me all the ladies I need. Go talk to yours.
Not mine, I almost typed back. Not really.
Not that I needed – or wanted – Lloyd’s opinion on that. Which I was certain to get if I opened that door.
Me: See you tomorrow.
I started toward the door, retraced my steps to grab some things for Gemma to change into, then headed back out to the front room to spend the first evening in recent memory alone with my wife.