The Hardest Part (Brookside #2)

Chapter Fourteen

T here’s something to be said for the smell of freshly cut wood, its oils, and sap releasing their aromatic particles into the air. Earthy and warm, the scent reminded him of Christmas or a ride through an evergreen forest. If Billy didn’t love working with the horses so much, he supposed he could be quite content building houses.

He put down his nail gun and sat in what would one day be their living room. They’d made darn good progress in the five weeks since the foundation was poured. The engineers constructed the bridge. Last weekend, he and Jake finished the subfloor. With any luck, they’d have exterior walls going up today, and that stack of lumber would start looking like a house.

Billy leaned back on his elbows and listened to the soothing gurgle of the creek. The orange glow of the rising sun kissed the mountain, evoking feelings of warmth and optimism, and inspiring dreams of possibilities yet to come.

New beginnings .

Like a movie playing in his mind, he could see it. Emily dancing in the kitchen, their children at her feet. Jake transcribing old letters in a chair by the fire. Chaser frolicking in the pasture. A dog. A garden. His family. His home. The promise of a new day filled with wonder and joy.

I best get off my ass, then. Time’s a wastin’ .

The last weekend of May, Brookside’s cookout was taking place this afternoon. Billy looked forward to it every year. He and Jake promised Emily they’d meet her there at twelve, and that left them less than six hours to get some work done today.

Billy picked himself up from the floor. Measuring sixteen-inch intervals on lengths of Douglas fir, he made marks for the studs, while Jake cut them. Then, together, they fastened the studs to the plates with framing nails.

With his elbows resting on his knees, his brother sat on his haunches opposite him. “Should we put the sheathing on now, before we raise the wall?”

“We could. It’ll be a helluva lot easier to attach here on the ground.” He glanced over at the pallet of plywood sheets. Each one weighed a good seventy pounds. “But then it’s gonna be a helluva lot harder to lift the wall into place.”

“I reckon between the two of us, we’ve got the muscle to do it.” Clearly, Jake overestimated their capabilities. “And if it’s too heavy, I’m sure Tanner and Kellan will give us a hand.”

With a half-hearted snicker, he said, more to himself than his brother, “We’re gonna need Archer, too.”

“Think we can get four walls done this morning?”

“Sure do.” Because with each wall that went up and every stone set in place, Billy was one step closer to seeing his vision come to fruition, and not just the house, but Emily as their wife.

“Let’s knock ‘em out, then, brother.”

And they did. Working alongside his brother, every nail he drove, and each piece of wood he cut, gave him a sense of purpose.

Billy often wondered how the ones who came before them had built such an incredible place, especially now that he was building a home of his own. Long before power tools, electricity, and big box stores came along, the only resources the Brookside settlers had were those the mountain provided them. With timber and rock painstakingly hewn by hand, they created this idyllic Eden he was fortunate enough to call home.

From the highway, an unmarked five-mile drive led to their half-million acres, and a coded gate. Once inside it, a right-hand turn went farther up the mountain to the ranch and left went into town. With green space at its center, shops lined either side of the square. Behind the old bunkhouse, which now housed the school, a clear, running stream bordered the far end.

Freshly showered after this morning’s labor, Billy walked over to the square with his brother. With many of the structures built in the 19th century, he marveled at the town with a renewed appreciation. They reached the crowded green, and he hurried his steps when he saw her.

Chestnut hair framing her beautiful face, Emily sat waiting on a blanket in a pretty white dress, Arien, her mom, and the rest of the Brooks family surrounding her. She glanced up; her smile radiant, the moment she spotted him and Jake amongst the townsfolk. God, he loved her. Every fond memory he had was tied to this girl, from taking her for a ride on the handlebars of his new ten-speed bike to sharing their first kiss over a glass of Grams’ lemonade. Just fifteen, he remembered being nervous, wondering if there was food stuck in his teeth, his breath stank like barbecue, or that he’d mess it up somehow.

But I didn’t .

Two years had flown by since then, and hopefully, so would the next. Billy would push through it because a lifetime of kissing Emily was worth it.

“There’s my handsome cowboy.” She took his hand, and pulling him down to sit beside her, Emily kissed his cheek. “I missed you.”

He saw her only yesterday, but he’d take it—the sentiment and the kiss.

“How’s my girl?”

“Fine, now” She held onto his hand and took his brother’s with the other. “Both of my boys are here.”

Long hair curtaining his face, Jake dipped his head to kiss her. On the lips. Billy turned his head, and holding her hand in his lap, aimed his gaze at anything but them. Matthew Brooks doted on his very pregnant wife, rubbing her feet. She reclined in a lawn chair, her hand resting atop her enormous belly. Tanner snoozed on Arien’s lap, his hat covering most of his face, while she combed the hair out of Kellan’s eyes with her fingers. Her back to them all, Miss Kim rifled through a cooler, but Grams had her eyes right on him.

With her head tilted to the side, and her smile knowing, Melinda Brooks gazed upon him kindly. Emily’s grandmother, and his teacher in first grade, she’d known him his entire life. “Did you have a nice birthday, Billy?”

“Yes, ma’am, I did.” He blew out seventeen candles on his cake just two days before. “Thank you for the shirt and the cookies you sent with Em. Your chocolate chip cookies are my favorite.”

“Of course, dear.” And she winked. “I’ll make sure I give Emily the recipe.”

Billy looked at her then.

Beaming at him, Emily held onto his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Billy. I’ll bake ‘em for you every day if you want.”

I don’t want no damn cookies, just you .

He let his fingers slip through her wavy locks. “I love you, too.”

The mouth-watering smell of barbecue wafting from the smokers and grills parked in front of the square had Billy’s stomach talking to him. In a friendly competition, Harry Coulter, who ran the diner, and Charlie Tyndall, their ranch foreman, and whose great-grandfather emigrated on the trail west from Texas, attempted to outdo each other every year. One of them claimed bragging rights, but it was the rest of them who reaped the real reward. Best damn barbecue on the planet, bar none.

Everyone here contributed to the shindig in one way or another. The meat came from the ranch, some folks brought desserts or made sides, and others organized fireworks and activities for the kids. Share the work and share the wealth. They shared the fun, too. That was the Brookside way of doing things.

“I’m dang near starvin’,” Tanner grumbled, raising his head from Arien’s lap. “Is it chowtime yet?”

“You’re always starving.” Arien took his hat and put it on her head.

His face breaking into a grin, he waggled his brows. “You know what that means, don’t ya, little sister?”

“Cut the shit, Tanner.” Kellan flicked the hat off Arien’s head.

Her butter-blonde curls shaking, Grams hid a chuckle behind her hand. “I see folks lining up, honey.”

“About damn time. C’mon, Billy, let’s go get us some of that barbecue.” Tanner picked up his hat, and shooting his brother a look, put it back on his head. “Don’t get up now. We’ll bring plates back for y’all.”

By the time they got over there, the line was a mile long, figuratively speaking. It went all the way to Aunt Lilly’s dress shop, though.

“Billy-boy, where’s that head of yours at?” From behind, Tanner nudged him. “Line’s movin’.”

“Sorry, my mind went somewhere else, I guess.” After moving ahead, Billy turned around. “Hey, I was wonderin’…think you and Kel can help us raise some walls tomorrow?”

“Happy to.”

“Great, thanks.” Just as he’d predicted, he and Jake hadn’t been able to budge them at all. “I’m gonna ask Griffin, too.”

“Heh, good luck with that, my dude.” Tanner hitched his thumb out toward the green, where it appeared Archer was playing referee to the spitfire Lewis sisters. “Betcha between graduation and the wedding, Shiloh and Cassie got the poor guy runnin’ round in circles.”

“Serves him right.” Griffin knew what he was in for with those two. Oil and vinegar, they were. Still, he loved them a heck of a lot, and with their wedding less than a couple of weeks away, his wait was almost over. “Lucky bastard.”

“And you ain’t?”

“I am.” Billy blew out a breath and moved up in the line. “Just don’t feel like it much right now.”

“Hey.” Tanner turned him around. “Chrissakes, stop it, will ya? At least you know there’s gonna be a weddin’.”

On Wednesday, after I turn eighteen . The May 29th date was set in stone.

“Three hundred and sixty-seven days from today.”

Yeah, he was counting them.

“See? Lucky.” Then he leaned in close to his ear. “Folks keep askin’ when I’m gonna announce mine.”

“Go on and do it, then.”

They’d reached the front of the line.

“Hey there, Mrs. Coulter. Don’t you look extra pretty today?” And he laid one of his smiles on her. Tanner was such a charmer. That must be why all the ladies loved him. “Can you put ten plates together for me—a little of everything?”

“Go on with you now.” Harry’s wife held her hands to her cheeks, trying to hold back the blush. She failed. “Wait over there by the beer keg. I’ll bring it to ya.”

“Mr. Coulter’s such a lucky man. Thank you, kindly.” He kissed her hand, then turned back to him and said, “Can’t announce nothin’ ’til we know what Arien’s fixin’ to do, and we don’t.”

“She hasn’t talked about goin’ back to Denver in a while.” When Arien first got here, it was all she ever talked about.

“A letter from UC came for her a few weeks back.”

Oh. Shit .

“She told me herself she hasn’t decided yet.”

“Kel know that?”

“No, and I ain’t tellin’ him, neither.” He lifted his chin toward where Kellan and Arien sat together on the lawn. “Just look at ‘em, will ya? They’ve gotten so close lately. Makes my heart happy to see it. If my brother found out, she was still thinkin’ about leavin’, he’d shut her out again, and I can’t let that happen.”

“Arien loves y’all, Tanner.”

“We love her.”

Billy could hear the anguish in his voice and clasped his shoulder. “Your father saw it, and he’s never been wrong, so don’t worry none. Yer dream girl ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

“Oh, I know she ain’t.” Tanner took a step back, and cocking his head, an odd expression came over his face. He almost looked angry. “Because I won’t let that happen, either.”

Mrs. Coulter came with the food, and in an instant, it was gone. “I fixed y’all a lot of everything. I know how much you boys can eat. There’s an extra slice of chocolate cake in there for your stepmama, too.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Billy tipped his chin, carefully placing bags of food and plates on Tanner’s arm. “Got it, bro?”

“Yeah.”

Billy wasn’t sure how, but they made it back to their spot on the green without spilling or dropping a thing, and with blankets and lawn chairs to weave through, that was no easy feat. As a rule, cowboys are not dainty. He and Tanner had just finished passing out the food when he looked up to see his dad deep in conversation with Matthew Brooks. His mom and Justin, his arm around her as if he was holding her up, stood off to the side.

Concerned, he rushed over to her, Jake and Emily coming along behind him. “Ma, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, sweetie.” Carrie leaned in to kiss his cheek, her brother holding her steady. “It’s just a headache.”

“You should go home and lie down, Mama.” Jake stepped in and held her on the other side.

“She’s going. She’s been dizzy, too.” Justin said with a toss of his silvery-blond mane. “A darkened room, some aspirin, and a cool glass of tea will have her feeling better in no time.”

She reached up to smooth Jake’s hair. “I had to see my boys first.”

“Sorry, we can’t stay.” His father came over and pulled him into a hug. “Your mama’s not feeling well.”

“Is she gonna be okay?” Billy couldn’t recall his mother ever being sick. Not once. Not even a cold.

Victor patted his shoulder. “Nothing to worry about. She’ll be just fine, son.”

He hugged his brother and Emily, and then they were gone.

“Something ain’t right, Jake.”

“What do you mean?”

“With Mom.” Fuck’s sake, was he the only one who saw it? “Have you ever known her to be sick?”

“She’s not sick, Billy.” Jake slung an arm around his neck. “You heard her. She has a headache.”

“It could be a migraine.” Emily took his hand and held it in both of hers. “They can make you dizzy. Grams gets them sometimes.”

Maybe .

He was overreacting, wasn’t he?

Billy kissed her cheek. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.”