CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JJ—
The ridgeline that once bore next year’s crop of trees is now barren except for a few half-charred trunks.
There are also several other rows of trees toppled from the strong winds, and most of our pre-cut trees set in stands in front of the cabin have been blown over. Branches and shrubbery litter the road.
The gift shop appears to be intact, but the little kiosk we use for ringing up the trees has some roof damage.
All this I survey from just a quick walk of the property.
It’s barely sunrise, but I wanted to know what we were getting into before Rebecca woke up.
She was really torn up about it last night, and I can only imagine what she’ll think when she sees the destruction.
Returning to the cabin, I start a pot of coffee. I’m definitely going to need some caffeine to get through today.
It’s not long before the aroma wakes Rebecca, and she shuffles into the kitchen.
My eyes trail over her body. She may be slow moving, but she’s already dressed in boots, thick leggings, and an oversized sweatshirt with our logo printed on it.
“Coffee?”
“Yes, please. Have you checked the damage yet?”
I pour coffee into two thermoses and hand her one. “Yep.” I don’t elaborate.
“Is it bad?”
“It’s… not good, babe.”
She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes like she’s mentally preparing herself. “Okay, let’s go see it.”
We walk the property, and I point out all the destruction I saw earlier. Plus, we walk a bit farther, noticing half of our wooden sign at the front of the property has fallen over on one side.
With each new problem we see, I notice a little of the hope drain from her face. By the time we return to the cabin, she looks completely defeated.
“How will we ever recover from this? I mean even if we get it up and running by Saturday, how are we going to make up for next year’s crop?” She sits at the table and drops her head into her hands.
It cuts me, seeing how much this place means to her and watching her dream disappear. I lay a hand on her shoulder, squeezing. “Hey, what happened to my little optimist?” I try to tease.
“She had the rug pulled out from under her again,” Becca mumbles into her hands, not bothering to look up.
“Come on, baby.” I slide a chair next to her and tug her onto my lap.
She immediately bursts into tears, her head dropping to my shoulder. “I guess you’ll get what you wanted.”
I ease back. “What are you talking about?”
She lifts her face to me, dashing away the tears streaking down her cheeks. “You never wanted this place.” She gestures toward the outside. “Now, I’m sure to fail. What was I thinking? I could never handle something this big. It was all just a foolish pipedream.”
The words sound like something she’s heard before—something my brother would have said.
“I don’t think that,” I whisper. “Okay, sure, I didn’t want the place, but I see how talented and capable you are here. How good this place is for you.”
“Well, now it’s gone.”
“All right, Becca, knock that shit off. Work the problem just like you always do. Pull out a list or clipboard or whatever shit you do that has you coming up with brilliant ideas. I’m here. I’ll pull in help. But you need to get your head straight.”
She blinks at me like she can’t believe I just said that to her, and I wonder if I crossed a line.
“You’re right. I’m not some mopey person.”
“Damn straight you’re not. You’re a pull-up-your-bootstraps-and-kick-anyone-in-the-balls-who-gets-in-your-way kind of girl.”
That earns me a smirk, and I feel like my job is already done. I kiss away her tears, and she hurries off to grab paper and pen while I call in reinforcements.
“Hey, brother. How’s the tree farm going?” My president picks up on the first ring, apparently seeing his caller ID.
“Not great, Shades.”
“Don’t tell me you got another shipment of pumpkins.” He chuckles.
“Worse. A storm blew through last night, and lightning started a fire.”
He immediately sobers. “Oh shit, brother. I hate to hear that.”
“Yeah, the place is a mess. Is there any way you can send a few brothers to help? I know it’ll take hours to get up here, but we need all the help we can get.”
“I actually sent Hammer, Brayden, Griz, and Cajun up that way last night to check out some property for the new clubhouse.”
“Still haven’t found a good spot?”
“Thankfully, for you, no. Or we hadn’t until last night. I think we found the perfect place for the new chapter.”
“That’s great, on both fronts.”
“Yeah. I’ll send their asses your way. Should be there in an hour or two.”
“Thanks, prez. I owe you one.”
“No, JJ, you don’t. That’s why you wear that patch.”
“Damn right.” I grin and hang up.
“I take that grin to mean you got us help?” Rebecca looks up from the table, a notepad before her.
“Yeah, my prez really came through for me. He’s sending a bunch of my brothers to help. They’re actually not far, so they’ll be here in the next two hours.”
“That’s wonderful, JJ. How many are coming?”
“Four.”
She begins writing furiously.
“What are you doing?” I ask, leaning over her shoulder.
“Making to-do lists for each of your brothers.”
“See, I knew you’d have a list for this.” I shake my head.
She points the pen at me. “It is efficient.”
***
When my brothers arrive, I introduce Rebecca to Brayden and Cajun, since she didn’t meet them during our pumpkin fiasco.
As expected, she quickly puts everyone to work, and I can’t help but grin. My girl is back to herself, her despair evaporated.
After a few hours, I hear a bell ringing up at the cabin and glance over from where I’m resetting trees in their stands. Becca stands on the front porch with what appears to be a cowbell, banging on it with a wooden spoon.
“Lunch,” she yells.
“Fantastic. I’m starved,” Griz grumbles, holding the tree I’m re-anchoring into its stand.
We finish up, and when the five of us troop into the house, an aroma of tomatoes and basil hits me.
“Damn babe, something smells good.”
She’s set the table with bowls laden with creamy tomato soup, and a tray of hearty sandwiches sits in the middle.
“Sandwiches and soup, yum.” Brayden pulls a chair out.
Becca blushes a faint pink. “I figured you men needed something warm after that storm pushed the cold front in. And I’ve never met a man who didn’t want meat.”
“Das righ, cher.” Cajun waggles his brows at her, and I elbow him in the side. “Umph. Wat ya do dat for?”
“That’s my woman. Keep your eyes to yourself.”
Brayden grins like a cat with a canary, but wisely keeps his mouth shut as he scoops a spoonful of the soup into his mouth.
“Anyway,” Becca says, “dig in.”
“I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been working our tails off or the warmth of these toasted sandwiches and soup on a frigid day, but this is the best damn lunch I’ve ever had.” Hammer takes another crunching bite of sandwich.
“Don’t let Tink hear you saying that shit,” Griz warns.
“You gonna tell her?” Hammer leans forward, pointing his utensil at him like he plans to do damage with the spoon if Griz answers wrong.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Griz holds his hands up in surrender.
“?a c’est bon.” Cajun slurps his soup.
Rebecca’s brows furrow at him.
“He’s from Louisiana. You’ll get used to his accent and all his slang, eventually.” I drop my hand to her knee.
“Hell, I still don’t know what he says half the time,” Brayden admits.
“He was just saying the soup was good,” I translate.
“Oh, well… thank you.” Becca smiles at him.
Cajun tips his head and the spoon in his hand at her in some type of bow.
“We still need to figure out what to do next year,” Rebecca whispers to me.
“We still have about a quarter of the crop.” I try talking through the problem.
“So, that means you’re short three quarters,” Griz adds unhelpfully.
“Shit, I didn’t know you could do math,” Hammer jokes.
“Watch it.” Griz narrows his eyes. “Or I might just let something you said about this food slip to Tink.”
That shuts Hammer up real quick.
“What if you took a few trees from each of the following years? You know, some always grow faster and taller than others,” Brayden suggests.
I scratch my beard. “That could work.”
“But what about the next year, and the year after that? We’d always be short,” Rebecca argues.
“Yeah, but we could just keep doing that until we get to this year’s crop. We can plant double the amount this year, and then we’ll get back to normal. I think it’s the best plan we’ve got to keep us from taking a hit other than the extra seedlings we’ll buy at planting season.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She nods, seeming to come to the same conclusion. “We’re going to make it through this after all.”
“Did you ever doubt it?” I nudge her with my shoulder.
“Do you want me to lie?” She smiles at me sweetly.
The guys all burst into laughter.
“Yup, I like her.” Griz chuckles, leaning in his chair.
“All right, back to work. I want this place ready to rock and roll on Saturday.” Rebecca rises from her chair and starts collecting the empty dishes.
“Okay, a little less now,” Griz grumbles.
“Hey, be nice.” She raises her brows at him. “I’m making pot roast for dinner and warm apple pie for dessert.”
“And just like that, she’s back in my good graces.” Griz winks at her and follows the rest of the men out the door.
She returns to collect more dishes, but I grab her hand and tug her to me. “Thank you for this.” I gesture to the table.
“I know keeping you boys fed is probably a better use of my time. I’ll just be in the way for most of the work that needs to be done outside. But I will be out to pick up debris as soon as I get the crock-pot going.”
“Damn, how’d I get so lucky?” I tilt her chin up and kiss her before she has the chance to answer. I don’t know what we are officially, but whatever this is, it feels right.
By dusk, a light snow is falling, and we call it quits for the night.
We all troop inside and wash up at the kitchen sink.
“How’s it looking out there?” Rebecca asks, dishing meat and potatoes into a bowl.