3. Huck
HUCK
I hadn’t been able to sleep last night after running into Peyton.
She’d looked up at me, her eyes wide with shock, her pretty pink lips parted in surprise, and for a split second it was like we were right back in high school.
There used to be a time when I could have offered her my hand and she would have snuggled into my arms like she belonged there.
Those days were gone.
Hell, I’d be a lot better off if they’d never existed at all.
That’s what I was thinking about as I held a nail against a two-by-four and swung the hammer in my hand. Not even the satisfying crack of metal driving into wood helped.
“What’s got your panties twisted this morning?” Levi asked, stopping next to me to check on my progress.
“What the fuck are you talking about? I’m fine.” I held a second nail in place, ready to deliver another punishing blow.
He stepped closer, his shadow blocking out the light behind him. “You saw Peyton last night?”
Who the hell had told him? In the years away, I forgot how quickly word could travel through a small town… faster than a wildfire, but just as destructive.
I lifted the hammer and drove another nail into the board with a little more force than necessary. “What’s it to you?”
Levi laughed. “Cut the attitude, man. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Of course I’m okay,” I lied. Like hell I’d tell him how wrecked I’d been since I saw her sitting at the head of the table at that damn meeting.
Or how I’d been hard for hours last night after feeling her hand in mine.
I’d underestimated the hold she still had on me and was starting to think this town might not be big enough for both of us.
“If that’s how you want to play it.” Levi nudged the box of nails closer to me with the toe of his boot.
I grunted, unwilling to give him any more info. Since I’d been back in Mustang Mountain, he’d gotten his own business going and we’d been flipping houses together. We’d fallen into a comfortable routine, though I was eager to get some jobs on my own and start making a name for myself.
A good name for myself this time around.
“How’s the bathroom coming?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I’m at a stopping point. They gave me the wrong tile when I picked up materials. Any chance you need to run into town this afternoon?” Levi asked.
“Because you forgot how to drive?” I joked.
“No. Brooklyn has to make a delivery and could use an extra set of hands.”
Even though he and Brooklyn hadn’t been together very long, I envied the relationship they’d built. I thought I had that once, would have bet everything I owned that what I shared with Peyton would have stood the test of time. Hell, I’d never been more wrong.
“I’ve got you covered, man. Let me finish framing this in, and I’ll head over.”
“Thanks. I’m taking off. She’s been texting me all morning. It’s a big job, and I think she’s nervous.”
“When are you going to give that woman a ring?” I teased.
He grinned. “Soon, man. We both want a big family and we’re not getting any younger.”
Even though most of the guys we’d graduated with were already married with a kid or two, hearing Levi’s news hit harder.
If I’d done things differently, maybe I’d be the one leaving work early to meet up with my girlfriend.
Maybe that girlfriend would be Peyton. Maybe I’d even be planning on asking her to be my wife.
I shoved the ridiculous thought out of my head.
No way would her dad ever let her get within fifty miles of a wedding dress if I was the one who’d be standing at the end of the aisle.
He’d had it out for me from the start. Wasn’t my fault that he and my dad had some unfinished business.
Though Dad refused to talk about it, and I never got the chance to ask Mr. Winslow what was behind his longstanding hatred of anyone with my last name.
Fuck it. I didn’t come back to Mustang Mountain for Peyton.
I came back to finally put down some roots.
Turns out as much as I thought I’d like living on the road and following the wind wherever it decided to take me, I’d had enough.
When I’d thought about all the places I’d lived and where I felt the most at home, Mustang Mountain was at the top of the list.
I wrapped up the framing and shut down the job site for the day. Levi had loaded the boxes of tile into the back of my truck. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to swap them out, then I could get back to the cabin I’d been staying at and put in a few hours of work on the renovation.
The parking lot was busy for a late afternoon.
As I stood in line at the customer service counter, I recognized the guy in front of me as the one who’d been awarded the job for the festival grounds.
He wasn’t from Mustang Mountain, but Levi said he’d been beating out the locals on more and more jobs because he didn’t mind cutting corners.
Shit like that always blew back on a guy.
When it was his turn, he set his elbows on the counter and leaned forward. “Give me a yard of fill dirt. I need it delivered to that house over on Elk Trail that the Winslow girl has listed.”
The guy at the corner arched a brow. “Are you re-landscaping?”
“Something like that. The foundation’s sinking, and the whole yard needs to be regraded. I’m helping her save big and avoid a pricey foundation repair.” He smiled as he said it. Might have been genuine, but to me he looked like a cat who’d just swallowed a big, fat canary.
I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. “You know, if you’ve got cracks in the foundation, you’re probably better off just doing the repair now. You’ll save yourself a headache in the long run when the house settles more.”
The guy turned toward me, one side of his mouth curled up in a sneer. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion, son.”
I knew his type. I’d been following a few steps behind guys like him and fixing their messes since I started working in construction. He’d be just about as likely to take my advice as he would to jump off the top floor of the bank building down the road.
“It’s the right thing to do,” I said.
“Says who?” His brows knit together and his eyes turned hard. “I’ve been doing this a hell of a lot longer than you and I stand behind my work. Not everyone’s got an extra thirty grand lying around. Sometimes you’ve got to do the best you can with what you’ve got to work with.”
Wouldn’t do any good to argue with the guy.
Wouldn’t do any good to get into a fight at the building supply store, either.
Not when I was trying to separate myself from the bad boy label this town had saddled me with all those years ago.
So I put my hands up, palms out, in surrender.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I sleep just fine. But hell, I’d sleep a lot better if I had someone as fine as that Winslow girl keeping me warm at night.”
My gut clenched, and my fingers curled into fists.
I was ready to take a swing when the older guy behind the counter looked up at me and gave a slight shake of his head.
“Talk like that will land you on the wrong side of Harrison Winslow, Franklin. I’d hate for it to get back to him that someone’s been disrespecting his daughter. ”
Franklin’s face fell. “I was paying her a compliment, that’s all.”
The older man finished ringing him up while I silently seethed inside. Peyton wasn’t mine to protect anymore. Hadn’t been for a long, damn time. Still, it didn’t sit right with me that a man could make a comment like that about any woman and not have his teeth knocked out.
When Franklin finally left, the guy behind the counter watched him go, eyes narrowed. “Be careful around that one. He’s got Harrison Winslow in his back pocket and won’t think twice about dragging your name through the mud.”
“Thanks, but my name isn’t worth a damn thing to the Winslow family.” That ship had sailed, the train had left the station… I could think of a million ways to say it but the bottom line was that Harrison Winslow already thought I was trash, and I wasn’t wasting my breath to try to change his mind.
“Bide your time and you’ll get a chance to take a crack at that loser.” He didn’t say anything else as he swapped out the tile for the right design, but his words rang in my head as I loaded up the truck.
I thought about texting Levi but didn’t want to bother him while he was helping Brooklyn. And there was no way in hell I’d reach out to Peyton. She probably wouldn’t believe me if I tried to warn her that Franklin’s fix wouldn’t last.
I shouldn’t give a fuck about what might happen to her, not after the way she’d turned her back on me. She never gave me a chance to defend myself, just took her daddy’s word that I’d been the one to fuck up.
It was out of the way, but I found myself driving back to the fairgrounds on the way home. If Franklin was willing to cut corners on a foundation repair, no telling what he might do to save money on the festival bid.
A small crew of guys was framing out some vendor stalls.
I didn’t recognize anyone, but that didn’t surprise me.
If Franklin wasn’t from around Mustang Mountain, it made sense that his crew wouldn’t be either.
As I rolled down the main dirt road, some of them turned to watch me pass.
No one smiled, and no one lifted a hand to wave.
Not being friendly didn’t mean they were doing shitty work, but something felt off.
Fuck it. I wasn’t trying to be anyone’s hero. If Peyton wanted to tie her reputation to Franklin, that was her funeral. She could sink or swim on her own. She’d made it pretty clear to me she didn’t want or need my help with anything.
With a final glance in the rearview mirror, I left the fairgrounds behind. I’d do best to do the same with thoughts of Peyton Winslow. Some things were better left buried, and I needed to quit digging them up.