Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“ Y ou’re so fucked,” Isaac joked as they reached the parking lot.
“I am not.”
“Seemed that way to me, too,” Matthew agreed, taking Isaac’s side. “There was only one man at the table she had eyes for, and it was not you.”
Jody glared at his brothers. “She noticed me.”
Jacob gave him a pitying glance. “Yeah, when you asked for the ketchup.”
“You too, Jacob?”
“Sorry, bro, but it was hard to miss.”
Jody wanted to grind his teeth but was too conscious about how much money Silas had spent fixing them. “She’ll warm up to me.”
Moses gave him a consoling pat on his shoulder. “You know I’m in your corner, but unless there is a freak snowstorm where we get ten inches of snow, and her electric goes out, she isn’t going to be warming up anytime soon.”
“Don’t worry, Jody.” Isaac gave him a mock serious look. “I’ll throw her back your way if she hits on me.”
Jody narrowed his eyes on his other brother. “I’m confident in my game. How about you, Isaac? You might have the prettier face, but we both know who the ladies come to when they want a touchdown.”
Silas gave Isaac and him dark looks. “I wouldn’t be bragging about who scored the most touchdowns. I’ve warned both of you that just because you know you have soul mates, that doesn’t mean you’ll end up with them. Dad never got his.”
All of his brothers turned serious.
Grief filled Jody’s heart. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t miss his father. Freddy was the type of father other children wished they had. He had his own way of looking at things, which was why he had homeschooled them, disciplined them with love, and never let them forget how much he loved them.
“We need to get back to work and get as much done as possible today,” Silas said, taking out his truck keys. “Jody, you might as well come with us. You can try again tomorrow.”
Morosely, Jody got in his truck while the others piled into Silas and Matthew’s trucks. He couldn’t blame his brothers. If Sophie believed he was a player, then they could be tarnished by the same brush. While he wasn’t the only Coleman brother who hadn’t waited for his soul mate to appear, Isaac and Ezra were much more circumspect than he had been. They went further afield to do their fooling around.
When they arrived at the housing development, they all continued setting the fence. Jody took over digging the holes while Matthew and Isaac placed them. Silas would mix the concrete, then Ezra and Moses would place the iron posts in place. The work was backbreaking, and they had only made it less than halfway when Silas called them to a stop.
On the drive home, he was tempted to stop at the diner again as he drove past. Wrinkling his nose at his sweat-dampened shirt, Jody decided he was better off not going.
“You going to eat at the house tonight?” Silas asked as he got out of his truck.
Jody slammed his truck door shut. “No, thanks. I’m going to make a sandwich and get to bed early tonight.”
The rest of his brothers made their way to their own homes, all of them walking next to him.
“You’re not going to see Sophie again today?” Jacob asked, following in step with him.
“Nah. Coming on too strong is the worst thing I can do.”
Jacob nodded. “That’s true, but it also gives someone else the opportunity to make their move.”
Jody shot Isaac a warning glance. “As long as Isaac stays here, I’m good.”
“Brother”—Isaac shrugged—“I wouldn’t think of stepping on your toes.”
Jody believed him. While they might tease each other, none of his brothers would ever try to steal his woman.
They reached the part of the property where he had to veer away from his brothers, and he told them good night. Going through the woods, it took him five minutes to reach his trailer. Jacob’s wasn’t far from his, a corpse of trees separating them.
Sighing as he went up the steps, he went inside. He looked around the trailer through different eyes. He had been saving his money. Now that his soul mate was near, it was time to decide if he was going to buy a bigger trailer or build a house, like Matthew had done. He would talk it over with Silas and get his advice for which one would make Sophie happier.
Walking into his bedroom, he removed his sweaty clothes. When he had started digging the holes, he had removed his nice shirt, but his new boots were trashed. Reminding himself to buy a new pair, he went into the bathroom to take a hot shower, letting the warm water work the knots out of his shoulders.
Afterward, he dressed in comfortable sweatpants, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. Then he left the trailer and made his way to his sister’s property. When he knocked on her door, he heard a grumpy voice call out for him to come inside.
Jody opened the door, immediately wishing he had called first. If he had heard the racket taking place in Ginny’s house, he would have stayed home.
Ginny’s husband was rocking his screaming daughter in the crook of his arm while his son was screeching along to a song being played on the television. He immediately started back out of the door.
“Sorry, I’ll come back another time.”
“Don’t even think about it.” Reaper’s gaze pinned him in place.
Before he could take another step backward, Jody felt Reaper thrust the baby into his arms.
“I need a break.” With that, Reaper bent down to lift his son into his arms, giving his rosy cheek a kiss. “You mind Jody until I get back.”
Rocking Leah against his chest, he watched as Reaper set Freddie back down on his feet before going for the door.
“When are you coming back?” Jody asked him helplessly.
“Call me when Ginny gets back.”
After watching the door for several minutes, Jody realized Reaper wasn’t joking when he heard his motorcycle roaring away.
Jody stared down at his nephew, who was staring up at him with innocent eyes. “How long have you made your dad listen to that song?”
Freddie’s rosy cheeks turned redder. “It’s my favorite song. Will you sing with me?”
“No …” Jody shook his head, moving to the couch to sit down. Bouncing the fussy baby on his knee, he looked down in dismay when Leah rewarded him by dribbling spit up on him. Grabbing a baby wipe, he cleaned her up before cleaning his pants.
When he heard the door open, he was relieved to see Ginny coming through the door. His sister started laughing at seeing him sitting there instead of Reaper.
Jody got up, switching the grocery bags with Ginny to give her the crying baby.
“How did Reaper talk you into coming over?” she asked, taking Leah into her arms.
“He didn’t give me a choice. I stopped by to see you, and the next thing I knew, I was holding Leah and Reaper was gone.”
Ginny laughed harder. “Leah has been teething. I did the same thing when he came in from helping you guys.”
“I don’t know what’s worse: the crying or the song,” Jody said over his shoulder as he carried the grocery bags to the kitchen. He put the cold items in the fridge but left the other groceries for Ginny to put away.
“The song.” Ginny had already turned the television off by the time he came back to the living room. “Freddie, play with your fort for a little while,” she directed her son.
Watching as her son plopped down next to his toy box, Jody admired how quickly she regained control of the chaos.
Ginny sat down on a chair to place Leah on her shoulder, patting her back lovingly while eyeing him. “Did you need something?”
Jody sat down on the couch in front of her. “I can’t just stop by to say hi?”
Ginny raised a disbelieving brow.
Jody grimaced. “I need a favor.”
“What do you need?”
“The diner has reopened.”
“I heard.”
“The owner is my soul mate.”
“Silas told me.”
“He also tell you I screwed up?”
“Yes. You want me to go by and convince her what a great guy you are?”
“It would be nice if you could slip in compliments about me, but I mainly wanted you to help her get on her feet.”
Ginny gave him one of her sweet smiles. “I’d be happy to do for that for you.”
Jody released a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Ginny. I knew I could count on you.”
“Of course, I’m going to need a babysitter.”