Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
Wilson came into the kitchen as I banged my head onto the table for the third time in a row.
“How’s it looking?” Wilson whispered. He reached out to cover the edge of the table where I’d been about to get in one more bang.
“And there’s no way to bring that down?” I massaged the heel of my hand into my forehead.
“No, ma’am.” A pen clicked quickly on the other end. “Not with your credit score.”
Damn, thanks.
Wilson waved, trying to get my attention. I waved back for him to stop. This would be the fifth loan company I spoke to today with nothing more than heartburn to show for it.
“But after five years you could have the chance to refinance. And after your application gets approved, I can guarantee you a five hundred dollar cash withdrawal with—”
“Yeah, thank you for your time. I appreciate it.” I hung up and slashed a red line through the number.
“Was that the last one?” Wilson tried to give me a smile when I hummed an affirmative.
“Here’s what I’m going to do.” I tossed down my pen and pressed my fingers over my closed eyes until I saw stars.
“I’m all ears.”
“I’m going to sell my kidney and every other body part that they’ll take,” I started.
Wilson sucked the back of his teeth and backed up, going for the refrigerator. “You’re not going to sell anything.”
“Got a better idea?” I leaned back in my chair and stared out the window over the sink.
The sky was as orange as fresh sherbet. And the cold had come back for a more permanent residence.
Fall was here, greenery yielding to oranges and reds.
The air around Elmwood was stagnant. Silent.
A calm surface primed for a potential lightning strike.
I’d made a habit of checking the wards every morning. First on my own, crouching before the lines Rae and I’d put down together. Whenever I placed my hand on top of the earth, a steady vibration provided made my teeth ache. The warning tightened itself around my neck. It mocked me.
Rae saw me after the first couple of days and had joined me ever since. At the end of each check, she’d assure me with an easy, “It won’t hold forever, but all we have to focus on is today.”
I repeated the words to myself now as I tried to loosen the tightness in my chest. Two weeks had gone by with the team still looking for some contract and doing practice runs of a trap in the barn.
They wouldn’t let me close enough to glean too many details.
An attempt to protect my peace. But I found chaos all on my own.
Even after doing my best to rediscover my love for putting together a perfect deck—though that could distract me for a couple of hours during the night.
“I have some ideas,” Wilson confessed.
My leg bounced up and down so fast that the water on the table rippled. “I’ll take anything.”
He grabbed a couple of cream sodas and rejoined me at the table. Wilson spoke lower as he offered me one. “First one, we’ve got to tell the team to find boarding elsewhere.”
I twisted the soda open, trying to cover my wince with a sniff. “What?”
“They eat with us every night.”
“It’s nice,” I murmured into the bottle before taking a small sip. When we were kids, we barely ate around a coffee table. Having to ask someone to pass the salt provided normalcy. And I felt safer with them close. With Rae close.
“Sure, but not when you look at the grocery bill. We can’t afford to house four other adults. They’ve been here for about a month now. Between their hunting fee and now, food, they’re slashing through our savings.”
I blew out a breath. “Fine. But cutting down a couple of hundred won’t save us from complete financial ruin.”
“I know, we need income…which is my next proposal.”
Wilson picked at the logo molded into the bottle’s side. “We should hire a couple of people to clear the fields. With the warding down—”
“The warding’s a band-aid.”
“Well, it’s a very good one,” Wilson said. “And since October’s here, we have enough space to put up a maze, decorate with some pumpkins, and sell some candy corn-themed drinks.”
“You want to invite people here?”
“Not today. Or tomorrow.” He held up his hand, staving off judgment. “But eventually. We have to prep and trust that Rae’s team will have it figured out once the season starts. Because once they leave, we shouldn’t be playing catch-up.”
“Fair.”
“And for my last trick.”
“Quick question: why didn’t you tell me all of this before I called all those credit companies?”
“The money would have been preferred.”
I laughed but nodded. “Hear, hear.”
“But since our backs are against the wall, I think you should take those requests for riding lessons.”
I frowned. “I’m not interested in teaching.”
“Because of the human element, I know.” He gestured toward the ceiling. “But you’re getting better with them every day. I see you; you can talk to people. And they like talking to you.”
I adjusted in my chair, trying to embrace the compliment without giving into the knee-jerk desire to toss it aside.
“You’re going to tell them to leave.” Wilson held up a finger, counting. “We’re going to hire a couple of people in town to help clean up and mend some fences. I’ll pick up a couple of students for tutoring. And then—”
“I’ll make a flyer at the library for riding lessons,” I finished with a slow nod. “I saw a bulletin board there and the Rainwoods…tolerate me. I don’t think they’d mind if I asked to hang a flyer.”
Wilson’s smile grew. “There we go.”
“I can do this.” I nodded to myself, even though my stomach twisted.
“Hey.” Rae’s voice made me nearly knock over my soda. She looked up from her phone at the clinking of the glass on the table. The air smelled of the oat milk soap she’d picked up from Rainwood’s. It’d mixed with her natural scent, creating something that encapsulated Elmwood and her.
“How’s my rancher?” She asked me the same question every morning since our day on the canoe. Rae wanted an honest answer. There was nothing too small to share; that much she’d always promised along with her undivided attention.
There was a lump in my throat, placed there by her sweet smile. We hadn’t talked in terms of us. Hadn’t talked much outside of a couple of debriefs and small Magic sessions.
But we caught each other in the moments when I wasn’t busy with the horses, or she wasn’t building whatever it was I couldn’t see in the barn.
We’d find excuses to take breaks on the porch together.
Find reasons to stand closer and for the backs of our hands to brush.
Even the hem of her pants pressed against mine elicited a flurry of desire that left me breathless.
“I’m…” My hesitance washed away Rae’s smile.
I shook my head, trying to show that this had nothing to do with the paranormal. “Could we talk on the porch?”
The others were in the hall upstairs. I couldn’t explain the need for them to leave to all of them at once. Letting down one person face-to-face was more than enough disappointment for one day.
Rae followed me outside without a word. The second I closed the door behind us, she pressed her hand to my elbow. My worn plaid shirt did nothing to stave off the cold of the morning or the fire of her touch.
“Have you seen something? Heard anything?” She scanned my face for something amiss.
I stared back, trying to ignore the need to lean in a little closer. She was the first to do it, though. Not with romantic intent in mind, unfortunately. No, Rae cupped my chin and gently tilted my head up. I struggled to swallow as she inspected every inch of my face.
“You’re warm,” she murmured, frowning.
“It’s because you’re touching me,” I whispered.
She nudged my head back to its neutral position but didn’t let go. “That’s all?”
“Today, yeah. That’s all.”
Rae laughed under her breath, stealing more of mine. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”
I struggled to swallow, watching how her gaze lingered on my mouth. “I…we need you guys to find somewhere else to stay. And I’m sorry. It’s a…finances thing. We didn’t budget to have four extra mouths to feed without the help of prepping for opening the ranch—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. I get it.”
The tension in my shoulder blades loosened. “You can leave the RV here if you need to. We don’t care about you guys taking up the space. It’s the extra resources like food we have to consider.
Rae stepped back, shoving her hands into her back pockets. “You guys are behind, and we weren’t supposed to take this long.”
“I had hoped we’d be able to at least be halfway ready to open the ranch doors at this point. Close enough to start marketing.”
“How about this? We move out, but we also start helping around here. Make up for the extra time we’re taking to clean up this mess.”
I opened my mouth; only a disbelieving laugh escaped.
“What? It’s a good idea.” Rae leaned against the porch railing. “The hands of four people—during the time I can spare them, of course. I only ask that you cook us one meal a week. We’re all obsessed with Wilson’s stew; it’s enough motivation to get us through an entire week.”
“Do any of you have experience doing labor on a ranch?” I asked.
Rae waved a hand. “It can’t be that hard.”
I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Come on, you see what we’re capable of. We’re quick studies.”
“I can’t have you guys half-assing it.”
“You know good and well I don’t tolerate a half-ass.”
I laughed. “Alright, you’ve got a deal. And if you guys do an exceptional job, I’ll tack on another meal.”
Rae held her hand out so we could shake on it. “Deal.”
“You’re going to want to make sure you line it up right—” I repositioned the post, angling my upper body out of the way so everyone could see what I was doing. Esther handed me my hammer, standing by as my number two for the day.
The wind bit at our backs, a cold reminder that the day would be shorter than usual. We wouldn’t be able to mend even half of the fences today. But proper instruction was my biggest priority.
“—before you even consider nailing it in. See?” I gestured at the post. “Try to get it as level as possible.”
Rae looked down at her fingernails as I spoke, the once perfectly almond-shaped tips in need of repair. December snuck glances at Nico, who was trying not to sneak a glance at her. And Jonah leaned in with adamant interest when I showed them how to tell when the wood was no use and rotting through.
“Do you guys think you’re ready?” I asked. Jonah nodded shyly. The rest didn’t answer, lost in their own worlds.
“Oh my god!” I gasped. The change in volume and tone made them all jump. Rae, Nico, and December reached for their weapon belts. Esther just looked at me, all too familiar with my real panic voice to be tricked.
“What is it?” Rae looked around, gaze searching for the danger.
“Nothing.” I shrugged and gestured my hammer to them. “I just think you all probably shouldn’t work with tools that could seriously injure you if you’re not going to listen.”
They relaxed, releasing their collective on-guard stances to resume their casual, daydreaming energy.
“We know how to hammer and nail,” Nico promised with a smile.
“I think if we can survive living on the road twenty-four seven,” December added, “we can survive a little manual labor.”
“It’s not our first rodeo,” Rae agreed.
I released a dry laugh and looked at Esther. Like me, she wasn’t convinced but shrugged, offering a wordless let’s see how they do.
“Fine.” I tossed the hammer down by the post and started toward a grazing Frog. “Then, while Esther and I work on repairing the stable doors, you guys get to work here.”
“Oh, now?” Rae asked. “Like we’re starting right now?”
“Like, yeah.” I shook my head and bit back a disbelieving smile. “When did you think you started?”
“After a couple more hours of monitored practice?” She held her hand over her eyes, trying to block out the sun and meet my gaze after I mounted Frog.
Esther followed my lead, getting on Kat.
She was more sluggish than I was, not excited about putting them to the test. She knew that if they did it wrong, we’d just have to come out here later and fix it.
But from my experience, the fastest way to learn was to fail.
“And delay the wonderful fun you’re about to have? I don’t think so.” I teased and turned Frog toward the stable. “Get to work. I’ll check on you soon.”
“What’s the quota?” Rae called after us.
“Just work until the sun sets.”
“That’s a lot of hours!” Nico noted.
“All the hours, really!” December added.
“I know!” My laugh got lost in the wind. Esther tried not to smile too much until we were out of sight and eyeshot of them.
“Think they’re going to finish at least ten posts before the day’s end?” she asked.
“I give them five tops.”
“How much?”
“Winner gets ten bucks and a pass on tonight’s dishes,” I said.
Esther grinned. “Deal.”