Chapter 6 #2
Her friend shoved a fresh mug of coffee into Sage’s hand as she eyed all the food the women were preparing. It was enough to feed the small army outside. “Um... What’s going on?”
Maddie chuckled. “A good, old-fashioned barn raising is what’s going on. Adam and Evan got the ball rolling last night, and everyone started showing up at the crack of dawn.”
Tears filled her eyes. This was one reason she loved living in a small town.
Despite everyone knowing everyone else’s business, they always pulled together when one of their own needed help.
She’d lain awake for a while last night, exhausted but unable to sleep as she tried to figure out where she would get the extra money to rebuild the barn.
Speaking of which…
“Where did all that lumber come from?”
Grinning, Maddie pointed toward the back door. “Why don’t you go outside and ask Adam? I believe that was all his doing.”
Adam? He arranged it? How? From what she’d seen through the window, there was a small fortune in materials out there.
“Thanks. And thank you all for being here.” Her voice cracked. “It—it means a lot to me.”
After each woman hugged her and brushed off her gratitude as unnecessary, Sage took her coffee and headed outside.
From the porch, she gazed across the backyard at all the activity.
To her right, the llamas and sheep were grazing at the far end of their large, enclosed pasture, no doubt driven there by all the banging.
The first person she spotted was Reverend Stevens.
In his fifties, the man had no trouble pitching in with the hard labor.
He was usually the first to volunteer whenever someone needed help.
“Morning, Sage.”
“Good morning, Reverend. Thank you so much for coming out to help.” She gestured to everyone working around them. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
He stepped aside as two other men hauled a charred post that had once supported the barn toward the dumpster. “The congregation always helps when someone needs us. You should know that by now. You’ve been on the other side several times when others needed a hand.”
It was true. She’d been to several barn raisings and fundraisers over the years, but it was still humbling to be on the receiving end.
Glancing toward the framework of the new barn, she spotted Ashley’s husband, Chris, who looked up from his hammering and gave her a wave and a grin before returning to his work.
Chris and her husband had been best friends, and she knew he still missed Mark terribly.
Behind her, the old dinner bell on the porch clanged. Maddie pulled on the rope while the other women carried platters and bowls of food out to several folding tables.
“Come and get it while it’s hot, gentlemen," Maddie shouted. "Breakfast is ready.”
The men finished what they were doing and ambled over for the mini-feast of coffee, eggs, bacon, home fries, grits, pancakes, and more. Sage thanked everyone as they passed her. Adam was the last one to approach, and without a second thought, she stepped forward and hugged him.
He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. “What’s this for?”
“For taking care of all this for me. It’s unbelievable.” Not letting him go, she pulled back enough to see his face. “But tell me one thing. Where did the lumber come from? I don’t know where I’ll get the money to pay for it before the foals are sold.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have an inheritance from Harry and Barbara that Shane manages for me. Consider it a gift for taking a chance and hiring me.”
Stunned, she shook her head. “Adam, I can’t let you pay for it. It’s too expensive. I’ll repay you when I sell the horses.”
“Absolutely not.” He took her hands in his, his expression imploring.
“Please, Sage.” When she shook her head again, his grip on her hands grew firmer.
“Do you remember me telling you I’d found new ways to help people outside of the Brotherhood?
Well, this is one of them. I like to think I’m investing in Jenna and Matthew’s futures.
Please, let me do this for them… and you. ”
She didn’t know what to say, so instead, she pulled him close, went up on her toes, and pressed her lips to his.
Fireworks went off in her mind when, after a moment’s hesitation, he kissed her back.
She completely forgot where they were and who else was there until a chorus of catcalls and whistles broke through the haze.
Ending the kiss, she gazed into his eyes, which held a mix of desire and amusement. “Thank you.”
He cleared his throat. “You’re very welcome. Come on. Let’s go eat before it’s all gone.”
Stepping back, he took her hand and led her toward the porch. She tried to hide her embarrassment, but Reverend Stevens caught her eye and winked. It was obvious that he approved. Ashley, however, didn’t look thrilled about what had just occurred, if her frown was any indication.
After breakfast, Seth Chapman and his oldest boy, Danny, arrived with two other men.
Their three pickup trucks were loaded with bales of fresh hay, along with feed and supplements for the horses, llamas, sheep, and chickens.
The fire had taken everything, including the spare tack.
At least the two saddles and bridles that were on Othello and Topaz had been saved.
Everything else she could borrow from friends or buy secondhand.
Sage was helping clear away the last of the breakfast platters when Seth strode up to her and, as usual, got a little too close for her comfort. “Hey, darlin’. So sorry to hear about this. The fire chief is saying it was arson. Who’d you tick off?”
Taking a step back, she crossed her arms and glared at him. “Why do you assume I ticked someone off, Seth? There could be any number of reasons why someone set fire to my barn. Maybe it was some crazed lunatic.”
He shrugged and smirked. “Well, if you had a man around, maybe it would scare off whoever was responsible. I keep telling you, I’m available for the job.”
She was about to say something snarky when the screen door swung open and Adam stepped outside carrying two bags of garbage for the dumpsters.
Perfect timing.
Grabbing his arm before he could get past them, Sage pulled him closer, ignoring his startled expression. “Actually, Seth, I already have a man around. This is Adam Westfield. Adam, this is Seth Chapman. Adam is my new ranch hand… and he’s also my new boyfriend.”
One of the garbage bags fell onto the porch with a thump and the clink of glass. She’d clearly caught him off guard, but Seth seemed oblivious to anything being amiss. His jaw dropped as he stared at her before shifting his gaze to Adam, who recovered and held out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Seth. Thanks for coming to help out.”
Seth hesitated before taking the offered hand. He gave it a shake and let go. A muscle ticked in his temple, and Sage fought back a giggle. Hopefully, she’d finally found a way to stop his endless pickup lines.
“Not from around here, are you, Westfield?” Seth looked ready to spit nails.
Adam smiled knowingly and slipped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her against his side. For a formerly celibate friar, the man caught on quickly. “As Sage keeps telling me, my New York accent gives me away every time. Isn’t that right, honey?”
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Sage tried to send him a telepathic message thanking him for playing along while warning him not to lay it on too thick. “Yes, I do keep telling you that, and maybe now you’ll believe me… sweetie.”
A man unloading bales of hay from the trucks near Adam’s cottage let out a loud whistle, and they all turned to see him staring at them. “Hey, Seth! You gonna work or stand there and yap while we take care of everything… again?”
“Screw you, Charlie… Oh, sorry, Reverend.” At least Seth had the decency to blush when he spotted the holy man coming up the steps. “I’m coming!”
The jerk brushed past the reverend, who approached Sage with an ash-covered metal box. “We found this back where the tack room was.”
Stunned, she took it from him. “Oh, my…” Cracking open the lid, she stared in awe, and tears welled up in her eyes. She lifted her gaze to Adam and tried to speak, but nothing came out.
He pulled a bandana from the back pocket of his jeans and held it out to her. “What is it, Sage?”
Swallowing hard, she wiped her eyes with the red-and-white cloth before placing the box on one of the breakfast tables.
Slowly, she sifted through the contents.
“It’s things Mark started saving after we began dating in college.
He kept everything. I’d forgotten all about this and haven’t seen any of it since before Matthew was born.
Mark must’ve kept the box in his workbench.
Letters I wrote him. Movie and concert ticket stubs.
” She pulled out a strip of four photos and showed it to Adam.
“This was from our second date. There was a photo booth at a carnival.”
“You haven’t changed much over the years.”
She snorted. “Thanks, but compared to now, I look like I was fifteen in that photo.” Her hair had been longer then, and now she still carried around some of the baby weight she’d never lost after Jenna was born.
She shifted her attention to Reverend Stevens.
“Thank you so much for finding this and not assuming it was trash.”
He patted her hand. “The Lord works in mysterious ways.”
As the man returned to help with the rest of the clean-up, Sage put everything back in the box and shut it. “I’ll look through this later,” she told Adam. “For now, I’ll put it in my room. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time. I have garbage to dispose of… honey.”
She grinned as he walked away, chuckling. “Thank you, sweetie.”