Summer Days (Fool's Gold #7)

“No.”


“Too bad.” She turned the computer around and closed the top. “You need to come up with a way to pay back a significant percentage of what Glen stole. The judge isn’t going to want to hear about a plan that takes a decade. I’m serious, Heidi. You could lose the ranch, and Glen could go to prison. For real.”

“I’ll come up with something,” Heidi promised, although she wasn’t sure what or how.

* * *

RAFE SURVEYED THE FENCE. Most of the posts were leaning or missing, and the material between had either disappeared or was hanging by a single staple. The job would go faster if there were no fence at all. As it was, he would have to check each of the posts, pull the ones that weren’t sturdy enough, get rid of all the old wire fencing and then start with new material.

“That’s a lot of work.”

Rafe turned and saw Glen walking toward him. The old man pulled a pair of gloves out of his jeans’ back pocket.

“So we should probably get started.”

“You planning on helping me?” Rafe asked. He would guess Glen had been eligible for social security for close to a decade. Sure, he looked wiry, but what about his heart? Rafe wasn’t interested in putting the old man at risk.

“I put in my years as a roadie. Besides, it’s not like you’re digging holes the old-fashioned way.” He pointed to the engine-powered auger Rafe had rented. “Hell, boy, I’ve been handling machines like that longer than you’ve been alive.”

Boy? Rafe hid a grin. If Glen was trying to intimidate him, he was going to have to work a lot harder.

“You want to drill the postholes, you go ahead,” Rafe told him, thinking it would be the easiest work of the day. The equipment would provide most of the muscle, and Rafe would handle the heavy lifting.

Rafe had barely pulled out the first of the leaning posts when two trucks drove onto the ranch. They headed right for the fence line and came to a stop only a few feet away. There was one guy in the first truck, and two in the second.

The first man climbed out and walked toward Rafe. He was tall, with dark hair, and there was something about him that seemed familiar. Almost as if Rafe had met him before.

The man laughed as he approached. “I wouldn’t have recognized you, either,” he said. “Not if I hadn’t heard you were back in town.”

Rafe studied the stranger. “Ethan? Ethan Hendrix?”

“That’s me.”

The two men shook hands.

“Welcome home,” Ethan said. “I remember you hating Fool’s Gold. I can’t believe you’re back.”

“I’m not back or home. This is temporary.”

Ethan glanced at the stacks of fence posts and rolls of fencing. “Looks pretty permanent to me.”

“My mother is planning to stay in town. I’m helping her out.”

“You always did take care of her.” Ethan motioned for the other two men to join them. “I’m going to let you have two of my best. Got a call from the lumber supply about what you were planning to do.” Ethan grinned, his dark eyes bright with amusement. “Last I heard, you were some finance guy. If you’ve gone soft, there’s no way you can do this yourself.”

“I haven’t gone soft,” Rafe told him, then introduced Glen, who waved away the words.

“I know Ethan,” the old man said. “And these two. Come on, boys. We’ll get started and show them how it’s done.”

Rafe and Ethan walked toward the larger truck.

“You never left?” Rafe asked. “I remember something about you wanting to get away, too.”

Ethan shrugged. “That was the plan. Life intervened. Turned out staying here was the best thing that ever happened to me.” He pulled out his wallet and removed a couple of pictures.

Rafe studied the pretty redhead and the three children. “You’ve been busy.”

“I’ve been happy,” Ethan said.

Rafe handed back the picture. “Good for you.” While he didn’t feel any regrets about his marriage having failed, he was sorry not to have children of his own.

“Where are you living?” Ethan asked.

“San Francisco. You still in construction?”

“Some. The company pretty much runs itself. Most of my time is spent building turbines.” His smile flashed again. “Windmills, to you laypeople. Wind energy.”

They talked about Ethan’s business for a few minutes.

“We should get together,” Ethan said. “I’ll talk to Liz about having you over for dinner. Remember Josh Golden?”

“Sure.”

“He’s still in town. Married, with a kid. Fiona is a year now. Time flies. We’ll have them over.”

They discussed the other mutual friends they’d had in school—who was still around and who had moved on. After a few minutes, Ethan glanced at his watch.

“I need to get back. Keep my guys as long as you want. They know what they’re doing.”

“I appreciate the help. You’ll send me a bill for their time?”

“Count on it,” Ethan told him. “From what I’ve heard, you can afford it.”