Page 15 of Bailey

She returned the gesture, and he noted that she wore blue jeans with dirt all along the cuffs, a sturdy pair of work boots, and a tight t-shirt in bright yellow that said I Save Lives with the outline of a cat walking across the top of the letters, his tail raised high into the air. She’d pulled her hair back in its customary ponytail, and she honestly looked ready for battle.

“Howdy,” he said, realizing in that moment that he still held the piece of salmon.

“Hey, Reeves,” she said easily, her eyes latching onto his and refusing to let go. “These guys have been helping me all morning get my place cleaned up, and I’m just wondering if you need any help to get your farm back to functioning.”

One of the men with her stepped forward. “I’m Bailey’s cousin, Stockton,” he said, extending his hand.

“Reeves. It’s great to meet you,” he said, though Reeves was pretty sure he’d met Stockton the day Bailey had moved in.

“We obviously won’t be able to get your farm completely clean today,” another man said. “But Bailey says you’ve got animals over here.”

“Yeah,” Reeves said. “A whole flock of turkeys and chickens—and some goats too.”

“This is my uncle Beau,” Bailey said, indicating the man who had just spoken.

Reeves shook his hand too, though Beau only flashed him the tightest of smiles.

“And my daddy,” Bailey said, grinning at the third tall man on her right-hand side. “Who you already know.”

“Yeah, it’s good to see you again, Graham,” Reeves said.

“You too,” Graham said as he shook Reeves’s hand. “What are we talking here? Is your place covered with mud like Bailey’s?”

“Just about,” Reeves said.

“Your driveway looked good,” another man said, and Reeves switched his eyes to him.

“This is Bryce Young,” Bailey said, and Reeves immediately catalogued the name of the man who’d called her yesterday and told her about the flooding and the evacuation.

He wondered what their relationship entailed. As Reeves shook the man’s hand, he noticed Bryce wore a wedding ring. He and Bailey couldn’t be too involved, right?

“And these are my cousins—Harry and Cash,” Bryce said.

“We’re all Youngs,” Harry said as he too shook Reeves’s hand.

In that moment, Reeves knew who the Youngs were, as Harry was a pretty famous country music star. While Reeves wasn’t usually a fanboy, he had listened to Country Quad plenty of times in his life. Bryce wasn’t officially a member of the band, but he had toured with them, and his father was the lead singer. He could barely believe the two of them stood there on his doorstep, willing to help him with the mud and debris on his farm.

“He’s thinking really hard, boys,” Bailey teased, and Reeves’s eyes flew back to hers. “It’s just moving mud, Reeves.”

“We’ve got shovels if you need us,” her daddy said. “We can just help you get to your animals faster.”

Reeves wasn’t accustomed to taking much help, but he nodded and stepped back. “Sure,” he said. “Y’all can come in. I just came in for lunch.”

“I told you we should have brought over that pizza,” Cash said.

“I can go grab it.” Harry raised his eyebrows and looked at Reeves, who held up the fish fillet.

“I was just going to make this,” Reeves said.

Graham took it from him and stepped up into the house. “This looks great,” he said. “Where’d you get this?”

“I caught it in Alaska,” Reeves said. “Last summer.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Alaska and go salmon fishing,” Bryce said. He also entered the house and then clapped Reeves on the shoulder. “Maybe I’ll have to take you as my guide.”

Reeves simply stared at the man, though he spoke with a smile and wore one on his face too. He simply exuded happiness and goodness, and Reeves barely knew what to do with that.

Harry seemed a bit darker and more reserved, but as he entered the house, he said, “If you point us in the right direction, we can work while you eat.”