Page 192 of Wrecked
He thought about fixing up the property and what he would do with all that land. Would Addison want to live there or was she more of a city girl? He’d never thought about a future—with anyone—but as he stared at the acres and acres of land, he couldn’t imagine his life without her.
Years ago, her friendship had breathed life back into him. Falling in love with her would never have worked any other way. For the first time in a decade he was ready to commit himself to her, and to spend the rest of his life with her… if she would have him.
Emotion gripped his throat. He would always love Josie and their unborn child, but he was ready to move forward.
His buzzing phone snapped him back to the present.
Addison had replied to his text.
“Baby’s not in any rush to come out,” Addison replied. “Liv’s not dilating much, so they might give her something, but because it’s her first, they’re waiting. Jericho has been inviting the baby to join us in the world. It’s hilarious! How’s by you?”
“My list of repairs and upgrades is long.”
“I can’t wait to hear. When are you coming back?”
“Checking the henhouse and barn. Be there in forty,” he texted back.
She sent three heart emojis.
He replied with one.
Next stop, the henhouse. No squawking chickens and no eggs. His dad had taken care of finding new homes for the birds. He’d never seen the room bare and he didn’t like it. Henrietta might have been an ornery chicken, but she’d always made him smile.
He exited the henhouse to see Tommy getting out of his car. Hawk whistled and Tommy turned in his direction, then jogged over.
“How was the shooting range?” Hawk asked.
“Hit or miss.” Tommy chuckled at his pun. “I figured you could use some help.”
“I’m pretty much done. Just gotta check the barn.”
The cousins made their way down the hill and into the old building. Years ago, his grandparents had owned horses. Though the stalls were long empty, they still used the walk-in freezer to store vegetables from their garden. Hawk opened the heavy freezer door.
“Woo, it’s cold in there,” Tommy said as Hawk stepped inside.
Hawk eyed the insulated bags of frozen corn, carrots, soybeans, and green beans. On the shelf lay a large roll of plastic sheeting.
As the freezer door was about to shut, he turned. The lever to open the door from the inside was missing.
“Ah, fuck.” Hawk grabbed the two-by-four resting against the wall of the freezer and wedged it between the door and the frame to keep it from closing.
From the outside, Tommy pulled open the door. “What’s wrong?”
“The lever is broken,” Hawk explained as Tommy stepped inside. “Make sure this board stays here.”
“What the hell?” Tommy blurted. “Why didn’t they get that fixed?”
That made Hawk laugh. He extracted his phone from his jeans pocket and showed him the list of items that needed repairing, replacing, or tossing.
“That’s a long list. Seems more trouble than it’s worth.”
Hawk raked his hand through his hair. “I’m gonna get an estimate on everything. My head’s telling me one thing, my heart another.”
“Are Granddad and Grandmom paying for these repairs?”
“No. I am.”
“We’d walk away with millions, but it sounds like you don’t need the money,” Tommy said. “Hawk Security’s made you rich. It’s a bummer that someone leaked videos of your clients. That slowed you down, but it didn’t kill your business. You bounced back, no problem.”
