“Son-of-a-bitch!” I yelled out, throwing the wrench onto the ground and scrubbing my hands over my face.
“Trevor, why don’t we just call Hank’s friend who works on tractors and we can get this thing fixed.”
“Because I need it fixed now, Wade. Not in a week. Right the fuck now.”
He held up his hands and took a few steps back.
“Okay, I surrender. But while you’re throwing a hissy fit, you want to tell me the real reason you’re in a piss mood today? Hell, you’ve been in one for the last week.”
Walking away from the tractor, I took in a few deep breaths and tried to cool off. I was pissed and it had nothing to do with the damn tractor.
“I haven’t seen Scarlett in a week. I stopped by her house last night without calling, and she was sitting on her porch talking to that fucker.”
Wade folded his arms over his chest.
“That’s the code word for Eric, right?”
“Yes, there are many code words for Eric. Fucker, douchebag, dickhead, bastard. I could keep going.”
“So, did you stop?”
“I pulled into her driveway and stopped the truck. Scarlett came up and said she and Eric were catching up. Turns out he’s stopped by her house a few times, but she didn’t tell me.”
“Was she supposed to tell you?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “No, I guess not.”
“You know there is nothing going on there, right?”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I nodded. “I know, Wade. It doesn’t erase the fact that I’m no closer with Scarlett now than I was a month ago. She’s still keeping me at arm’s length and when I go for long stretches like this, it just…”
“It just what?”
“I don’t know what it does, dude. I’m trying to give her space and time, but I don’t want her to think I don’t care, so I call each day and the last two days I’ve gotten her voicemail. She texts back, but it feels distant. Then seeing her with him… I guess I’m jealous she has time to sit on the front porch and drink tea with him, but she can’t take a call from me. Christ, I sound like a pussy.”
Wade slapped me on the back. “You’ve been working way too much.”
“There’s a lot to do. I mean, we’ve got to get this place ready for winter, we’ve got the new project Mitchell is working on with the breeding, and hell, whatever else we got going on.”
“Didn’t you say one of your friends from high school was having a party this afternoon? Maybe that’s what you need, a day at the river just hanging out with some friends.”
“Yeah, maybe. You want to come?”
He laughed. “Are you kidding me? I’ve got to meet with Steed to go over the books from last quarter. I’ve got some marketing ideas for the breeding program and I wanted to see what he thought about it. Hopefully it will fit into the budget for next spring.”
“Do y’all need me there?”
“No, Trevor, take a damn Friday off. You finally quit working at Cord’s Place and all you’ve done is work your ass even harder on the ranch, if that’s at all possible.”
“Busy is good for our business. You know that.”
He slapped the side of my arm. “Why don’t you call Scarlett? See if she wants to go and just relax. Have some fun. Lord knows once the baby comes y’all won’t have the opportunity to be going to river parties.”
I smiled. “Hey, speaking of baby, how is Amelia? Y’all didn’t come to the family dinner last weekend.”
“She’s doing great. She had a draft of her book she wanted to finish. The plan is for her to try and get a few books ahead, so when the baby comes she can just concentrate on being a mommy.”
“That’s awesome. She feeling okay?”
Wade laughed. “Oh yeah, she’s feeling more than okay. Is Scarlett feeling a little more…frisky? When they say pregnant women get more…you know…they aren’t lying.”
I frowned. “What?”
He shrugged, trying to blow off what he had just brought up. “Nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Wait, are you trying to say your wife is horny because she’s pregnant? First off, gross that’s my sister, and second, is that really something that happens?”
“From what I’ve read. Haven’t you been reading any books?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not the one married to a writer, dude.”
“For your information, asshole, I picked them up on my own. I wanted to know what all was happening with Amelia and the baby. It’s pretty interesting. Anyway, in one of the books they said a woman is more…you know…horny when they’re pregnant.”
“Well, since Scarlett is keeping me at a distance, I wouldn’t know.”
Wade frowned.
My phone rang and I pulled it out of my back pocket in a hurry, only to see that it was James Larson, my old buddy from high school.