Cowboy Baby Daddy

Chapter 36

Alex

It was a long Wednesday. I had started work on a new fence. It wasn’t something I’d be able to finish in a day or two, but we’d need the bigger fence for our expansion plan. Carl was also working on some repairs to the stable.

That was another thing we’d need to expand. Carl kept saying that we could save money by building a lot of things ourselves. He was right. I hadn’t worked construction my entire life without learning how to put up a building or two, and a stable was a lot simpler than some huge-ass mall.

The thing was, it wasn’t the work that made the day long. If anything, I loved how working with my hands could clear my mind and push all the stress away. There wasn’t enough of that during the day, though. If anything, I needed more work.

The problem was my mind and how it kept going back to Aspyn’s angry face. Money had never been something I cared all that much about. For most of my life, I’d just tried to get through the day. Even after the settlement money came in, if anything, I’d been a bit embarrassed, and I was glad when Carl stopped asking about it.

I chuckled as I measured the distance for a new fence post. The only thing that had stuck in the back of my mind over the years was that I might need some money in the future to help support any kids I might have. Even though I never thought I’d have one in quite the way I did, there was that lingering concern. About the last thing I wanted to be was a deadbeat dad.

Now, I had a kid and tons of money, but my kid’s mom didn’t want the money. How fucking ironic was that?

I realized I’d been lucky as well. My nightmares hadn’t returned, but I knew without Aspyn’s love, it wouldn’t be long until they came back.

After finishing my measurement, I muttered, grabbed my post holer, and jabbed it into the ground.

The whole situation was bullshit, but I had no idea how I could begin to fix it. I’d thought everything was going great, and then I’d been sucker-punched for being too successful.

I pulled the handles apart on the holer with a grunt, spreading the hard dirt. Snickering, I grabbed my last remaining wooden pole and stuck it into the newly made hole. I grabbed my mallet and hammered in the fence post.

A soft wind blew past my cheek, and I turned around. The sun was already dipping below the horizon, so there wasn’t much point in picking up a new batch of fence posts. I’d gotten a great start at least.

I wiped my brow, gathered my tools, and headed over to my truck. The great thing about building something was you had a nice, real thing in front of you that you could point to as evidence of your work. I could never understand how office people got through the day. I’d last about two days before losing it.

Still, building the fence was some tedious ass work, and I wondered if it’d be so bad if we hired someone. I could afford it. Investing in a ranch that I was now a co-owner of wouldn’t be weird or stupid.

Carl and I had discussed some of this, but he was worried about me spending too much of my money on things we could do ourselves. I wasn’t sure if it was his manly pride talking or if he had the right idea.

After all, he’d come from the family of ranchers, and even if he were distracted a little by Perri, he still knew what he was doing. It’s not like I’d run any sort of business before.

Maybe I was already thinking too much like a rich man. Was that what Aspyn was so afraid of? That I wouldn’t be able to understand someone like her? That I’d forget my roots?

I tossed my tools into the bed of my pickup, still lost in thought about Aspyn.

I’d tried calling her several times on Tuesday, but she never answered. So I tried calling her at work, but when I called town hall, Perri admitted she’d not shown up to work, claiming to be sick.

It was obvious from Perri’s tone that she didn’t buy that. I didn’t have to be some master psychologist to figure out that Aspyn was going out of her way to hide from me, so I hadn’t bothered to try and call her again either on her phone or at work since Tuesday.

With a grunt, I opened the door and slid into the truck. I began to suspect I’d never understand women, even if I lived to be a 100.

Just as my hand moved toward the key, my phone rang. It was Carl.

“Yeah?” I answered.

“Everything go okay out there, bro?”

“I got the whole batch of fence posts in. Good start. Once you finish on that stable, we can really get going on this thing.”

“That’s great. I should be finished tomorrow.” He cleared his throat but didn’t say anything else.

“You got something else you need to tell me?”

“Perri gave me a call just now.”

“And?”