Know Me Well (Wishful 3)

He finished trimming out the last of the windows before washing up at the kitchen sink and changing into the clean t-shirt and shorts in his gym bag, packed for the workout he hadn’t gotten around to that morning. He was already late by the time he slipped into his truck. Running a fresh bead of caulk around all four windows had taken a bit longer than he’d expected. He could’ve put it off until tomorrow, but that part of the job didn’t feel finished without it.

Judd lived about ten miles out from town, in a fixer upper on the banks of Hope Springs. The cedarwood board and batten siding was silvered with age, and the exterior was a testament to a style of architecture that held no characteristics worth preserving, but Liam couldn’t find fault with the location. The sun was sinking low, gilding the little pier with its Adirondack chairs as he pulled up behind Mitch’s truck. He could absolutely understand the appeal of living out here.

The card table was set up on the screened in porch, ceiling fans stirring the humid air, scented with good tobacco—which explained why they were outside.

“Cigar night?” Liam let the screen door slap shut behind him.

Judd’s enormous mutt, Boudreaux, some kind of bloodhound mix, lifted his head and thumped his massive tail.

“I got definitivel

y put on the short list for the position as Chief. Seemed worth celebratin’,” Judd told him around the stogie clamped between his teeth.

Liam bent to scratch Boudreaux between the ears. “Congrats.”

Mitch kicked back in his chair, the green plastic visor denoting him dealer for the night. “Didn’t expect to see you tonight.”

“Got as far as I can with the demolition in the pharmacy until things dry out. Should go quicker now that I’ve opened up the walls. I got a bit delayed by your future cousin-in-law.”

“What’s Norah trying to wrangle you into?”

“Tell you about it in a bit. Is there food?”

“We got bucket o’cluck and beer in the kitchen,” Judd told him. “Might even be some cole slaw and mashed potatoes left, if Reuben didn’t wipe them out.”

Reuben snorted. “I got access to good cole slaw from my mama. You think I’m gonna waste my time with take out?”

Liam grabbed a beer from the fridge, nabbed the last of the fried chicken and potatoes, and took his place at the table.

“Want me to deal you in?” Mitch asked.

“Next hand. What do you know about Norah’s Grand Plan for the historic restoration of downtown?”

Mitch dealt the flop. “Like all Norah’s schemes, it’s big. She and her intern Cecily have been working on grants to help fund various and sundry projects. I’ve helped with that some, giving them estimates of labor and materials and the kind of scope they’ll be looking at once they actually get into things.”

The others tossed in their chips.

“She wants to pitch me as the man for the job.”

Mitch arched his brows as he dealt the next card. “Yeah? I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s actually pretty brilliant.”

“You think?”

Judd examined the turn, burned two cards, and took two more into his hand before seeing the bet. “Seems like a good fit. Even when we were kids you were always more into fixing the old instead of buying new.”

He’d learned that from his father.

Mitch burned a card of his own. “You’ve got the skillset. You like the work. And you’ve got the added bonus of war hero giving back to his community, which will push some of the more resistant over to her side.”

“I’m hardly a hero.”

“Pretty sure the Marines in your unit would disagree.” Reuben met the bet and waited as Mitch turned over the river.

Judd swore and folded. “You think it’s the kind of work you want to do?”

Liam had been mulling that since Norah left him. “I spent a lot of years destroying things in the military. The idea of bringing something back is pretty damned appealing.”

“Plus, running a crew would maybe give you some of that sense of working with a team again.” Reuben laid down his cards. “Queen high flush. You’re used to leading men and organizing things. You’d be good at it.”