Dylan reached him first and had him in a headlock. Boomer gave a few faux jabs to Teo’s gut. A split second later, Dylan was flying through the air, landing on his ass in the dirt.
Boomer helped him up and they shared a laugh. Dylan dusted off his jeans and turned back to the remnants of the shed.
“I still think you outta let me blow it up,” Boomer said.
“We’ll still have to pick up the pieces,” Teo replied.
“True.”
They took a sledge hammer to the walls and piled debris in the back of Teo’s truck.
“Termites did a number on this place,” Dylan said as a board crumbled in his hands.
“No kidding. Termite bait traps are definitely on my list,” Teo agreed.
Boomer took a deep breath of the cool autumn air and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It’d been well over a decade since he’d lived in a place long enough to worry about something like termites.
What would it be like to put down roots? To stay in one spot? To go to the same grocery store or become a regular at a restaurant?
Once, that’d been the dream.
Dreams didn’t always come true, no matter how many stars you wished on.
His chest tightened as he remembered laying in the park with Samuel, staring up at the stars. His little boy had had a limitless imagination, just like his daddy. But that was ancient history. Better left buried.
Moving on was the right choice. If he kept moving, kept busy, he could forget Sabrina. Eventually.
Teo waved a hand in front of Boomer’s face. “Where’d you go?”
Boomer lifted a shoulder. “Just thinking.”
“You had lunch?”
“Not yet.” And his stomach was reminding him of that fact with a ferocious snarl.
“Let's stop by the house. Jill made an amazing lasagna,” Teo said with the smile of a man in love.
Boomer'd been around the love birds long enough to see the stars in their eyes. Between Teo and Dylan, the bachelors in his circle were dwindling. His parents reminded him of his age about once a month but after Samuel, they hadn't been after him to supply them with grandbabies.
Thank goodness his sister had gotten busy in that department. Triplets. Who'd have thought?
He couldn't wait to be an uncle.
Did Sabrina want kids?
Where the hell had that thought come from?
What she wanted wasn’t his concern. It’d been over a week since she’d high tailed it out of his rig. She needed to stay out of it if he was going to keep his sanity.
When he headed to New Orleans he was going to do a deep clean of the place. Top to bottom. Maybe he’d invest in air freshener or one of those air purifier things.
That wouldn’t stop him from seeing her in his bed or leaning against the kitchen counter as if she belonged there.
Screw it.
He’d just buy a new rig.
No. What she thought of kids didn’t matter.
Even as he thought it, he imagined a little boy running through this field with her gorgeous blue eyes.
He reached up and rubbed the thick wall of muscle and told his heart to buck up. He’d done that before. The family thing. Home life. Sweet little boys who looked at him with worshiping eyes and giggled uncontrollably.
The pain was still sharp enough to double him over if he let it.
Boomer swallowed at the lump in his throat and glanced up at the thick branches of the massive old oak tree. He wasn’t going to let the pain get to him. He wasn’t going to let Sabrina under his skin.
This was why he was here. Good, hard, manual labor to clear everything from his mind. Too bad it didn’t seem to be working. Maybe Dylan and Teo would talk enough during lunch to keep his mind from wandering.
“Sounds great.”
“You alright? You’re looking a little green?”
“I’m fine. Let’s eat.”
“I'm gonna be a blimp soon. That woman can cook,” Teo said, starting for the wretched fence. The sleek and highly trained dog hopped up from his spot at the base of the tree and trotted along next to them without being asked. “I'm starving.”
Boomer'd just bet he was. And probably not for food either. Who could blame the man though? Jill Moore was friendly, a great cook and easy on the eyes.
Teo rolled his shoulders and then slipped through the blasted barbed wire fence. The dog did a belly crawl and popped up on the other side, obviously waiting for further instructions from his master. Boomer envied Teo's ability to make it through the fence unscathed.
He put his hand on the hip high fence post and gave it a little push. He half expected it to crumble like the boards in the shed. The wood held firm and he figured it was safe to hop over. On the other hand, he wasn't as young as he used to be, and things could go terribly wrong for his ass. Or his nuts.
Boomer gulped.
At least he had his tetanus shot.
A squawk filled the air and he saw a flurry of dark feathers from the corner of his eye. Muscles coiled, he sucked in a breath and launched himself over the fence. As his feet crunched the leaves on the other side, a wave of relief washed through him.
But his relief was short lived as Elvis ducked beneath the bottom wire and aimed his talons at Boomer’s shins. “Damn—”
He leapt backward and tripped in the culvert. Arms flailing, his boots got purchase on the uneven ground.
“Get,” Teo thundered and took a menacing step toward the bird, stopping the rooster in his tracks.
The bird stopped and gave Teo’s big black boot a second look before shaking its head.
“That fucker's starting to look tasty,” Boomer said, giving the chicken a hard look. Meanwhile, Dylan laughed his ass off.
Elvis stretched his neck and puffed out his chest as he crowed.
“Back at ya.”
The menace pecked at Teo’s boot before turning and tucking tail. The brilliantly colored feathers seemed to shimmy with disdain as the
