Page 57 of A Dream for Daphne

“We’re dating,” he said firmly.

Mac put his hands up. “Hey, I was just kidding. I had no idea. I’m glad to hear it. She seems like a nice person.”

“She is,” he said. “She’s great.”

“She has the patience of a saint with that little girl. She’ll need it with you too. Half the time you’re a kid yourself.”

“I’ve been told that enough,” he said. By his mother.

Which just reminded him he should call and let her know that he was dating Daphne too.

And since when did he feel the need to let everyone know about his personal life so quickly?

“Are you working with us today or just standing around looking like that boss?”

“Working,” he said. “I’m going to drive the big guns today.”

“Travis will be upset,” Mac said. “He thought for sure he’d get to dig up the property.”

“He gets to play with my toys more than enough when I’m not around.”

“Speaking of when you’re not around,” Mac said. “Dylan said he knows a few friends who are looking for summer work if you’re hiring. I know you’ve got a lot going on. You’ll have to split the crew to do it.”

“Yeah,” he said. “You or I should be here at all times. It’s just too big of a project for us not to be. I think Travis can take on a few things on his own now. He’s been a good worker for years.”

“I agree,” Mac said. “If you get him set up and started and check in on him with a few guys, he’ll be good.”

“I’ll go talk to Dylan now and see if he can get the guys to come out today to meet.”

“You’re doing an interview like that?” Mac asked, laughing.

“I don’t have time to set up a formal one. Might as well get them here to see what it’s about, how hard the work is and what they will look like at the end of the day. Best to know going in before I waste my time and training them to last a week.”

Some people weren’t cut out for it even though they tried to say they were.

Long days full of miserable weather, sweat, body aches, and dirt.

It wasn’t always so much fun to drive the equipment.

Equipment that cost a shit ton that he was still making payments on and let very few touch.

“True,” Mac said. “All these guys hear the money you’re paying and not much else. It does my heart good to know that I can run circles around half of them.”

He laughed. “It’s a new generation of workers,” he said. “Harder to get them, but when you find one that wants to do it, they are all in.”

“Just like you and me,” Mac said, slapping his arm. “Not the most glamorous job out there, but a hell of a lot of fun and a great way to work off frustration.”

“My father used to say that,” he said. “All the time. Said there was nothing better to blow off steam than to start manually digging or tossing rocks and pavers around.”

“Kurt was good that way,” Mac said. “Always knew when your father was having a bad day. He’d be in the barn rearranging things for no reason, just to have an excuse to burn off some energy.”

He remembered days like that too and his father would always say that he liked things in order and wanted them changed.

But Mac was right. Thinking back, his father always did that after he knew his parents might be fighting. Or that they didn’t get a big job or the rain wouldn’t stop and they were low on money because they couldn’t finish a job.

Funny how he never realized that before.

All the stresses his father had that were now on Abe’s shoulders.

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