Page 22 of Unbar the Barred
“Yep, he’s movin’ in with his daughter after a fall left him with a dodgy hip. Think it’s just gone on the market. You're acquainted with Granger, maybe there’s a deal to be struck there. Ya know, if someone was looking to set up a home that had land for their little chick. Also, maybe it’s time to get someone to do some of the bar work to free up your time in the evenin’s.”
“Is that right?”
Kendrick chuckled. “It is. Way I see it, you could take a trip out there and have a look for yourself before it gets busy. And say I put out some feelers to see if anyone is lookin’ for some bar work?”
Trey shook his head even as he grinned, his mind racing at all the potentials. “Don’t suppose it would hurt.”
Chapter Twelve
Cassidy
Cassidy sat on his porch swing, his booted foot rested on the porch railing for leverage as he swung back and forth. This time of the day was his favorite, when he could sit and watch the sun dip behind the rugged mountains, leaving an array of oranges painting the sky and the peaks as the sounds on the ranch serenaded him.
Several of his chicks sat on his lap and Bubba sat on a cushion next to him, lying on his back with his little legs pointed skyward. Luna sat on his rounded belly. The evening was pretty perfect if Cassidy didn’t think about what, or rather who, was missing.
He didn’t sigh at the misfortune of having a mate who owned a bar, cause it was how they had met. Mated for a whole three weeks and Cassidy already hated the empty feeling that came when he was away from Trey. When he didn’t wake up with Trey playing starfish over the top of him, his day didn’t start right. Trey’s insistence that he not spend his evenings at the bar stung despite the genuine concern he felt coming from Trey for his wellbeing.
This time a sigh escaped, and Lila clucked at him.
He stroked a gentle finger down her back. “I’m fine.”
She clucked again and gave him a nip, making him chuckle at how she told him off. “Alright, I’m not. But I can’t see no ways to change it.”
His gaze strayed back to the sky as he rocked gently, hoping to ease a little of the tension that came from the separation from Trey. In the daytime, when he was working, things weren’t as noticeable. The ache was manageable, but when he had nothing else to occupy his time, the loss he felt at not being able to see or touch Trey became a ball of dread in his stomach. It was so bad that he’d gotten sick in the mornings these past few days.
He wanted to shake off the worry that what he was feeling would get worse with each day he kept his thoughts to himself, for fear of chasing off his mate with clingy behavior. It didn’t matter he was no longer heading into the bar at night, Cassidy was sleeping for shit and struggled to wake up for work. To find the energy to do what they needed him to do on the ranch. So much so Ethan had taken him aside to have a word about it.
He had said nothing to Trey, but he suspected his mate hadn’t missed that there was a problem when he was the one to stop Cassidy coming into the bar at night.
Fuck, he missed him. Seeing him for an hour or two in the day was not the same. The last few days, he’d hardly seen Trey at all.
Is he growing tired of me already?
What nonsense. Are you listening to yourself? Trey is our mate.
Yes, he is, but he’s distracted.
He’s a busy wolf. That doesn't mean that he’s fed up with us. And can I just say this isn’t like you.
I don’t feel like myself.
It’s the pups, that’s all.
Cassidy got distracted at the plume of dust coming up the dirt road leading to the cabins when he recognized Trey’s truck. His mood instantly improved as he kept swaying, Bubba having squealed when he stopped. “You’re spoiled, ya know that?”
Bubba ignored him to settle against his cushion.
His smile was wide and welcoming when Trey came to a stop and got out of his truck, looking sexy in a band T-shirt tucked in his Wranglers. His belt buckle glinted as he strode towards Cassidy, looking like someone who had come with a purpose. An odd tension radiated from him.
Ruffled dark hair framed the attractive face that never failed to make Cassidy’s heart skip a beat, but it wasn’t the only thing making his pulse increase. Trey ran a shaking hand through his hair.
When his gaze swept over Cassidy, he came up the steps, grinning. “What’s this? Ya havin’ a party and didn’t invite me?”
“I was feelin’ lonesome,” Cassidy admitted in a moment of weakness. “My girls and Bubba were happy to come keep me company on such a nice night.”
Cassidy didn’t miss the pause as Trey came to sit on the other side of Bubba, who gave a disgruntled squeal at the disturbed sway of the seat. “I can see that.” His gaze when to Lilly and his brows arched. “Is your chick wearin’ a knitted top?”
The blush washed over his cheeks as he met Trey’s gaze. “My girls like to feel pretty.”
