Page 74 of Brett and Rowdy
Of course he would.
That was how he did his fine work and that was how he did his furniture and art, but… How cool would it be if he could use this for part of it? What kind of validity would that give his work?
How could Rowdy be giving him everything he wanted on a silver platter without even trying? How was this real?
Brett wasn’t used to… well, he’d be honest, he wasn’t used to ups and downs. There had been a few in his life, sure, but rarely huge things—good or bad.
Rowdy’s life and the life of everyone caught in his orbit was in a state of a constant big bang.
As if thinking about Rowdy had called to him, his phone beeped, and he glanced down, Rowdy asking,
Where you at?
He just called Rowdy back, rather than text. His hands were trembling too hard to make letters into words. “Hey, I’m at the forge. I didn’t know y’all had a forge. This place is amazing.”
“Oh, yeah? God, I haven’t been down there in forever, but you have fun. Madison told me you took over for Luis. I really appreciate the help.”
“No problem. How is he?”
Rowdy sighed softly. “Old. Frail. Broken sternum. It’s not great.”
“Shit. That sounds a lot like retirement.” Holy crap. That was what happened with horses, though. One moment of inattention, one misjudgment of a horse or mule, and you were down for the count.
And farrier wasn’t usually a job with good health insurance.
“Yeah. I’m talking with his daughter, and then I’ll put the word around with the local ranchers and outfitters. See what we can do about his bills and a little bit of a cushion for him.”
“That’s too cool, honey.”
“No problems with Big Boy for you?”
“No.” He chewed his lower lip. “He wasn’t thrilled, but he stood well for me. I think Luis was worried about how much strength it was going to take to do the job and he made a mistake cross-tying him.”
“Well, shit.”
“Yeah.” Brett cleared his throat, because that was that. “The forge, though.”
“Use anything you want, darlin’.”
“Thanks. I’ll probably see what all I need and then head into town. I’ll fire it up tomorrow, assuming I can clean it up and get it all running safely.”
“I’d love to run into town with you. We can go to my favorite Mexican place.”
Brett chuckled. “Yeah, I was going to get the stuff to make spaghetti and meatballs, but I got distracted.”
“Shit, darlin’, we’ll get the stuff and you can cook for us tomorrow. Rose would be tickled as a pig in shit to have someone cook for her, too.”
“Yeah?” That brightened him right up. “Then I’ll do it. Let me explore and make my list, and then we’ll go eat and shop.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll be here.”
“Good. I love that.” He chuckled as they hung up. He spent about half an hour poking around, pleased to find that someone had kept the bellows in good order and that the vents were all nice and clean.
He could work with this.
Brett made a list of the supplies and some less-basic tools he needed both for art and horseshoeing, and another forty-five minutes later, he and Rowdy were heading into town. Maddie and Rowdy’s dad had just asked for them to bring something back for them.
“Damn, that’s a nice setup you have down there,” Brett said. “I mean, some of my electric tools are really helpful, and my gas forges can be more consistent, but the old-school fire aspect would be great for some art pieces.”
