Page 3 of Red, White and You

Stalking out of city hall, I grumble swear words under my breath that I wouldn’t dare to mutter out loud around the mayor. She’s driving me crazy and I can’t quite figure out whether she’s playing me or not. Can’t decide whether she’s the hold-up with my sale or not.

I just want to get started and the constant waiting is driving me nuts. I’ve got the pump to start pulling the water out of the area that I want to search. I’ve got the area set up that I want to move the water to. The only thing I don’t have is that precious paper telling me that the land is mine. And I absolutely cannot start work until it’s official. I don’t want to give anyone the chance to figure out what I am doing.

And I need to make sure that no-one knows what I’m doing until I find out if the papers that I found are real.

The map is pretty damn specific. If it’s real, I can find it. But the big question is is it real? I don’t know. I mean, there’s been stuff found that talks about it so I don’t know. I don’t even know what the supposed “treasure” is.

But the curiosity is killing me. I am not a patient man and I’m dying to know what the hell the treasure is. For all I know it’s gone. Or it never existed. But I want to know for sure.

I head back to Wildwood Construction’s offices and smile when I see my boss’s wife outside, kissing him good-bye and handing him a lunch box. Which he doesn’t need because half the time we get something from a pizza place or something but the man loves the fact that she takes the time to take care of him and he refuses to eat whatever the hell we buy. He’d rather have a cold sandwich than roast beef and gravy from the diner. Chips rather than a big salad.

“Hey, Jameson…Fern! How are you today?”

Fern smiles at me and pats Jameson’s cheek before she turns to give me a hug, giggling when he growls behind us.

“Take it down, beast. It’s just a hug. Besides that, Tony here is in love with our lovely mayor.”

“No, I’m not.” I totally am. But it’s stupid and there’s no way in hell she’s into me. She’s at least ten years younger than me and she takes my head off every time she sees me. Doesn’t matter if I see a remnant of heat in her gorgeous eyes, she doesn’t want to want me.

Fern snorts. “Yeah, okay. You keep telling yourself that. Every guy that works here finds his one and I think you’ve already found yours. Can’t wait to see how this one turns out!” She throws her head back, laughing. She pats me on the head like I’m a little puppy and grins cheekily at us before she takes off, throwing a little wave over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling at her husband. “I’ll see you later, baby.”

I glare at Jameson. “Your wife is off her rocker!”

He just laughs. “She’s never wrong, my friend. Now let’s get down to business. I need you to work with Heath today. He’s gonna be doing some demo on the new job that we got in town.”

“Sure.” I grin at the big, surly guy next to me. He’s been with Jameson for a long time and rarely says more than a grunt. I’ve seen him with his little girl and it’s like a whole different guy but for the most part, he says as little as humanly possible.

As per usual, he just grunts and glares at me.

I shrug and smirk at my boss. “Good thing I can carry the conversation because this guy doesn’t say shit.”

“Don’t need to talk,” Heath grunts and stalks off to gather up what we need and pack it in the small trailer that we’ll hauling after one of the company trucks to make sure that we have everything we need.

I glare at Jameson’s smiling face. “Does that guy ever talk?”

“He’s got a lot of things he’s had to deal with. His wife’s loss being a part of that surly attitude so how bout you cut him a break.

Shame washes over me and I wince. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that his wife died.”

“Yeah. He’s not had an easy time of it the last few years being a single dad to a little girl.”

“I can imagine.” I study the big, hulking guy with his wild curls peeking out of a dirty ball cap.

“What is this job?” I ask. But right then Heath hollers over to me.

“Hey! You gonna talk all day or what?”

I roll my eyes at Jameson and he grins. “Have fun!”

“Right. I’m sure I will.”

We hop in the truck and Heath growls. “Seat belt.”

I shake my head. “I actually know how to work one, big guy!”

He doesn’t say a word, just pulls out of the lot and heads us towards downtown. I don’t say a word.

But my brain won’t quit working no matter what I do. I need to get that damn contract straightened out so I can start what I need to see if that damn letter is real or not.

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