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He loved his brothers and his dad, but he didn’t feel the pull Knox did for his family. He was quite happy with their family chat and the individual texts he had with his siblings, and the calls he shared with his father. They all got along fine, but Ford was enjoying this new adventure.

Spending almost a decade in the army had changed the family dynamic and given Ford another kind of family.

He didn’t fit in with his family’s vision for the company, and that was fine. They’d all been happy to include him, but he didn’t fit within the corporate construction vision. He hadn’t found his own place or a job that made him happy.

Here he did. Weird, but true.

The best part was, not only would his family understand, they’d be happy for him. There were all kinds of families. He figured he’d found another his own here.

Now, he couldn’t screw it up.

Chapter6

Phailed Plans

Aweek later, Ford headed to the third barn for the equipment he would need. This barn was shaping up to be his workshop and the property’s fix-it center.

It wasn’t as large as the other two barns, but it was more square footage than any workshop Ford had ever seen. He hadn’t been able to make his way to the back or up to the hayloft yet because he couldn’t take two steps without finding something interesting and distracting.

The space was completely disorganized and cluttered. It appeared the previous owners had looked at it as a catch-all building. Everything they didn’t know what to do with had landed in this barn. It was fantastic.

It would take months to go through the place and organize it properly. He’d never had a space he could design to his own specifications, and he couldn’t wait to dig in after he’d settled on a plan for how the space should look.

He was already grinning when he opened the door to his own personal Play Land. Every time he entered, it was an effort to remember his tasks.

Today, he needed bungee cords and a red cloth for a trip to town with Jolie. Knowing Jolie was part of the day’s task made it far easier to keep his mind on track.

The more time they spent together, the more he liked her. And he’d started out with a whole lot of like. His mission to keep his mind off her was failing. Badly.

Today, they were heading into town and he had to talk himself down from seeing it as a date.

The thought of Jolie waiting for him up at the farmhouse meant he didn’t loiter in the barn, although he managed a few ideas about good spots in here for sneaking a kiss or two.

Dumbass.

Finding the bungee cords was easy. They were wrapped around boards of various sizes, keeping them organized and untangled. Finding a red cloth wasn’t as difficult as he’d imagined. There was an old crate full of rags. A bunch of red ones proved the previous owner had probably used them as flags for items overhanging their trucks as well.

Satisfied, he headed back through the orchard, stopping to greet Fox on the way.

At the farmhouse, he found Jolie had put two coolers on his tailgate. He set the cords and red flag into the tool box installed in the truck’s bed and settled the coolers on the edges.

Jolie exited the farmhouse with a small crate filled with cloth bags. He took them from her and added it to the collection.

Knox followed his sister down the steps and to the truck. He held two large buckets with lids. “Seeing as you’re going to see Ginny anyway, can you bring these and exchange them for the ones she has?”

Ford nodded. “Sure. What’s in them?”

“These are empty. The ones Ginny will give you are full of coffee grounds and other scraps for the Worminator. Thea met with Ginny and Manuel, and they worked out a system. We pick the buckets up on a weekly basis and return clean ones to them for the next week.”

Ford was amazed how tied into the nearby community his buddy already was. It surprised him he wanted that for him and Jolie as well. When Knox headed off into the orchard, Ford turned to her. “Ready?”

She grinned. “Definitely. And excited. I still can’t believe the town is named Phail. I’m looking forward to seeing it with my own eyes.”

That made Ford laugh. He’d been the same when he’d learned his army buddy, Troy “Epic” Phail, lived in a town of the same name. They hadn’t served on the same teams overseas, but their teams had worked on multiple missions together. “It’s such a strange name. I’m sure Epic can give us the history if you want to know.”

It didn’t surprise him when she nodded. The woman’s curiosity was boundless. “I’d like to hear about it. I thought it was bad having to spell Malssum a billion times for people to get it right, but I imagine Troy has had a lot more trouble with his surname.”

Ford believed it.