Page 28 of The Earl’s Wrangler (Cowboy Nobility #3)

AN AMAZING week later, Randall was still next to him when Sawyer woke.

They’d spent a lot of that week together in bed as well as exploring almost every section of the estate and the village.

Sawyer had met a ton of people, and the last time he and Randall went to the village, folks stopped to speak to him as well as Randall.

It was nice, and almost made him feel like he might belong here.

Not that Sawyer had any illusions about who he was and where he belonged.

He slipped out from under the covers and spent a few seconds watching Randall sleep.

It seemed like the only time when he wasn’t worried about something, his face relaxed, without the lines around his mouth and eyes.

Sawyer leaned over the bed and gently kissed him before going to the bathroom, where he used the facilities, dressed, and then left their rooms. He took the stairs to the main floor before going right outside.

It was still early, and more than anything, he wanted to go for a ride the way he and Randall had a few mornings, but he was on a mission of sorts, and he strode into the village and headed right for the pub, hoping they served breakfast.

They did, and he ordered something called a fry-up. What he got was an interesting combination of items, including beans, which he wolfed down.

“I take it you liked the food.”

“Are you kidding? It was a cowboy breakfast with tomato.” He grinned and finished his coffee before making inquiries about where he could find some of the people on Randall’s list. Then he paid the bill and thanked the proprietor before heading off to knock on the first door, where they had a leaky roof.

“Morning,” he said when they answered. “I’m Sawyer, and I wanted to look at your roof, if I may.” He offered his hand, and the man shook it warily.

“Travis Manners.” The man, in his late sixties or so, seemed shocked. “You’re his Lordship’s friend.”

“Yes, and I have experience with roofs and such, so I thought I’d come by and try to help. Show me where it’s leaking, and I’ll take a look for you.”

The man nodded and showed him inside, through the neat-as-a-pin house and back to the kitchen, where a room had been added on many decades earlier.

“I see. It’s probably where the addition and the main roof meet. Is it okay if I go up and have a look?”

“I have a ladder,” Travis told him. He took Sawyer out to what he called the back garden, where he showed Sawyer the ladder and then watched as he raised it to the roof and climbed up.

The issue was not hard to spot. The roof was slate, something he had never seen before, but the principle was the same, and he spotted the issue pretty quickly before getting back down.

“The slates have shifted, probably in a storm with high wind, and they’re letting some water in.

I should be able to take up three or four of them and relay them again.

Once I finish, the hole should be gone and the leak should stop.

With this type of roof, I don’t want to do anything more than I have to.

It’s been up there for many years, and the less fiddling done, the better. ”

“Oh, thank you. I’d get up there and try to fix it myself, but me leg doesn’t work like it used to.”

Sawyer smiled. “It’s no problem. Is there a hardware store in the village?” He wasn’t sure where to buy the supplies.

“No, but Carey’s sells a little of everything. They might have what yer looking for.” He pointed, and Sawyer hurried off in that direction. He entered the old store, and after what the man behind the counter called a good rummage, he found what he needed.

“You’re the earl’s friend,” the man said, his gaze narrowing. “Don’t know if I like the thought of you and him.”

Sawyer shrugged. “Then don’t think about it.”

“You fixing something?”

“Mr. Manners’s roof,” Sawyer said warily.

“He sent a note to Randall, and I was up early this morning, so I thought I’d help out.

” He paid and took what he’d purchased before hurrying back to the Manners cottage and climbing the ladder.

It didn’t take him but a few minutes to gently remove the slates and put them back into their proper place, sliding them under the ones above.

He used a little adhesive to make sure they stayed and then surveyed his handiwork. It looked good, and he climbed down.

“There you are. It should be fixed, but you let me know after the next rain if it leaks again. Okay?” He doffed his hat with a smile. “I also put the ladder back where you had it.”

Travis shook his hand and was all smiles. “Thank you. I was going to have to go up there, and Martha—she’s visiting her sister in Manchester for a few days—she gets mad if I do things like that. Can I get you a cup of tea?”

“That would be nice,” Sawyer said and sat at the kitchen table while he made the tea. He drank a cup, and after getting his ear talked off as he did, Sawyer said goodbye and gathered the leftover materials before heading to the next place on his list.

“HEY, COWBOY, you need a lift?” Randall said with the window down. “I hear you’ve been making the rounds already this morning.”

Sawyer got in and pulled the door closed.

“I fixed the Manners’s roof and stopped a flood in the Cooks’ kitchen.

These people take great pride in their homes, but they are in need of a lot of work.

And it isn’t just repairs. You need to make a full assessment of all the real estate you own and then, year by year, renovate these properties.

I know a lot of them are historic and all, but they need new roofs, new plumbing and electrical.

I’d say do three or four a year. It will take some time, but these systems are coming to the end of their lives, and they need a lot of work.

” Sawyer had done some patches, but more systemic changes were needed to take care of the root of the issues.

“That’s sort of what I figured. If my father didn’t help them out, that means they’ve been limping along for a lot longer than they should have.”

“Okay. Then put together a plan to make the changes that need to be made.”

Randall nodded. “I can see that’s what I’ll have to figure out.” He pulled off to the side of the road. “Did you get something to eat?”

“At the pub, yeah. These are really nice people. But there is one thing. I think I had too many cups of tea. Everyone I talked with offered me one, and I didn’t know how to turn them down.”

Randall laughed. “Okay, I get that. It’s the British thing to do.

If someone comes to your door, you offer tea.

If they help you out, you offer tea. If you inquire about their health and they want to chat, they offer tea.

It’s their way of being friendly. I have had more cups of tea in my lifetime than you can imagine.

And I’ve found that the only way to say no is to have something pressing that you have to get to.

Don’t be specific, but gentle and caring, but you have a previous engagement that you must attend. ”

“I see. Though I suppose that will work for you. Everyone around here seems to think that you’re very busy and have a lot of things to see to.

I’m just a cowboy, so that really isn’t going to work.

” If he stayed here for any length of time, he was going to have to get used to drinking a lot of tea. That was all there was to it.

“Your Lordship,” someone called from behind them. Sawyer turned and got out of the car as Randall did the same. The man huffed as he caught up with them. “I’m sorry to disturb you.”

“Mr. Cook. Is everything okay? Did the kitchen flood again?” Sawyer certainly hoped not. He’d spent enough time crawling around on their kitchen floor already, and he could have sworn he’d found the issue.

“No. It’s good. Thank you.” He took a few more deep breaths and then pressed a plate into Sawyer’s hands. “Mrs. Cook just took some ginger scones out of the oven, and she asked me to bring them to you.”

“Are these for me?” Sawyer asked. He inhaled and groaned. “You tell Mrs. Cook that they smell amazing, and that I will share them with Randall if he asks nicely. Otherwise I’ll eat them all myself. Do you need a ride back home?” Mr. Cook really seemed stressed.

He seemed completely shocked, his eyes wide. “No. I don’t want to put his Lordship out, but we wanted to say thank you for all your help.” He turned and walked back more slowly down the road.

“We should go,” Randall said.

Sawyer shook his head. “Give it a minute. Laticia told me that he smokes more than he should and has a touch of COPD. I just want to make sure he gets back okay.” Sawyer took a bite of scone and passed one to Randall.

“You know, if you ever decide to go with that ‘tea with an earl’ idea, you need her to make the scones for it.”

Randall scoffed and then covered his mouth with his hand. Once he finished the scone, they got back in the car.

“WHAT IS this?” Sawyer asked as they pulled into a parking lot. Randall called it a car park.

“This is what used to be the stables,” Randall told him.

Sawyer whistled. “You have to be kidding me. The horses lived in fancier accommodations than the people in the village.” The building was brick with beams, and even the old stable doors were fancy and well built. Heck, the thing even had a clock tower.

“It was built at the height of the Victorian era when the country was booming, there was no income tax, and estates like this made money hand over fist. If you owned the land at that time, it was a license to print money. You controlled the food, the access to the woods, you got rent from the villages where many of the people who worked for you lived, and on top of that, the farmers paid you rent to farm your land. So in addition to all the fine art and furnishings in the house, the estate had some of the finest horses in this area of the country.”

“Is that the gift shop?” Sawyer asked, pointing to where people were going inside.