Page 52 of Traces Of You

“I heard Clay is getting ready to open that barn up soon,” Zeke Roberts said. He owned a shop downtown. Anything that brought more tourism to the area was good for everyone.

“In a few weeks,” he said. “Got a couple of weddings scheduled too.”

They’d all be helping to see how it worked.

Clay had no clue what the hell he was doing running a wedding venue, but Gale thought it’d be great and she got recruited to put her touch on it with his mother.

Maybe Reenie wouldn’t mind helping too.

Like he told Clay, the busier she was, the steadier she’d be.

Or maybe that was his mentality.

At the end of the day, he showed up at Clay’s for the call. He wouldn’t let his brother just relay the information.

“You just want to go see Reenie when you’re done,” Clay said.

“I do. I told her I’d be stopping over a little after seven. She went to the store today. I want to see how she felt doing that.”

“I know where she went and when she returned. I can see it on my phone.”

“Can you put that security system on my phone?” he asked.

“Do you really want your phone going off with my security system? You’ve got a job to do and don’t need to be distracted with that. Or don’t you trust me?”

He wanted to wipe the smirk off of Clay’s face. “It’s not a matter of trust. She’s my responsibility.”

“That’s your problem,” Clay said. “And why you won’t get anywhere with her either if you keep thinking along those lines.”

“Who says I’m trying to get anywhere?”

“Don’t be a dick, Ford. Everyone in the family can see it.”

He wondered if Reenie could. And if she thought that was the only reason he was helping her.

It wasn’t.

He sat on the couch while Clay brought his laptop out and made the call.

A minute later a guy popped up on the screen that looked a lot like his brother. The short hair, broad shoulders, grim expression, and crossed arms shouted military miles away.

Clay was almost mimicking the stance now.

“Hey, Grady. Thanks for looking into this for me,” Clay said.

Ford moved closer to be in the screen. “Thanks,” he said. “I’m sure Clay told you it was for me.”

“He told me bits and pieces. Enough of what I needed to know,” Grady said.

Which meant that you only shared so much so the rest didn’t bite you in the ass if you didn’t have the knowledge. He knew how that worked.

“What did you find out?” he asked.

His brother turned to sneer at him as if he shouldn’t ask the damn question.

“Randy Frontage is a low level drug dealer. Does some smuggling when asked, but mainly deals in and out of businesses.”

“What does that have to do with Oliver?”