tossed in several hand towels and a bar of soap before she rushed back out the door.
She stopped on the deck at the sight of the large pickup sitting behind her van, and drew in a shuddering breath. She’d never seen it before, but if it were red instead of dark green, it could have been an identical twin to her late husband’s truck. Billy’s pickup had also worn several layers of mud and road dust and a company emblem on the door, its cargo bed crowded with a diesel fuel tank and large toolbox. Except their emblem had said
Thompson Construction
instead of
MacKeage
.
The pickup had been the first thing she’d sold after Billy had been killed, so her heart would stop lurching every time she’d drive in the yard before she remembered he wasn’t home. But it had been when she’d caught Isabel—who’d only been three at the time—glaring up at the driver’s door with fat tears streaming down her cheeks as she’d shouted to her daddy to come home now that the sheer force of Billy’s death had brought Peg to her knees.
She repositioned the bins on her hip, carefully walked down her rickety old stairs, and ran along the shoreline and up the steep bank to the woods. She came to a stop and took a calming breath when she saw Duncan kneeling beside the deer, hisjacket off and his sleeves rolled up as he expertly dealt with the animal.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said, setting down the equipment and kneeling across from him. She held out her hand. “I can take over now.”
He rolled the already skinned animal over and began butchering it with obvious experience. “Thanks, but I prefer you unarmed.”
Peg ducked her head, figuring he deserved a couple of cheap shots after what she and her kids had done to him. Good Lord, those were
her
claw marks on his neck, and she hadn’t missed that he’d been limping at the wedding. “I’m sorry we attacked you the other day,” she whispered. “And first chance we get, my children will apologize to you, too. They … We’re more civilized than that.”
He sat back on his heels, his steady green eyes darkening with concern. “You also might want to have a talk with them about confronting strange men, because the next guy might actually retaliate.”
Peg felt her cheeks heat again. “Don’t worry; they got the lecture of their lives that night. The card you left in my door mentioned you want to buy gravel,” she said, deciding it was time to change the subject. She gestured toward the pit. “But as you can see, it’s underwater.”
He used the knife to point at the far end of the pit. “Do you own the land to the north? How far back?” he asked when she nodded.
“I have a hundred and eighty-four acres, almost all of it running up that hillside.” She shook her head. “But the horseback runs east to west, and my land stops three hundred yards in the woods to the west of the pit.”
He went back to butchering the deer. “Would you mind if I brought over my excavator tomorrow and dug a few test holes to the north? There’s a good chance that vein of gravel runs up the hillside as well.”
Peg’s heart started pounding with excitement. Oh God, it would be the answer to her prayers if it did. That is, until she remembered she now owned lakefront property. “It doesn’t matter which direction it runs,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “The Land Use Regulatory Commission will never let youexpand the pit because of the fiord.” She snorted and opened the box of freezer bags. “Up until last week, I lived nearly two miles from the lake.”
“Let me deal with LURC and getting the permits,” he said, holding out several steaks and nodding for her to open one of the bags. “I’ll find a way to meet the required setbacks.” He arched a brow. “Assuming we can settle on a price.”
Peg set the steaks in the bin and grabbed another bag, her heart pounding again. “I guess that would depend on how many yards you’re looking to
She stopped on the deck at the sight of the large pickup sitting behind her van, and drew in a shuddering breath. She’d never seen it before, but if it were red instead of dark green, it could have been an identical twin to her late husband’s truck. Billy’s pickup had also worn several layers of mud and road dust and a company emblem on the door, its cargo bed crowded with a diesel fuel tank and large toolbox. Except their emblem had said
Thompson Construction
instead of
MacKeage
.
The pickup had been the first thing she’d sold after Billy had been killed, so her heart would stop lurching every time she’d drive in the yard before she remembered he wasn’t home. But it had been when she’d caught Isabel—who’d only been three at the time—glaring up at the driver’s door with fat tears streaming down her cheeks as she’d shouted to her daddy to come home now that the sheer force of Billy’s death had brought Peg to her knees.
She repositioned the bins on her hip, carefully walked down her rickety old stairs, and ran along the shoreline and up the steep bank to the woods. She came to a stop and took a calming breath when she saw Duncan kneeling beside the deer, hisjacket off and his sleeves rolled up as he expertly dealt with the animal.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said, setting down the equipment and kneeling across from him. She held out her hand. “I can take over now.”
He rolled the already skinned animal over and began butchering it with obvious experience. “Thanks, but I prefer you unarmed.”
Peg ducked her head, figuring he deserved a couple of cheap shots after what she and her kids had done to him. Good Lord, those were
her
claw marks on his neck, and she hadn’t missed that he’d been limping at the wedding. “I’m sorry we attacked you the other day,” she whispered. “And first chance we get, my children will apologize to you, too. They … We’re more civilized than that.”
He sat back on his heels, his steady green eyes darkening with concern. “You also might want to have a talk with them about confronting strange men, because the next guy might actually retaliate.”
Peg felt her cheeks heat again. “Don’t worry; they got the lecture of their lives that night. The card you left in my door mentioned you want to buy gravel,” she said, deciding it was time to change the subject. She gestured toward the pit. “But as you can see, it’s underwater.”
He used the knife to point at the far end of the pit. “Do you own the land to the north? How far back?” he asked when she nodded.
“I have a hundred and eighty-four acres, almost all of it running up that hillside.” She shook her head. “But the horseback runs east to west, and my land stops three hundred yards in the woods to the west of the pit.”
He went back to butchering the deer. “Would you mind if I brought over my excavator tomorrow and dug a few test holes to the north? There’s a good chance that vein of gravel runs up the hillside as well.”
Peg’s heart started pounding with excitement. Oh God, it would be the answer to her prayers if it did. That is, until she remembered she now owned lakefront property. “It doesn’t matter which direction it runs,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “The Land Use Regulatory Commission will never let youexpand the pit because of the fiord.” She snorted and opened the box of freezer bags. “Up until last week, I lived nearly two miles from the lake.”
“Let me deal with LURC and getting the permits,” he said, holding out several steaks and nodding for her to open one of the bags. “I’ll find a way to meet the required setbacks.” He arched a brow. “Assuming we can settle on a price.”
Peg set the steaks in the bin and grabbed another bag, her heart pounding again. “I guess that would depend on how many yards you’re looking to
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