The Delivery of Decor (Shiloh Ridge Ranch in Three Rivers #7) - Liz Isaacson Page 0,69

to travel up such a long arm, but Jeremiah didn’t slow down. He got moving in the right direction, and the moment he faced southwest, he could see the lights in the distance.

“They’ve got their lights out all right,” he said. “Let’s go see what we can do.”

Only twenty minutes later, Jeremiah maneuvered the crane where two police officers indicated he should. They didn’t wear their uniforms, but he knew Tyson Crockett and Brady Burton. Brady had married Ida Glover last year, and Jeremiah and Whitney had come to the wedding.

He got out of the cab and approached Brady. “Morning,” Jeremiah said, shaking his hand.

“We’re thinking we can put the insulin in a plastic bag.” Brady indicated the other cop. “And attach that to the hook on the end of the boom. This is a big one.” He looked up into the night, but Jeremiah couldn’t see the top of the crane.

“I don’t think we’ll need counterweights. We just need to get from down here.” Brady turned and pointed up to a flat section of land where two men stood. They had set up lights up there too, and one of the cop cars had positioned the lights up there too.

“To up there.”

“How far is it?” Micah asked, joining them.

“It’s hard to tell,” Brady said, sighing. “A couple hundred feet probably.”

“This crane reaches about two hundred feet,” Jeremiah said. “Let’s try it. I’ll lower the boom.”

“Tyson,” Brady called, and the other cop turned toward them. He was on his phone now, and he approached Jeremiah while saying, “Yes, I know, but this is all we can do right now. We’ll deal with that if we have to.” He shook Jeremiah’s hand but didn’t stop for long.

Jeremiah reached into the crane and pushed the button to lower the boom. That seemed to take longer than it had to drive here from Seven Sons Ranch. He stayed out of the way as Brady and Tyson talked about how to make sure the plastic bag didn’t fall off. Micah offered some ideas, and they ended up tying the bag to the hook and then using one of Micah’s carabiners too. They pierced the end of it through the bag and then attached it to the hook on the crane. That way, if the bag ripped or came loose from where they’d tied it, the carabiner would still be in place.

“Let’s go,” Brady yelled. “Bear, we’re sending it up.”

Jeremiah had no idea if he’d parked the crane in the right place to get the boom in front of Bear. He told himself Bear could walk left or right, and he raised the boom, and then started extending the boom toward the spotlighted pair up on the ridge.

“Right a little,” Brady called, and Jeremiah adjusted the direction of the boom. He told himself to breathe, as he’d started to hold everything so tight. He didn’t want to be wound up so much, and when his third baby had been born in less than five years, Jeremiah had taken a giant step back from all the stress in his life.

He still ran Seven Sons—that wasn’t going to change. But he’d given a lot more tasks to his brother, Skyler, who only had one child. His wife was due with their second baby in May, but Jeremiah had hired two foremen—two amazing cowboys who’d been working the ranch before the Walkers had even bought it. That way, Jeremiah, Skyler, Micah, and the rest of their family still owned the ranch and ran the ranch. But it didn’t have to consume him the way it had in the past.

“It’s actually too long,” Tyson said, and Jeremiah thought so too.

Bear reached up to get the bag, but it wasn’t low enough yet.

“Down,” Brady called needlessly, but Jeremiah bit back on his irritation. The man was just trying to help.

Jeremiah made the required adjustments, and Bear backed away from the ledge and out of the spotlight. He eased up and let the crane barely move. A few seconds later, a loud yell of triumph filled the sky.

“Got it!” Ranger yelled down. “Thanks, you guys. Thank you so much!” He lifted both hands and waved, and then he hurried into the darkness too.

Jeremiah started to lift the boom, because he’d need to drive the crane back to Seven Sons. His adrenaline raced through his bloodstream, and he didn’t think he’d be able to go back to sleep tonight.

“Well, I guess that’s it,” Brady said, coming to stand next to Jeremiah. “Thank