The Construction of Cheer - Liz Isaacson Page 0,10
and low. “They’re already here, and we need to know what we’re dealing with. Bear will insist on pictures.”
Bishop nodded, because Judge was one-hundred percent right. Bear would want to see it all.
“Let’s demo at least,” he said to the roofers. “How long will that take?”
The man surveyed the roof. “A house this size? Three of us? We’ll have it done before lunch.”
“Great,” Bishop said, already heading for the ladder. “Thanks so much.” He thought about what replacing the roof would do to his schedule. They were only supposed to re-shingle today and tomorrow. Then everyone who worked on the ranch would come help move things out of the house. He’d scheduled painters to come. He was laying a whole new hardwood floor himself.
New textiles were arriving in three weeks. The entire kitchen was getting gutted and rebuilt, with a new configuration that made sense and made the kitchen more useable.
Delays were the name of the game in construction, but Bishop didn’t have to like it. He frowned the whole way back to the homestead to get Benny too, because he suspected he wouldn’t be able to get away from the ranch anytime that week to meet with Montana.
Take Montana to dinner?
He’d definitely flirted with her there at the end, and his tactics usually worked. Women ducked their heads and giggled, and Bishop knew he had their interest. Montana had just looked at him like he’d suddenly grown a second head.
She intrigued him, and Bishop thought that maybe he didn’t want a giggly blonde. Perhaps that was why every single relationship he’d tried in the past few years had ended after only a few months.
“A few months at the most,” he muttered to himself. He pulled up to the house and ran toward the front door. Inside, he called, “Come on, Benny. Let’s get to work,” still wondering how he could see Montana that week.
If they had to rebuild the whole Ranch House, he needed her. Badly.
The dog came hopping down the steps, and Bishop scooped him into his arms. “Can’t lie around all day, you lazy dog,” he said, smiling at the canine. “We work on this ranch, dogs and all.”
Hard work had been instilled in him by his mother and father, and Bishop thrived on a full day’s work. As he put Benny in the back of the truck and headed toward the cowboy cabins in the south sector, an idea popped into his head.
If he couldn’t leave the ranch to see Montana this week, perhaps she’d come to him. A smile curved his lips, and he could barely wait until he got to the trio of cabins near Zona’s and Mother’s house to call her.
“Montana Home Designs,” she said, and Bishop’s grin grew.
“Hey there,” he said. “It’s Bishop Glover.”
“Oh,” she said.
He chuckled, mostly to get his nerves to settle. “Bet you didn’t think I’d be calling so soon.”
“Well, no,” she said. “It’s been what? Thirty minutes?”
“No idea,” Bishop said. He didn’t care about time. When the sun came up, he got up. When his stomach grumbled, he ate. When the sun went down, he went home. “I’m wondering how terribly busy you are. I’ve got a lot going on up here, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to get down to town this week.”
“Oh, well, we can meet next week,” she said.
“No,” he said. “I might need to build an entirely new house. We just found termites in the roof where my brothers live.”
She whistled in a way that said, Oh, boy, you’re in trouble.
They were; or rather, that house was. Bishop wouldn’t call Bear or Ranger until he had all the facts and all the pictures. They deserved some time away from the ranch. He might not even call them at all.
Preacher, Mister, and Judge could find somewhere else to stay if they needed to. He could get a pest control company out to the ranch by tomorrow, and Bishop could handle this without bothering his brother and his new wife.
“Have you had a chance to talk to your assistant yet?” he asked.
“In the last thirty minutes?” she asked, her voice like a magical melody in Bishop’s ears. “I’m surprised your call went through, honestly. The service out there is terrible.”
“After thirty minutes, you should be back to town,” he said, his curiosity piqued. “Where are you?”
“Almost back to town,” she said. “I’m just saying, it’s dead out there.”
“And yet, I’m calling you.” He grinned when she laughed lightly.