“Well, unless we start hunting out here, we’re going to have to go in at some point. We’ll be careful.”
Once we put Bear away and get out some money for a vehicle, I follow Shepherd on the jog.
“I feel like you have no idea where we’re going, we’re going to get lost, we’ll fall down some hole, I’ll have to eat you, and then I’ll be saved the very next day,” I say.
Shepherd looks back at me in concern. “Wow, quite the scenario there. I love the ending where you murder me and then find out you didn’t have to murder me since you were saved the next day.”
“Thank you,” I say as I keep up a steady jog. This is much more my style and speed than the guns and the choking and all that other nonsense.
When we reach the house, we find the older man out in the yard digging a hole. At first, I question if he’s in the process of burying bodies, but the multiple other holes tell me he’s putting up posts.
“Good morning,” Shepherd says.
The man looks up and smiles before a young dog comes galloping toward us, but he’s on a leash so he can’t reach us, thank god. “Morning. Nick, right? And you’re… Lester?”
I stare at him because I cannot, for the life of me, remember what Shepherd told him my name was.
“Lew… ucas… It’s Lucas,” Shepherd says with far too much confidence after stumbling around it.
“Ah! That’s right. How are things going?” he asks.
“Excellent. You’d mentioned at some point being able to drive us into town. Does that offer still stand?” Shepherd asks.
The man leans against his shovel as he watches us. “Of course! I was just trying to put in a fence for my new dog here. He’s not real good at staying on the property yet, but I can take a break now.”
“Why don’t we help you first?” Shepherd says. “If you have two shovels, we’ll dig where you tell us to.” I don’t know why I find it surprising every time Shepherd goes out of his way to help someone. I think I’m just used to living in a selfish world where everyone only cares about themselves.
The older man looks surprised. “Oh, you guys don’t have to do that… unless you want to?” Dave looks extremely hopeful that we really want to. With that look on his face there is absolutely no way we can say no.
“We do,” Shepherd says as he takes the shovel from him. “Just tell us what to do.”
“Ah, thank you, thank you! These old bones aren’t what they used to be. It’s taken me all week to get this far.”
Dave hurries off and gets another shovel as Shepherd starts digging. As I look at him, I realize that he looks genuinely happy. Not that Shepherd doesn’t usually look happy, but there’s something that seems to be changing in him. I can’t tell if it’s just him getting used to me and opening up more, or if there’s something else to it.
“You checking out my muscles with each scoop?” Shepherd teases as he shakes his ass.
“It’d help if you didn’t have that bulky hoodie on; I’d definitely enjoy it more.”
Shepherd stops and takes a moment to pose with the shovel, trying his hardest to look sexy and majestic, which has me laughing when Dave returns.
“Did I miss something?” he asks.
“Just showing off my superior digging skills,” Shepherd says.
I take the shovel from the man and head over to where he wants the next post and start digging. It takes us hours of digging, putting posts in, pouring concrete around them, and reburying them before we’re finished. And while I wasn’t necessarily loving the work, the way Shepherd was acting had me enjoying it far too much. Since it’s already getting late when we’re finished, we decide that we’ll head into town tomorrow morning. As thanks for helping him, Dave insists we eat an early supper with him.
“It’s nice having you boys help me,” he says as he shows us the bathroom to wash up. Shepherd is too busy petting the man’s dog, Buddy, but I head into the bathroom.
“I’m glad we were able to help out!”
As soon as Dave heads back to the kitchen, Shepherd pushes inside, squeezing next to me as I lather my hands. “Were you rolling in the dirt?” he asks as he rubs at my face