“Any chance of what we talked about last weekend becoming a reality?” Eli asked coyly. “’Cause I would really like that.”
“You can speak openly in front of Morgan. Of course she knows how I feel. We haven’t reached any decisions yet, but we’re weighing our options.” Joe reached over and took her hand in his, letting her know that he wasn’t going to rip her away from her friends, her business, her home, and everything she’d worked for on a whim. They had a lot more to discuss now, though.
So many things to consider.
“Well, if you want the job—want to oversee the construction, hire a crew here in Middletown, and be in charge of the entire project—the job is yours. You know that right?”
Joe felt shock rip through him. He wasn’t a foreman. Mike was.
Going to Middletown had never been about that. About being the boss. He was happy with his role in the crew. But what if…
Maybe it was time for all of them to grow some.
“Thank you.” Joe cleared his throat, trying to get himself together. Morgan kissed his cheek and held his hand tight. “This is a lot. I need you to know how excited I am for you. You’re going to be great parents. The rest is secondary. No matter what the future looks like for any of us, Morgan and I will always be here to help you out however we can.”
“I love you, cuz.” Eli took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, as if having Joe’s support really meant the world to him. And how could he turn his back on a bond like that? “Okay, we’re going to let you go. Give us a call soon and we can talk about the rest—the new place, how the hell to break the news to everyone, and how involved you want to be.”
“We will.” Morgan grinned and waved at them all. “Congrats again. Love you!”
When they disconnected, Joe sat there, his options weighing heavily on him.
Eli needed him again, maybe more than the crew for right now.
He hoped the guys would understand.
But he accepted that they might not.
7
Joe hammered in a series of nails with at least twice as much force as was required. That would have been fine except he got distracted by his thoughts and missed the mark, smashing his thumb in the process. “Shit!”
“Careful there.” Mike laughed. “Things break easier these days, old man. Need some glasses to see better?”
“Fuck you.” Joe snorted even as he shook the throbbing out of his hand.
“It would be fair enough, since you let me have a turn in you the other night.” Mike shot him a not-so-innocent stare. “That doesn’t happen very often. Why did you need it?”
“Can’t a guy just get off on being fucked every once in a while?” Joe pounded the next nail even harder, relishing the burn in his muscles.
“Sure. But we’ve been friends long enough for me to know that isn’t how you operate.” Mike set down his tools and rested his back against the open studs, crossing his arms. “So what’s up?”
“I feel guilty as fuck for bailing on Eli and my uncle Tom.”
“I noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time out there lately.” Mike cleared his throat. “Your family loves you, Joe. They understand you have obligations. And for the record, when you’re out there, you don’t need to get worked up like this about not spending time with us. We get it too.”
Joe’s hammer slipped out of his hand and crashed into the two-by-four in front of him before clattering to the ground. Thank God for steel-toed boots. “What did you say?”
He turned around slowly, surprised to see Mike was dead serious. “It’s been obvious for a while now that something’s been bugging you. I haven’t seen you like this since you and Morgan were trying for kids. I should have pried it out of you sooner.”
“I wasn’t ready.” Joe shrugged. “And honestly, it took a while for everything to come to a head. Maybe not until just this week.”
“Because of what happened at the cabin?” Mike wondered.
“Nah, man. Nothing to do with that.” Joe joked because it was easier than telling Mike straight up that their physical connection had been what kept him sane, not what drove him over the edge. “Your cock is big, but it’s not Dave-sized or anything.”
“Gee, thanks.” Mike shook his head. “So what happened?”
“You can’t say anything…” Joe leveled a stare at Mike. He might be the foreman, but they were friends first.
“I don’t like keeping secrets around here, you know that.”
“Yeah, except it’s not really my news to spill. I need you to understand, though.” He and Morgan hadn’t had a chance to hash out the repercussions of their recent discussion, but the facts were the facts. What they did about them… Well, maybe Mike could help him think more clearly about that.
“This sounds serious.” Mike’s eyes narrowed. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” Joe lowered his voice, although no one else could hear over the din of power tools running somewhere else in the house they were flipping. “Sally’s pregnant.”
“Sally? Holy shit. That’s great! Congratulations, Uncle.” Mike crossed the floor between them to smack Joe’s back in a genuine man-hug. Of course he meant it. He hadn’t thought through the ramifications yet.
But it didn’t take him long. He held Joe out at arm’s length. “Oh. That’s not going to help your homesickness, is it?”
“This is home. The crew is home.”
“Maybe it can be more than one place,” Mike said quietly. “There’s a part of you there with them already, and this is only going to make it grow. As it should. Your kids should know their cousin. It’s a special bond, as you know considering how tight you are with Eli.”
And there it was. The thing that Joe had been mulling over incessantly since the good news had sunk in. “There’s more.”
Mike’s eyebrows climbed. “How much more?”
“They’re out of space at the garage. Eli wants me to draft up some plans for an expansion. A new house, a massive one, to fit them all with room to grow. And maybe some merch areas too.” Joe brushed sawdust from his jeans, which was pretty futile given the state of his work clothes. But it was better than looking Mike in the eye when he said, “They asked me if I want to manage the project. Hire guys and stay on long term to—”
“Become the foreman of your own crew.” Mike didn’t say anything else for a few seconds. His mouth opened and then closed. And when Joe braced himself for scorn or fury, Mike instead shoved out his hand. Not in a fist, but for a shake.
“Double congrats then. You deserve this opportunity.” When Joe didn’t clasp Mike’s hand right away, the other guy wrapped his fingers around Joe’s and shook for him.
“It’s not a done deal,” Joe insisted. He never would have accepted a new position without talking to Mike and the rest of the Powertools first. He might be a traitor, but he wasn’t an asshole.
“Why not?” Mike tipped his head. “Not that I’m kicking you out or anything, but I can see that you want it. That you’d love to spend more time with your family. I know we’ve done jobs for them before but that was small stuff we could knock out in a week or two. We won’t be able to leave our projects here for that long, not all of us. But you can.”