Lovers at Heart (The Bradens, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Thirty-Two, Lovers at Heart

Chapter Thirty-Two

TREAT’S BEDROOM DOOR swung open at five thirty Sunday morning, and Rex peeked in with a victorious smile, which promptly faded when Treat stood, fully dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and greeted him. “You’re finally up?” He picked up his flannel shirt from the back of the chair, closed his laptop, patted Rex’s shoulder as he passed him in the doorway, and headed downstairs.

They each filled a to-go cup with coffee and headed out into the cold morning air.

“You’re gonna have to get me up to speed,” Treat said.

“We’ve got the hired hands milking and moving. You and I are on fence repair. Something got into the back fifty and tore down a thirty-foot strip.”

Treat climbed into the passenger side of the truck. “What got to it?”

Rex shrugged as he pulled onto the grass. “It doesn’t much matter now, does it?”

Great, an attitude before six a.m.

The truck ambled over the fields, and Treat waited for Rex to bring up what he’d said the night before. The silence between them was not particularly uncomfortable, but as it stretched a beat too long, Treat tried to break the ice.

“I checked on Dad. He seemed to be okay,” Treat said.

“Good. Savannah’s got him covered for the day, and Josh said he’d monitor his meds.” Rex’s cowboy hat was tugged down low. He kept his eyes on the field, never once glancing at Treat.

“You mind that I’m staying on for a while?” Treat asked.

Rex shrugged. He parked the truck and they began unloading the wood, wire, and supplies.

“Put ’em over there.” Rex pointed to a grassy area on the other side of the broken fence. “We’ll set up the sawhorses here and use that area there for the waste.”

Treat did as he asked. He watched his brother pick up pieces of wood and throw them over his shoulder like they were toothpicks. Treat was a strong man, but even he had to admit that his brother had the bigger brawn and bulk. Where Treat had sleeker, though muscular, lines to his body, Rex’s body bubbled with muscles in places that Treat wasn’t even certain his body knew he should have muscles. Rex’s long-sleeved henley clung to those bubbling muscles all the way down to his waist.

Instead of feeling envy for the brother who was clearly angry with him, Treat was proud of his younger brother. He’d spent his life taking care of the family ranch—and their father. That was something Treat hadn’t been strong enough to do, and now, he realized, he was able to admit that to himself without feeling shame in its wake.

“You gonna help me or watch me?” Rex asked.

Treat grabbed his hammer and followed his brother’s cursory instructions to a tee. He’d grown up helping with everything on the ranch from milking cows to fixing the siding on the barn. He was a bit out of practice, but it was all coming back to him. Each swing of the hammer brought with it memories of working alongside his father.

Working beside Rex also brought out the competitive side of Treat, and the need for instructions quickly fell away as he sawed the wood to perfect length, secured the wire into place, and pounded the poles into the ground.

When they headed into the house at lunchtime, Treat’s chest and arms already felt battered and bruised. He gritted his teeth against the annoying pain rather than let his brother see it.

“Doing all right?” Rex asked as they drove toward the house.

“Just fine.” Rex had a big chip on his shoulder. At some point, with Treat around more often than not, that chip was gonna get too heavy and come tumbling down, and Treat would be ready to catch Rex when he fell off balance.