“You got it?” Preston asked as I stood up, a big ol’ 2x8 on my shoulder on its way to the truck with the rest of them. We were down at the lumberyard just outside Austin picking up a load of stuff so we could get started on the addition. He was more than open to having someone to help out, and I was more than eager to help repay his generosity.

Juan had helped us with our first load which we’d taken back to the farm, then headed over to his parents’ taco stand in Austin to visit and grab us all some lunch for later.

“Yeah, I got it,” I said, flexing my arm after tossing the big beam into the back of the truck. “Think we can fit any more?”

“Probably,” he replied. “But this thing’s already been tortured enough, and I don’t want to risk blowing the shocks out. Let’s take this stuff back, it’s more than enough to get started, at least with the framing.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said, taking a deep breath and heading to the passenger side of the truck and hopping in. Preston waved to his buddy working the warehouse, hopped in beside me and pulled out of the lot and headed for the highway.

“So,” he said casually. “How long have you two known each other?”

“I don’t know if you’ll believe me,” I chuckled. “But it’s only been a few days.”

“Oh, I believe it,” he nodded, wheeling the truck up the on-ramp. “When I met Kenneth, I just knew. Ya know?”

“I do know,” I smiled.

“When you know, you know,” Preston laughed.

“And I sure do know!”

“Well, that’s fantastic,” Preston told me as we hit the highway and accelerated back towards the farm. “Had to go through a whole lot of Hell to make all this work, but it’s been more than worth it.”

“How’d you end up with the place anyway?” I asked him. “In the family?”

“Nope. Bought it off Frank,” he replied. “Old guy who used to run it. I worked for him. He was gonna sell to these real cocksuckers, The Vandertons, but we managed to convince him to sell it to us. Had to fight them off the land—literally.”

“Sounds like a mess,” I replied, cracking the window to let some fresh air in. The truck smelled like wood, which was normally fine, but we were using pressure-treated beams that had a bit of an unpleasant stink to them that I wasn’t too thrilled to be breathing.

“Oh, we’ve had our share of messes,” Preston laughed. “But that just makes the cleaning up so much more fun.”

“Like something else I could think of…” I joked.

“You two trying for a baby?” he asked.

“Started trying as soon as we could,” I smiled. “God, whenever I picture him pregnant…with a nice beautiful belly with my baby in it…?”

“It’s nice, man,” Preston replied. “It’s real nice. But tell me, what’s the trouble you guys are running from?”

I sighed and gripped the seat tightly with my hand. “Biker gang. The Galloping Jackals.”

“That sounds friendly,” he joked.

“I used to be one of them back in the day,” I explained. “Things went south, new leadership took over and I left, faked my own death and moved on. Just so happens their new leader, Killoran, took a liking to Percy and thinks he belongs to him now.”

“Ahh….”

“Yeah,” I continued. “And somehow, he found out where I was living and showed up with Trey, one of his lapdogs. I could take them in a fair fight, but who knows what they’d do once they knew where I lived, ya know?”

“I get you,” Preston nodded. “Well, listen. If you ever need our help, we’re here for you.”

“I appreciate that, Preston,” I replied. “More than you know. But I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“So do I, buddy.” Preston said. “So do I.”

We sped on towards the farm, my eyes on the clear blue sky cutting a crystal line above the flat Texan landscape. Texas longhorns, mesquite trees and puffy white clouds whizzed by on both sides as I thought about our future, the family I had dreamt of and all the work ahead of me.

But I welcomed it—all of it. A life without work and responsibility isn’t a life worth living! I’d forge a future for us with my own two hands and the tremendous support of Preston and his wonderful pack. Percy and I would be happy and we’d live together through the beautiful spring of life and ride into the sunset together, hands together in a state of unparalleled love and bliss.

I can’t wait, I thought as we rode on. What a life!