Wild Trail (Clean Slate Ranch #1)(58)

Mack didn’t have time to mentally prepare an apology, much less a grovel today. He still had paperwork to finish on the new arrivals, so everything was ready for tomorrow’s crop of guests. And he had a phone call planned with a potential restoration contractor. He’d already unofficially hired Colt to do the electrical wiring for the place. Colt had gotten certified as an electrician during his summer construction gigs, so he had that handy skill under his belt.

With all of his manual labor training, Mack never could figure out why the guy eventually became a cop.

They’d probably have to hire another hand for the ranch when construction went full-swing, which was fine with Judson and Arthur. Mack and Colt had already agreed to stop taking a salary from Arthur once they stopped working the ranch full-time to focus on the ghost town.

A town Mack still hadn’t found any information on. He had an appointment on Tuesday afternoon with the town mayor, so Mack could look through old Garrett town records, see if he could find any mention of there ever having been a town five miles north. Even a name, so Mack could make it all as authentic as possible. As it was, he needed to find and hire an affordable historian who could help with all the small details. Mack didn’t know shit about old mining towns, and he could only learn so much on the internet.

For now, he had his regular duties to the ranch to attend to. Everything else could wait a while.





Chapter Fifteen

Three weeks passed, and in each new group of guests who arrived at the ranch, Mack found himself looking for Wes. It was getting on his goddamn nerves. He’d sent the apology email, like Reyes suggested, and then nothing. Not a damned word from Wes, and that stung. But it also didn’t surprise him too much. Mack had been an asshole, and now that Wes was back to his real life, he could find someone to treat him right.

Except a deep down part of Mack still rebelled at the idea of Wes being with someone else. He wanted Wes here with him, damn it, but Wes was a city boy. An actor with a dream. He’d never be happy settling down at a dusty ranch, so there was no sense in dreaming. And since Mack couldn’t do anything about that deep-down, selfish part of his heart that wanted Wes, he ignored it as best he could and threw himself into work—the ranch and the restoration.

He’d accepted a construction bid from a local contractor, who’d probably underbid too far, simply to get the job. But he was giving work to folks who lived in and around Garrett, so that made Mack happy. He had Colt lined up for electrical, and the contractor knew a plumber who could help with a new septic system. They still had to finalize the plans so the county could approve, and Mack hoped to get that done in the next few weeks. He was hella eager to start this restoration.

Knuckles rapped on the inside of his office door. Mack glanced up, surprised to see Colt standing there, looking a little awkward.

“What did you do?” Mack asked.

Colt grunted. “What the hell, dude? I didn’t do anything.”

“Then why do you look guilty?”

“Your interpretations of my moods are for shit, you know that?”

“Okay.” Mack put his pen down. “What’s up?”

Colt took two steps into the office, hands shoved deep in his jeans pockets. “You know how you said you were looking for a historian to help with the restoration?”

“Yeah.” Mack had reached out to a few, only to get non-replies or no’s.

“I know one I can recommend. He’s based out of Berkeley. Got his Bachelor’s and Master’s in American history, and last I saw him, he was doing his PhD in California history, specifically.”

Mack couldn’t keep the surprise off his face. “You know a guy with a PhD?”

“I used to know him. We, uh, dated for a while, when I still lived in Los Angeles.”

“When was this, exactly? You haven’t seriously dated anyone since I’ve known you.”

Colt bit his bottom lip, his cheeks going oddly pink. “We were just starting up when Geoff died, so there was never really a good chance to tell my grieving best friend that I’d met someone. And it ended badly. That was a big part of the reason I quit SWAT and moved here.”

“You were running from your ex?” Mack went on high-alert. “Was this guy dangerous or something?”

“No, not at all. I wouldn’t be recommending him if he’d been abusive. He was a teddy bear, really sweet guy. Supersmart, too, which always made me question why he wanted to be with me.”

“You’re smart enough. You just don’t apply yourself.”

Colt shrugged. “Anyway, I think you should contact him.” He pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Mack. Avery Hendrix, and a phone number. “I’m assuming he kept the same number, but if not, you might be able to find him through the college.”

“I appreciate the lead.” Mack eyeballed his friend. “If he happens to accept the job, will it be weird for you to work around him?”

“Nah. It’s been years, and it was a mutual breakup. No hard feelings from me.”

“What about from him?”

“Guess you’ll have to ask him.”

“Guess so.” Mack tucked the slip of paper into a desk drawer so he didn’t lose it. “Thanks, man. And I’m sorry you thought you had to hide that relationship from me. I know I was a mess, but you could have told me.”