He beamed at her. “See? Colton says you are more than welcome here."
“Thank you.”
“For introducing you to my boss? He’s a great guy and a good friend. You don’ need to feel intimidated by him at all.”
“I hate to break it to you, but cowboys don’t intimidate me.”
He slapped his thigh and laughed. “Good. Glad to hear that. I’m not a scary guy. I’ve never been the boss of anyone before, though.”
“Well, what do you want to do first, boss man?”
Roy chuckled. “You should tell me.”
“First things first, clearing out the toolshed. We’ll work on that first and then move onto the hay barn.”
They trudged over to the toolshed, and Roy opened the door. As they stepped inside, Beverly was overwhelmed by the scent of wet wood and soil. She took a deep breath as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, taking in all that was around her. The shelves were lined with every tool imaginable. Boxes held hammers, saws, wrenches, and screwdrivers.
"There might be some long forgotten items in here," Roy said. "I started to go through everything, but there was so much to do, and..." He shrugged.
They got to work emptying out the toolshed. There were a few old pieces of wood that had gotten wet and weren't all that useful unless dried out and scrap metal that could be repurposed in some manner or another. Beverly was grateful when she spotted some dry extra planks of wood toward the back. There was plenty of rope and wire, and Roy discovered a box of spare parts of machinery.
Once the toolshed was completely empty, Beverly put on gloves, grabbed her hammer, and eyed Roy.
"You might want to step back," she said.
The first blow didn't do much, but the second punched a head-sized hole into the wall. Rot stood back and watched as she quickly brought the entire toolshed down.
"We'll have to clear all of this away. Posts next and then plywood."
"I did buy some items," Roy said. "If none of them will work for your purposes, I should be able to exchange them and get what you prefer."
"Perfect."
They worked for hours. Some of what Roy got was usable, but they did head over to the store to exchange the posts.
Beverly did her measurements and once Roy approved the size of the toolshed she had planned, one large enough to house a table and a sawhorse with room to work at both locations with room to spare, she got to work digging for the first posts.
Once all four posts were up, Roy approached. He had handled digging two of the spots for her. She appreciated that although she teasingly called him boss man, he listened to her directions.
"We should break for lunch," he said.
"Oh, no. I'm good. I really want to keep working."
"A short break to eat and fuel up and drink some water..."
She just laughed. "You go ahead and refuel. I'm going to keep going."
Roy sighed. He lingered for a moment, watching her, but eventually, he wandered away. About twenty minutes later, he returned, carrying a bag.
"I bought us lunch," he said.
She leaned the piece of plywood against the post. One wall had already been completed solar, and she was making decent progress.
"Hot meatball subs," he said. "I hope you like that, but they taste best when hot, so... You coming?"
"Where are we going?" she asked curiously.
"Well, I can take you to the bathroom so you can wash your hands, but then... you'll just have to follow me."