Free Home for the Summer by Mariah Stewart Page A

said.
    “Someone has to.”
    “Hey, give me a break. I just got married, been back from my honeymoon for all of”—Wade looked at his watch—“sixteen hours.”
    “Time enough to get to work.”
    “Okay, supposing I agree that the two of us should build a hop barn. I’m assuming we’d build it there on your farm?”
    Clay nodded. “Plenty of room.”
    “So what are we going to use as material? As you pointed out, we don’t have a whole lot of discretionary funds to work with.”
    “Barn boards.” Clay took a bite out of his croissant.
    “Barn boards?” Wade frowned.
    “Sure. Those, I have plenty of.” He leaned forward. “There are three barns on the farm. One I use primarily to store equipment. The other—the biggest one—we’re going to turn into our brewery.”
    “For which we’re borrowing the money from my sister.”
    “Right. And the third barn, the one that’s seen better days, we’re going to tear down and reuse the boards to build the hop barn.”
    Wade nodded. “I guess I know better than to ask who’s going to take the barn down.”
    Clay laughed. “The dismantling process will take some planning so that we don’t pull it down on top of ourselves. I think we’ll need Cam’s help there, too.”
    “Maybe if we asked him to be our official taster, he won’t charge us too much.”
    “The idea has possibilities. But it just occurred to me to offer him some of the old barn boards that we don’t use.”
    “What would he want with those?”
    “We’re talking about heart-pine boards that are over one hundred years old here, champ.”
    “Okay, so you’ll have a lot of old wood left over. Still don’t get why Cam would want that instead of cash.”
    “In his spare time, Cam makes furniture. Tables, mostly. He prefers to work with old woods. Old heart pine if he can get it, which is rare.”
    “So what you’re saying is that the barter system is alive and well in St. Dennis.”
    Clay nodded. “I bet Cam would jump at the chance to get his hands on all that old pine. The tables he makes are works of art, by the way. My mom just bought one for the dining room in her new house. It really is one of a kind. My sister liked it so much, she asked him to make one for her.” He paused as a thought occurred to him. “It would be really cool if Cam made one for her from the boards from our old barn.”
    “Nice housewarming gift,” Wade noted.
    “Yeah, I’ll have to talk to him about that, sooner rather than later. Brooke’s planning on moving into the old tenant house as soon as it’s finished. She’s hoping maybe as soon as next month.”
    Wade pulled Clay’s sketch closer and took another look. “What about this rounded top piece? How would we make that?”
    “Traditionally, a cupola sits over the drying area, and I thought it looked pretty cool. I think we can make it with shingles, maybe a metal roof. That’s something we’d need Cam for.”
    “So okay, we meet with him as soon as we can set it up. Meanwhile, while I was away, I ordered some barley seed.”
    “You were ordering barley seed while you were on your honeymoon?” Clay stared at Wade. “What did Steffie have to say about that?”
    “Nothing, since she went off in search of a wholesaler for macadamia nuts. She had some while we were in Hawaii that she thought were superior to the ones she was using, so of course, she had to track down the source.”
    “You two deserve each other.” Clay laughed. “You’re two of a kind.”
    “Hey, the woman makes the best ice cream on the eastern seaboard. I make …” Wade paused, and a cloud momentarily crossed his face. “I made one of the best beers in the country.”
    “And as soon as we get MadMac off and running, you’ll be making the best once again,” Clay assured him.
    “That’s the plan, Stan.” Wade glanced at his watch. “I gotta run. Time to pick up Austin from preschool.” He stood and finished his coffee in one long gulp. “How long do you