“Well, I guess we’ll pack up in the mornin’, I’ll head ta Lightning Flat,” said Jack, poking at the embers of the campfire with a stick. “My daddy says a bunch a shingles blew off the roof in that last big storm we had. I’ll be spendin’ a few days helpin’ him fix that.”
“Wish I could go with ya,” said Ennis, softly. “We’d get the job done in no time.”
Jack looked at him, a myriad of answers running through his mind.
”Yeah, I’d love ta have ya help me…and have ya meet my folks. Mebbe then we could make this relationship real.”
“When ya say things like that, ya twist the knife, Ennis. You don’t know how much it hurts.”
“Bet yer better with a hammer n nails than I am, Ennis. You could do the whole job by yerself in half the time it’ll take me.”
“What’s stopping you? Get in the truck, let’s go.”
But all Jack said was, “Ya got yer girls, Ennis, and yer job. I know ya can’t take anymore time off.”
Ennis nodded. “Yeah. That’s it.”
(185 words)