A Week Till the Wedding by Linda Winstead Jones

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    He wondered if he’d notice the same kinds of changes in Caleb and Luke, when he saw them. Of course, they hadn’t been kids when Jacob had left. They’d been grown men, so the changes shouldn’t be as dramatic. Still, you never knew what the years would do to a person.
    Jacob had borrowed suitable work clothes from Ben, who had joined in on this hot, summer weekend to take care of the chores that had been assigned to them by their mother. She enjoyed ordering them around like they were still teenagers.
    After they took care of the limbs they needed to address the fire ant hills and a wasps’ nest. When that was done, Susan would give her two younger boys another list of chores. In two weeks this land would be crawling with relatives. Young and old, from near and far...the property had to be made safe. Heaven forbid that anyone might find a flaw.
    Jacob hadn’t been assigned chores for a very long time. He couldn’t say that a day in the sun, working and thinking as little as possible, was necessarily a bad thing. Physical labor outside his usual three days at the gym proved to be invigorating and more challenging than he wanted to admit. Even if his mind did wander to unfortunate what-might’ve-beens.
    He wouldn’t allow himself to admit that he’d missed Daisy. Her smile, her eyes, her walk. The simplest things grabbed him and wouldn’t let go. Not that it mattered how much she appealed to him. Even though her sisters were grown and on their own, he didn’t think for a minute that Daisy would ever consider moving to San Francisco. Even if she did forgive him for not sticking with her when she’d been forced to quit college and come back home, there was the simple fact that Daisy was a small-town girl. She loved it here; she was a part of the community. This was her home, in every sense of the word. He’d heard it in her voice when she’d called to let him know she’d arrived home safely and told him about the neighbor girl doing cartwheels on the lawn. And when he’d spoken to her that morning and she’d mentioned stopping by the farmer’s market and running into an old mutual friend, someone who’d asked about Jacob.
    While he could admit to perversely enjoying his simple chores, while talking to Daisy reminded him of what it was like to truly have a home town, giving up a very lucrative career to come home and work for his mother was not an option. Tasker Enterprises was diverse and there were a dozen positions he could take, if it suited him. But no matter what he chose to do, if he was employed by Tasker Enterprises he’d be working for his mother. No, thanks.
    Which left the situation with Daisy entirely unworkable. A long distance relationship hadn’t worked seven years ago, and it wouldn’t work now.
    Ben wiped the sweat from his face, grabbed a couple cold bottles of water from the ice chest and headed Jacob’s way. “Slow down, bro. The faster we get this done, the sooner we’ll get new marching orders. I swear, I don’t know why Mom won’t hire this out. It’s not like we can’t afford a crew of yard men and exterminators to get this done. Why don’t you convince her that she’d be assisting the local economy by hiring a couple of unemployed guys to do the grunt work?”
    Jacob set his chain saw aside and took the offered water. “Either she doesn’t think workmen she’d hire would do a proper job, or she just likes ordering us around like we were still kids.”
    Ben smiled, and for a moment he almost looked like he was no more than thirteen again, gangly and awkward. The boy was still there, barely disguised by the years. “Probably both.”
    “Probably.” Jacob drank the water too quickly, glad for the moment of rest and the much-needed hydration.
    Ben’s smile faded, and he glanced toward the house as if he was afraid someone might be headed their way. “So, how’s it going with Daisy?”
    “How the hell do you think it’s going?” Jacob snapped. “This is the