there.”
Noah smiled. “You bet there is. Help me lift this out, Ford.”
Ford walked over and helped Noah hoist a long, thick rectangular box over the side of the crate. They laid it on the grass.
“Do the honors,” Noah said to Jackson, who whipped out a pocketknife and slit the packing tape. He tugged one side of the box down, exposing a bright turquoise corner of steel. “Get the heck out of here, man.”
“Nice. Right?”
Jackson used his knife to remove the rest of the box. “Billy is going to go ape. He may never get to sleep.”
The turquoise blue Chevrolet truck tailgate had all the character of a truck used hard. “I thought Angie might like it better if we at least gave her a color she could live with.”
“The blue is perfect. And the dents and scrapes make it even cooler. You thinking this will be the headboard?” Jackson looked like he’d just had his first kid and was going to hand out cigars. “Man, this is going to be great. Think my new bride would mind sleeping in a truck bed?”
“Uhh, yeah. She might not be a fan of that. And that will not be the headboard.” Noah worked the other side of the box. “ This will be the headboard.”
Jackson leaned in to get a look. “What is it?”
The guys teamed around the crate each grabbing an edge. Only about six inches deep, it was every bit of four feet high when they pulled out the metal shell of the back of a ’57 Chevy truck cab, back glass window and all.
Noah reveled in Jackson’s delight.
“You’ve outdone yourself, man,” Jackson said.
“I’m not the biggest fan of matrimony, but Jackson, I want you to be happy and I think it’s really cool that you wanted to do this for your new son. You’re going to be a great dad.”
“Thanks, Noah. That means a lot. You’re going to make me a hero in that kid’s eyes.”
“I’m betting you’re already kind of a hero in his eyes, but I’ll take the Best Man of the Year trophy anytime you’re ready to hand it over.” Noah slapped Jackson’s hand in a high five. “There are a few other things in this crate I tossed in. We may or may not use. Some taillights. I don’t know how long all of this is going to take, but you can always do some other projects later with this junk, or just toss it.”
“Did you get the paint for the room?” Ford asked. “Because while y’all are going gaga over car parts, Derek and I need to get to work on priming and painting that room.”
“Got the paint, and I’ve already taped off the woodwork,” Jackson said. “I’d hoped I’d get that room at least primed before y’all arrived. Didn’t happen, though. It’s been crazy trying to keep it a secret from Angie.”
“No problem. We can knock it out,” Ford said. “I brought beer. We can do anything with enough beer.”
“And pizza. We’ll need copious amounts of pizza,” Noah said. “You do have pizza delivery out here, don’t you?”
Jackson shook his head. “Nope, but it’s only two blocks. We can call ahead and someone can go get it.”
“And y’all think Alaska is remote,” Ford teased. “You have to drive for your pizza? May as well be with me up there. All right, so we need a designated driver else someone has to walk to pick up pizza.”
“I’ll be the designated driver,” Noah said. “I’ll do anything to not have to wield a paintbrush.”
“Painting isn’t your kind of dirty is it, Hot Rod?” Ford snickered.
“Shut up,” Noah said, even as he laughed at the old nickname.
“For the record, I take exception to the fact that Noah picked out a Chevrolet truck to turn into a bed. Then again, all the Fords are probably on the road, getting something done.”
Jackson and Noah both groaned. The old Ford vs. Chevrolet digs had been going on between them since high school.
“I’ve got you figured out though, Noah. You were afraid of putting a Ford in there because the kid might see the word Ford on the tailgate every day and think of me. You want to
Noah smiled. “You bet there is. Help me lift this out, Ford.”
Ford walked over and helped Noah hoist a long, thick rectangular box over the side of the crate. They laid it on the grass.
“Do the honors,” Noah said to Jackson, who whipped out a pocketknife and slit the packing tape. He tugged one side of the box down, exposing a bright turquoise corner of steel. “Get the heck out of here, man.”
“Nice. Right?”
Jackson used his knife to remove the rest of the box. “Billy is going to go ape. He may never get to sleep.”
The turquoise blue Chevrolet truck tailgate had all the character of a truck used hard. “I thought Angie might like it better if we at least gave her a color she could live with.”
“The blue is perfect. And the dents and scrapes make it even cooler. You thinking this will be the headboard?” Jackson looked like he’d just had his first kid and was going to hand out cigars. “Man, this is going to be great. Think my new bride would mind sleeping in a truck bed?”
“Uhh, yeah. She might not be a fan of that. And that will not be the headboard.” Noah worked the other side of the box. “ This will be the headboard.”
Jackson leaned in to get a look. “What is it?”
The guys teamed around the crate each grabbing an edge. Only about six inches deep, it was every bit of four feet high when they pulled out the metal shell of the back of a ’57 Chevy truck cab, back glass window and all.
Noah reveled in Jackson’s delight.
“You’ve outdone yourself, man,” Jackson said.
“I’m not the biggest fan of matrimony, but Jackson, I want you to be happy and I think it’s really cool that you wanted to do this for your new son. You’re going to be a great dad.”
“Thanks, Noah. That means a lot. You’re going to make me a hero in that kid’s eyes.”
“I’m betting you’re already kind of a hero in his eyes, but I’ll take the Best Man of the Year trophy anytime you’re ready to hand it over.” Noah slapped Jackson’s hand in a high five. “There are a few other things in this crate I tossed in. We may or may not use. Some taillights. I don’t know how long all of this is going to take, but you can always do some other projects later with this junk, or just toss it.”
“Did you get the paint for the room?” Ford asked. “Because while y’all are going gaga over car parts, Derek and I need to get to work on priming and painting that room.”
“Got the paint, and I’ve already taped off the woodwork,” Jackson said. “I’d hoped I’d get that room at least primed before y’all arrived. Didn’t happen, though. It’s been crazy trying to keep it a secret from Angie.”
“No problem. We can knock it out,” Ford said. “I brought beer. We can do anything with enough beer.”
“And pizza. We’ll need copious amounts of pizza,” Noah said. “You do have pizza delivery out here, don’t you?”
Jackson shook his head. “Nope, but it’s only two blocks. We can call ahead and someone can go get it.”
“And y’all think Alaska is remote,” Ford teased. “You have to drive for your pizza? May as well be with me up there. All right, so we need a designated driver else someone has to walk to pick up pizza.”
“I’ll be the designated driver,” Noah said. “I’ll do anything to not have to wield a paintbrush.”
“Painting isn’t your kind of dirty is it, Hot Rod?” Ford snickered.
“Shut up,” Noah said, even as he laughed at the old nickname.
“For the record, I take exception to the fact that Noah picked out a Chevrolet truck to turn into a bed. Then again, all the Fords are probably on the road, getting something done.”
Jackson and Noah both groaned. The old Ford vs. Chevrolet digs had been going on between them since high school.
“I’ve got you figured out though, Noah. You were afraid of putting a Ford in there because the kid might see the word Ford on the tailgate every day and think of me. You want to
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