I grimace and immediately see what he’s talking about. “So…I should probably go in the opposite direction.”
He winks at me. “That’ll get the job done.”
I move to the other side of the yard and get started. When the trimmer line gets short again, I bump the casing and immediately feel it bite through the grass a little easier.
“Bump it,” I say to myself, grateful Junior didn’t treat me like a complete idiot.
I step back and let out a shout of surprise when I run into Junior’s broad body. He reaches out and steadies me with a hand on my hip.
“Sorry about that. I was just making sure you had it down. And you do, so I’ll get out of your hair.”
He tugs on my Santa hat and goes back to mowing. Meanwhile, it takes me a good thirty seconds to start breathing again. I can feel the outline of his hand on my hip as I get started, and I imagine my pale skin marked with fingertip bruises.
Stupid and delusional, Tanner. #Winning.
We make quick work of the yard and then pull out the boxes of Christmas decorations. He’s super organized and had every homeowner fill out a form for the things they like. Miss L asked for white twinkle lights and some greenery around her front door, along with a wreath.
Once the yard is mowed, getting the lights and the greenery set up hardly takes any time. I sweep the grass clippings off the driveway while Junior grabs something out of an upper cabinet for Miss Lucille.
“So, is she always out here by herself?” I ask as we start putting things away. “It feels like we’re the first people she’s seen in six months.”
He shakes his head. “There are county services that come out regularly, but yeah…it doesn’t look like it’s enough, right?”
I shake my head.
“Sheriff Patrick talked to me when we went to the city about doing this and asked me to report back to him with any shortfalls we saw.”
I rub my hand over my forehead. “If she fell right now, it could be weeks before somebody would see her.”
“True. But we’ll report everything we see.”
“So, half Christmas Cleanup and half community check?”
“Something like that,” he says, hoisting the truck gate before slamming it into place. “You wanna get a coffee refresh and then head over to our next place?”
I nod, sending another wave to Miss Lucille, grateful we could be here for her. Even though this is just the first house, I can already tell this is something I want more of.
4
JUNIOR
Mr. Bridge’s house goes a lot faster than Miss Lucille’s because while the grumpy old coot walks with a cane, he uses a riding lawnmower and can keep his property fairly neat. Honestly, I’m a little shocked he wants to Christmas-up the joint, considering how rude he is when we show up.
“Do you think you can make the lights straight? Don’t waste my time if you can’t.”
I put on my best reassuring smile and bullshit my response. “Mr. Bridge, if you’ve got a level, I can guaran-damn-tee you won’t get a straighter set of lights.”
Cursing under his breath, Mr. Bridge comes back with a level nearly as tall as he is. Okay, bluff called. I send him a nod and wordlessly accept the heavy metal tool.
Guess I can skip arm day at the gym.
Tanner and I come to a whispered agreement that we’ll get through this one as quickly as possible. That’s a little more difficult when I spot that the roof itself isn’t straight.
“Do I go by the level or the roofline?” I ask, my arms already burning from holding up the damn thing.
Tanner steps back to examine the situation. “Well, the roofline isn’t that bad. I say just try to tack it in points that are level with each other.”
He’s right, and after that, it doesn’t take us long to get the job done. After we string up all the lights—level-straight, mind you—I walk the ladder and level over to the garage.
