“You’ll be stuck with me hanging around for the better part of six months,” he says, looking almost apologetic. “But it’ll sure be nice once it’s all done.”
True. It’ll be what I thought I was getting. Reaching up for Isaac’s ring, I slide the tip of my index finger through while I chew on the inside of my cheek. “Screw it. I’m in it up to my knees, I might as well dive right in.”
“You can always change your mind, you know. If it feels like too much.”
“I won’t.”
“I didn’t think you would. So, what should we start with?”
“My office. Definitely.”
* * *
I’m out in the yard, mowing the overgrown lawn, which proves much harder than expected. First, I needed to get this ancient lawnmower started, which was a whole mysterious process that forced me to seek out Liam’s help. I found him stripping the hardwood floor in my office. He came outside, quickly changed the oil, and added gas. Then he disappeared back inside, but not before giving me a thumbs up that said he believes me capable of this job.
I’m not so sure I deserve his confidence, though. I only make it a few feet before the bag is filled and I have to empty it, which is a pain in the rear because holding a big black garbage bag open while I also maneuver the mower bag into it seems to require two sets of hands and I’ve only got the one. I’ve stuffed four bags with grass and weeds already, and I’m still not even a quarter of the way done with the front yard. The sun beats down on me as I drag the latest filled bag to the edge of the driveway.
A truck pulls up and I see Gus waving at me from the driver’s seat. Oh, perfect. That’s what I need right now—an insanely long conversation with the utilities big mouth. A young man sits in the passenger seat, wearing headphones and staring at his cell, seemingly oblivious to everything around him. Gus shuts off his engine and gets out of his truck, leaving the door wide open. “Hello, Abby! I see you’ve got quite the job ahead of you.”
I smile, but not so nicely that he thinks I want to visit. “Yup, and I’m hoping to get it done by supper, so I really better get on it.”
He takes on a condescending tone. “By dinner time? Not a chance.” Pointing to a few errant blades of grass, he adds, "You missed a spot.”
“Thanks. That’s just what I wanted to hear,” I say with a deadpan expression.
He stares at me for a moment, then laughs. “God, you’re a quick one. Listen, I got what’s known as a win-win proposition for the two of us. I’m needing to get my useless son, Colton, off my couch, and you’re clearly needing a lot of help with this here yard.”
Holding up one hand, I say, “I’m going to stop you right there. I’m afraid I don’t have the budget for another employee.”
“This one’s free of charge.”
“I would have assumed Canadians were against slave labor.”
Gus chuckles again. “It’s not slave labor if he gets paid.”
“You lost me, Gus. Is this some sort of riddle?”
“You pretend to hire him, June and I will pay you, then you pay him.”
“This helps you, how exactly?”
“Because I figure once he’s had a taste of what it’s like to earn for himself, he’ll want to keep going. Hopefully, right out the door. I want to turn his room into a mancave.”
I lean to the left and peer at the young man who is still absorbed in whatever’s happening on the screen in front of him. “Can he hear you?”
“Nah,” Gus says, turning and hollering, “Bee, Colton! There’s a bee in the truck!”
Colton just keeps tapping on his phone with his thumbs.
I give Gus a skeptical look. “I don’t know. Why don’t you just make him get a job at McDonald’s or something?”
“There’s no McDonald’s in town. Besides, June doesn’t want to overwhelm him with a real job.” He rolls his eyes. “She doesn’t think he can handle that much responsibility yet.”
“How old is he?”
“Twenty-one.”
Twenty-one?I blink a few times in response.
