“You left your drill here,” I said, suddenly feeling the need to put my armor on. “So, I knew you’d be back to get it.”
“I did?”
“Yeah.” I fingered the hem of my shirt as I stared through the trees. A slight breeze had picked up, causing the branches overhead to flutter.
I felt him look at me, but it was only when his low voice said, “Tess,” that I looked over at him.
I raised my eyebrows in question, surprised by the intensity in his gaze.
“I’m not here for the drill.”
I blinked. And then…tingles erupted inside my body, flowing like lava into every limb. I turned my face from his in an effort to hide the growing smile threatening to divulge all my secrets.
Logan cleared his throat and asked, “Are you excited to work with your brother?”
I took a deep breath to re-center myself before answering. “It’s been nice having Nate back in town again. We’ve been running together in the mornings a couple days a week.”
“I can’t believe there are two of you in the world.”
I kicked at his foot.
“You didn’t answer my question, though. Are you excited to work with him?”
“Yeah. I’ll learn a lot from him. He’s a very good physical therapist.”
“You are too, though, right?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.
He shifted next to me. “Why do you say that?”
I took a deep breath, debating saying it out loud, but ultimately, I wanted the thoughts I’d been thinking all summer off of my chest. “It’s something I didn’t discover until I was too far into the program to back out. I was good on paper. I like people. I like helping people. But I didn’t realize until I started actually working with patients that I get frustrated too easily. I usually want to bash my head in by the end of a session.”
He was quiet, so I continued, “But I figure about 20 percent of the time, people are really lovely, and trying hard, and the job is good. So, I’ll be alright. It’s good job security, I guess—working for family.”
“I’m not sure 20 percent job satisfaction is good enough, ” he said, frowning.
“What are your numbers?” I asked him.
“Probably the same, only in reverse. Every job has some sort of crap associated with it, but most of what I do is enjoyable.”
“What’s the stuff you don’t like?”
“The bigger we get as a company, the less time I have to do what I love. More paperwork, more employees, more managing, but less actual building. I got into the business because I loved to work with my hands, but I’m on the phone and computer more now than I was back in the early days.”
“Would you want a smaller company then?”
“Yeah. Maybe,” he said, his voice far away.
“How are the cabinets coming?”
“Good. Almost finished—once Nate gets me his stain choice.”
“Have you liked being back in Eugene?” This question seemed loaded, though I didn’t examine why.
He adjusted the bill of his hat. “Yeah, surprisingly. It’s been a good diversion. I’ve liked having one project to devote our entire group of guys to. We rarely have to hire out or use subs. It’s been awesome.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about the word diversion, but I didn’t let myself dwell.
