“I’m not saying you’d do it on purpose.” Was this supposed to make me feel better? “Anyway, you said you guys are just friends. So all of this is irrelevant. Right?”
“Right,” I said. “Of course.”
I heard a car: Clark coming up the driveway. Once parked, he gave the Tides van a pointed look. “Who’s that?”
“Some eco-design person walking the property,” Lana told him, nodding at the guy, now examining the hydrangea bushes.
“Where’s Kasey?” Clark asked. “I’m going to Bly Supply. She said to check in, that she might have something else for the list.”
“Meeting with the lawyers inside,” Lana told him, and he headed that way.
“Excuse me? Is Kasey by any chance available now?”
It was the Tides guy again. He’d sweated through his shirt and gotten his shoes wet, judging by the squelching noises as he got closer.
“Um,” I said, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll just… let me see.”
I turned, going inside. A beat later, I realized he was following me, as if I’d issued an invitation.
“It’s really interesting,” he said, dabbing at his wet brow with an already soaked tissue. “I don’t think our team had any idea of the vast amount of species that are present here. It’s not just the expected native ones. But others that haven’t been recorded in this area for years.”
We were coming into the kitchen now, where Geralin wasfilling a water glass, a row of pills laid out on the counter beside her.
“… thank you so much,” Liz was saying from the porch, where she, Kasey, and my mom were clearly wrapping things up. Only one box was left on the screen. “We’ll just plan to get these signed, notarized, and sent off, then.”
“Perfect,” said the tinny voice from the computer. “Have a great day, ladies.”
Beep!went the familiar chime signaling the end of a VizUL. “Kasey,” I said. “This gentleman has a question about the land.”
They all turned to look at us. “Jeremy?” my mom said.
A beat. Then the Tides guy replied, “Catherine! What are you doing here?”
The door banged again. The next thing I knew, Lana was beside me, all ears.
“This is my family’s house,” my mom said now, sitting up straighter. “What are you doing out of Minneapolis?”
“Got too cold,” Jeremy replied. “Also, I needed a career pivot. Went back to my college major! Ecology.”
My mom’s eyes widened. “Really? Why?”
He smiled, dabbing his moist forehead again. “Well, you did come in and downsize our entire company.”
“But not your division!” my mom protested. She was flushed. Nervous? “You got a promotion and a raise, if I remember correctly.”
“You do.” Jeremy smiled, then looked at me. “What recall.”
Lana said, “So you guys work together?”
We all looked at my mom, who cleared her throat, shuffling the already neat papers in front of her. Jeremy said, “We crossed paths a bit leading up to the restructuring.”
This time my mom definitely blushed. It was like I could feel Lana’s intrigue from beside me. Now Bigfoot had a love life?
Ben appeared in the kitchen. “There you are,” Clark said. “Ready to go to Bly Supply?”
“Sorry,” Ben replied. “Can’t. I have to go to the Tides.”
“The Tides?”
