FOUR
KELLY
The following morning and I've been sitting waiting for over-an-hour for signs of life from the agency.
I'm still waiting when there's a knock at the front door. I doubt it's any of the Lucky Break crew, with them all banging and crashing either out back, or in the kitchen.
Rather than it being Zac checking to see if they're being too loud, it's Mary Miller, our neighbor, and Chairman of the Neighborhood Watch. I'm not sure why she's here, because I'd let her know about the renovations.
Better to give her a heads up than have her phoning my mom every time there's a 'strange man' lurking about. Mary sees more strange men than any other person I've ever known.
But she's not here about that. In fact, there's no time to guess why she's here. She blurts it out before I've so much as said good morning.
"I need your help, dear girl."
If I actually had some agency work to get on with, I'd be back-pedaling by now, telling her I was too busy. However, that excuse has bolted. "Really?"
It's not until I notice her fidgeting that I think to invite her inside.
Only once we're settled with coffee in what my parents refer to as the front parlor, does she get around to why she's here.
"It's the 4thof July. Normally my Barry would take care of our Neighborhood Watch float for the Independence Day Parade, but with his health playing up, I don't want to risk it."
She then sits quietly, waiting for me to pick up the sympathy card she's just dealt me. Perhaps if Barry spent more time actually playing tennis than watching it on TV while cradling a beer, his health would be better.
Of course, I say nothing of this. The poor woman has enough to deal with babysitting her husband of forty-odd years. Eventually, though, curiosity gets the better of me.
"How do you expect me to help? I wouldn't know the first thing about building a float."
I'd back this up by offering the excuse that I'm in full-time employment, but as each hour passes with no emails, even this is in doubt. Maybe I should look for freelance work like Zac said?
"No, no, no, dear girl, you just need to come up with a design. Others can build it using the same trailer as last year."
While my immediate reaction is to tell her no. I then decide the idea of working on something Jason can't take the credit for would make a welcome change. It'll also be the first time I've been in town for the famous parade, so I may as well make the most of it.
If it turns out great, I can even put it on my website. And because it's a charity job, there's nothing Jason can say about it.
"Are there any rules I should follow?"
I'm used to working to a brief, no matter how 'brief' it might occasionally be. I've found it's best to have some guidelines, things I can and can't do, otherwise I have a tendency to get carried away.
Mary thinks on this, shaking her head as she goes through some internal list. "Kelly, whatever you come up with will be wonderful. Just make it family friendly, is all." She quiets for a moment. "Oh, you'll need to make sure it's got the Neighborhood Watch branding on it."
"That actually sounds like a lot of fun." I fall silent while searching for negatives, soon enough deciding there aren't any. "Okay, I'll do it. I'm in."
"Would it also be possible for you to manage the project so I can devote more time to taking care of Barry?"
I'm soon enough nodding, although I then back this up by saying I'll manage it for her. I mean, it can't be any harder than some of the crap jobs Jason had foisted on me in recent months, can it?
"That's excellent news. Can you whip something up within a couple of days?"
With my mind already awhirl with design options, it takes a moment to realize she's spoken to me. "Sorry, what was that?"
"A couple of days. Would that be enough time?"
"That should be plenty. I'll get started right away."
It wasn't like I had anything else to do.
