Page 29 of Never Fall Again
A wet nose pushed toward her from behind Minnie. “Maisy!” Landry tried to pet her but could only get one finger on the edge of her nose. The nose disappeared, then Maisy’s entire body came over the seat and into Minnie’s lap.
Minnie didn’t seem to be bothered in the least. She grinned and rested her face on Maisy’s side. “Hey, Maisy.”
Cal stretched out a hand. “Don’t squish Minnie.”
Minnie wrapped her arms around Maisy’s neck. “Mine.”
Cal leaned against the truck. “Just wait till Abby joins us. They’ll fight over who Maisy sits with, and in the end I’ll have to pull over, let Minnie get in the back, and then Maisy will sit between them.”
His grumbling might have been more effective if so much genuine affection wasn’t in his voice.
“Maybe, and this is just a suggestion, but maybe you could startout that way and save yourself some trouble.” Landry shrugged in a “What do I know?” kind of way.
Cal snorted. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“I don’t know. Probably because you secretly like the way they fuss over your dog.”
Cal clutched at his chest. “Cruel woman.” He shook his head mournfully. “It’s the sweet ones who surprise you with their sharp tongues. You think,Oh, she’s pretty and friendly and nice, and then,wham, she gets all up in your business.” He looked at Maisy. “When will I ever learn, huh, girl?”
Landry’s mind had stopped functioning somewhere around the “pretty and friendly” part. No. It was flattering, of course. But he couldn’t mean anything by it.
Could he?
He was just making conversation. Being funny. Or he had been. Now he was looking at her like she’d sprouted a carrot from her elbow. She had to say something.
She was spared by the bell ringing, followed by a rapid succession of cars cranking and doors slamming as other parents who’d been visiting outside their vehicles jumped back in and prepared for their children to come out.
“I guess that’s our cue.” Cal made sure Minnie and Maisy were inside and closed their door. “See you around, Landry.”
“See you.” She doubted he’d heard her mumbled words as he jogged around the hood of his truck.
“Bye, Landry.” Minnie’s voice was a high-pitched sound that came through her closed windows.
“Bye, Minnie. It was lovely to meet you.”
There. That wasn’t so hard. Talking to people. Being polite. She knew how to do this. What was it about Cal that messed her up so much?
She walked back to her own car, slid behind the wheel, andtried to think about anything and everything but Cal Shaw as she crept through the line.
It would have been a lot easier if he wasn’t right in front of her.
Three hours later, she sat at Bronwyn’s dining room table and studied the pages in front of her. “Bronwyn, we can’t wait six months for Favors to be rebuilt.”
“I know.”
“What are we going to do?”
“That I don’t know.” Bronwyn slumped in her chair. “We need someone who can start immediately. But the good ones are booked solid.”
Landry stared at the dates again. Not a single builder was available? She scanned the names. She recognized none of them. “Is there a reason you don’t have a quote from SPQ?”
Bronwyn didn’t sit up, but she lifted her head and glared at Landry. “How many reasons do you need?”
“How about one valid one?”
“If it were up to me, I’d hire them in a heartbeat.”
Landry picked up the pages and stacked them into a neat pile. “I hate to have to point this out, but if I recall correctly, as of a few months ago, itisup to you.”