Page 7 of A Lesson for Laurel

“It’s a little hard to pay someone for that degree. Or maybe not,” he said. “But you still have to pass the bar.”

“You do and he couldn’t. He’d taken it several times and since he had a minor in accounting, he dealt with that end of the firm. Though if you asked him where he works, based on how helooks, he just says Taylor Law Firm. He likes people to assume he’s a lawyer.”

Shit, he knew the firm. Big hitters and were known for being ambulance chasers.

Not his thing and no one he’d ever dealt with or would.

“By your tone, I’d say you don’t think much of his parents.”

“Not really,” she said. “His mother was nice enough but a little overbearing. I think she babied Philip. His father liked me and all. Liked the way I looked on the outside.”

“But not what you did. What is that?” he asked.

Sounded like dicks to him but not his problem.

“Now I’m the Plant Manager at Blossoms. I’ve been here for about three months. I couldn’t stay in New Haven any longer. Too many people knew me and who I was engaged to. I just needed a fresh start. Before that, I was a supervisor at a recycling plant. I’ve got a degree in manufacturing. I’m a hands-on gal. I like to know how things work and if I can take them apart I do.”

Not at all what he would have guessed she did.

“Good for you,” he said. “I think all women—and men—should be able to figure things out like that. Though it’s easier for people to throw money at someone to do it for them.”

Something he’d been doing for a few years and hated himself for it. It was more about time than anything else.

Used to be he liked to do something himself too. Then life got in the way.

It was nice to be back to his roots. Even if the body aches told him sitting at a desk wasn’t that bad either.

“Philip was used to throwing his parents’ money around. Not me. I never had enough of it to do that and what I’ve got I earn myself. It’s better that way.”

“It is,” he said. Since he had to work hard to get where he was, he agreed.

“So you do landscaping?” she asked. Her eyes were on the truck in the driveway.

“I am right now,” he said, grinning.

Not really a lie. No reason to say anything else.

They worked for another hour just chatting back and forth about the area.

“I’m going to get a drink,” she said. “Do you want some water?”

“Sure,” he said. She’d been working steadily. He hadn’t expected it. He thought for sure she’d call it quits after ten minutes. Nope, she had a bit of sweat going but showed no signs of slowing down.

He felt a little bad about that, but she could stop at any point. He wasn’t holding her to this.

When she came back out with two bottles of water, she asked, “Are you going to replace this all the way around the house? I see the same stones up front as what you are removing here.”

“That is the plan, but probably not today,” he said. “Maybe tomorrow if the weather is nice. I’ve got a few other things to do.”

Like work for his other job that he had to deal with.

“I’ll be around tomorrow too if you need help.”

She was smiling at him after she’d taken a sip of her water. He took the top off of his and did the same, looked her up and down, then figured what the hell? “I’ll let you know.”

3

WORTH THE EFFORT