Page 72 of The Leaving Kind

“What?”

“The difference is yours, Cam. You pay the contractor price. He pays the consumer price.”

“Oh, right.” He knew that. Had even made a mental note to ask Luisa about it—before he’d started thinking with his little head. Thank fuck he had no plans to see Victor for the next few days. He needed time to get him out of his system.

Jorge arrived and helped himself to coffee. Silent greetings were exchanged. Then he pulled out his phone, scrolled around for a bit, and showed the screen to Cam: a local marketplace ad for a reconditioned, heavy-duty ride-on mower.

“Six acres, man,” was all Jorge said.

Continuing to do the job with push mowers wouldn’t kill them, but with a ride-on, one of them could mow while the other cleared. They’d finish faster and potentially accomplish more. What they needed was an extra team. And another truck.

The sense of panic rose again, and Cam had a harder time beating it down. With a racing pulse, he handed the phone back. “Did you hear from your cousin?”

“If we can match what he’s making at the hardware store, he’s in.”

That would be a proper salary—for a proper employee. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“He also has a plow attachment for his truck and a couple customers leftover from last year.” Jorge’s face did an odd thing, then. After a second, Cam realized he was smiling. Had he ever seen Jorge smile before?

The tension across his shoulders eased by a small degree. “You thinking of putting one on the Cougar?”

Jorge’s shoulders jumped a little. A chuckle. “Nah, man.” He flipped to another screen on his phone and handed it back. A plow.

Would Nick mind if Cam used the truck over winter too? He’d have to ask. Or maybe offer to buy it from him. And try not to get overwhelmed by the idea of it all. He did have that cash put away, after all.

“A sound plan.” Cam blew out a breath and levered up off the couch. “Let’s take a walk out behind the nursery. I’ve got another job I want to talk to you about.”

Later that afternoon, Cam dropped into Luisa’s chair and started pricing out the materials he needed for Victor’s job. The thought of charging himself one price and Victor another didn’t sit quite right, but that was the way contracting worked. If his discount was high enough, he could cut Victor in on it and still make a little extra. Especially as the wood would cost them next to nothing.

The stacked railway ties behind the nursery had been meant for beds Luisa had planned to extend across the lot between the nursery and the orchard—until she’d figured out she made better money spreading hay and pumpkins across it in the fall.

He was counting out the number of ties he’d need for the steps when the office phone rang. Glancing up at the wall clock, he debated answering it. The farm was closed, but the call could be for a delivery. Luisa needed the income. He answered on the next ring.

“Shepard’s Tree Farm. Cameron speaking.”

“There you are.”

Conflicting emotions battled for dominance as Cam recognized Victor’s voice. A bright lift of joy and a sharp pang of—not regret. Something like fear, but not. Victor had called him. Why was Victor calling him?

Before he could finish examining the darker feeling creeping up through his chest, Victor said, “Cam?”

“Sorry. Ah, sorry.” Wow.

After a beat of silence, Victor said, “You’re surprised to hear from me.”

No. Yes? Why was he so surprised? “I wasn’t expecting you to call here.”

“If I had the number for your cell, I wouldn’t have to.”

About that. By some miracle, Cam stopped himself from suggesting Victor shouldn’t need to call him. Because obviously they did need to be in touch. For the job. The shop number would suffice for that, though, wouldn’t it?

After muttering quietly, Victor spoke again. “Okay, well, I’m sorry to have bothered you at work. I was planning to leave a message. You left Honey’s banana here on Saturday. I thought you might want it. I can call back tomorrow to discuss the front path, if you prefer. During business hours.”

All of the air Cam hoped to either pull into his lungs or push back out stuck fast in the middle.

On the other end of the line, Victor sighed, muttered, and hung up.

That was spectacular.