Page 8 of The Leaving Kind

She held out the phone. “I found this video, but—”

Cam touched the phone, glanced at her for permission, then eased it out of her hand. He tapped the screen, closing her video, and brought up the one she should be studying. Why Your Mower Stalls When Cutting Long Grass. He handed it back.

“Oh.” Her brow scrunched.

“But you don’t need to watch that. I can take a look and help you fix what’s up.”

Whatever preservation instincts she possessed chose that moment to kick in. “Are you a neighbor? Like, do you live next door?”

“I work at Shepard’s Tree Farm. I delivered mulch and some shrubs to this house last year. Just made a delivery along here yesterday. I had to check in on it and saw you were having problems with your mower.”

“Oh.” More brow scrunching.

Cam held up his hands. “I can head off if you want. I get it. Can’t be too careful.”

A half smile dimpled one of her cheeks. “I really could use some help.”

“The old guy ...” Cam poked at the gray matter in his head. “Mr. Gregory? No, Gregory Burke. He still here?”

Her smile died. “That was my grandfather. No, he passed a while back. Three months ago.”

Which would account for the state of the lawn. “I’m so sorry. He was nice. Friendly. Came out to chat while I unloaded the mulch.” Cam frowned at the lawn again. “He was keeping up the lawn all by himself? Or were you ...?”

“No, he had a service, but that stopped when he died.” She glanced back at the house. “He left it to me. The house. I’m his only grandchild. I was finishing my last year of college, though, so I couldn’t come out until now and ...” Her shoulders dropped. “It’s so much. I thought if I could get the lawn clear, then at least I could see what else needed to be done, you know? But I couldn’t even manage that.”

Raymondskill Road Rescue to the rescue it was. “I could give you a hand. If you want. I’ve got time this afternoon.” Too few deliveries again this morning meant he was pretty much done for the day. “How about we get this mower running and the lawn cleared and see what else needs doing? Then I can help you make a list and give you some advice on where to source materials and such.”

“Oh my God, that would be amazing.”

“Your parents ...” Cam let the question trail off, unsure whether he should have asked.

“Texas. We moved down there when I was young. I was at college up here, though, so I used to come stay for the weekend with Gramps. We were pretty close.”

“Again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Like he would have said, he had a good run. He was ninety-two.”

“No kidding. I’d have said eighty-two.”

“Right?” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Melanie, by the way. Melanie Burke”

“Cam. Cameron Zimmermann.” They shook. “Let’s see what’s up with your mower.”

As he’d suspected, the grass had choked the blade, causing the mower to overload. He showed her how to free the tangle, and they both marveled at the length of the grass wound around the rotor. When it was clear, he reset the safety and started the engine. Smoke belched out over a rough idle. Cam winced and shut the mower off.

“Do you know the last time this thing was used?”

“The lawn service probably didn’t use it, did they?”

“This old beast? No.” He wheeled it toward the driveway. “Let’s get it serviced and then we’ll take another swing at the lawn.” He turned to ponder the long grass. Serviced or not, the mower wasn’t going to cut it. “Don’t suppose you’ve got a weed whacker?”

Three hours later, as the sun finally dropped behind the trees, casting long evening shadows across the road, Cam pulled into his own driveway and parked in the now-empty garage. With Nick living in Stroudsburg, the first space was free. Nick had left his workout equipment in the second bay and all the tools at the back—he’d hardly need them living over the shop with Oliver and working out at the nearby gym with their friends. Still, the garage felt curiously empty.

So did the house, most nights, when Cam couldn’t summon the energy to find company. Which he hadn’t for a while. His need for intimacy scrolled through cycles. Incessant and infrequent. He was enjoying a low ebb at the moment but might want to think about reactivating an app or two soon. Especially with how long the days were in summer. He’d watched every DVD in the house four times and all that appealed on the streaming apps.

He looped his fingers through the couple of shopping bags on the passenger seat and crawled out of the car. Man, he was tired. A good, achy tired. He wouldn’t need to stream a movie tonight. Should have no trouble sleeping at all.

Dinner was a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket and a tumbler of whiskey. In concession to health and because eating vegetables made him think of his little brother, Cam plucked some lettuce, a tomato, two radishes, and a cucumber from the garden and put together a salad.