Page 59 of The Party Line

“After that, I’ll have to do my own hiring, right?”

He removed his hat and wiped his forehead with his shirtsleeve. “Yes, ma’am, you will, but after what you are doing now, and will most likely do in the fall, there won’t be a problem with them working for you.”

“Why do you say that?”

Connor opened the gate for me. “Because they respect you for sweating right along with them today. See you Monday, if not before.”

“Make itbeforeif you can.”

“Do my best,” he said with a tired grin.

Now why had I said that? Sure, I wanted to see him again, but would it truly be wise to encourage whatever was between us?

Sassy met me at the gate and followed me to the porch. She grabbed a toy snake and shook it so hard that it was nothing but a blur. When I rapped on Jasper’s door and then stuck my head inside, she tossed the toy in the air and dashed inside.

“I’m done for the day. I’ll bring your supper and meds”—I covered a yawn with the back of my hand—“in a few minutes.”

“Just the medicine,” he said. “Gina Lou already brought me a plate. It looks good and smells even better, but I’m not taking a single bite until you get back with them pills. I don’t like the look on your face when you are mad.”

“That’s a good thing.” I tried to smile, but it took too much energy. “If you are hungry, that’s a good sign.”

“My appetite never did leave me,” he argued. “I was coughing so much that it was a pain in my butt to try to eat. But I’m all better now. You can throw the rest of them pills in the trash. They have done cured me.”

I shook my finger at him and then groaned at the spiky sensation. “You are going to take all of your medicine.”

“Maybeyouought to take them pills since you’re so sore that you can’t even wiggle your finger without hurtin’,” he suggested and then chuckled. “Hard work is tougher than sitting in front of a computer all day, ain’t it?”

“Yes, it is, but I didn’t quit. I’ll be back in five minutes—and anyway, what you’re taking doesn’t cure muscle aches from weeding strawberries all day. It’s for upper respiratory problems.”

He shook his finger at me. “It don’t need no fancy name. It’s the croup. And, young lady, you don’t need to be out there in the sun doing that kind of work. You will be the boss lady if you decide to really do this, girl. Do you see Everett out there pulling weeds and mowing?”

“A good boss knows the business from the ground up,” I smarted off on my way outside.

He raised his voice as he repeated what he had told me for years. “As long as you are alive, Gracie will never be dead.”

“Thank you so much!” I yelled over my shoulder.

I groaned again when I started up the back-porch steps. I was determined to make it through the process until Thursday, and then I’d have lots of time to go through the stuff in the basement. But for now, I planned to eat supper, spend a couple of hours riffling through boxes, and then take a long, soaking bath.

Gina Lou was busy setting the table when I came in the house. “Supper is ready, and I already took a plate to Jasper.”

I dumped another dose of pills into the little glass. “Thank you for that. He says that it smells wonderful, and he’s ready to eat. I’ll take his medicine out to him and be right back.”

“I could do that for you,” she said.

“Thanks, but I’ll have to do it. He thinks because he’s starting to feel better that he doesn’t need to take pills anymore. He’d try to hoodwink you, but he’s afraid to pull any stunts on me.”

“I would be, too.” Gina Lou’s tone was dead serious.

I chuckled on my way outside. Jasper used his inhaler and downed the pills with a swallow of sweet tea and then took a bite of the stir-fry. “This tastes a lot like the summer goulash my Granny used to make of fresh garden vegetables.”

“I’ll tell Gina Lou that you like it. See you about nine with the rest of today’s medicine,” I said, but a tiny little part of me was jealous that Gina Lou cooked and I didn’t.

You are being childish,the voice in my head barked.He might like Gina Lou and her cooking, but he loves you like a granddaughter.

“Don’t be late. Me and Sassy like to call it a day by nine thirty. Do I have to eat then, too?”

“Yes, you do. Want me to bring you a muffin?” I asked.

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