Page 12 of A Lesson for Laurel

“I used the pavers you said you had extra of. I’ll send you pictures when we hang up.”

“I appreciate it,” Abe said. “You’re helping me out more than you can imagine. I’ve got a good crew but not enough to run things.”

“I offered,” he said. “Anything for your mother. Your father too. How is Aunt Carrie doing?”

“She’s doing better. The pain isn’t as much. She hates the wheelchair, but there is no way she can start walking again foranother five weeks other than small movements with a walker or crutches. Even then it’s PT. She’s fighting it, but I told her to cut it out. If she makes it worse, it will take longer.”

“She’s feisty like that.”

His aunt never sat still so she had to be going nuts with a broken pelvis from a car accident.

“She is. She wants me to go back home, but I told her you have a good handle on the business. You won’t let anything happen. I’m making calls from here and scheduling things too.”

“That’s right,” he said. “I’m just going to sites and taking pictures. You’re figuring out costs and timelines. I’m holding down the fort to get you started for your busy season.”

Easton knew it could be a few months he’d be here and had no problem with it. Work had no issues either. He was a partner, he could pretty much do what he wanted as long as his work was done and it always was.

As Laurel said, sleep was overrated.

“I’m sure I would have been fine, but I’ve got one less stress over this. I can never repay you for doing it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ve felt that way about your parents taking me in. I’d do anything for your parents. Plus it gives me a break. A mental one.”

“You’ve got to let go of Rachelle,” Abe said. “It’s been over six months. She’s a bitch and not worthy of you.”

He snorted. Maybe this was why he wanted to intervene when Laurel’s ex showed up at the door.

Easton knew what it was like to have something end.

He wasn’t the one who did it, but when he learned why, he would have.

“Nope,” he said. “She’s not.”

“But her being engaged is bothering you, isn’t it?”

He didn’t want to talk about this and wished he hadn’t brought it up, but he had no one to blame but himself.

“No,” he said. “It’s not. But being out of town I don’t have to worry about running into people and them bringing it up.”

“As if you ever leave your house and run into anyone,” Abe said, snorting. “You’re normally locked in your office at all hours.”

“When they need me, I’ve got to be around,” he said.

That was the excuse he gave himself for working himself into the ground. Or maybe he did it for years to prove he had what it took. All that work made him a partner though, so something good came out of it.

“Yeah, yeah,” Abe said. “Mom wants to talk to you.”

He took a deep breath and waited for his aunt to get on the phone. “What’s going on, Easton?”

“Nothing,” he said. “How are you feeling, Aunt Carrie?”

“I’m annoyed,” his aunt said. “I want out of this damn chair.”

“Don’t rush it,” he said. “If you do you’ll end up in it longer and then Abe will stay.”

His aunt laughed. “Good point. He should be back home running his father’s business and keeping that memory alive.”

“Hey,” he said. “I’m doing it. You think I can’t handle something I’ve been doing since I was twelve?”

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