Page 75 of A Lesson for Laurel

“Hold on,” Liam said. “Do not compare the two.”

“There isn’t anything to compare,” he said.

“Doesn’t sound it to me,” Nicole said.

“I just meant that not everyone likes to do a long-distance relationship.”

“Ninety minutes isn’t that far. That’s a day trip if you want.”

“She’s going to come down next weekend. Either Friday night, if she is out of work early enough, or early Saturday and will stay until Sunday sometime. We’ll take turns going back and forth.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a plan already,” Liam said. “Is she good with it?”

“She says she is. She’s only been at her job since the first of the year. She loves it.”

“What does she do?” Nicole asked.

“She’s the Plant Manager for Blossoms. She oversees the manufacturing plant.”

“That sounds like a big responsibility. Is she older than you?”

“A few years younger. Twenty-nine. She’s a bit of a contradiction.”

“What does that mean?” Liam asked.

“When you first see her you’re going to think one thing, but then when you talk to her or now that you know her job, it’s the complete opposite.”

“You’re going to have to explain more,” Nicole said.

“You might put her in the same category as Rachelle at first glance.”

“She’s prissy,” Nicole said. “I never expected you to do that again.”

“Not prissy. She’s very feminine. Does her hair and nails, accessories. She has more bottles of face shit than I’ve ever seen and she doesn’t need any of it. She barely wears makeup, at least to me she doesn’t, but she puts something on her face.”

Nicole was laughing. “That just means she knows what she is doing with it.”

“She knows what she is about and is very confident in it. But then she has a job where she is the boss and could get dirty. She’s not afraid to get on her hands and knees and fix a piece of machinery if she has to. She freaking fixed Abe’s dishwasher on one of our dates. I’m not sure I could have done it without gagging. And the first day we spent time together, she was hauling paving stones with me.” Nicole and Liam were looking back and forth at each other. “What?”

“I’m not saying it,” Liam said.

“I’m not either,” Nicole said. “Because then you’ll yell objection again.”

They were thinking he was in love.

He didn’t know what he was.

But he did know he felt more for Laurel in a short period of time than he had with Rachelle after a year.

“Let’s just table this for now,” he said. “You asked about her and I told you.”

“You didn’t say much,” Liam said. “Is she from that area? You said her job is somewhat new.”

“She’s from New Haven.” He figured he should fill them in completely. “She broke an engagement off about eight months ago or something. The guy was cheating on her with women he was getting on apps.”

“That’s the lowest form of sleaze there is,” Nicole said.

“You’d love this though,” he said. He told her what Laurel did when she found out.

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