Page 103 of A Lesson for Laurel

“That sounds like fun,” Ivy said. “Do you know where you’re going?”

“Not yet,” she said. “I told him to let me know by tomorrow so I can figure out how to dress.”

“I’d be bringing so many outfits, it’d drive Brooks nuts.”

She laughed. “Easton expects that of me.”

“I have to say I love how stylish you are even here in the plant.”

She looked down at her jeans. They were darker in color, fitted to her but with a lot of stretch. Her shirt was a short-sleeved light blue cotton with yellow and white around the neck and sleeves. She had canvas sneakers on her feet and tried not to wear shoes around the plant. If she had to, she changed into boots but didn’t need them.

Her hair was in a loose braid hanging down her back and had a few of Rose’s bobby pins holding some shorter strands away from her face.

“Thank you,” she said. “I try, but not really. I think you get it because you’re the same way.”

“Awww,” Ivy said. “I appreciate that. I always want to make Poppy proud. All the sisters. I love accessorizing too. This is like the perfect job for those things.”

“Tell me about it,” she said. “I find I look for my clothes around the accessories I want to wear but don’t want to overdo it either because I can be on the floor.”

“It’s so much fun working here,” Ivy said. “And speaking of work, I need to grab a few things and then swing by Poppy’s on the way home. She shouldn’t be working, but she wanted a few samples of something.”

“Have a great night,” she said. “Thanks for telling me about Aster.”

Laurel went back to her office, noticed Denise on the way. They nodded their heads at each other and then moved on.

Things were about as good as they were going to get there and she had to accept that. There weren’t going to be friendships with everyone at work and she never expected that.

But she was getting some and it did make her feel better.

At the end of the day, she’d gone home and changed into shorts, lit the grill, and started to cook dinner. There were a few pieces of chicken on there that she was flipping when Abe pulled into the driveway and waved to her.

“Hungry?” she asked.

He grinned. “What are you making?”

“Grilled chicken. I was going to put it on a salad. Seriously,” she said. “But you don’t need that. You can have chicken and I’ve got pasta salad I made yesterday.”

“That sounds good,” Abe said. “Do I have time to shower?”

“I’ll hold dinner since I want you to shower,” she said, laughing. “You’re covered in dirt. Did you fall in a hole or something?”

Abe looked down at his clothes. His jeans and shirt were literally sprinkled with a coating of dust, and his arms and face were darker than normal too.

“No,” he said. “But it was windy and we were dumping fill. I wasn’t standing in the best spot. My bad.”

She shook her head. “Don’t clog the drain.”

“Ha ha,” Abe said. “I won’t, but if I do, I’m not admitting it so you can come and fix it on me.”

She laughed and went back to the chicken, picked up her phone and texted Easton to let him know. She didn’t think he’d care she was sharing dinner with his cousin, but she never wanted him to find out from someone else either. Handing food off to Abe in the driveway was different than spending time eating the meal together.

Could be because she knew what it was like to be blindsided by not having knowledge of something going on behind her back with her ex and she’d never do that to another person.

34

HAVE TO FALL IN IT

“I’m having dinner with your girlfriend tonight,” Abe said when Easton answered the phone.

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