Page 19 of A Lesson for Laurel

“I know,” Liam said. “I get it. Maybe it was one of those happy coincidences. But now you’re there alone and working more than ever before. When was the last time you went out and had a drink?”

To ease his buddy’s mind, he said, “Actually, on Sunday I had lunch and a beer with a woman.”

“Seriously?” Liam said. “Fill me in.”

“You know you sound like a chick right now,” he said.

“Don’t care. You love that about me. My wife does too. She likes she can come home and fill me in with gossip. It comes from teaching a bunch of stuck-up college kids and hearing all their drama. I need to keep my ear to the ground so I can help those that need it.”

“Are you kidding me?” he asked, laughing. “You just love assigning essays to find out what is going on. I know you. Don’t think Nicole hasn’t told me what you do and why.”

Liam was laughing so hard he couldn’t control it. “Hey. It helps them get shit off their chest and lets me know at the same time what might be holding them back in my class. Most of my students have thanked me for that assignment. It’s freeing in a way.”

“Don’t ask me to do it,” he said. “I’m free enough.”

“Back to this date of yours. Who is it? How did you meet? And when is the next one?”

“Her name is Laurel Glasgow. She’s renting the house next door. I witnessed an interaction she had with her ex and thought I’d have to intervene, then realized she had some big balls on her for such a stunning woman.”

“I’m getting a chair. This is some good shit. Start from the beginning.”

He wasn’t sure why he needed to get this off his chest and realized that Liam was good at a lot of things and filled his buddy in. “After we spent two days sweating our asses off and her holding her own, she dressed up some more and let me see another side to her, we had some burgers and a beer and I brought her home.”

“She has no idea what you do for a living? She thinks you’re the owner of Cooke Landscaping?”

“It seems that way,” he said.

“Do you feel bad about that?” Liam asked.

“I’m not sure what I feel. She didn’t ask. She just assumed. It’s not like I’ve got her number or we’ve set another date up yet.”

“Do you want another date?” Liam asked.

“I wouldn’t mind it, but as you’ve pointed out, I work a shit ton and it seems she does too.”

“She sounds like your type. Stunning on the eyes, feminine and soft, but sharp as a tack to stick in your big toe when she wants to step on you.”

His lips pursed. “That about sums her up. Didn’t realize that would be something I’d like.”

“You’d like it because Rachelle was all surface and no substance. She wanted to be taken care of and you tried, but it wasn’t enough. You don’t want to go down that path again and be stuck not feeling as if you’re enough. Sounds to me like Laurel has been upfront that she can handle life on her own. Even if you didn’t witness it. So it’s not just lip service.”

“You’ve got a point. I’ll have to think more about it.”

His email had been going off pretty steadily as he talked to Liam. “You do that and I’ll let you get back to work as long as you keep me in the loop.”

“I will,” he said. “Are you happy you got your bonding session in?”

“Thrilled,” Liam said. “But the question is, do you feel better?”

“Surprisingly, I do.”

“Then my work here is done,” Liam said and hung up.

Before he got to work, he went to the site of a local liquor store in Stamford, found the wine Nicole loved and a whiskey he and Liam enjoyed and bought both to be delivered later tonight and then shot off a text to his best friend to be expecting the delivery.

Then he tried to focus on his job—and how he could reach out to Laurel again and what he’d say if he did.

No, not if, but when.

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