Page 10 of To Save Him

 

 

 

Chapter Four

 

THE SUN WAS warm and pleasant on my back, and a soft breeze continued to blow a piece of hair across my face so that I had to keep pulling it out of my mouth until I finally tucked it behind an ear.

“We bought all this lumber several years ago,” I told Brandon, holding the shed door open.  I wasn’t going to add that I’d bought it just a month or so before the bastard had darted out of my life—meaning I’d had it for well over a decade.  “Along with nails and other crap.”

“So how big do you want the boxes?”

“I’m not sure.  I’ve seen different kinds—square, rectangle, big and small.  All I care about is that I’m able to weed and comfortably reach across without stepping in the beds or having to rest a hand inside while reaching.”

“Makes sense.”

“That something you think you could do?”

“Yeah.  I’m not much of a handyman, but that seems like something I could handle.”

“I think I’d like two or three of them, depending on the size.  In a month or two—so I can use them this summer.”

“Got it.  What else?”

I had to pull my focus from Brandon’s beauty.  Outside, bathed in natural light, I was better able to appreciate his looks.  Youthful, yes, but there was an old-soul feel to him that he couldn’t have hidden if he’d wanted.  His eyes examined everything with a slight curiosity but also with the sense that nothing he found would be a surprise, no matter how much he appreciated it.

Those almond eyes, made more prominent by cheekbones a model would pay for, were a feature I could find myself getting lost in.  So I gritted my teeth and looked around the yard, hoping to remember all the things I’d wanted the asshole to do the final year he’d been around when he’d instead been sticking his dick where it didn’t belong.  Glancing at the house helped me remember the windows on the second floor.  I pointed up.  “The window frames on the second story really need a fresh coat of paint.”

He scanned the wall above us.  “Yeah.  They look like it.”

“I know there’s other stuff…”  My voice trailed off.

“I don’t mind if you keep me busy.  And when I get a job, I can pay rent.”

“Yes, but don’t worry about that right now.”

Brandon continued looking over the couple acres of my property spread out around us.  “What about the landscaping?  Seems kind of overgrown.  Want me to work on it?”

“Sure.”  I hoped he understood that notallof the property was landscaped, nor did I want it to be.  I liked having real rawness up close as well.

“And probably once I start painting the window frames, the whole house will need a coat of paint.”

I was feeling good about our arrangement already, but I was also starting to feel like maybe I was asking too much of him.  As I closed the shed door, I asked, “What kind of work will you be looking for, do you think?”

“I have no idea.  I didn’t do anything before the Marines, so I don’t really know what kind of work I’d be qualified for.”

“I could probably take you to the Workforce Center tomorrow.  They might be able to find something for you, let you know what kind of work you might be suited for.”

He nodded.  “Sounds good.”  We started walking back toward the house as I continued scanning the property, looking for other projects that I knew existed.  “So what doyoudo for a living?”

I couldn’t help the small grin that crept up on my face.  “Ah, my work.  I’m kind of playing a little hooky from it right now.”

Ah, there was an adorable smile.  Oh, Lord, those white teeth were killer.  He smirked, almost as though he already knew my secret.  “Hooky?”

“Yes.  I’m…self-employed, and I kind of have a Monday-through-Friday routine I follow.  Ishouldbe writing by now.”

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