Page 16 of My Orc (Secret) Boss

Chapter Six

Maya

I spentSunday at the nature reserve. It was my favorite place on Eastshore, and now that the weather was so nice, it seemed like everyone else was out here too. I saw a lot of friends and neighbors, which was nice, but…

Don’t get me wrong, I love my neighbors. But for me, nature is about solitude, and that’s difficult when every time you turn around there’s someone’s dog sniffing at me, or a dad running after a screaming toddler.

I spent an hour sitting by the creek on the Gary property. Man, I was going to miss this place when it sold. I figured now that Old Man Gary was gone, his kids wouldn’t waste time in splitting it up. I just prayed it wouldn’t end up as high-rises.

The sun was sinking by the time the tide turned, and the water began to trickle back through the pluff mud. I watched the ripples of water that indicated the bait fish were heading back up into the marshes and smiled softly.

Circle of life, and all that.

With a sigh, I brushed off my pants and headed back to get ready for a week of work.

With Memnon.

Monday morning, I was up bright and early. Staring at myself in the bathroom mirror as I brushed my teeth, I tried to figure out why. I was excited to start work on my first landscaping job, yeah, but it was more than that. I’d worn another too-tight t-shirt from the shop—this one a bright yellow thatTatialways said made me glow—and I’d spent some time making sure my braid was straight.

I was never going to pass forfashionable, not like Ro…but I figured I looked alright.

Humming, I got to work on her flower arrangement. Today was simple, but cheery, daisies and alstroemeria. When one of the stems bent, I snipped off each bloom and wove them into my braid without thinking.

“Well, look at you!” Ro cried as she bustled through the door right at opening. “You’re glowing.” She scooped up her arrangement and dropped cash on the counter. “And I love this. I loveyou.” She was always a bubble of energy on Monday mornings. “I want to hear all about your weekend and why you’re so smiley, but right now, I have to get prepped for a multiplication test. Love you, bye!”

When she whirled out of the shop, I gave a little laugh and collapsed against the counter…only to perk up again when Memnon limped in the door behind her.

“I came in the front,” he announced. “Not sure where you wanted me. When do we start?”

We hadn’t discussed that detail, or reallyanyof the details of his job beyond the actual landscaping, and now I screwed my face into an apologetic grimace.

“We can’t leave until Sandra gets here to hold down the store. But I just realized we forgot to have you fill out your new hire paperwork.”

His dark eyes widened slightly, and he exhaled on a sound thatmighthave been a huff of laughter from anyone else. With an abrupt nod, he turned right around. “I’ll be back.”

And he was. He returned with the paperwork, sat behind the counter, and filled it out between interacting with customers. You’ll notice I saidinteracting, notgreetingorbeing polite. The dude needed to work on his people skills, is my point.

But I watched and listened as I bustled around the store, prepping it for Sandra, and I noticed that despite his abruptness, he wasn’t completely clueless when it came to gardening. He might not know much about the tools and chemicals and whatnot, but he was spot-on when it came to plants.

Not for the first time, I wondered what his life had been like, in the mountains, before he’d come to our world.

Once Sandra arrived and was settled in with her knitting behind the counter, I loaded Memnon and our gear into my little pickup—I managed not to giggle at the sight of him hunched in the passenger seat, but it was close—and headed for the reserve.

We shouldered our shovels and rakes and strolled along the boardwalk, pointing out areas that needed improvement. I’dput in orders for the muhly grass and saltmarsh morning glory yesterday, and would pick it up from the supplier later this week. For now, we could prep the area.

Once I explained what needed to be done, Memnon got right to work. Today was basically demolition, and tomorrow I’d bring in the loads of soil I’d arranged for. We’d pack it down tight around the walkway, anchor down some weed cloth, then add in the plants to hold everything in place and keep down erosion.

I dunno why some people put in pine needles or mulch when there’s so much stronger ground cover, like the morning glory or honeysuckle or even ivy.

Anyhow, in the time it took me to demo a hundred feet, he’d done most of the rest of the boardwalk. Here I was, dripping sweat and achy all over, and this male was working like a machine.

Like his leg didn’t hurt at all.

But when I finally straightened, resting on my shovel, I saw him limping back toward me. I wondered if he was as tired as I was. “Ready for a break?” I asked.

He glanced around. “A break? And then back at it?”

“Nah.” Grinning, I opened up the cooler to pull out a water for him. “We finished thismuchfaster than I could have hoped on my own. We can quit for the day.”

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