Page 15 of Finding Basil
As his jaw dropped, Cordelia was on the phone with an electrician.
“What the hell have I gotten myself into?”
Chapter Four
Basilhadalreadydroppedthe pump and other supplies for the farm and was back with the bathroom and kitchen fixtures Herb had chosen. “As soon as these are installed, and working, you’ll feel much better,” Basil said.
“I’m sure I will. Thanks for helping me today. I’d be…completely lost.”
Basil hopped onto the tailgate of his truck before he unloaded the last box. “I think you would have figured it out for yourself. You seem capable,” he said with a sweet little chuckle that made him blush brightly.
“Thanks. I hope I am.”
The moment they were having was thick in the air, so thick that he couldn’t feel the breeze that was blowing the tall grass around him. Their eyes met, and it was something out of a movie, where the world stopped and there were only the two of them.
Corny, cheesy, but true. In that moment, he knew Basil was someone he wanted in his life. And not just as a friend. “I thought things moved slowly in towns like this, but I feel…”
“Something rushing pretty fast. Yeah. I feel that too.”
The moment, however, was broken when a shrill voice hollered, “Basil, you better get paid for all this here you’re doin’!”
Lila was stomping across the field with hands curled into fists that swung at her sides.
Basil waved happily. “Hi, Lila.”
As she approached, she started poking around in the stuff Basil had already unloaded, and Basil jumped off the tailgate. “What’s all this?”
“Some things to fix up the place.”
“Good. This place needs it. Dropping my property value just living next to it.”
Herb wanted to roll his eyes but restrained. “I will be paying him for all the help, Lila.”
“You best be. He’s a damn good worker. Fixed my fence in record time last summer.”
“I’ll be by to get that door some new hinges this week.”
She nodded curtly. “Much appreciated.”
“Would you too like to come in and have some coffee? I need to take the fixtures up to Rob so he can get them fitted in the upstairs bathroom.”
She eyed him harshly. “I don’t trust many to make me coffee. Besides, it’s pretty late for that. How about you two come by this evening and have a beer with me?”
Herb felt like he was being teased, and at any moment she would laugh and point at him for believing her, but Basil answered for himself. “I’d love it, Lila, but only if you made those kettle chips to eat with it.”
“I’ll put a batch on just for you, honey,” she said, then looked to Herb. “Well?”
“Sure! I’d love to, and you make your own kettle chips?”
Basil answered for her. “She has this old cauldron and makes them over an open fire. It’s insane.”
“The only way they come out right!”
Herb laughed and said, “I have to see that.”
“Then it’s a date. Lookit me, datin’ two younger men. Won’t those old cunts at the Presbyterian Church be waggin’ their jaws?”
She left cackling, and Basil said, once she was gone, “She’s a character.”
