Page 134 of Average Joe

“But Alice—”

“Alice built this garden as a fuck-you to her abusive, unfaithful husband. He died in this spot. Alice almost died in this spot. Now Logan. And you…” I couldn’t finish that train of thought. I swallowed past the lump of emotion in my throat. “No good comes from these bushes. I don’t think she would’ve wanted me busting my ass to keep them alive. They have to go. I can’t look at them another day.”

Marley blinked up at me. “I’ll get the sledgehammer.”

She hurried off. I found the shovels and gloves. Marley returned with two orange-handled Fiskars, her own goggles, and protective gear. “We’re doing this together.”

Good Lord, my girlfriend was badass. “Why?”

She ignored my question, asking, “Who gets first swing?”

“All yours, baby.”

My gorgeous girl stepped next to the bench, braced her feet, and wrapped both hands around the handle. “Joe?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to help because I love you.”

Air and rage left my body in one ferocious exhale, replaced by the freshest, freest inhale I’d ever experienced.

“Good goddamn answer, neighbor,” I told her. “Now, show me what you’ve got.”

She swung, chipping a corner off the bench, then yelled, “Ah, that feels good!”

She needed to purge, too.

She took three more turns before I dropped a kiss on her nose and then above her bruise before I said, “Love you too, gorgeous.”

I aimed for the center of the seat. The cement cracked but didn’t fall. I struck again, hitting dead center, splitting the slab down the middle. The two halves folded, falling to the ground, and exposed the hollow centers of each columned leg. Inside each leg sat capped pieces of PVC pipe.

Marley hummed, stepping closer. “That’s strange.”

I set my sledgehammer aside, bent at the waist, hands to knees, and stared, disbelieving.

Alice’s letter came to mind. She couldn’t have, could she? But what else could that be? I laughed, belly deep, tears falling.

Alice. That shit.

Marley watched, brows knit, her own body shaking with humor. She had no clue. In hysterics, I fell to my ass, hands to my face.

A good five minutes passed before I pulled my shit together and removed the pipes from the bench. “C’mere, babe.” I headed to the garage, where the miter saw was currently stored. Took a minute to set her up, adjust the angle, and clamp the pipe, but when I cut the end off that damn tube and pulled out a rolled-up stack of cash, I wept. Honest to God, tears of gratitude and bittersweet joy erupted from my core.

Marley watched, still clueless, and if I wasn’t mistaken, worried for my mental health. “What’s going on?”

“Alice. That crazy nut.” I shook my head, then slapped the money into Marley’s palm. “I should’ve known.”

Dig deep, she’d written. Dig deep.

Alice’s “fuck you” to Bill was also her “you got this, girl” to herself.

Marley followed me back outside, where I grabbed the shovels, handed one to her, and instructed, “Get your sweet ass over here, babe.” I picked the closest rose bush and dug, directly at the roots, telling my love, “This is you and me getting out of the sexy coffee business. This is you and me having the honeymoon to end all honeymoons. This is you and me doing whatever the hell we want for the rest of our lives. What’s your favorite charity? We’ll start there.”

“Honeymoon?” Marley forced her shovel deeper with her foot.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know that’s where we’re headed.” Scoop. Toss. “And Alice left us one helluva wedding gift.”

My gorgeous neighbor slapped a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. “Oh, Joe.” She shook her head. “Bill didn’t whittle away her money, did he?”

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