Page 99 of No Good Deed

“It’s basic stuff,” the guy says. “Fixing a leaky faucet. Patching up walls. Anything major I’d get a contractor for.”

“I can fix a faucet,” I say as Tara goes back to the kitchen. “I helped my brother do it when I lived with him. He taught me how to do a lot of stuff. We patched walls all the time so I’m kind of an expert at that.” I keep my eyes on the door to the kitchen,waiting for Tara to reappear. How am I going to talk to her when she’s too busy to take a break?

“Is there a reason you had to fix all these walls?” the guy asks.

“My dad,” I blurt out. “He had an anger problem.”

“How bad are we talking?”

“He’s in prison, if that tells you anything.”

The man rubs his chin. “What’s your father’s name?”

I look at the guy. “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m a retired public attorney. There’s a chance I might have heard of him.”

I tell him my dad’s name.

The guy nods. “So you’re the kid. The one who was in the news.”

“Yeah. I don’t like talking about it.”

Tara comes over with the guy’s food. “Do you need anything else?”

He motions to me. “How well do you know this kid?”

She glances at me. “Well enough. Why?”

“You think he’s a hard worker? Dependable? Reliable?”

“Um, yeah. Definitely.”

“And you’d trust him? I wouldn’t have to worry about him taking stuff?”

“Jake wouldn’t steal.” She glances at me again. “He’s one of the most honest people I know.”

“So if you were looking for someone to hire, you’d give the kid a chance?”

She pauses, standing up straighter as she talks to the guy. “Yes. Jake’s a really hard worker. And he’s dependable. You can count on him to be there if you need him.”

If she really believes that, then why doesn’t she want to be with me? Why wouldn’t she want to be with a guy who’s dependable, someone she can rely on? She can’t rely on Troy.The guy never follows through on anything, and if she ever needed help, he wouldn’t be there for her.

“Thank you, young lady,” the old guy says to Tara. “That’s all I needed.”

“Your food should be out in a few minutes,” she says to me before going back to the kitchen.

“What do you think?” the old man says as he stuffs his napkin into his shirt like a bib. “It’ll be about ten hours a week, more or less depending on what I need.”

“You’re offering me a job?”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been talking about?” He picks up the ketchup bottle and shakes some out on his plate. “You want it or not? I need an answer.”

“We just met. Don’t you want to know more about me?”

“I already do. I followed the case involving your father. I know what he put you through. I know that your mother took off. But look at you now. You’re in college, doing well for yourself. That says a lot.” He motions to Tara as she takes an order. “And that friend of yours had nothing but good things to say about you. I can tell when people are lying, and that girl was telling the truth. So if you want the job, it’s yours.”

“Yeah. I’ll take it.” I turn to shake his hand. “Sorry if I was rude earlier. I was just thinking about something and didn’t want the interruption.”

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