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She grinned, and they immediately got to work, replacing old wood beams with new ones and hammering in nails for shingles. Fixing windows and the doors that need new glass panes would have to wait until the order was ready.
A few hours later, Roy was sweating, and he abruptly started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"It's just... Your father was the boss before you, right? and then you were partners, so this is your first chance to be the head honcho, right?"
"Yes," she said slowly, unsure where he was going with that.
"You're doing an amazing job. I can tell that you did as much of the teaching with the high schoolers as your father did because you're teaching me as we go, not just telling me what to do but why and the best way to go about it, even if some of it is stuff I've done before."
She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I'm sure that you've fixed a few fences before in your time here at the orchard."
"Yes, but I don't mind."
"I just hope I'm not coming across as bossy," she said in a rush.
"Well, honey," he drawled, "you just be you."
She sucked in a breath as her heart began to pound in her chest painfully. "What... What did you just say?"
"I said you just be you."
Beverly slowly nodded. It was a simple enough saying to most people, but that exact phrasing,Well, honey, you just be you, was something she had heard so many times over the years.
"Are you all right?" Roy asked urgently. "I didn't mean to upset you at all."
"No. No, it's fine. You're fine. It's just... That's something my father used to always say."
"It's a great saying," he said. He wrinkled his nose, and she was sure that he wished he had come up with something better to say.
It was sweet, that he wanted to comfort her, but she strove to bury down her grief and bury herself in work.
They worked on mending fences, and Roy continued to try to make her feel better. He made jokes, that she sometimes could bring herself to laugh at, and he asked her questions aboutNails R Us.
She slowly opened up about her hope to expand on the business more than just with a single new hire.
"Years down the road, maybe, I want to have maybe a while team under me," she admitted. "I don't know if it'll be possible, though."
"Why not?"
She winced and glanced away before tightening her grip on her hammer and working on the fence some more before sighing.
"It's because you're worried others won't hire you still, is that it?" he asked, his tone a bit tight.
She met his gaze. He was so angry on her behalf.
"It's a concern, yes," she admitted. "Hopefully, one day, no one will blink an eye at hiring Nails R Us for all of their construction needs, but until then... well, and even then too, it's just one job at a time."
"Naturally.
As they worked through the day, Beverly found herself warming up to Roy more and more. He didn't ask too many questions about what she was thinking or feeling, just gave her plenty of space while they worked. She was grateful for that understanding and found herself growing more comfortable with his presence with each new task.She even began to believe that maybe there still was hope for a brighter future for both her mom and her own life.
Still, when he asked her about the business and how it had been when her father was still alive, she closed right back up again.
“I didn’t mean to upset you again,” Roy mumbled.
“You’re fine,” she said, echoing her words from earlier.
