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It wasn’t fair, the way public perception had eclipsed his world. But then, no one ever said life would be.
Patience. A sleepy Louie settled onto his feet once more.This will all blow over in time. Enjoy the big-city break so you can go back recharged.
That’s exactly how he would return to the scene. Recharged, and with an abundance of newly gained perspective. How better to understand their customers’ needs for working remotely than experiencing it for himself?
He glanced from his computer desk, sitting in what was supposed to be a formal dining room, to the living room that held nothing but a television, a single recliner, and side table. Isaac hoped his customers were living more exciting lives than this.
Across the space, sunshine streamed in through the front windows. Hopefully, the morning sun would dry the yard out before he and Louie’s midmorning walk. Because the way he was feeling now—missing his friends, missing his hometown—he was going to need some fresh air after this call. Something to clear his mind of the past, so he could capitalize on all the possibilities waiting for him in the future.
A future that most definitely did not involve small towns in Indiana with wrecked landscaping or beautiful, overconfident, truck-driving women.
Chapter Three
Del bolted uprightwhen her alarm sounded the next morning, heart pounding and covers askew. She’d been dreaming, chased through town hall by a giant, talking chainsaw. Isaac had appeared in one of the doorways she was rushing past, waving a broom at her while yelling to stay off his lawn. Awake and grateful to have been rescued from the nonsense, she silenced her alarm.
Hopefully, that hadn’t been a premonition of how he would greet her today.
On a yawn, she rolled out of bed, pushed the hermit from her mind, and started getting ready for work. Nine was later than she usually went in, but thankfully Chase had agreed to swap his closing duties for her opening ones. A real blessing, since she’d stayed to help Faye with the bookstore until nearly dawn. She prayed the tarps they’d put on the roof last night had held.
Del checked her phone before showering. No texts yet from Faye—was it too soon to start worrying? Or was it that no news was good news? Surely, their town would rally around the old building and do all it could to preserve a vital piece of its history.
Dressed and refreshed but in need of caffeine, she headed to the kitchen—one of her favorite rooms in the Craftsman home, so welcoming and sunny. It’d been a sad little bungalow when she’d first toured it, its former owners unable to keep up with the aging property’s maintenance. But she’d seen its potential, knew it still had great bones. And the best part was its location—just a short drive from her father’s farm, and a backyard catty-corner to that of her oldest sister’s slightly larger Craftsman.
Talk about hitting the real estate jackpot.
Aside from it needing considerable updating, anyway. She hadn’t known much about home renovation back then, but worked with a lot of people who grew up in the skilled trades field. Thankfully, they were happy to trade their skills and knowledge for cold beer and cookouts.
That was one of the things she loved most about her hometown: its generosity. Recruiting volunteers wasn’t something that required arm-twisting in Bourbon Falls. Rather, everyone rolled up their sleeves and tackled projects right alongside you. Well, except for maybe grouchy hermits.
Lucky for her, she didn’t need help taking down that overgrown shrub.
Del made for her truck, mental wheels now turning with the day’s tasks ahead. Soon she was headed down West Center Street, trading Bourbon Falls’ cozy suburban yards for a seemingly endless sea of yellowing soybeans. A few miles more, she turned south on Elm Road and Brooklyn’s ruts came into view, along with the semi-mangled evergreen mammoth she’d clobbered. Isaac had done nothing with any of it since they’d left last night, which was no surprise considering the condition of the rest of his landscaping.
Really, though, it wasn’t her place to judge. If he wanted to avoid yardwork, that was his choice. She did her thing, and everyone else could do theirs. If he was a mega introvert or just someone who grew up hating people, she wasn’t going to try to talk him out of it.
She was a landscaper, not a shrink.
A good thing, too—that yard was going to need a lot of work. Hopefully, she could knock out the restorations in a day or two. Goodness knew Faye would need help getting the bookstore put back together.
Another quarter mile down Elm, and her beloved Oak Barrel Farms came into view. The former, easternmost acre of her father’s farm had been cleared of all but the small island of oak trees surrounding a decades-old hunting cabin, which had since become OBF’s storefront. A greenhouse had been erected behind the grove of oaks, and beyond that stood stockpiles of various stones and mulches.
Del turned off the main road and onto their business’s shaded drive, on the lookout for any storm damage they might have sustained last night. Thankfully, everything looked as she remembered. Her father’s dog Rex barked a hello from the shop’s front porch as he did when her father was busy at the fire station—which was often, considering he was Bourbon Falls’ long-time fire chief. Though the aging lab still had plenty of spunk in him, most days Rex followed her inside and spent the morning napping beneath their checkout counter.
After she’d given him a treat or two, of course. Good dogs always deserved treats.
Beyond Rex, Del spied a shaggy-haired blond through the office’s screened door, a clipboard in one hand and coffee mug in his other. Though Chase Redding looked more surfer than landscaper, she wouldn’t trade her partner-in-crime for the world. Like her father, Chase was a local fireman, which meant he worked a twenty-four hours on, forty-eight hours off rotation at the station. During his off times, he worked at Oak Barrel Farms handling the heavy lifting and coordinating delivery and planting crews.
Their partnership had gelled seamlessly from the start, which surprised no one—Chase was as close to a little brother as Del had ever known. Growing up, he’d spent more time at their place than his, partly because his home life sucked and partly because he’d been in love with Del’s little sister since the first grade. Hopefully, one day Hannah would return home and mend the poor guy’s broken heart.
Heck, mend all their hearts. It just wasn’t the same in Bourbon Falls without her.
Del parked around back in one of their two executive parking spaces—a joke between her and Chase; both were nothing more than gravel rectangles wedged between scraggly trees—and stepped from her truck. The air beneath the oak canopy remained cool, though today was projected to be a scorcher. She drew in a deep breath, letting the earthy scents ground her before getting caught up in her day, then headed inside. Chase greeted her with a smile.
“Morning, sunshine.”
“Good morning. Thanks again for opening for me today. I really needed that extra sleep.”
“Not a problem. How’s the bookstore?”
