AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 13
Max
With Mrs. Jacques’sgarden box set up in her back yard, all that was needed was the bulbs to fill it. I’d have to drive into River Valley to the garden center, so it made sense that I mow the lawns at Fox Avenue while I was over that side of town.
Fox Avenue was a small, rundown property, so it wouldn’t take me long. I’d shop for the bulbs and take them back to Mrs. J’s place, then finally get a chance to chill, having already mowed two other properties this morning. Miles was having a few kids over later, so I’d drop in and hang with them for the night.
I had a specific way to mow lawns. I mowed a perimeter first, then up and down in rows. It was the way I liked to do things, and I always started with the front yard. The doors and windows of the house were all closed up, so it was unlikely anyone was home.
It was good to see the plants in the garden box had survived, were thriving in fact, so maybe the occupants had been watering them. That was a first.
I concentrated on keeping my rows straight, but truth be told, I was mentally exhausted. Not from work, but drained from picturing Tennessee Jackson and Taylor Frank together. Sitting in the cafeteria, exchanging phone numbers in the hallway—I’d specifically heard him say he’d be in touch! Ouch—it hurt, it grated, it tied me up in knots. He’d probably already called her, planned a date, probably taking her to a movie or asked her to the Homecoming Dance, or both. Tenn Jackson of all people! I mean, he wasn’t her type. Surely she could see that. What would they have in common? Anything?
My head hurt from thinking about it, maybe I wouldn’t go to Miles’s house tonight, maybe I’d stay home, take some Advil and pray for sleep. Finishing the front, I dragged the waste bag to the back yard and was about to restart the mower, when the door flew open.
My eyes popped as I recognized Taylor, wearing a blue cap, standing on the top of the wobbly steps. She, too, gaped as if I was the last person she was expecting to see, the last person shewantedto see.
She pulled one air pod out of her ear as I released the cord I was about to pull.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, the exact same question floating in my mind. I was trying to remember who Mom had said leased the house, and not at any point did she say it was Brandon Frank and his family. I hazily recalled her saying that the tenants were desperate for accommodation.
Removing the safety muffs from my head, I let them dangle around my neck. Taylor jumped down off the unstable step (mental note: tell Dad to get it fixed), her gaze darting from the mower, to the lawn, and down the driveway to my truck which was parked on the street. Gardening Maintenance 4U was written on the side of the door, and she stared at it for a long time, or what seemed like a long time.
“I’m working,” I said, a delayed response to her question. “I didn’t know you lived here. I’ve been here before, to do the yard.”
She pulled down the brim of her cap, and I saw her throat tighten and her shoulders tense. “You...you mow the lawns?” she asked, staring back at the mower.
“Yeah, I work for my parents, doing lawns. And landscaping,” I said, hoping it made it sound a little grander than it was.
“Oh.”
“This house was supposed to be getting renovated,” I said, getting a little excited. How outrageous was it that Taylor lived in one of my parents’ rental houses? One where I did the yard work. Dare I believe it to be destiny? My pounding heart obviously did.
“Apparently there’s a housing shortage in River Valley. This was the only place we could get,” she said in a somewhat defensive tone, like I was being blamed for the state of the house.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. Mom and Dad wanted to fix it up, but you guys moved in pretty fast,” I said. It was embarrassing to rent the place out in the condition it was in, but the tenants had wanted it ASAP. I hoped she wasn’t about to complain about leaky faucets or broken doors or cracked tiles. “But, hey, it’s good to see the plants are still alive in the garden box.”
Her face softened. “You did that?”
I nodded. “I wasn’t sure what to plant coming up to winter, but at least it gives a bit of color.”
“It’s nice. I like lavender,” she said.
