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Poppy glanced up. “A chicken coop.”
She studied the frame of the building. “It’s cute.”
Poppy tipped her head back and laughed.
“What?” Ivy asked.
“Nothing,” I assured her.
“Cameron objects to such descriptions when it comes to his building plans.” After giving Neville one last scratch on his back, she stood and gave Ivy a knowing look. “We could have bought something premade, but he thinks he can do better.”
“I can make something better. It’s literally my job to make something better,” I told her. “That premade thing didn’t have any of the stuff I’m adding.”
Poppy patted my shoulder and gave me a condescending smile. “We know. We’ve heard all about it.” She smiled at Ivy. “He’s been working on these plans for a solid week, and even though it’s about twice the size Mom asked for, he keeps coming up with other ideas.”
Ivy’s eyes were bright as she gave me a considering glance, and damned if that brightness didn’t hit my bloodstream like a punch.
“Want to help?” I asked. “Poppy’s an average assistant, but she just told me she’d love a break.”
Poppy’s brow furrowed. “No, I didn’t.”
I gave her a look. “I think my hands are about to fall off?”
“Oh. I didn’t think you’d actually let me stop,” she said. Then to Ivy she said, “He comes off as the nice brother, but he’s miserable when he’s not in charge of everything and telling everyone what to do.”
“I can see that about him,” she answered seriously.
I rolled my eyes, and Poppy laughed.
“Here,” she said. “I’ll take the leash. He can show you what to do. It’s really easy.”
“Oh, I don’t know if Ivy wants to get her hands dirty,” I said smoothly.
Challenge sparked in her eyes, exactly like I hoped it would.
When I told her I wanted to see more of her, God, I meant it.
“How about you worry about your own hands,” Ivy said, brushing past me so that I got that slight whiff of something sweet and clean. “I’m a quick study.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I told her. I picked up a spare piece of wood and handed it over. “Let’s practice on this first.”
She held my gaze as she took it.
I tilted my head toward the saw. “Now we cut it in half. You want Poppy’s safety glasses?”
Ivy pulled her black sunglasses out of a side pocket of her leggings and slid them on her face. “I’m assuming these will work.”
Even with the giant frames on her face, she didn’t look nearly as closed off as she had that first day and a half. It was something about her mouth, the way a smile hovered just on the edges.
“Want me to show you first?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Just tell me what to do.”
A thousand wildly inappropriate thoughts careened through my head, and I cleared them out with a vicious mental swipe of my hand.
“Set the wood on the edge of the table, then clamp it down with this. Once it’s locked in place, you’ll run the saw right along the edge of the overhang. You’ll always push the saw away from you, okay?”
She nodded, adjusting the metal clamp on the piece of wood, and then studied the saw. “Grab it on the front here?”
