“So now you’re going to dicker over the cost?” He laughed in spite of his frustration with her.
“I just want to be fair.” Her quick smile made him realize he had done the right thing in taking her money. Boundaries and all that.
And he especially appreciated the smile.
“Thirty bucks is more than fair.”
Janie counted out one twenty and two fives.
As Luke pocketed the money, he looked down at the deck. “You might want to have this looked at as well,” he said, pointing with the toe of his heavy work boot at a rotting board.
“I look at it enough,” Janie said, with a feeble laugh. “But thanks again for your help.”
“No problem.” He gathered his tools and walked back toward the fence.
When he was on the other side, he looked back at the house, but she was already inside her house. Safe and cozy with her family.
At least he had Cooper, he thought, bringing the ladder back to the house. The dog was a poor conversationalist but a faithful friend.
He untied Cooper and the dog ran back to the fence as if hoping to find the kids. Once again, he planted his paws on the fence, and Luke watched with a sense of inevitability as the fence gave way and Cooper fell with it.
“Cooper. Come here,” he called, running over to catch the dog before he jumped into Janie’s yard.
He’d just earned some major brownie points with his neighbor. He certainly didn’t want the dog to jeopardize that.
Cooper ran back to him and danced around him, eager to play. Luke felt bad because the poor dog had been tied up again.
Luke picked up a wooden stake and tossed it across the yard. Cooper launched himself after it, his long legs scrabbling for purchase on the ground. He picked it up and ran back dropping it at Luke’s feet.
They kept it up for a few minutes; though Cooper could have gone on until he dropped, Luke was hungry.
He straightened and sent one last look toward the house. He saw two faces looking out from one of the windows of the house. Todd and Autumn.
Todd was smiling, and to Luke’s surprise, Autumn was as well.
He waved and the kids waved back. When Cooper came back to him with the stick, he saw Autumn point at them both, then laugh.
It bothered him that this little girl appeared so afraid of his dog. Cooper had such a good heart and he sensed, given the chance, she might appreciate him as well.
And then he had an idea.
Chapter Four
Carry the two and add four and no matter how she worked it, her amazing plan would require a lot of work. And cash input.
Janie pushed her hands through her hair, wishing away the number on the computer screen of her laptop. She had to have punched something in wrong.
With a sigh, she started checking her figures, fully aware of the ticking clock. She only had a few more minutes before she had to take Suzie to dance practice. But she had to get this right before she brought it to Mr. Chernowyk. She was counting on this audacious plan to shift her financial circumstances.
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