about I come in three days a week? We’ll see how it goes.” Tony stood up and carried the dishes to the sink.
“Okay. How long does it take you to get here from where you live?”
“If there’s no fog and the road isn’t washed out, about an hour and a half.”
That was worse than the commute times in L.A. “You’re kidding? You live that far out?”
“Have you been down Petrolia Road to the Lost Coast?”
She’d heard of it. “No. My grandmother never allowed me to go. She thought that’s where kids went to drink and get into trouble.” Besides, she’d been such a loner in high school she’d only been invited once.
Tony grinned at her. “She was right. I’ve chased kids off my property on occasion.”
He came around and helped her as she scooted back out of her chair. “Why don’t we take a look at what needs doing.”
Stiffly she got to her feet and stretched to get some of the kinks out. “Well, you’ve already seen the ceiling upstairs.”
“You did a nice job of cleaning it up.”
“Thanks.” She felt a glow of appreciation at his approval.
They wandered through the downstairs rooms, Julie pointing out what she wanted to do, as Tony nodded and added suggestions.
By the time they went upstairs into the room where she slept they’d settled on an hourly wage and Julie had a good idea of how long things would take. She felt better about her decision to hire Tony.
He was so businesslike she felt foolish thinking they would have problems working together.
She wandered over and looked out the window at the backyard, wondering if she should just forget the outside until later. The yard was a mess. Dead bushes and scrubby patches of grass filled the yard, along with the ugly supports for a clothesline that looked like two giant croquet wickets made out of thick galvanized pipe.
If she did any work on the yard now she’d just have to keep it up until the house sold. The yard could wait until the house was finished.
This plan was going to work, she thought as she gazed down on the dead grass and scraggly shrubs. Tony was friendly but businesslike, they agreed on what needed to be done, and paying him when the house sold fit into her tight budget.
Her worries over them having a personal relationship that got in the way of their business had been silly thinking.
Julie turned to mention the yard to him and came up against a very firm male body. She hadn’t heard him step behind her.
She lurched back in surprise and lost her balance. He reached out and grasped her around the waist to steady her. She smelled soap on his skin.
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