Chapter 35

Standing on the front porch, Derek made a show of looking at the yard. "It's getting a little long, isn't it?"

Oh, crap. I gave the lawn a nervous look. "You mean the grass?"

"Well, I'm not talking about the driveway if that was your other guess."

God, what an ass.

I pointed to a nearby flower bed. "I weeded the flower beds. You noticed that, right?"

Derek didn't even look. "We're not talking about the flower beds. We're talking about the lawn."

Hoping to end this before it turned into a major issue, I swallowed my irritation and forced myself to say, "Sorry, I'll get it tomorrow, okay?"

He crossed his arms. "What's wrong with today?"

Joel was on his way to pick me up, that's what. But I'd be stupid to say so. And besides, it wasn't exactly the lawn-mowing part of the day. I said, "I can't. It's almost dark."

Derek consulted his watch. "Not for two more hours."

"Oh come on," I said, "be reasonable. It takes at least five hours to mow it."

This wasn't even an exaggeration. My lawn was three full acres, and all I had was a run-down push-mower. Even if I started now, and kept mowing after sunset, I still wouldn't be done until midnight.

Derek frowned. "It should've been done Monday."

I hated this. And yet, I'd asked for it, hadn't I? "Yeah, well, I was working Monday."

"Not all day, you weren't."

"How would you know?" I asked.

"Because the cookie shop closes at six. I do my homework, remember?"

Like I could forget.

Derek continued, "And what's your excuse for the other days?"

I didn't have an excuse, or at least, none I was willing to share. It was true that I'd been working my regular shifts at Cassie's, but mostly, I'd been spending every waking moment with Joel.

He'd made no mention of ending his camping trip, and I'd been living vicariously, enjoying the first thing that felt like a vacation in years.

When I made no response, Derek said, "You do know Monday was four days ago, right?"

As if I couldn’t count. I gave him a look of mock confusion. "Really? I had no idea."

Derek crossed his arms. "Do you still want the job or not?"

I did. Damn it.

I gave my driveway a nervous glance. Joel would be here any minute. I could only imagine how delighted he'd be to find Derek standing here, giving me a hard time.

Eager to end this, I said, "I'll have it done tomorrow. I promise, okay?"

Derek shook his head. "Sorry, not good enough."

I made a sound of frustration. "Why not? I did weed the flower beds. You noticed that, right?"

"Because if my dad stops by and sees the sorry shape of this place, I won't hear the end of it. You know how he is."

Unfortunately, I did know. Until recently, it was Derek's dad who'd been handling all of the estate details. I knew exactly how he was. As bad as things were under Derek, they'd actually been worse under his dad.

It wasn't that the guy was unpleasant exactly. It's just that he micromanaged everything to the point of ridiculousness. And, unlike Derek, he wasn't someone I felt comfortable arguing with.

No doubt, if he were still handling things, I'd have already been docked for not mowing according to the set schedule. My stomach sank. The way it looked, Derek was going to take the same approach.

I couldn’t afford to be docked. I needed the money.

I bit my lip. But Joel was literally on his way. We'd made plans, and I hated the thought of breaking them, especially last-minute. My own disappointment aside, it was so incredibly rude.

In front of me, Derek said, "So I'd get mowing if I were you."

"Oh come on," I said. "Just give me another day, okay?"

"Hey," Derek snapped, "this was your idea. Remember?"

What could I say? He was right. I'd practically begged him for the job. And, in my own defense, I was usually really prompt about it. But last week, things had been really crazy with all of those endowment meetings. And then, more recently, things had been crazy with Joel – crazy good, that is.

But if I wanted things to stay good – as in remotely peaceful – I needed to get rid of Derek, pronto.

"Fine," I said. "I'll mow tonight. There. Are you happy now?"

His lips pursed. "I'd be happier if I didn't have to micromanage everything."

Oh, for crying out loud. Like father, like son. I wanted to argue, but I didn't have the time. So what I said was, "I'll try to do better, okay?"

"Don't try. Do." And then, he turned away, stalked to his car, and sped off.

Gazing at the empty driveway, I tried to look on the bright side. At least, there wouldn't be a fistfight on the front lawn.

That was something, right?

Still, I'd have to cancel with Joel. I hated that.

I hated it even more a minute later, when he pulled up just as I was trudging toward the shed to get the mower.