Page 37 of Summer Love

"This is fabulous. If I lived here, I'd be outside all the time."

"It gets hot during the day. I have large umbrellas to block the worst of the sun, and I added misters too." I popped the cork and poured two glasses, handing one to her.

"You didn't spare any expense on your renovations. I only got a quick glimpse of your kitchen, but that's top notch too." She swirled the wine in her glass and sipped it.

"When I bought the place, I stripped it down and went to work. I couldn't build beautiful spaces every day and not come home to one."

"I would think a contractor wouldn't have time to fix his own place."

"Tsk. That sounds a lot like a stereotype. Aren't you supposed to hold off on those when you're getting to know the subject of your interviews?"

A smile curved her lips. "I also like to make up stories about people and then see if I'm right."

"What story did you make up about me?"

"Hmm. I had so many over the years. In high school, you were too focused on school to care about girls' attention. And now, you're so focused on work and family, you don't see anything else. But was it because you don't have time or because you don't want something outside of that? And you're grouchy because you think the responsibility of your business and family falls on your shoulders."

I leaned my elbows on my thighs, letting my head hang before raising it to look at her. "You said that I think the responsibility of my business and family falls to me."

Her face pinched. "Yeah, I don't know if it's a perception or reality yet."

"But you're fairly confident you're right about me?" I asked, not sure I liked this insight into my psyche.

"It's a suspicion. But I think there's so much more to you than this persona you show to everyone else. Anyone can see you're hardworking, focused, and responsible. You're a family man. But the mentor thing threw me for a loop. I hadn't suspected you volunteered your time, except to build porches for pushy grannies."

I chuckled at her characterization. "First of all, your grandmother isn't pushy."

Elena snorted. "Keep telling yourself that. And just you wait. She has something up her sleeve for us, and I'm fairly sure it involves her friends."

"I'm looking forward to finding out what that could be. And second of all, the mentor thing kind of fell into my lap. I was at the barber shop, and my stylist told me about the program. She'd heard that a couple of kids still needed mentors. She thought it would be something I'd enjoy doing. I reached out to get more information. I met with his mother first. Shane is the oldest of five, and she's a single mother. His dad doesn't live close, so Shane is the man of the house, and his mom, Sienna thought he could use a male figure in his life."

"What do you talk about when you're together?"

"Sports, school, friend issues, and family stuff. He's curious about my job, and I explain business stuff to him on a level he can understand. The cool thing is that he seems interested in being a business owner. I like to think I'm a positive influence."

"To have someone that he can play basketball with, and just talk to, is huge. What you're doing is amazing."

I felt a little uncomfortable with her praise. "We try to hang out once or twice a week."

"Do you help out the family in other ways?" she asked me.

I shifted on my chair. "I'm very careful not to intrude on their personal life otherwise. I know that they struggle sometimes, but I don't feel right offering to pay for anything. His mother is proud."

"You wouldn't help him if he needed it?" There was nothing but curiosity in her voice.

"I've thought about the fact that he won't have a college fund or cash laying around to pay for school. He's too young to even be worried about it, but I already decided I'd pay for him to go. Whether his mother will be okay with that is another matter."

"That's so generous of you."

"We've gotten close. I feel like he's a little brother or even a son to me. I know he's not, but it's a good relationship. The funny thing is that it's supposed to be all for him, but he's helped me just as much."

She leaned back in her chair, considering me. "You're benefitting from this relationship too?"

"I love that kid. I'm not sure how much we should put in the article about him and his family though."

"We can say that you mentor children through the program and keep it at that. I could also mention that you think the program benefits you as well as him. That you formed a relationship you weren't expecting. Something like that."

"It's not that I'm against this article. I just don't see the point. Do people really care about what I do in my spare time?"

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