Page 54 of Take My Heart
‘How am I gonna work on the house with a roommate living here?’
‘It’s just an idea. If money isn’t coming in through your business, you’ll need to find another way to pay the mortgage.’
‘Yeah. Got it. Jason, I gotta go,’ I say, tired of talking about this.
‘Let me know what happens with the plow.’
‘I will. Talk to you later.’ I end the call and toss my phone on the seat.
This is why I don’t like answering Jason’s calls. He’s always telling me what to do. I know he’s got money invested in the house, but why can’t he cut me some slack? I’m still learning. This is my first attempt to flip a house. I didn’t plan on it taking this long or costing this much to fix up. And I didn’t plan on going this long without making money.
Jason doesn’t seem to get that my business is unpredictable. At least in the summer you know the grass is going to grow, but in the winter you have to hope that it snows. If it doesn’t, or if your equipment breaks, you don’t make money.
I start the truck, then press the button on the controller to move the plow. I jump out and check it. The damn thing hasn’t moved.
‘What the hell?’ I mutter. ‘You worked last week. Why not now?’
Getting back in the truck, I try the controller a few more times. Nothing happens. I shut off the truck and get out, slamming the door shut.
I’m so damn angry. I grab a shovel and start shoveling the snow drift next to the garage. It’s wet, heavy snow, but I push through it like it weighs nothing, my anger over the plow fueling my strength.
‘Want some help?’ I hear someone say.
I turn back and see Kate standing in the garage, bundled up in my work coat, my Packers beanie pulled over her tiny head, and wearing a pair of my boots. Even though I’m angry, seeing her dressed like that makes me laugh. She looks so ridiculous.My boots come up to her thighs. She’s got my hat folded over four or five times to fit her but it’s still falling down.
‘I’m good, but thanks,’ I tell her.
She looks around the garage. ‘Do you have another shovel?’
‘Kate, you’re not shoveling. It’s cold out here. Go inside where it’s warm.’
‘I want to be outside. When I’m in there by myself, I think about what happened and I really don’t want to think about that.’
I get what she means. When I’m alone in the house, my thoughts go to my lack of money and my failing business and then I start freaking out about losing my house. I was going to tell her to go back inside, but knowing why she wants to be out here, I feel bad sending her back in the house.
Jason would yell at me for doing this. He’d tell me I need to fix the mess I’m in so I don’t lose customers. But I don’t know how to fix it. And right now, walking in the snow with Kate sounds like a better plan than both of us being alone with our thoughts.
Chapter 11
Brody
Setting my shovel back in the garage, I walk over to Kate. ‘Let’s take a walk.’
‘A walk?’
‘Yeah. Isn’t that what you wanted? To walk in the snow?’
‘Don’t you have to shovel?’
‘I’ll do it when we get back. I don’t think we’ll be going too far with you wearing my boots. How are you going to walk in those?’
‘I found some paint rags in my room and stuffed them in the boots. I hope that’s okay.’
‘It’s fine, but I still don’t think you’ll be able to walk very far.’
‘Guess we’ll find out,’ she says, giving me a big smile.
She’s dealing with her breakup better than most people would. When my brother Sawyer broke up with his fiancé, he was a mess for a few months. Even years later, he refused to get serious with a girl, thinking she’d break his heart. It took Gina tofinally get him to move on. He loves her more than he did the girl he almost married.
