7.

Z OEY

“We’re all gonna end up with unnaturally large biceps,” Starla said before she hefted another bag of soil onto her shoulder.

I did the same thing and followed her down the row and laughed when Fiona added, “But our asses are gonna be awesome after all these squats.”

“When I woke up this morning, it took me so long to get out of bed and hobble to the bathroom that I thought I might have an accident before I got there.” Serena groaned as she stood up and then reached her hand out to Janis who she pulled up to stand beside her. When she let Janis’ hand go, she looked at her own and complained, “My nails are never going to recover.”

“I need to find a scrub brush to get the dirt out of my cuticles. No matter how many times I wash my hands, I can’t seem to get them clean,” Starla added.

“You’re right,” I said as I tossed the bag of soil onto the ground beside the bed we were preparing. I pulled my phone out and opened the notes app as I said, “I should add a case of those to my shopping list.”

“At the rate you’re going, you’re going to have to start making snacks for the delivery people who come out every day,” Janis said with a laugh before she walked toward the pallet to grab another bag of soil. “At this point, it would just make more sense if they dedicated a truck to your shit.”

“I think I can probably buy a case of nail brushes when I go to the beauty supply house. I want to stock up on some more goodies for the store.”

“Hand lotion.”

“Sunscreen.”

“Bandanas,” Moe added to the list the other women were giving me. “I’m going to need an entire selection of them because when the sweat drips down my face and then I try and wipe it out of my eyes, I end up with mud streaks. It’s really annoying.”

“You know, I was on a road crew for work detail when I was down south, and I didn’t sweat this much,” Starla complained as she used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat off her brow, which left a streak of dirt across her forehead. “I was thinking about getting one of those old Southern Belle hats, but I couldn’t find one that didn’t cost an exorbitant amount.”

“Some hats might not be a bad idea,” I admitted. “Maybe some floppy ones to keep the sun off our faces and necks and some baseball caps for those who aren’t quite as fashionably adventurous.”

“Tank tops and T-shirts should go on your list too. Just the cheap ones since we’ll be getting dirty. No sense in buying quality when we’re just going to cover them in dirt, right?”

“No,” I shook my head at Moe’s suggestion. “I need to get some tanks and T-shirts to supply as a uniform. Maybe get a logo made and a few different colors to choose from. We could put the logo on the hats too. Maybe even the bandanas.”

“I’ll work on one if you want me to,” Taylor offered. “I took a few digital art classes before I got out.

“Think about some ideas and figure out a price for your work, and we’ll discuss it after lunch,” I suggested.

“You don’t have to pay me!”

“Taylor, don’t sell yourself short. If you use your skills, you should get reimbursed. I don’t expect any of you to work without getting paid unless it’s a community service project.”

“Speaking of which, I have a new one if y’all are interested,” Janis said as she hefted another bag of soil up to pour into the raised bed.

I was listening to her tell the ladies what she had found when I heard a motorcycle coming up the road. I walked out of the high tunnel and shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight so I could see but didn’t recognize the bike, so I interrupted Janis’ explanation and called out that I would be back in a few minutes before I hopped onto the golf cart and pushed the button to start it up.

As I passed another small group of women working under the portable shade I helped them set up this morning, I waved and then gave them a thumbs up when I saw their progress. Last week, I made a deal with a local tree trimming company to have them bring out branches and limbs that would otherwise go to the landfill, and this morning, they surprised me with a delivery of two trucks full. I was surprised at the size of the pile the women had already created with the wood chipper, considering how many more branches were left, but knew that I’d need a whole lot more if I was going to pave the pathways with it.

I looked back toward the office and realized that whoever had ridden up probably already noticed there was no one to greet them in the office, so I pushed on the gas so I could get to them before they drove away.

When I pulled around the building, I glanced over at the motorcycle and confirmed that it wasn’t one I’d seen before, so I looked up at the porch to greet the stranger.

The person I saw there made me catch my breath, but luckily, I was able to get my shock under control by the time I pulled to a stop next to the porch.

“Garvey? What are you doing here?” I asked as I got out of the golf cart.

“Did you steal that from the golf course?”

I laughed as I walked up the steps and then explained, “No. Some guy got drunk and was driving it around town. When he got arrested, the cops called for it to be impounded. By the time he got out of jail, the storage fees were so steep that he just gave it up.”

“So, you stole it from the impound?”

“I borrowed it from the impound.”

“When I borrowed a vehicle from the impound, I got arrested.” I burst out laughing, and Garvey smiled at me before he said, “But that was then, and this is now. I don’t plan on going anywhere near the place.”

“You’re right. This is a totally different situation.”

“So, you did steal it.”

“Actually, Uncle Jace brought it over a few days ago and said I could use it as long as I needed to. It’s been really handy so far. I’m considering investing in a few more.”

“There might be a grant for that,” Garvey said so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him. “What percentage of the time would you be using . . .”

“There are grants for golf carts?” I interrupted.

“Not specifically golf carts, but yes.”

“How . . . better yet, why do you know something like that?”

“I’ve been looking into different programs that resemble the one you’re starting and have found some very interesting options to help with funding.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d like to . . . Shit. This isn’t going the way I planned.”

“What exactly did you plan? I’m so confused right now,” I admitted. What I didn’t admit was that my heart was thudding and it felt like there were butterflies in my stomach just from seeing him again.

“We should get out of the sun,” Garvey said with a grimace as he studied my face. “It’s pretty intense.”

I couldn’t imagine what I must look like, covered in dirt and sweat with a rip in my shirt where I caught it on a bolt when I was setting up the wood chipper and scratches on my arms from the limbs and branches that probably looked like I’d lost a fight with a pissed-off housecat.

As much as I loved seeing him again, I had to ask, “What are you doing here, Garvey? I thought you said you weren’t going to come back to Rojo.”

“I wasn’t planning on it, but I talked to a good friend of mine, and he helped me see that Rojo was exactly where I needed to be.” When I just raised my eyebrows in question, he said, “With that being said, I also need a job and a place to live, so I thought I’d get started on the first while I figure out the second.”

“You want a job?”

“I do. I even brought a resume.”

“This place is for women, Garvey.”

“I’m aware of that, although you should probably rethink that stance at some point because it’s going to be an issue with some of the grants and subsidies you use if you don’t even consider having men in the program.”

“What grants and subsidies?”

“The ones I’ve researched for you.” Garvey thrust the folder in his hand toward me before he said, “Here’s my resume.”

Without thinking, I took the folder as I said, “I’m not hiring yet. The program isn’t even off the ground, and my budget is . . .” I sighed as I ran my hand over my face and then grimaced when I saw the dirt on my palm. “I don’t even want to think about how long it’s going to be before I have the money to hire people to help me.”

“Then let me volunteer. I’ll work for you as much as I can around whatever job schedule I have once I find a place to work.”

“But that’s . . .” I looked around at the houses we’d already built and the ones in progress and asked, “What do you know about construction?”

“It’s been a while, but I learned a lot when I worked for the Conners.”

“I remember that you weren’t ever afraid of working hard. You were always the guy who volunteered to work overtime.”

“Well, I wasn’t really getting many hours since it was an after-school job, so working on the weekends was the only way to make money.”

“True, but you never shied away from extra work.” I saw the bedroll tied behind the seat of his motorcycle and remembered he was looking for a place to live. “How long have you been in town?”

“I got here yesterday afternoon.”

“Is that when you called me?” Garvey nodded. “Sorry I didn’t call you back. I left my phone here when I went home to shower. My brother was bringing it back to me when you called, so I had to deal with him for a while. By the time I got home, I thought it was probably too late to call you.”

“That’s okay. I guessed that you were just paying me back for all the times I ignored your calls.”

“Why did you ignore me? You know I hate that.”

“I know. I’m sorry, but I just wasn’t ready. Seeing you brought up things that I didn’t want to think about. Of course, they were all I could think about so . . .”

“And now you’re here.” Garvey nodded before I asked, “And you want to help me?”

“I do.”

“And you need a place to stay.”

“I do.”

“And that’s all you want?”

“For now.”

I narrowed my eyes before I asked, “What does that mean?”

“No bullshit between us, remember? Is that rule still in effect?” I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded in reply. Garvey’s smile got even bigger before he said, “I’m a completely different person than the guy you knew back then, Zoey, and I’d like to prove it to you.”

“Why?”

“I thought about you all the time after I got locked up. I knew that there were a million ways that I’d fucked up my life, but losing you ranked near the top of the list. When I saw you outside the window that day, the past and the what-could-have-beens hit me like a freight train. Just seeing you was enough to throw me off-kilter for days, but talking to you made my head spin. The thought of never getting to do either again hurt more than I’d like to admit.”

“What are you saying, Garvey?”

“I’m saying that I want to help you with all of this . . .” Garvey motioned toward everything going on behind me and finished, “But I also want to get to know you again because there’s never been anyone else who could make me feel the way you do.”

I swallowed hard and tried to find my voice so I could say the things that a sane woman would - we were just a high school romance that needed to stay in the past, there was nothing between us anymore, I didn’t ever think of him, I didn’t ever dream of him, I didn’t ever wonder about him and where he was or if he was okay, I didn’t wish with all my heart that things were different, that what we had was infatuation and not real love, and that working together was a horrible idea.

No. I didn’t say any of those things because every single one of them was a lie.

Instead, I wondered how much of a shitstorm what he was saying and I was considering was going to cause with my family and friends.

No. Good sense didn’t win out. Instead, my heart and my dreams did.

“I’ve got a house that you can stay in for as long as you are working with me.”

“What about the rest?”

“I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with that right now because I’m too stunned to . . . Are you serious?”

“Did you ever think of me, Zo?”

“Too many times to count,” I admitted.

“We’re different people now. Time and experiences have changed us, but at the core, I’m still your Gravy, and you’re still my Zo. I believe that what we had is something that should be explored in a new way - as who we are now instead of the kids we were then.”

“You want to . . . I don’t know if it’s a good idea to . . .”

“I think we’ve established that I’m the king of bad ideas, but luckily, this isn’t one of them.”

“I don’t know about that,” I whispered.

“It’s going to take a lot of work on my part, but I’m ready for it. Your family fucking hates me, and your friends probably do, too, but I’m willing to do whatever I have to in order to find out if what I’m feeling is enough to make you remember what we had.”

I was not going to admit that my heart was racing - not just from excitement but also from sheer terror. The man that I’d thought about every day for years was standing in front of me telling me he’d been thinking about me too - that’s where the excitement came from. The fear came from that place deep inside that couldn’t forget the way he’d treated me, how he had abandoned not just me but also his family and friends, and that someday he might lose his way and get back on the drugs that had taken away the man I fell in love with.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for all of this,” I admitted.

“To be honest, I’ve only been this terrified a few times in my life.”

“Really?” When Garvey nodded, I laughed and said, “I’m sure that you’ve seen some shit in your life, but you’re saying that trying to rekindle something with me scares you?”

“Just as much as walking up onto the porch of my parents’ house after years of breaking their hearts.”

“You saw your parents?” I shook my head and laughed before I said, “Of course you did! That was probably the first place you went.”

“Actually, it wasn’t.”

“Marley and Corey?”

“I still haven’t talked to them. My first stop was at Martha and Smokey’s.” When my eyes got wide, he said, “I was never quite able to cut off contact with Martha.”

“She was your contact here that kept you in the loop?”

“Yeah. She wrote to me religiously, and for some reason, I didn’t ask the mailroom to return her letters.”

“Because sane people don’t tell Martha Forrester no.”

“That’s true. She told me all about your accomplishments over the years.”

“Well, those don’t really count anymore. I am no longer a police officer.”

“What you’re doing now is going to be much more rewarding without as much of a risk.”

“I’m about to put at least a dozen women together on a smallish plot of land and ask them to get along. Obviously, you don’t know the meaning of risk.”

“I do,” Garvey said as he took a step closer to me. He took another one that put us almost toe to toe before he said, “I’m about to take a huge one right now.”

I didn’t move, didn’t take a breath, or even blink, in fear of waking myself up from the dream I was in, but as Garvey reached up and touched my chin to tip my face up toward his, I let my eyes flutter closed. When his lips finally touched mine, something inside me exploded and sent tingles all the way down to my fingertips and toes. When he tilted my head to deepen our kiss, it happened again, and when he wrapped his arm around me and leaned me back over it, I saw fireworks behind my eyelids and felt like I was falling.

I shook my head, dislodging his lips from mine, and opened my eyes to try and get my bearings, but it was too late.

“What the . . .” I heard Garvey grumble as he lifted me up suddenly. That just made my condition worse, and I felt my eyes start moving even more erratically as I let my head fall forward to try and regain my equilibrium. “Zo! Are you okay?”

“Fine. Just a sec,” I whispered as I focused on my breathing and slowly blinked to get my eyes to focus. “I might faint. Don’t let me go, okay?”

“Wow. I know you always went weak in the knees when we kissed, but this is a little extreme. Go, me!”

“Fuck you,” I muttered, but there was no heat in it.

I could tell he was cracking a joke because he was uncomfortable, but it also helped to make me feel a little less embarrassed than I usually was when this happened. My head finally stopped spinning, and I was able to focus, so I stood up straight and blinked a few times before I looked into Garvey’s face. I could tell that he was waiting for some explanation, but that never came because it was then that I noticed there was a vehicle coming down the road which meant that we were about to have company since the road ended abruptly less than a hundred feet past the drive.

I turned my head and saw a police cruiser and grasped Garvey’s shoulders in fear that they were coming to take him away again. I saw that he wasn’t afraid, so my thoughts went to the women who were working with me today - all of them ex-cons who were still on parole, and I wondered if one of them was about to be picked up for some reason.

When the car came to a stop just inches behind Garvey’s motorcycle, I was finally able to see who was driving and understand that the police weren’t here to arrest him, but the cop driving the car was probably about to kick his ass.

“I guess your brother found out you’re back.”

“This is not how I planned for this to happen.”

“Buckle up, Buttercup, because something’s about to happen, and I can almost guarantee it will be painful.”