Chapter 2 #4
In the short time it took me to fill the hens’ feeders and test their automatic water dispensers, Thaddeus had almost reached the end of the second greenhouse and the machinery shed.
Wearing his creased, grubby suit, still damp with rain, his briefcase firmly grasped in one hand, and straw poking out of his bedhead hair, he looked not only ridiculous but a wretched, tragic mess.
How long he’d have to wait for that tow after the storm damage from the night before was anyone’s guess. Some ridiculous part of me, that sounded a lot like my mother, idly wondered when he’d last eaten. Whatever do you think you’re doing, Ryder? I taught you better than that.
What indeed? I groaned and threw the empty food container against the side of the henhouse, startling Ziggy who was in the middle of a standoff with Myrtle.
“Hey, Thaddeus,” I shouted before I could second-guess myself.
He spun at the sound of my voice. “Yes?”
“How about some breakfast before you go?” I offered. “You can call for a tow from the cottage. It could be a while until they get here and you’re wet through. May as well wait in comfort.”
Thaddeus didn’t answer straight away, like he was turning the option over in his head, much like I’d been. Finally, he replied, “That’s a kind offer, but I don’t want to disturb you or your family.”
“No family,” I corrected, recognising a discreet fishing expedition when I heard it. “And it’ll be my pleasure.”
He hesitated another beat, then smiled. “Then, thank you. That would be amazing.” He started back and Ziggy barrelled up to the man like he hadn’t seen him in years. When he reached me, Thaddeus admitted, “To be honest, I’m starving.”
“And I should’ve offered sooner,” I apologised. “I left making it to come find Ziggy. Easy enough to cook some extra.”
Thaddeus stopped about a metre away. “At the risk of sounding creepy, I could smell bacon on you. You’re lucky to still have your arm.”
That made me laugh. “Noted. And yes, there’ll be plenty of bacon. Come on. Let’s get you fed.” I turned toward the cottage with Ziggy at my heels.
Thaddeus fell in alongside, still toting his briefcase. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you do? You have a lot of equipment here.”
I cast him a sideways glance. “I run a small landscaping company, Dirty Business. We do garden design and some maintenance.”
Thaddeus grinned. “Great name.”
“I can’t take the credit for that,” I admitted. “It was my younger sister’s suggestion. She thinks herself a comedienne, but she’s really just a smart mouth.”
Thaddeus chuckled and followed me through the gate into the water garden.
On the other side, he came to an abrupt stop, mouth gaping.
“Holy shit. You weren’t joking about the landscaper thing.
This is impressive.” He looked around, his gaze lingering on the large waterlily pond and the bubbling stony brook that fed it, along with several other water features. “This is all your work, I take it?”
I nodded. “Ten years of it.”
“Ten years?” He studied me with something like awe. “Wow. That’s some serious talent you’ve got there, Mister Nelson.”
The compliment set my cheeks burning. “I suppose. I mean, I do okay, so there has to be something in it, right? All I can say is I’m happiest when my hands are in the dirt.”
Thaddeus dropped his gaze to my calloused hands stained with years of physical toil.
“Yeah, I can see that.” He refocused on my face.
“It might be your work, but it’s obviously your passion as well.
No one puts this much work into their own place just because it happens to be their day job.
It must be where their heart lives.” Those golden eyes rested quietly on mine, like this was the kind of thing strangers said to each other all the time.
“That’s probably true,” I agreed, somewhat bemused.
“Although I do get tired of the maintenance at times. The garden beds by the house deck have been begging for attention for weeks. They’re clogged with weeds, and I can barely stand to look at them.
But I work six days a week, so . . .” I shrugged.
“How about you? Is your work your passion as well?”
Thaddeus’s gaze skittered over my shoulder and away.
“Well, the job thing is currently vacant, as you know, and I’m not sure about the passion thing.
I write software, which is very definitely my passion.
I love coding. I live and breathe it, probably too much.
And I love gaming, surprise, surprise. But as for the programs I write for a living, I’m not so sure.
To be honest, I’ve never really thought about it.
As long as I’m coding, I’m a happy chappy, so I’m not sure it matters.
” He held out his hands and flicked them over and back.
“Safe to say that I’m happiest when my hands are not in the dirt. ”
I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, almost sending him flying. “Nobody’s perfect.”
He recovered and flashed me a coy smile that made my dick sit up and take notice. “I think that white knights in shining armour offering freshly cooked bacon come pretty close to perfect.”
I returned his smile, feeling a strange pull between us. “And if I add the lure of a hot shower while I’m cooking breakfast, does that get me over the line?”
“Oh my God. That’s freaking angel material right there.” Thaddeus shot me a beaming smile, and my heart did something ridiculous in my chest that needed immediate censoring.