“What is it?”
“Daisies were my mother’s favorite flower. I planted them out there for her and to hear that that was your daughter’s name makes it feel…” He snickered to himself and shook his head. “Kismet.”
I smiled ear to ear. “What is this? Is Jax Kilter believing in destiny as we know it?”
“Don’t hold your breath. I’m just saying.” He shifted uncomfortably as he stared at my yard. “I can help you with the landscaping at your place if you need a hand. I’m sure Lars pulling out made it tricky to find someone else. My mother was a landscaper. I used to help her when I was younger, and I did the work in the woods. If you need a hand, I can do the landscaping for you.”
My mother was a landscaper.
The word ‘was’ stood out more than I wanted it to.
Oh, Jax.
Let me hug you.
My lips parted in shock from his offer. “Really?”
“I don’t need the commission. Connor will help me out with the project.”
“I…that…” I fought the urge to wrap my arms around him and breathe him in. “Yes. Please. That would be amazing.”
“I’ll get supplies and get started later this week. If you have a plan, let me know. Otherwise, I can whip some blueprints together to go over with you. Just make a list of your favorite flowers and what not, any concepts you want included, and we can go from there.”
“That would be great.”
“Okay. I better get going.”
“Thanks again, Jax—for listening to the stories about my parents and my daughter.”
“I’ll listen to every story you ever tell about them whenever you want to share.”
He disappeared back into the woods, and the butterflies he left with me? They kept on fluttering.
17
Jax
“Time out, rewind. Deep breaths. You’re telling me, we are diving into the world of landscaping?” Connor asked as he sat at my table eating the pizza I ordered for us. He didn’t know the pizza was a bribe yet. Normally, I would’ve made him kale chips and a protein shake.
He shoved the pizza into his mouth, unaware of where this conversation was about to go. “Holy shit—”
“Language,” I order.
“Holy balls!”
“Not much better.”
“No, don’t you see, Jax? This is great! Everyone knows my lucky number is three, which is exactly what this next business venture will be for me! I’ll have three businesses before I’m even eighteen. How many businesses did Bill Gates have at seventeen? I bet you it wasn’t three, that’s for sure.”
“Seeing how you only have one business up and running, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Yeah, okay, partner. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge,” he said, bumping me in the shoulder. “Do you want me to come up with a name for the business? Maybe have me make up some business cards and taglines? How about this? We trim your bushes and fertilize your soil? Oh! Oh! Or Two Men and a Hoe?”
“Connor. Hold your hustle. We’re not starting a landscaping company. We are just helping out a woman who fired Lars.”
“Lars,” he grumbled. “Our competition.”
I wasn’t even going to dive deeper into why Lars wasn’t our competition, seeing how we didn’t have a landscaping company. It wasn’t even worth talking about. “One job, and then we are done, you got it? I called you over to look at the blueprints I drew up. I picked up some layouts of the property, and we have pretty much free rein on what we can do with it.”
Kennedy’s only request? Daisies, and blue flowers.
I couldn’t help but smirk at the blue flowers request—it was for sure a request to drive the nosy, judgmental neighbors insane. That seemed very much like the old Kennedy I knew. She never put up with people’s opinions.
Connor rubbed his hands together. “Let’s use the most expensive material to drive up costs. Also, speaking of costs, how much are we charging for this project? Because knowing you, you’re probably lowballing us. You really need to up your plumbing prices sooner than later. You are an artist when it comes to those pipes, Jax, and if you undervalue yourself, so will the rest of the world.”
I never rolled my eyes harder. “We’re not charging for this project.”
His eyes widened, and he tilted his head in disbelief. “Uh, come again?”
“We’re doing it as a favor.”
He laughed. Connor laughed so hard that he bent over and grabbed his sides as he fell into a complete snickering fit. “Oh my gosh, my mom always says I need to clean the wax out of my ears. So, forgive me for hearing you wrong, so can you repeat how much I’m getting paid for this gig?”
“Nada. Nichts. Nothing. It’s a passion project.”
“My passion, Jax, is money.”
I sighed as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I can’t take it all on by myself, Connor. I’m going to need your help.”
“And I’m going to need funds. Since when do you even do favors for anyone outside of Joy? Whose yard are we doing?”
“Kennedy Lost. The new girl in town.”
“Oh my gosh.” Connor grew a sinister smirk and began nudging me in the arm. “Is this a booty call type thing? Are you two bumping uglies?”
“Never say bumping uglies again…like…never.”
“Listen, if you two are bumping uglies, then that’s something I can get behind. I’m all about my bro getting laid, and if you need me to plant a few seeds as your wingman, I’m all in. Are you doing her yard to get into her garden? Are you trying to lay down some cucumbers next to her peach tree? Is there an oversized eggplant—”
“Connor!” I shouted. “Shut up.”
He couldn’t stop snickering to himself. Even if he wasn’t amusing me, he was highly entertained. I swore, that kid was his own biggest fan.
“I’m not sleeping with her,” I said, hoping to shut that idea down.
He raised an eyebrow. “No sex?”
“No sex.”
“Maybe foreplay?”
“Nope.”
“A little tongue twister?”
“Not at all.”
I’d never seen him look so disappointed. He pushed his hands against the countertop edge, shaking his head in utter disbelief. “All right, Imma head out.”
“Connor, come on.” I grimaced and sighed. “Please.”
He turned to me as if I’d grown another head. “Did you…did you just say please?” he asked, placing his hands against his chest in shock. “Never in my life have I heard you say the word please to me!”
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“I’m not being dramatic. You have never said please to me. Ever.”
“It’s that important to me.”
I couldn’t believe I was pretty much begging a seventeen-year-old to help me on this project. Desperate didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Okay, but I have some guidelines.”
“Shoot.”
“Three times a week, we get to eat shitty food for lunch.”