Page 9 of Take The Risk

​“And there were many in mine.” What point was there in denying it?

​“How bad was it?” Helen sat up straight, her face going from slightly buzzed to alert, lawyer-mode firmly engaged.

​“You mean that hasn’t made the town rounds yet?” I sat back, my mouth falling open in mock shock.

​“I knew I liked you!” Helen grinned.

​“Thanks.” I grinned in return.

​“So what did Jerome say?” Louise pursed her lips.

​I gave them a rundown of the list of violations, the timeline, and the fact I couldn’t seem to find a contractor in a hundred-mile radius who was available, leaving me with no choice but to call someone in Atlanta.

​“Cady-Jo, maybe you can ask Ty to take a look?” Louise shifted in her chair, looking to her cousin.

​Cady-Jo shot her a disgruntled look.

​“That’s a great idea!” Helen proclaimed, getting up to go grab the kite that had gotten stuck in the branch of a tree for the kids.

​“Who’s Ty?” And why did Cady-Jo look like she wanted to murder Louise for mentioning him?

​Giving Louise one final sour look, Cady-Jo faced me. “He’s my son.”

​Umm…wait. What?

​Immediately, I looked at the young man who could be no more than college age. He sat away from the kids, a notebook in his hand. Helen had said he was Cady-Jo’s son when he’d shown up, and given I was trying to get out of walking club, I hadn’t paid too much attention at the time.

​Damn. This was going to be bad. “Umm…he’s a little…young.” There. That was tactful, wasn’t it? Surely it would be understandable that I’d wanted someone more…experienced to work on my house?

​“A little young?” Louise followed my line of sight and then let out a bemused chuckle. “Not that son. Jesse is just entering his first year of college. No, I’m talking about Ty. Right!” She smacked her head. “You wouldn’t have met him yet.”

​Raising my eyebrows, I shook my head. “Guess not.”

​Cady-Jo sighed. “I have another son. My oldest. He’s thirty. He and his dad have a construction business here in town.”

​Thirty. Wasn’t she only forty-six? Oh…

​“Yeah, I had him when I was sixteen.” She sounded defensive.

​“And you’ve managed to build a business…” She and Louise ran Maple Mornings, a café in town. “And raised three other kids at the same time? You put me to shame. I can barely handle Lachlan some days and I had him when I was twenty-six.”

​At my genuineness, Cady-Jo relaxed. “Thank you. Most people like to judge me for having a kid in high school.”

​“People suck,” I said, and we laughed.

Helen returned, asking us what was so funny.

​I’d thought the awkwardness would have left after that, but there still seemed to be an undercurrent of tension where Cady-Jo was concerned, even if she did agree to give her oldest son a call on my behalf.

Chapter 5

“Mom,” I sighed in exasperation. “Dad and I already worked things out. I have the next eight weeks off.” After nearly ten years without a vacation, I needed a break. “If she already called Dad and he said we couldn’t right now, then we can’t.”

​Jesus. Did the woman not ever listen? I told her months ago about my time off. I swear, I loved my mother, but there were times I wanted to strangle her. What the hell was she thinking telling some friend of hers that I’d…

​“This isn’t another setup, is it?” I eyed her as she moved around her country kitchen, putting my siblings’ lunch bags into their backpacks, cleaning up the mess they left on the table from breakfast.

​I narrowed my eyes on her face, watching for any sign this was a repeat of last year. You’d think with three other kids she wouldn’t have time to play matchmaker in my life. You’d be wrong.