“Yes, ma’am,” I said, trying not to sigh.
For some reason, this was the woman I had pictured being married to Ryan, only younger. She had left Ryan and their daughter for his best friend. From what my mother told me, it was very difficult for everyone, and Ryan was still trying to get the hang of being a single father. This alone was a good enough reason to reach out to him and try to be there for him any way I could. I had only ever met Christina once, and it was when our parents had first gotten serious in their relationship. They had us all over for a meet and greet, and Christina stayed quiet, seemingly judging every move any of us made. I could definitely tell she thought she was better than my sister and me, and she made it very clear that Ryan was her husband, almost as if she were threatened by us.
I didn’t know the woman at all really, but I couldn’t help but think badly of her. I didn’t understand how you could leave your doting husband and beautiful little girl like that. I had only spent a short amount of time with Kayla, but I could tell she was a smart and amazing child. Mothers were supposed to be there for their children, helping them grow and making sacrifices for them. I couldn’t say whether she and Ryan had problems or not, or if he was even a good husband to her, but I did know that she made an extremely selfish decision by abandoning her little girl.
I shook the thoughts from my head, looking down at my watch, realizing I was running out of time. I had to be at Ryan’s house when Kayla got off the bus. I followed my client into the living room, the last room on the books for the day. She hemmed and hawed over lighting, carpet or wood floors, the patio door being larger than originally planned, and whether she wanted the rose color I had tried to talk her out of in the first place. This woman was absolutely impossible, but I needed this gig. It was a huge project and paid a lot of money, especially with all the changes she was constantly making. I made a percentage of the project cost, plus an hourly rate for all the planning work. She didn’t care about money, so I tried to appease her at every step, still keeping in mind that eventually, she would start to get antsy when she didn’t see much progress. I took in a deep breath, deciding it was time to try a different tactic.
“Mrs. Willows,” I said, walking over and taking her hands. “I know this is a very important project for you, and you are nervous about the outcome. Rightfully so. However, I have your best interests at heart, and I think that if you would allow me to complete your dining room with your concerns in mind, you will see that you can trust me with this project as a whole. Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to stress about this so much?”
“It would be,” she said, sighing. “I’ll agree to that. Do the dining room in our combined image, and we will go from there. Hopefully, I can just hand it all over and feel confident in your choices after that.”
“Wonderful,” I said, watching her walk out of the room.
I felt like I was always picking up everyone’s pieces, especially my crazy clients’.
Chapter Three
Ryan
Working outside in Phoenix, Arizona could definitely test your ability to push through the blazing heat indexes that we tended to see, but fortunately, it was mid-March, and the temps were in a perfect 70-degree range. We had another emergency landscaping job, finishing up the yards for a few houses in a sub-community not far from my house. They were simple, but I made sure to be on site since these contracts were the bread and butter of my company, and I didn’t want to lose any of the contracts with these companies. My guys were trustworthy, but they weren’t professionals. They were the hands behind the visions, so I had to make sure I could answer all the questions they might have.
“Thanks, Jose,” I said, patting my worker on the back. “That looks great. Just get the trim in there, and we can finish up with the mulching.”
I walked away, making notes on my clipboard of what had been done. I looked up at several work trucks pulling up across the street and preparing for a new job. I instantly recognized the insignia on the truck as my best friend Juan Lopez’s company. I was definitely happy to see him. When my crew was done and starting to pack up, I walked across the street to see if he was there. As I stepped up onto the sidewalk and looked across the yard, I spotted him, talking to some of his guys. He glanced over and smiled, waving at me before finishing his conversation and heading over.
“My man,” he said, shaking my hand and bringing me in for a hug. “It’s been a while.”
“I know, man,” I said. “Too long, actually.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he replied shaking his head. “Things have just been crazy with this spring season rush.”
“For you and me both, man,” I said. “But hey, that’s a good thing. It means our businesses are thriving, and post-season drop, when people stop with all the rush orders, won’t be so hard on us this year.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I had to hire 10 more guys this season to get through the contracts. How are you with it all?”
“Same,” I said. “And a lot of them are emergency orders, so I’m glad I decided to bring the extra crew on. It’s been stressful, to say the least, but rewarding at the same time. I got lucky and got some really great workers this year. I’m hoping I can keep them on through the slow season, so I don’t have to worry about rehiring next year.”
“That’s my thought, too,” he said. “We could always talk about swapping if we have bigger projects, keep our guys working hard for us.”
“That sounds perfect,” I said.
I felt bad about not reaching out to Juan lately. He had become as close to me as a brother over the last several months. He and I used to be rivals, bidding for the same jobs, hating each other every chance we got. We were actually in the middle of an argument over jobs when Christina had showed up at my work to tell me she was leaving me for Dale. Juan dropped his anger for me immediately and grabbed onto me, not letting me get out of control when the anger started to overwhelm me. From that moment on, he had come over almost every day, bringing his sister to make food for us and to keep Kayla moving until I could get back on my feet. Without them, I don’t know how I would have made it through.
Me and my dad, we loved each other, but we’d lived in two different worlds for a very long time. He was consumed with grief for years after my mother died, and it wasn’t until he met Lisa that he really started to bring himself out of it. She brought a light back to his life and that, in turn, started to help us grow stronger as father and son. He stepped in to help to relieve Juan and his sister after Christina left, but that first little bit of time, Juan really saved my ass.
“I’m really glad to see you are doing better,” he said. “I can see on your face that you are feeling better. We need to get together and have some drinks soon. Maybe have a normal conversation for once.”
“Yes,” I said, laughing. “That would be awesome. I definitely could use a night out with you. I’ll make sure to call you when this season settles down so we can do that. You know, though, you and your family are always welcome at our home. Kayla mentions Adelita from time to time, and I’m sure she would love to see her.”
“That’s very nice of you,” Juan said. “And we would love to do that. Adelita has been crazy lately with our abuela. She hasn’t been doing too well.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?”
“No,” he said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, it is what it is. She has struggled for years after her husband died, and when she got that cancer diagnosis, she kind of just stopped trying. I can understand, though. She lived for that man and hasn’t been right since. I know you know how the struggle with cancer can be.”
“I do,” I said sadly. “My mother was tough, and she tried really hard. When she died, my father just wasn’t the same anymore.”