“Archer, you have to get up on the ladder by that window. I want to get a shot of you using your hammer.”
“Jesus, aren’t you done ogling the man, Tay? We have actual work to finish here.” Jacob stands up, wiping his hands on his jeans.
“Calm down, Jakey.” She motions toward the window she wants me to pose by.
Jacob grumbles to himself and goes back to working on the porch steps, prying the nails off one of the boards.
I comply with her request, climbing up on the short ladder to reach the top of the window, where I had been renailing loose trim boards. I hold up the hammer and glance over at her. “Is this good?”
“Perfect. Now smile.” She flashes me a wide grin and then snaps a few shots, reviewing them before giving me a thumbs-up to let me know she’s finished.
I climb down and put the hammer back in the narrow toolbox on the patio.
“We have to run to the hardware store for lumber.” Jacob stands up, nodding at me.
Taylor stomps down the sturdy side of the porch steps, patting Jacob on the shoulder as she passes. “You boys have fun. I’ll upload these everywhere. Just wait. I bet this place will be fully booked by morning.” She spins around, waving to us before bouncing back up to the main house.
I meet Jacob at the bottom of the porch, where he’s frowning after her as she skips away.
He shakes his head with a sigh. “Right. We’ll be fully booked, and she’ll be gone.” His gaze cuts back to mine. “You’re driving.”
“So hit me with some of these questions.” Jacob waves a hand at me, leaning back in the passenger seat of the truck.
“What is your job around here?” Even though Finley already told me a little about Jacob’s duties, I want him to go over everything he’s responsible for in his own words.
“I run the website, do all the marketing, help the customers, and whatever else she wants me to do.”
“Did you go to school for any kind of marketing or business?”
He scoffs. “No. Barely made it through high school.” He looks out the window at the blur of green pines flying by.
I attempt to dig a little deeper. “Is this what you want to do with your life? Do you plan on helping Finley run the business forever, or has there ever been anything else you wanted to do?”
His head turns toward me, scrutiny burning a hole in the side of my face. I keep my gaze trained on the road.
“There’s nothing else I would want to do with my life. Nowhere else I would want to go. Whitby is my home.”
I take a second to glance over at him and nod. “Understood.”
“Is that your game here? Trying to act like you’re understanding, but really, you’re trying to find a way to get us to give up our home so your buddy can buy it?”
“No,” I say, but then I hesitate and add gently, “Not really.”
He gives me a side eye along with a disbelieving chuckle.
“At least I’m honest.”
“I guess. Any other probing questions?”
I pull into the parking lot at the hardware store and find a spot in the front. “What’s your GOPPAR?”
I put the car in park and look over at him.
He squints at me. “I don’t see how it’s any of your business if I have an STD, but the answer is I don’t. I’m totally clean.”
I stifle a smile. “It means gross operating profit per available room.”
“Oh.” He shrugs. “Not something I’m aware of. You’ll have to ask Finley, but I doubt she knows either. She never went to college for any marketing or business or anything either. We do the best we can with what we have.”