But he had hired her, and she had been nothing but professional, and that was all their relationship was. This was business.
Roy walked up to Beverly and extended his hand. "I'm glad you made it," he said with a smile as they shook hands. "Let's talk about your plans. If you have any new ones, I mean. Your notebook made me wonder if you have something new to suggest. I could be wrong."
"You aren't wrong," she said. "I know you're working on a tight timeline, so I've already got some ideas for how we can prioritize the work so that you can get everything done in time for Easter." She opened her notebook, gesturing for him to take a look.
The notes were detailed and included timelines of when certain tasks should be completed if they wanted to meet their deadline. Roy was impressed with the level of detail and organization she had put into her plan.
He glanced up at her in surprise before asking, "Do you think all of this is possible?"
"I do," she replied confidently. "I just have to stay on top of things, and the hours will be long, but I'm willing to do the work. Don't you worry."
"And your... Do you plan on doing all of this alone?"
She nodded. "Unless you want me to ask... There are some high schoolers—"
"If you think you can do it yourself..." He laughed and shook his head. "That is not happening. "I know I hired you, but I don't want you to do it all yourself. If we need help, then we can ask the high schoolers. I think it's a great idea to use them. Have you done that before?"
"Oh, yes. It was my father's idea, a way to give back to the community and teach them. We would pay them, of course, but I think the knowledge my father shared would have been worth it alone."
"I love that, but seriously, let me help. I want to. I have to. And please, it's not because you're a woman. I don't want you to think that because it's not the case at all. It's just that I can't hire someone and then sit back and watch them do all the work while I work on my tan."
Beverly laughed and pointed to his cowboy hat. "I don't think you're going to tan very much with that on your head."
He laughed too and shrugged. "You don't mind, do you? That I want to do the work with you? I told the others that I would do the work, but I needed your expert opinion on the work, and I'm so pleased with your knowledge."
"That is completely fine, but..."
"But?" he repeated, lifting his eyebrows.
She ducked her head. "I don't know what gave me the impression that the orchard is yours."
"Oh, no. Colton Spangler is the owner."
"And... does he know about me?"
"He will," Roy said.
She winced. "I, ah, think he should know before I get started."
"Yes, of course. You're right. First, though, do you mind..."
He gestured to her notebook, and she handed it to him. Roy was thrilled she was willing to work with him on this project. Yesterday, she had already given him ideas on how they could get things done quickly without sacrificing quality, and she had come up with a few more after they had parted ways. Roy wasn't sure he would have come up with any of them himself.
He turned back to the timeline, since there seemed to be so much happening all at once, from clearing debris to replacing rotted wood, rebuilding fences, putting up new sections, as well as building an entirely new toolshed and the second barn.
"The other cowboys, I'll be are to introduce you to them at some point, will have already started to clear away more of the debris."
"More?"
"Yes," he said ruefully. "We've already cleared away a lot."
She glanced around, and he sighed.
"I know it doesn't look like we have."
"It's a tremendous undertaking you've taken on," she remarked.
"And that's where you come in." He grinned at her. "I'm off to tell Colton about the hire now. Might you come with me? I could make the first introduction."