Page 38 of Love, Lies and Mistletoe
“I told you.” Layla chuckled. “He likes to dangle the bait until he has a bite. Then he cuts the line. And I take it back. Copper Creekdoeshave a health inspector.”
“Needless to say, I’m still on the lookout for a permanent place. So if you know of anything.” One of his neighbors had graciously agreed to let him park his lift truck at the back of their lot until after the holidays. Jeff kept the other truck at his house. Brant had also rented a storage unit for the rest of his equipment for the short term. His situation was no longer as desperate as it was a week ago.
“I’ll keep my ear to the ground.”
She went silent again. In front of him, Jeff shot him a look for making a bigger mess by helping him unroll the lights. Brant decided to stop and sit. He obviously couldn’t talk to Layla and do anything else at the same time.
“How’s business?” he asked.
She let out a short laugh. “It’s absolutely insane. I don’t understand it. It’s like the difference between living under a rock and standing in the middle of Times Square.”
He smiled. “That’s great news. Congratulations.”
“But I don’t have any time to place orders let alone restock. The store will be bare bones after next weekend at this pace.” There was rustling and then something dropped in the background with a loud crash. She groaned.
He chuckled nervously. “What’s going on there?”
“Sorry, I’m trying to make room in the refrigerator for this turkey.”
He wasn’t quite ready to hang up. “So you’ll have company?”
“It will be just me and my neighbor. We’ll have turkey for days since I got a much larger bird than I needed. I’m a little out of practice with hosting by myself.”
“You can always freeze your leftovers.”
“No doubt. Anyway, having the shop means I need to stick close to home for the holiday.”
“Sounds like you need to hire another employee.”
She sighed. “I suppose I should think about that. I haven’t the first clue about hiring though.”
He heard water running in the background and the clinking of dishes. She was distracted, and he didn’t want to get in the way anymore. “I have tips about hiring if you need any. But I’ll let you go. It sounds like you’ve got your hands full.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”
Reluctantly, he said goodbye.
He waited for Jeff to give him an earful. It took all but a second after he clipped the phone to his belt again.
“I can’t tell you how many times you’ve called me out for looking at my phone while I’m on the job. And yours wasn’t even a business call if my ears heard right.”
“It was equally important.”
“Right. And what about safety protocol? You’re supposed to have both hands on the ladder when I’m on it.”
“My one hand has the strength of two.”
Jeff snorted. “I’ll remember that the next time you’re dangling from a lift. Remember that?”
How could he forget? One of his lifts, a piece of junk that needed constant repairs for perpetually malfunctioning hydraulics, gave him the scare of his life last season. One day it stopped working when he was twenty feet in the air. His only option was to climb down, which he soon found was easier said than done. Jeff saved him with a well-placed ladder.
“Sorry.”
Jeff gave him a sidelong glance. “Was it Layla?”
Brant lifted another coil of lights from the stack, cut the plastic tie, and unrolled it. “Yes, it was.”
“Has she warmed up to you any more?”
