by Alyssa Kress
CHAPTER NINE
What time of year do you prune roses? As Erica watered the flowers blooming by the front porch, she realized she'd have to look that up. It was weird to think of doing that, of wanting to. But these were part her flowers now. The yard, the rest of the bushes—the house. All part hers.
The sense of ownership wasn't bad, she mused, moving the stream of water to the next bush. She'd have to take care of it all, true—and find the money to do so—but she could also make some of the decisions. For example, she could plant some star jasmine right there in the corner where it could wind up to the porch. She loved the smell of star jasmine. And the small white flowers would pair well visually with the red roses her father had planted.
Okay, that was even more weird. She still couldn't get her mind around her father planting roses...
About a dozen feet away, the kitchen door of Brennan's house suddenly opened.
The stream of water in Erica's control jerked.
Liam came out first. His laptop was in his hands, and he was chattering, a big smile on his face.
Brennan followed, silently listening. He was wearing a considerably more subdued smile.
Erica felt shocked. Brennan was still as tall, still as good-looking. And he still seemed...solid. How could that be? She knew what he was now: fatally flawed. And yet she felt a little happy about seeing him.
His gaze went across the two driveways and met hers.
She felt a small internal punch.
"Ah, Erica." Liam sounded offended. "I would've watered the plants."
"I knew you had that essay to write for your English class." Her eyes flicked toward Brennan. Be normal, she told herself. She didn't want to give Brennan the idea he had any kind of effect on her. "Uh, thanks for helping him with that." She sure couldn't have done so; she was no better at English than she was at math. It was doubtful Clint could have helped, either, assuming he'd have had the time. He'd recently told Erica he was working fourteen-hour days in order to make ends meet since Judy had taken over their bank accounts.
Brennan appeared a little surprised that Erica had addressed him. She felt all the happier she'd forced herself to do so. "Um, yeah." He cleared his throat. "Liam knows I'm his go-to guy with the English homework."
"Fortunately, I don't need help with math," Liam claimed, striding across the driveways. "Hey, let me put my computer inside, and I'll come back out and finish the watering."
"Oh—" Erica had rather been enjoying the physical task.
"Be just a sec," Liam said, jumping up the porch steps. He opened the door and disappeared.
Leaving Erica alone outside with Brennan.
Feeling her skin itching at his presence, she concentrated on wetting the area under the azalea.
Brennan did not retreat into his abode as she would have liked. Instead, his deep voice carried easily, conversationally, over the two driveways. "So. Liam told me you're putting yourself down as the applicant for guardian."
Erica spared him a quick glance. "Uh-huh." Keep normal, she scolded herself. It wasn't odd that Brennan would be interested in the situation, considering all the time and effort he'd invested in helping them so far. Besides, he had a relationship with Liam.
She shrugged. "The guardian thing was kind of a no-brainer."
"Yeah, a no-brainer except for the ton of paperwork involved." Liam popped out the front door of the house. "Erica's been scratching her head over it all day now."
Erica could have strangled him. "There are just a few questions hanging me up." Try the whole damn thing. "I'm not sure what's relevant. Maybe I ought to hire Grover Hamilton to help, after all." Though the lawyer had said she ought to be able to do it herself. Now Brennan was going to think she was an idiot.
"You could call Hamilton." Brennan lifted a shoulder. "Or I could take a look at it first. In my business I have to fill out a lot of government forms. Maybe it might make more sense to me."
Was he offering to help? Erica felt socked. Wasn't he insulted? Angry? She'd rejected him quite forcefully.
But then, he was probably only concerned about Liam. Making sure the paperwork got filed properly and all that. Wasn't she, also, concerned about it?
"Um...okay." Getting the guardianship approved was the ultimate goal, right?
"Here." Liam reached to take the hose from her. "You guys can work on that while I finish watering the plants."
Now? Not that there would be any time she'd be more ready to deal with Brennan than now. She offered her neighbor an apologetic glance. "Do you have time?"
Say no. She couldn't afford Grover Hamilton's, but it would be so much easier to deal with him than with Brennan.
"I've got about an hour." Brennan started across the driveways. "Let's take a look at it."
He only had an hour. That was...good. She could handle an hour.
On the other hand, what did he have to do on a Sunday evening an hour from now? Did he have a date?
Oh, jeez. Did she care?
"Okay." Erica straightened her shoulders and turned for the porch steps. "You take a whack at it."
She did not care if Brennan had a date. Of course not.
