Bluegrass Courtship by Allie Pleiter

you’ve gone off to.”
    Vern gave a low whistle. “Well of course she knows I’m here. She sent me. Told me to stay awhile besides.”
    Drew gave Vern a look. “Maybe ‘awhile’ didn’t mean close to four hours. I’m obliged, Vern, but don’t lose your job over us.”
    Vern nudged Mike. “She cain’t fire me. I got seniority.”
    â€œVern,” Drew replied, “I reckon you got more seniority than any of us. But even young upstarts like me know you’ve got to keep the boss happy.”
    â€œYeah, well if you’d seen her this mornin’ you’d know nothin’ was gonna keep her happy today,” Vern said. Then he turned to Mike. “Between you and me, I was glad to get out of there this morning.”
    Lord, what is it about that woman? Drew prayed as he put down the cables he was holding and began walking with the old man down the hill.
    Â 
    â€œIt’s nearly one,” Janet said as Vern came walking across the lawn with Drew. He looked like he’d had a grand time,and she hated herself for coming over to fetch him back like some kind of disciplinarian. “I know I said ‘awhile,’ but…”
    â€œThanks for loaning us Vern.” Drew interrupted. Those two looked in cahoots with each other. She didn’t cherish the idea of Vern siding up with Drew Downing. Then again, there weren’t even supposed to be “sides,” were there?
    â€œYou should see some of the gizmos they got here,” Vern said, pulling a red bandana out of his overalls pocket and wiping his brow. Probably fishing for sympathy that he’d been overworked, Janet decided. “Must be how they get it done so fast.”
    â€œAnd good help,” Drew said, shaking Vern’s hand. Janet wondered if the bandana Vern pulled from his pockets wouldn’t be Missionnovation green tomorrow. She was starting to dislike green.
    â€œWould you mind terribly if Vern came back to work now?” she asked Drew but kept her eyes on Vern. “We need that good help back at the store if I’m to get to the bank this afternoon.”
    â€œYou can have Vern back, if I can borrow you for a moment. The rest of the gutter work arrived, and I’ve a question or two about it. You’re my expert.”
    Janet sighed. Wasn’t the whole point of this morning to avoid Drew Downing and the Missionnovation madness?
    â€œI’ll head on back to mind the store,” Vern said, and she thought she saw him wink at Drew. “Go on and take your time with that.”
    Roofs gutters—not exactly foreign territory, Janet thought to herself as she dismissed the looks that passed between Vern and Drew. It had clearly been a mistake to put those two together.

Chapter Fourteen
    D rew led her past the collection of tented workspaces that had sprung up around the church. “The garden’s going to be fabulous. I found a stonemason on the other side of town who’s going to help us build the terrace here. And he led me to a guy in the area who’ll make a gorgeous wrought-iron gate for the garden at half his normal cost. There’s a woman from Lexington who’s coming out to paint murals on the preschool wall, too. And I was talking to Pastor Anderson the other day, and he’s thinking about recommending the full-scale rainwater collection system to other churches.” His eyes lit up, as if connecting these people to the project was the most exciting part of his job. “You all have been hit with some bad droughts in recent years, and he thinks this is great stuff we’re doing.”
    Janet stared at Drew. Pastor Anderson was thinking about recommending the system? The system she couldn’t get him to even look at for months back then? You’ve got to be kidding, she griped to herself, I try for months and he swoops in and gets them on board in a matter of days? “He’sthat gung-ho,