The Douglas Fir Read Online Free PDF

this bit of dirt?”
    He straightened and his hazel eyes stared determinedly at the mess of branches in front of us. He curled his fingers toward him. “Bring it on.”
    After forty minutes collecting weeds and the old bushes I’d torn out, and taking them to my truck for disposal, Dave looked about half an hour past eating his words. His light grey T-shirt was soaked with sweat, and he walked like his jeans were giving him some serious chafing.
    “Drink some water,” I said as he came back from a trip to the truck, and I passed him my bottle.
    He took it and guzzled the lot. “Thanks. How the hell do you do this all day?”
    “It’s something you get used to, and I love the outdoors. I couldn’t sit in front of a computer the whole day.”
    Dave glanced back longingly at the house, as if getting back to his desk was exactly what he wanted.
    “Know what?” I said , shifting a few loose twigs toward the bigger pile at the fence. “I think I can take over from here. Go on in.”
    Dave looked about ready to snap up the offer, when the doorbell rang and he straightened. “That’ll be Noah!” He took a few steps back toward the house and jiggled my empty drink bottle. “I’ll let him in and fill this up for you. Then I’ll be back to help some more.”
    Ah, shite. So much for a Dave-and-Noah-free zone. And now Dave wanted to show Noah how awesome he was to be helping the poor ol’ gardener. I stood staring at the yard, sinking into the miserable realization that Dave was a good—amazing—guy. One that could swim, as well.
    I kicked at some loose scrub. I was one heck of a bugger for hating the guy. What I really should be feeling is sympathetic. How long had Dave looked at Noah this way without the man realizing it? How much longer would he continue to pine?
    How long would I do the very same thing?
    “What are you staring at?” Noah’s voice rang as if there were a laugh behind it. He slung an arm around my neck and stared at the yard. The crook of his elbow rested against the sweaty skin at the base of my hair—not something the guy should have to feel. Under the pretense of picking up larger shears, I freed him from my sweat.
    “I was just thinking what to take on next.” I glanced from a thorny bush to Noah , who was frowning now. “Trimming this back seems like a good idea. How was your day?”
    Noah stuffed his hands into his pockets and sighed. “A few cats were dropped off today, and one Jack Russell was picked up.”
    “Here you go,” Dave said, coming toward us, holding out my drink bottle. I choked back a laugh seeing the fresh navy T-shirt he’d changed into. “Filled it up with the cold water from the fridge and squeezed in a bit of fresh lemon.” He gestured toward the large lemon tree close to the back deck. One tree that would definitely be staying put, I’d told him.
    I took it and squirted some in my mouth and over the back of my neck. “Cheers.”
    “So, what did you want me to do next?” Dave asked, peeking at Noah from the corner of his eye.
    Noah laughed. “You? Gardening? I’ve got to see this.”
    It was tempting to give Dave a task that would make him look foolish . . .
    Ah, dammit, I couldn’t do it.
    “All right, come here.”
    He strutted over like he hadn’t been huffing and puffing and swearing under his breath at stubborn branches just a few minutes ago .
    “You want to trim back these bushes here?”
    Under his breath, he said, “Is that easier than shoving the crap to the truck?” His words tunneled with a light breeze under the neck of my T-shirt.
    I swatted the tickly feeling away. “Sure. If you do it right.” I showed him how to use the shears properly and then handed them over. “You have some fun with that, and I’ll clear some more of this old foliage.”
    Noah clapped a hand on Dave’s shoulder in a way that made me want to turn as green as the bushes I was clearing. “Let’s see you going at this then.”
    They both laughed, and I was