Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“This is amazing, Gavin. You’ve really got an incredible eye for this. I’ve visited some of the parks you designed around here before you moved, but this is really above and beyond.” Her fingers brush my shoulder as she leans in to get a better look, and she quickly drops her hand, moving around to stand beside my chair. I inhale the scent of her perfume or whatever she uses that makes her smell the way she does. Like vanilla maybe. Something sweet.
I clear my throat. “Thanks. I’ve been working my way toward this for a long time. And my dad dangled it like a carrot as a way to entice me to come home.”
Harley chuckles. “Obviously it worked.”
“Like a charm,” I agree. “I was a little daunted by the scope of the project at first, but when you’re given this much space to work with and a huge budget, it really lends itself to creativity.”
“I can see that. Can you zoom in on the play structure?” She points to the center of the screen. “I want to take a closer look at that.”
“Sure. Of course.” It’s been a long time since someone other than the people I work with have shared my excitement about a project. My dad obviously loves landscape design. He’s spent more than thirty years in the field, built his own business from the ground up, and expanded. My in-laws couldn’t understand how I managed to get lost for hours in a project and wouldn’t even realize I’d miss lunch until my alarm went off signaling it was time for me to pick up Peyton.
“This is really cool.” Harley points to the castle-like structure. “What are the chances you could put a rock-climbing wall up the side? Just the first six feet or so, to avoid it being too high and reduce the chances of someone getting hurt, and here”—she points to the wooden bridge connecting the two towers—“you could do a rope bridge, which would be great for balance.”
“Those are great ideas.” I jot them down.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe I did that. Like I know anything about architecture.” She tries to take the pencil from my hand, but I grip it tighter.
“But you know a lot of things about kids and what they like. I’m not jotting them down because I need something to do with my hands, I’m jotting them down because I can see how they could work.” I stand and roll my chair closer to her. “Here, sit. I’m picking your brain.”
“The last thing you probably want to do right now is more work.”
“Paperwork no, but design work I would do in my sleep if I could. Sit.” I nod to the chair. “Let me scavenge your head for ideas.”
She takes a seat in my executive chair, and I grab my stool from my drafting table, rolling back over to her. “Okay. Climbing wall and a rope bridge. What else do you think might work well?”
We go back and forth for the next thirty minutes, discussing potential tweaks and additions. When we’re finished, Harley has given me some really great feedback to fix some of the problems I had with the design.
“How much work is this going to make for you?” Harley asks as I start shutting down my computer.
“It’ll take maybe a day for me to input all the changes and modifications, but we won’t be moving on this structure until the spring. Our first step is creating the trails and setting up the garden and picnic areas, so I can keep making tweaks to this until the winter if you come up with more ideas.”
“As if you need me inserting myself into your projects.” She covers her mouth with her palm and stifles a yawn. “Oh, wow. That was rude.” She glances at the clock on the wall. “It’s after ten already! No wonder I’m turning into a yawn factory.” Harley rolls her chair back and stands up. “I better get home before I turn into a pumpkin.”
I walk her to the front door and out to her car. “Thanks again for watching Peyton.”
“It was way more fun than what I had planned anyway.” She unlocks her car door. “Are we still on for the zoo tomorrow afternoon?”
“We could postpone it if you have other things you need to do.”
“Not at all. And I can totally take Peyton on my own if you’re busy. I’m going no matter what, and having Peyton come along will make it way more fun.”
“Okay. As long as it’s not an inconvenience.” I shove my hand in my pocket. “Can I, uh, can I pay you for tonight?”
Harley blinks a few times and her expression shifts to something like irritation. “No. I don’t want money for spending a couple of hours with Peyton.”
I rush to explain. “I feel bad not giving you anything.”