Still bleary-eyed, she sipped lukewarm coffee and uncoiled plastic wrap from her new, floral baby. A creamy envelope protruded from the tines of a plastic holder stuck in the pebbly dirt. She plucked it and hesitated, almost afraid to look. She knew only one guy who could source exotic flowers in the middle of cow country, and that guy had a penchant for grand gestures. The card slid out with a whisper, and she instantly recognized Richard’s scrawl.

A rare beauty for a rare beauty. All my love, Richard.

All his love…was she ready for all? Through the window, morning sun slanted from a cloud-streaked sky. He was half a country away in a little tin can winging through limitless blue. She had time to figure out her feelings. When she saw him again, she’d know what to say.

Tossing aside the card, she grabbed a pad and pencil and jotted tasks for the week ahead. Ticking items off a to-do list always gave her clarity. Clean the garage. Listen to Midsummer Ball band demos. Meet Jonas on Wednesday for estimate and building schedule. She paused, nibbling the eraser. Did she have nothing else to do? Just a few weeks ago she couldn’t catch her breath between the flurry of meetings, classes, and grading. She added: Don’t kill the orchid.

Half an hour later, garbed in her grungiest clothes, she stood at the threshold to the garage, industrial-grade garbage bags in her right hand and shop vac in her left. A stiff breeze blew through the open door, tossing her hair like a supermodel. Time to get dirty.

She surveyed the cement and cinder block landscape. Behind a dilapidated pair of water skis and an exercise bike resembling a medieval torture device emerged a span of dark wood piled high with dingy paperbacks, broken watering cans, and driveway salt.

Was that a workbench? She wrestled a stack of frayed lawn chairs to the wall, shoved an old cooler against them, and in so doing created a path to the cluttered corner. Sure enough, she discovered a sizeable wooden counter above which her father apparently hung a pegboard many years ago. An honest-to-goodness workshop! Twirling, she clapped her hands, and a cloud of dust billowed around her head. She sneezed. Jonas would be so surprised.