“Stand by.” Paul went out to the greenhouse and returned with two cold bottles. He opened them and handed one to Jenny. “Here’s to shit days.”

“I’ll drink to that. So you’ve got a secret stash, huh?”

“Shhh, the college kids haven’t found it yet.” He walked her through the procedure for closing the store, accounting for the money and preparing for the next morning.

At six-thirty, Alex came in looking filthy and worn out and annoyed to find her alone in the store with his brother, or at least that was how it seemed to her.

“What’re you still doing here?” Alex asked her.

“Finishing a couple of things.”

“Let her go home, Paul. She’s got plans.”

“We’re almost done.”

“She’s done now.”

As the brothers engaged in a visual standoff, Jenny held up her hands, hoping to diffuse the tension. “Alex, go take a shower. Paul, finish your sentence, and then I’ll go home.”

“It’s okay,” Paul said. “He’s right. It’ll keep until the morning. Thanks again for everything today. You moved mountains, and I appreciate it.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be shocked if you show up.”

“I’ll be here just so I can shock you.”

Paul smiled and downed the rest of his beer. “I’ll look forward to that.”

To Alex, Jenny said, “I’ll be ready at seven.”

His face set in an angry-looking expression, he nodded but didn’t say anything. He kept his gaze fixed firmly on his brother.

As she drove out of the parking lot, thinking about the stormy way he’d looked at his brother, she hoped she hadn’t done more harm than good.

***

“What the hell was that all about?” Alex asked Paul the minute they were alone.

“What was what about?”

“You and Jenny and a cozy after-work beverage while you breathe down her neck.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? We were working! And if you’ll recall, it was your big idea for her to work here. Am I not allowed to talk to her because you’re banging her on the side?”

Alex saw red and moved before he took a moment to consider what he was about to do. He grabbed his brother by the T-shirt and jacked him up against the wall, smashing two vases in the process.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Paul asked as he twisted his way out of Alex’s grasp. The bastard was a lot stronger than he used to be.

“She is mine. You got me? Mine.”

“I never said otherwise! You’ve lost your mind if you think there was anything more to what you saw than two colleagues enjoying a beer after a particularly hideous day.”

“You were standing right next to her.”

“Because I was helping her with the fucking computer, you asshole.”

“That’s not how it looked to me.”