“What I want you to do,” he said briskly, “is pull all the weeds that have grown up out here and pile them in that barrel. I’ll burn them when they dry out.” The old metal barrel, which had clearly been used for the same purpose in the past, was positioned just outside the overgrown hedge that encircled the backyard, just inside the chain-link fence. “Once the weeds are all up, the hedge needs trimming with these hedge clippers. Once those clippings are all gathered up and in the barrel, you can mow the yard. I’ve got an old-fashioned push mower right here.” He still hadn’t had a chance to get into the toolshed. The mower was parked under the eaves behind the house and covered with a tarp.

The hedge clippers were more exciting. He’d bought them at the Home Depot in Davy, and they were gleaming.

“At least they’re sharp,” Connor said. “But electric ones would have been better.”

“This isn’t that big a yard, and the manual ones are fine for the job,” Manfred said, suppressing a scowl with some effort. “Also, this’ll take you longer so you’ll earn more money.”

“All right.” Connor looked a bit happier.

“You are on your honor, keeping track of your time,” Manfred said. “I can’t keep looking out here to police you.”

“What does that mean—on my honor?”

“That means I’m trusting you to keep an accurate account of the time you work.”

Connor brightened. “Okay. I can do that.”

Though he prided himself on being able to read people, Manfred couldn’t decide if Connor was excited about being trusted or if he was simply pleased at the idea of being able to hoodwink Manfred out of a few extra bucks. Maybe because the kid himself didn’t know how he’d react? He definitely didn’t give out a vibe that was easy to interpret.

Connor was apparently hard at work the couple of times Manfred went into the kitchen to get water or a cup of coffee. The kid’s going to be a good-looking man, he thought, but his social adjustment is going to be all off. I wonder what his dad thinks is going to happen when Connor and Creek are too old to keep at home, when he has to let them go out into the world? What did Shawn do that he has to keep them hidden?