Was she envious? No. It had to be exhausting to date like that. But she wouldn’t mind going out on a date occasionally. This dry spell that she was in had lingered and lingered until it had become the norm. And her chances of meeting someone out here were slim to none. Of course, Cassidy had invited her to the party, had suggested that she might meet someone there.

“I’ve seen her party friends,” she murmured. “Way too girlie for me.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Startled, she jerked her head around, finding Cassidy standing beside her, holding two beers shoved into koozies. The shorts she wore did not seem old in the least, but the T-shirt was splattered with not one, but two different colors of paint. She reached for one of the beers.

“I’m alone too much,” she said as way of explanation.

“Ah. Talk to yourself, do you?”

Laura smiled. “Yes, but I rarely argue.”

Cassidy laughed. “I would hope not.”

Laura took a big swallow of the beer. “Thank you. I was parched.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the fridge out back by the outdoor kitchen. Help yourself.”

“How do you know I haven’t already?”

“Because even though you sneak over to use the pool and go trespassing in the woods, I don’t think you’re the type to swipe beer.”

“You’d be right. I bring my own.”

Cassidy took a swallow too, nodding. “I checked out the new planters by the pool. They look really nice. You’ve done a great job.”

“Thank you. This is the last one. I finished the other one this morning before I mowed. I was going to finish this one up tomorrow, but since you’re here…”

“Free labor, huh?”

“Yes. I’ve got one more flat of flowers, then we pile on the mulch. Then the stone goes around the sides. Then we water.”

“All of that today? How about we finish the flowers, then get in the pool? I’ll help with the mulch and stone in the morning.”

Laura shook her finger at her. “You haven’t even started yet and you’re already trying to get out of working.”

Cassidy laughed. “Actually, I think it’ll be fun to play in the dirt with you. But you’ve been working all day out here. I thought you might be ready to call it a day.”

“Well, if you hadn’t shown up early, then yes, I was going to spend an hour or so in your pool,” she admitted.

“So? What do you say?”

Well, it was awfully hot, she reasoned. No need to finish this up today when—with Cassidy’s help—she could have the project completed in an hour or so in the morning. She nodded at Cassidy.

“Okay. We’ll finish it all tomorrow, flowers included. Let me go get cleaned up and changed. I’ll meet you there.”