My Sweet Annie

7

Just as Anabel was stepping out onto the front porch, an old white pickup truck with MARK'S LANDSCAPING LLC on the side trundled up the gravel drive. Ana glanced at the truck, waved at the driver as he drew to a stop behind my Camry, then smiled at me and gave me the same brief, friendly wave. "Well, you have my number."

I waved back. "Expect me to need a human 'hi' about once a day."

"I'll be disappointed if you don't!" She bent down to give Porkie a scratch behind the ears. "You be a good girl now, Porkers. See you later."

I followed Ana out of the house and stopped at the edge of the porch. "Bye!"

She climbed into her car. As she checked her phone and started the engine, the landscaper got out of his truck. He was a man in his mid- to late-forties with graying brown hair and a mustache that made me think of Western movies. He was wearing a safety orange tee, jeans, and battered work boots that crunched on the gravel as he approached the porch. He carried a clip board under one arm.

I restrained the urge to wave again at Ana as she executed a cautious three point turn and departed the now-crowded driveway, aware that I'd really liked her and afraid that I might be coming on too strong to a new friend. Instead, I focused on the new arrival. "Mark, right?"

"That's me. How are you?"

"Good. Thanks for coming all the way out here."

He chuckled. "This ain't too far out from town. In fact, I did a gutter job for the couple down the road a few weeks back. What needs doing? Want to take me around?"

I stepped down off of the porch and led Mark over the grass, gesturing vaguely at the lawn. "It's just kind of...all of this, but my main concern is getting the grass mowed."

"You've got about four acres here."

I had no idea what size an acre was. He could've told me I had seventeen, and I'd have believed him. "Yeah."

"What about the weeding?"

I followed his gaze to the flower beds that ran along the house. I was certain that in the best of times, Gran kept them tidy; she had always seemed to enjoy gardening. But it was late May, and everything was growing double time. "Maybe—it depends on what everything costs."

"I understand, of course. Everyone's got a budget."

"Did you say that you do gutters too?"

He nodded, making a couple of notes on his clip board before squinting up at the house. "Yep, we sure do."

I followed his gaze. From my vantage point, I could see some leaves sticking up out of the gutter. "Do you think it's time for these to get cleaned out?"

Mark fixed me with a curious look. His slight smile had a patronizing edge to it I didn't much like, and I made a mental note to do some research into home maintenance to get a sense of what else I might not know to take care of. Like a lot of my fellow Millennials, I had only explored the housing market enough to know it was a foreign and unfriendly land.

"It's not dire, but they could probably do with a cleaning," he said. "And if you're looking at routine property care, I usually recommend taking a look at the trees on the property, too. Those couple up near the house, keep an eye on 'em. There's a branch or two on the ash I'd take off, if I were you. One bad storm and you're looking at torn up shingles."

I grimaced, wishing I had the faintest inkling of how much this sort of thing would cost me. "Okay. Well, can you get me a couple of quotes? For the lawn, the weeding, the tree trimming, and the gutters, can you quote me each job separately?"