Gulf Coast Wedding by Maggie Miller
Chapter Thirty-one
Travis was happy to see that everyone had arrived on time at Reverend Bartholomew’s house. He’d gotten there a few minutes early, just to have a look around the property and work out his plan.
The reverend had come out to greet him and show him where the mower was in the garage, along with a few other manual tools. But Travis had brought his gas-powered edger and a few other things that would move the job along much faster.
Now, as he faced Levi, Denise, and Mia, he knew what they needed to do. “Mia, are you helping Denise inside or staying out here with us?”
She shrugged. “Wherever I’m most needed. I can do either.”
Denise glanced toward the house. She had a loaf of foil-wrapped banana bread in her hands. “I don’t know what I’m facing in there yet. Maybe that decision should wait until I’ve had a look around inside.”
“Makes sense. Why don’t you head in and see what you think? Then we’ll know if we have Mia to help out here or not.”
She smiled. “Be back in a few minutes.”
As she headed for the house, Travis spoke to Levi. “There’s a lot to do out here, but if we divide and conquer, we’ll get it done. We should start by trimming the palms and the front hedge. Once we get all of that cleaned up and piled by the street for pickup, we can mow and edge.”
Levi nodded, then made a little face. “I’ve never trimmed a palm before. You’re going to have to show me.”
“It’s not hard. In fact, it’s probably easier than trimming the hedges which require a little bit more precision. I’ll show you exactly what to do.”
Mia hooked her thumbs through the belt loops of her rattiest jeans. “If Denise doesn’t need me inside, I can haul the branches and stuff as you guys cut them. I can weed those front beds, too.”
“That would help a lot.” Travis glanced toward the street. “We’re going to have quite a pile for them to pick up.”
Denise came back out onto the reverend’s porch. “I’m good to work by myself in the house.”
Mia turned and gave her a thumbs up. “Thanks!”
Denise went back inside, and they got to work. Travis and Levi pulled out the ladder and the rest of the equipment from his truck, while Mia tugged on a pair of gardening gloves she’d brought with her and started on wedding the beds, which was a big job in itself.
Travis bought her an old drywall bucket. “Here. Put the weeds in this and then it’ll be easier to take them to the pile at the curb.”
She nodded. “Perfect. By the way, we found out this morning that Olivia signed the custody paperwork. Chloe is completely Griffin’s now. And that means there won’t be a hearing on Friday either.” She grinned. “It’s a done deal.”
“That’s outstanding.” He smiled back. “Your mom must have been overjoyed.”
“She made some noise, that’s for sure.” Mia laughed, clearly ecstatic herself. “Today is a good day. For all kinds of things.”
“Yes, it is.” Still smiling, he headed back to the first palm where Levi was setting up the ladder.
Levi was already wearing the safety goggles and gloves Travis had given him. He held out the long-handled saw they’d be using the trim the palms. “You want to do this first one?”
“Nope. You’ve got it. Just cut the branch close to the trunk.”
“Okay.” He went up the ladder and tackled the first dry, brown palm frond. A couple minutes later, it came tumbling down. “Hey, that wasn’t hard. I mean, it was work, but it wasn’t hard. I’ve got this.”
Travis laughed. “I told you. Although it would be easier with a gas-powered saw. You good to go?”
Levi nodded. “Wait. Do I just take the brown ones?”
“Take them and the ones that are starting to turn brown at the tips. That’ll buy some time before they need trimming again.”
“Got it.” He went back to work.
Travis started on the hedges, which needed not just trimming, but taking down a few inches. They’d been left to go wild for too long and as any green thing in Florida tended to do when left alone, they’d exploded with new growth.
They worked on, each focused on their own tasks.
When Mia finished weeding the first bed, which seemed to be about two buckets worth of weeds, she shifted to carrying palm fronds and hedge trimmings to the curb. As soon as she finished with most of that, she went back to weeding the next bed.
For a solid hour, they worked without stopping. Travis was thankful for the coolness of the day, but the sun was bright and it didn’t take long until they were all covered in sweat. A few more minutes and Levi had the palms done.
He put the saw back in the truck, then took over carrying the big stuff to the curb, which let Mia finish weeding the third bed without interruption.
Travis tidied up the last hedge, then moved to hauling debris to the pile as well. On his last trip, he took stock of what they’d done so far. “You know, Mia, when you’re done there, you could go. Levi and I can finish up the mowing and edging. I know you have wedding stuff to do.”
She leaned back on her heels and took a look around. “Wow, you guys have really gotten after it. The trees look great, Levi.”
“Thanks.” He tossed a couple branches onto the growing pile.
She nodded at Travis. “All right. I’ll finish this, then head back to the inn to start decorating.”
Levi smiled. “I really appreciate you doing all of that for us.”
“Hey, you’re welcome, but you know this is a test of my wedding planning skills. You guys are just the guinea pigs.”
Levi snorted, and Travis shook his head, laughing softly.
After Mia took her last bucket of weeds to the pile, she went into the house for a few minutes, then came back out, said her goodbyes, and took off.
Travis got Levi set up with the mower, something Levi hadn’t done since he was a kid, then Travis went off to inspect the rest of the property. On his walk around the house, Travis noticed a loose piece of downspout. He grabbed a screwdriver out of his toolbox and tightened that up, then continued around.
There were a few screens on the back porch that had seen better days, but he didn’t have a roll of screen or any spline to replace them. He made a mental note to get over later in the week and take care of them, though.
He came back around the front of the house to find Levi had finished mowing the main yard and was working on the side. Travis stood back a bit and looked around. The mailbox could use painting. That wasn’t a big thing. Just a can of glossy black spray paint and a tarp.
Might as well repaint the house numbers, too, while he was at it.
The driveway, sidewalk and porch needed to be power washed. The inn had a power washer in the shed. Maybe Levi could help him out one more day. Then they could get all of this done.
Reverend Bartholomew came out onto the front porch. His eyes rounded as he saw the pile of yard waste at his curb. “Did you really take all of that off my property?”
Travis nodded. “We did.”
“I can’t believe it. But everything looks so nice. What a great job you did.” He shook his head, smiling. “I feel very blessed today. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to come back again and work on a few more things. Is there anything in the house that needs fixing?”
“You’ve done so much already.”
“Happy to do it, too.”
The reverend’s eyes look a little teary. “I truly appreciate it.”
“I can tell. Are you sure there’s nothing in the house that needs attention?”
The reverend sighed. “There is a faucet that drips.”
Travis smiled. “Let me grab my toolbox and I’ll be right in.”