The Final Arrangement by Annie Adams

Don’t say another word.  I’ll see you tomorrow.  Don’t be late, don’t screw up, and by hell take the freeway if you get a delivery to Ogden.  Don’t speak.  Just shake your head.  Do you understand?”
    “Ye…” I glared at him with the look of death.  He shook his head in the affirmative.
    ###
    Turning off the open sign felt better than it should at the end of the day.  My plan at the start of it had been to seek more business.  As the workday came to its close, I questioned whether I had the will to stay with a business where I had to put up with constant problems and very little pay to show for doing so. 
    I drove straight to the drive through on the way home.  There’s not much a good Coke can’t fix.
    As I turned the corner, I noticed a familiar old SUV parked in front of my house.  Alex Cooper stood on my front porch.  Instinctively I leaned over to the rear view mirror to take a look. Yep, I confirmed the ragged state of my hair and the dark circles under my eyes. There was no amount of first aid that could change this mess in time to exit the van and reach the porch without raising suspicion.
    “Hi.”  I asked, more than stated.  “Were we supposed to meet today?”  It was unlikely, but with the stress of the last two days, I could have forgotten anything. 
    “No, no meeting.  I told you I would drive by and check on things.”  He wore a friendly smile on his face and a tight gray t-shirt on his muscular body, with a sweat-darkened area trailing down his chest. 
    “Geez, I’m sorry.  What I meant to say was thank you for checking up on things.  Wow, not just a drive by, but also a house call.  To what do I owe the honor?  I hope you haven’t been chasing my sister’s ex-boyfriend away,” I said as I glanced again at the “V” pattern of sweat that accentuated the perfect pecs filling out his t-shirt.
    “No, nothing like that.  Last night after I left I was thinking the smoke from your burning porch pile probably damaged the ceiling.  Since I had today off, I thought I would come and take a look.”
    “Alex, thank you, but you didn’t have to do that.” 
    “It was my pleasure.  I brought some stuff to clean the smoke damage, and I hope you don’t mind, but I found the spigot in the back yard and filled up these buckets.  It doesn’t look like you’ll need to repair or replace any of the wood.” 
    “I’m speechless.  I….”
    He reached down to pick up the buckets and I caught myself gawking at the well-defined muscles in his back and arms, which were hardly concealed under his t-shirt.
    “It was no big deal,” he said. 
    “Well, I owe you," I said, then thought of all kinds of ways I could repay him. 
    “I’ve already thought of a way you can pay me back.” 
    “Oh."  I squeaked in surprise.  I covered my mouth with my hand in reflex—startled by the thought that he had read my mind, which was much like reading a dirty book at that moment.  Page fifteen was especially embarrassing.  "Um…" 
    C'mon, steady, focus!   I took my time and swallowed.  I tried to appear nonchalant as I slid my hand to the back of my neck and scratched an imaginary itch. "Really?” I said feebly. 
    Alex smiled. His eyes twinkled in what I could only surmise to be amusement—or sympathy. “How would you like to go get something to eat?”
    “I—um, okay.  Yeah, I could eat something.”
    “I meant with me,” he said.
    “Well then yes, for sure.”
    "Cool, let me just change my shirt.”  My heart fluttered up in my chest as I caught him swallowing another grin.  He grabbed the tools he had been using and took them to his truck. 
    "Do I have time to go in and check my messages?" I said. 
    "Sure."
    I went inside and did a quick clothes change into a less crafty-gardener looking shirt, and my eternally-hopeful-of-slimming jeans.  I did a quick hair-fluff and teeth check in the mirror.  Yeah, okay it is something my mother would do, but I really