Page 6 of Danny Hall Gets a Lawyer (Goose Run #1)

“Uh… I’m not a hundred percent sure where it is.”

“Okay.” There was more than a little bit of judgment in his eyes right now.

“Well, we won’t be signing anything until I see that, and we’ll have to include your grandma in the consultations since she owns the house.

But you can still run through everything with me and email me a copy of that power of attorney when you find it. ”

“Okay.” I fidgeted. Everything was starting to seem official now.

“Can we go and look at the tree now?” Marty asked.

Miller pinched the bridge of his nose again but said, “I guess? And we can check out the property lines while we’re at it. You’re sure the tree falls on your side of the boundary?”

“Um,” I said, “almost sure?” As far as I remembered the tree had always been in Grandma’s yard, but now Miller had asked if I was sure, I found myself questioning it, you know?

Miller made a noncommittal hum and gave me another one of those judgmental looks before setting his tablet aside and rising. The couch groaned as he stood up.

Marty bounced to his feet as well, pulling a notebook and pen from the pocket of his cargo shorts.

I guessed it was casual dress day at their law office.

Although if it was, Miller must have missed that memo.

Which was a bonus for me. I’d always appreciated a guy in a well-fitted suit, and I got to see it almost never because I lived in Goose Run and the only people wearing suits were normally on their way to the courthouse over in South Hill.

And, honestly, most of them still just wore jeans.

They might add a button-up shirt and a tie if they were really trying to get on the judge’s good side.

And Miller wasn’t just wearing a suit; he looked good in it.

I could tell it wasn’t one of the off-the-rack ones or something he’d borrowed off someone else.

This suit fit him just right. The jacket emphasized the width of his straight shoulders and the trimness of his waist. And the pants?

They clung to his ass nicely as he headed toward the front door.

Chase caught me looking at Miller’s ass and grinned.

We all went outside into the fading light and stood on the dirt driveway and looked at the remains of the tree.

“Who cleared it?” Miller asked.

“Uh, my uncle,” Wilder said. He scratched his stomach, his tank top riding up and showing his abs. “Steve. Came around earlier with his chainsaw. We got a lot of pictures of it before, though, and Danny filmed Harlan cutting it down.”

Miller didn’t answer.

“Was that wrong?” Wilder asked, a frown pulling at his mouth.

Miller jolted slightly and lifted his gaze from Wilder’s abs. “Ah, no. That’s great. Video evidence and photos are great.”

I exchanged a look with Chase, who grinned again.

“Okay, so where’s the property line?” Miller asked as we walked around the remains of the tree.

I pointed to the spot where Harlan’s immaculate lawn touched our weeds. “Right there.”

“Is there a marker?” Miller asked. “Or is this just where your neighbor thinks it is?”

“Oh. No, there’s not a marker.”

“Marty, you’ll need to do a search of the county records,” Miller said.

“On it,” Marty said, clicking his pen rapidly before writing in his notebook. He looked up from his scribbling and walked over to the line between our properties, crouched down, and peered down the boundary line. His eyes narrowed and his forehead creased. “Huh.”

“What?” I asked.

Marty didn’t answer, just rubbed at his chin before straightening up. “You sure this tree’s on your property?”

“I mean—yeah?”

It was my turn to crouch down and peer along the property line.

Harlan’s lawn was a rich, lush green except for a strip about a foot wide right on the border which was kinda rough looking, but that was probably lawn death by association from hanging out with our weeds.

The very edge of the tree trunk was inside the patchy area, and it looked like it might actually be on his property, even though I could have sworn it had always been in Grandma’s yard.

Did tree trunks have growth spurts? “Shit. Does that mean he’s allowed to cut it down? ”

“What are we looking at?” Miller went and crouched down, and wow, those pants really did fit just right. I couldn’t look away. “Huh,” he echoed.

He turned his head toward me—and caught me blatantly checking out his ass.

Awkward.

I waited for another one of those judgmental looks. Instead his gaze flicked up and down, like he was checking me out right back, and I caught a glimpse of a smile, like he wasn’t mad about it.

So maybe not completely awkward then.

“I swear that tree’s always been in Grandma’s yard,” I said. “I don’t know what the fuck this is.”

Marty hummed and started writing furiously in his notebook, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he glanced up from the page now and then, and then he pulled out his phone and took photos from every angle.

Then he picked up a handful of wood chips and put them into one of his pockets.

“In case we wanna test the tree DNA to determine its rarity and value,” he said. I hadn’t even known that was a thing.

“Okay,” Miller said, taking one final look at the tree stump.

“I think I’ve seen everything I need to for now, so we’re gonna head back to Hopewell before dark.

We need to check the county records and maybe order a property survey, and then we’ll have a better idea of where we stand.

Once I have your power of attorney paperwork, we can start the ball rolling. ”

“Yeah, sure thing,” I said.

He pulled out his wallet and handed me a business card. “That’s the email address for the office and my number in case you need me for anything.” He gave me a smile, a more genuine one this time.

And maybe it was because I’d always liked to flirt, or because I was weak for hot guys in suits, or maybe it was that I’d seen him checking both Wilder and me out, but I figured I might as well shoot my shot. I took the card, whipped out my phone, and sent him a text.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it out and read my message.

Hi. It’s Danny.

“Now you have my number too. In case you wanted to, y’know… call me,” I said in a low voice, giving him my best flirty smile.

It was Miller’s turn to stare blankly. “I have your number on file.”

Marty nudged him sharply. “No, bro. He’s giving you his number ,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Yeah, Marty knew what was up.

Miller, though? I wasn’t sure. He looked from his phone to me and back at his phone before he said, “Thanks, I guess?”

I flashed him another smile. “Call me. Anytime.”

“I’ll try and keep my calls to office hours,” he said.

Marty rolled his eyes. “Miller. Dude. Seriously? He’s—you know what? I’ll explain in the car. Can I drive?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Miller said and hurried over to the newish Toyota that was parked behind my truck and got into the driver’s seat like he was staking a claim.

Marty clambered in the passenger side and they backed down the driveway. Marty gave me a thumbs-up before they drove away. We stood around the tree stump for a minute longer, but then the mosquitoes started to come out, so we headed back inside.

We reheated our supper and as we ate, Chase asked, “You really think you can get a payout? Because, dude, that hot water system is shot.”

This wasn’t news. We’d been taking cold showers for a week now, but plumbers were expensive. Luckily, it was summer.

I considered Chase’s question. Marty had seemed pretty sure about the possibility of us getting a check out of Harlan.

But Marty also thought Hawaiian shirts and cargo shorts were office wear, and besides that, he was only an intern.

But Miller hadn’t dismissed the idea of a payout, so maybe we’d come out of this ahead after all.

“I think it depends on the survey,” I said at last. “If the tree’s in our yard, we could win this, but if it’s partway in Harlan’s, that might change things.

” I prodded at my rice and beans. “I just hope we don’t end up with a legal bill if we lose.

” I still didn’t quite trust that this wasn’t going to cost me anything.

Wilder hummed and said, “I think your lawyer was checking me out. Listen, I know it’s pro bono, but if it wasn’t, I would probably suck that guy off for cheaper rates.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d said something like that, and I was starting to think he was trying to tell me—or himself— something. “Are you, like, sure you’re not at least a little bit gay? Because I don’t think straight guys offer to suck other dudes off.”

Cash leaned over and whispered something to Chase, grinning.

Chase laughed out loud and said, “Cash says then it would be pro boner.”

I snorted around a mouthful of rice.

Wilder pushed his hair back out of his face. “I might be straight but I’ve got eyes.” He shrugged. “Working in my industry, you learn to appreciate the human body as a work of art.”

Just to be clear, he wasn’t talking about his job as a roofer.

He was talking about his side hustle. Talking out his ass when it came to that work of art stuff, but still.

Wilder worked a side gig as a stripper, doing bachelorette parties and the like to make some extra cash for Gracie.

He looked really fucking good in a thong and body glitter—from an artistic perspective, of course.

Hey, if Wilder could use that line, then so could I.

“He was definitely checking you out, Danny. Think he’ll call you?” Chase asked.

Cash nodded in silent agreement.

“Maybe. Like Wilder said, he was checking him out too,”

“That’s because I’m fucking incredible,” Wilder said, throwing his head back and shaking his shaggy hair around like he was a supermodel or something. “Everyone checks me out. Chase is right, though. I think he was into you.”

I shrugged like it didn’t really matter, and in the big scheme of things maybe it didn’t.

Still, it would be nice if he called.