CHAPTER 13
If Barrett needed confirmation that he had insulted Mary Jo, he received it the next morning when neither Billy Ray nor Mary Jo arrived to help. Of course, he had told her that if she wanted to be there when her father came home, they could do the work without them.
When Tom asked about them, Barrett simply told him that their father was expected home that day. Maybe he was reading more into it than there was. It would be awkward going by to see if Mary Jo wanted to go to dinner, but he was going to do it. He owed her that much.
They brought down another tree and were in the process of trimming it when Logan and Uncle Del arrived. Joe and Tom continued to work while Barrett went to see what the new arrivals wanted.
They visited for a few minutes before Logan addressed the purpose of his visit. "I had an upset client call this morning. He told me I wasn't getting paid to…romance…his daughter. The word he used was more descriptive than romance, and not very flattering to you or his daughter."
Barrett's neck warmed. "I hope you explained that it wasn't you."
"Yeah, and he accepted that mighty quickly, it seemed. He said it was difficult enough to come up with the money he paid me to do the investigating. He wasn't pleased that I had hired someone else who was spending more time with his daughter than solving the case."
Warmth crawled up and sprawled all over Barrett's face. "The work we're doing here has nothing to do with the case - and both Mary Jo and her mother approached me. I didn't ask them."
Logan nodded. "Look Barr. I'm glad you've found someone, but can you wait and spark her after this job?"
Barrett was mortified that he had to be told to do his job instead of getting side-tracked by a female. His face was hot with shame.
"I'm sorry. I'll tell her that we don't need them at the camp to complete the work. I'll keep my mind on my business."
Logan put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not questioning your work ethics. What you do on your time is your business. I'm just asking you this strictly as a favor."
"I promised her I'd pick her up for the birthday celebration - and Billy Ray."
Logan thought about it a moment. "Well then, I'd pick her up. If you don't, he'll be complaining about you insulting her. You can't win on this one."