Free Construction Beauty Queen by Sara Daniel Page B

the owner’s manual and you can read up on it tonight. In the meantime, make sure any ladder is steady before you ever step foot on it.”
    …
    After the ladder incident, Matt took over setting it up and testing its sturdiness. Veronica stood to the side and fiddled with her phone while she waited for him. Personally, she didn’t see a need to continue. The house already had a roof, and it looked perfectly fine to her. She’d probably only highlight her ignorance if she mentioned it, though, so she concentrated on her phone instead.
    She’d missed a call from Trevor’s personal assistant. She considered immediately deleting it, but what if her parents were sick or injured and Paige was frantically trying to notify her? She took another step back and listened to the message.
    “Veronica, this is Paige. Trevor asked me to check in with you. He’s not sure what problem you’re having with the engagement, but he thought you and I could talk and work things out. He has a full schedule of meetings today, but feel free to call me anytime and we can chat. The merger is very important to him.”
    How could anyone not understand their problem after listening to a message like that? She didn’t want to marry Trevor or his overworked office staff. She hit the delete key hard, wishing she’d gone with her instincts and done so before she’d listened. Then she turned off the phone and set it inside the truck.
    “The ladder’s secure now. Climb up,” Matt said.
    This was her alternative—a job she was unqualified for in fifty different ways with a boss who made her feel fifty million times more than she’d ever felt for her father’s designated heir apparent.
    She took a deep breath and started gingerly up the first step. It didn’t wiggle. Matt’s hand on the metal rail gave her additional confidence to climb until she was eye level with the shingles. Some were a little curled, but she couldn’t find any gaping holes.
    “Move on so I can come up, too,” he called.
    The book hadn’t mentioned any tips about coping with heights and steep slopes, but she couldn’t wimp out before she’d started. She moved her hands forward and put a knee on the shingles. Standing on the dangerously sloped surface was out of the question, but she could probably crawl high enough to get out of Matt’s way.
    “Don’t go too far. I need to hand the equipment up to you.”
    She was no expert, but that likely involved looking down. “What are the chances I’ll fall over the edge?”
    “Slim, as long as you don’t dangle by your feet from the gutters. Grab the pitchfork when it comes up.” Although he sounded like he was rolling his eyes at her, he lifted the pronged metal tool high enough that she didn’t have to look down. Unfortunately, more tools followed—another pitchfork, two hammers, a bucket, and—
    “What is that?” She stared as two handles and a big metal tub rose in front of her.
    “A wheelbarrow. Take it. Hurry.”
    She grabbed the handles, but it was heavy, and she was terrified she was going to plunge face-first onto the unforgiving concrete walkway below.
    Matt climbed the ladder, pushing the bottom of the wheelbarrow with him onto the rooftop. Veronica scrambled up the steep slope with the handles, while Matt laid the wheelbarrow tub upside-down on the shingles, its single wheel pointed toward the sky. Her knees felt weak, so she sat next to it. Maybe if she’d been raised for this kind of work since birth it would be different, but going on a roof was, well, something people hired a roofing company to do.
    “Just making sure I’m steady before I start working,” she assured Matt. Right now she didn’t have enough nerve to slide to the edge of the roof and climb down the ladder to leave the job. There were absolutely no railings or other protective devices to make for safe working conditions.
    He grabbed a pitchfork and shoved it underneath the roof material inches from where she was sitting. He leaned