He turned to face them and smiled. He was kind of cute, though she wasn’t a fan of the five o’clock shadow or the way his sun-kissed hair curled down below his ears. But he did have a nice smile, the kind that could convince a girl to make bad decisions. That made Maddie even more distrusting of him.
“Hi. I’m Dex Wheeler.”
A round of introductions ensued, and Dex’s charming demeanor even garnered a smile from Gina.
“Why don’t you show me what you need?” he asked. They went to the porch, and he knelt down to inspect the hole. “Wood rot. You might have carpenter ants too.”
“Great.” Maddie mentally pictured their loan money circling a drain in their bank account.
“Nothing that can’t be fixed.” Dex stood, his earnest green eyes assessing them. “I can start right away if you’d like.”
Maddie remembered Jules mentioning that the inspector for the occupancy permit might come that day. Could Dex repair it before he came? If not, she supposed it would be in their best interest to show they were having it repaired. Normally she would want to get three estimates from different contractors before she hired anyone, but this guy was the only one available, so there was no need to not let him start immediately. She glanced at Gina and Jules, who both nodded. “Sounds good. Do you need anything? What about wood to replace the rotted parts?”
“I’ll buy the wood and put it on the bill. I recommend pressure treated, and you should consider replacing the entire porch eventually, but I can fix just the parts that need it now if money is tight. I get a discount, so that will actually save you some money. I’ve set my billing software to make the due date ninety days out. And if you need more work, I’m available for the summer.”
He had software? She’d pictured him scribbling the bill out on a stained napkin. Maybe he wasn’t as disorganized and unprofessional as he appeared. And his willingness to defer the payment did soften her attitude toward him a little.
“Okay, that would be great if you could start now. The porch fix is all we need, though.”
His gaze flicked over the motel, and he frowned. “If you say so.”
Maddie felt her patience slipping. “We only want the porch fixed.”
“We’re waiting on a bank loan,” Jules cut in. “So we don’t want to rack up too much of a bill before we find out about that.”
“Yeah, I heard. Don’t worry. Nick will make it happen. I don’t need the money right now. Besides, it’s a favor for Gram. So if you need other work done…” He looked over the motel again as if any idiot could see they would. “I’m your guy.”
Maddie crossed her arms over her chest. “So, how much will it be to fix the porch? Are you going to write up an estimate?”
“Sure. I can do that, but I’m the only carpenter in the area, so you’re kind of stuck with me.”
Maddie bristled at his arrogance. “I think it would be prudent.”
“Okay.” He drew out the word as if placating a child as he pulled a stained piece of paper out of his back pocket. He slid a pencil out from behind his ear and started scribbling. After a minute or so, he handed it over. “Here you go.”
Maddie stared at it in disbelief. “Five hundred bucks? That seems cheap.”
He shrugged. “You’re friends with Gram, so I gave you the friends and family discount.”
Gina grabbed the piece of paper before Maddie could complain further. “Looks good. You’re hired.”
Maddie leveled a look at her and glanced at Jules. Something didn’t ring true about his cheap price. No one was that nice. Was it some kind of bait and switch? She might be overly optimistic and positive about things, but when it came to business, she didn’t like to be taken advantage of, even though in his case, it was more like them taking advantage of him.
Jules lifted her left brow. “I agree. That’s pretty cheap for this work. You know what Gram always said about looking a gift horse in the mouth.”
“You might get bit?” Dex asked.
Maddie looked at him incredulously. That was exactly what Gram had always said. “How did you know?”
He laughed. “My gram always says that too.”
A car pulled into the parking lot.
“Who’s that?” Gina asked.
Dex looked perplexed. “That’s Ryan Connelly, the building inspector. Did you apply to have my work inspected already? Even I don’t work that fast.”
“No,” Maddie said. “Maybe he’s here for the occupancy permit?”
