“As of five minutes ago when I drove past there.”
Ashanti scooted off the exam table and sat Lulu next to her sister. “I’ll tell Deja to bring the dogs back to their suite.”
“You’re not going there, are you?” Evie asked.
“Don’t waste your time,” Ridley said. “It’s too late to do anything about the house now.”
“Maybe,” Ashanti said. “Or, maybe not. Only one way to find out.”
8
Thad stood in the doorway of the downstairs bathroom at the house he and Von had purchased just one week after he’d first set eyes on it. When his sister called to congratulate him on the day he turned in his retirement paperwork, she’d encouraged him to become more spontaneous and less rigid. If this didn’t qualify as less rigid, Thad didn’t know what would.
He just wished Nadia had told him how nerve-racking this “being spontaneous” shit really was.
He reminded himself he had no reason to be nervous. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t played out every scenario that could go wrong—and right—with this new venture. The most significant item in thegoes wrongcolumn was the potential to lose his life’s savings. It scared him, but he could always make more money.
It was the long list of things in thegoes rightcolumn that had compelled Thad to make a cash offer after their second walk-through with the real estate agent. The PX would not be just a regular sports bar. It would be a place where people like him—vets who were feeling unmoored after the shock tothe system that came with returning to civilian life—could find solidarity and camaraderie. Being able to provide that to his fellow brothers- and sisters-in-arms was as satisfying as getting a perfect score on the ACFT.
An involuntarily shudder raced down his spine. The Army Combat Fitness Test was one of the very few things about the Army he would never miss.
Thad took a couple more steps inside the bathroom and had to cover his nose and mouth with his arm. The stench of mildew was heavy, but after sending video of the green splotches covering the walls of the downstairs bathroom to Von’s brother, Mitchell, who worked for the EPA, it was determined that the mildew wasn’t harmful and could be killed with a bleach and water mixture. Buying enough bleach to fill the bed of his truck’s cab was number one on his agenda.
“Hey, Thad, come get your dog! He keeps getting in my way.”
Thad blew out a sigh of frustration as he backtracked to the front of the house. He laughed at the sight that greeted him.
Von held up one side of a wooden mantel that had fallen at the base of one of the home’s six fireplaces. Puddin’ stood between his spread feet, the pom-pom on the tip of his tail whisking back and forth across Von’s leg.
“Making friends?” Thad asked.
“Can you get him to move?” Von pleaded.
“Come over here, Puddin’,” Thad commanded. The dog didn’t budge. “Stubborn little bastard,” Thad muttered as he went over and tugged Puddin’ by his rhinestone collar.
Von set the mantel on the floor and dusted his hands onhis jeans. “You’re going to have to leave him home when we start the real demo. He’s going to get hurt.”
“I can’t leave him home,” Thad said. “I went to the grocery store Friday evening and the neighbor told me he barked the entire time I was gone. She said that’s why Grams had him in daycare, because he barks constantly when he’s alone.”
“Well, bring him back to the dog sitter. Or hire one to take care of him at the house. He won’t be able to stay here all day.”
Thad had considered it after seeing Puddin’ engaging with the dogs and staff at Barkingham Palace on Saturday, but there was something about spending that ridiculous amount of money on this dog that just didn’t sit right with him.
“He’s fine. It’ll be okay,” Thad said.
“Easy for you to say. He hates your ass. I’m the one he’s following around.”
Thad grinned. “What do you always say? You’ve got a magnetic personality? Guess it works on both women and poodles.”
Von responded with a string of expletives that would make even a seasoned soldier blush.
“Help me move this,” he said.
Thad picked up the other end of the mantel and, together, they carried it to the opposite side of the room and placed it with the other reclaimed items they had found. Their plan was to reuse whatever they could in the house. Of course, it would all have to undergo a thorough inspection before they included it in The PX’s rebuild.
Mitchell had come through for them again last week when he’d asked a contractor friend who lived in Mississippi to take the hour-long drive to look over the house. The contractor’sassessment had been enough for Thad and Von to determine that the house was a solid buy. The seller had knocked another 5 percent off the asking price because of their willingness to forgo an official inspection.
Thad tried to convince himself that the awkward weight in his belly was from excitement and not fear.
