“It’ll take some time to get results back, but more than likely, she’ll end up having more tests.At least that’s what Dr.Phipps told us.”Bella plops down onto the pile of two-by-fours sitting near the door.“God.I wish Dad were still alive.He’d know what to do.”
Moving to my best friend, I hold my arms out to her.She meets me halfway, allowing me to hug the stuffing out of her.“He would’ve known what to do.He’d have taken care of everything.”Bella sniffles against my shoulder.“I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
Bella’s dad died suddenly last spring.They believe it was his heart.They found him sitting in his favorite spot on his deck, a half-empty beer on the table next to him.Fitting, really.I’d bet you if Barney Truman could have chosen a way to go, that would’ve been it.Except I’m sure he would have wanted to wait a lot longer.He adored his family.Doted on all of them.Barney took care of everyone and everything.
“Maybe that’s what’s the matter with Mom.It’s part of her mourning.”
Bella leans back and looks me in the eye.A smile slowly appears on her face.“Always looking on the bright side, Lou Lou.I love that about you.”
I don’t know about all that.I’m not thinking very brightly about this new Netfilms show.Nope.On the contrary.I’ve got a bad, bad feeling about that.
After walkingthrough the Little house with Bella, I feel more confident about my decision regarding the kitchen.She’s in complete agreement that the kitchen needed to be larger, and aside from one small adjustment—moving the refrigerator to a different spot—she thought my layout was “spot on.”
I guess I’m not too surprised.I’ve been doing this house thing for more than ten years.I graduated from community college with a degree in building construction.I didn’t really need to do that since I’d worked with my dad for years, but I thought it’d be a good idea since I knew I wanted to fix up houses for a living, and to do that, I needed a loan to get started.It was much easier to do that with a degree behind my name.
Ten years later, I know I made the right choice.I love what I do.It’s my passion.Granted, it takes me a long time to get a project done because I like to be hands-on.It’s not about flipping a place and selling it as fast as I can.It’s about bringing an old house back to life and sometimes, that takes time, like sanding an intricate stair railing by hand or searching for things that need replacing in architectural salvage places.I love that part of it.
However, I’ve come to the conclusion that if I’m going to be able to afford to live somewhere other than my dad’s place, I may have to do some of those fast flips.Ugh.I hate that thought.But the budget for this reno is tight, especially since I know I’ve got at least another six months on the Little house and I don’t want to skimp on anything here.Once I’m done, this house will be a showstopper.
Ugh.I can’t believe I said “showstopper.”It reminds me of the dread I feel about what will happen when that show airs next month.
What I meant to say, this house will look as good or better than it did when it was built, over a hundred years ago.I can promise you that.
