How did I get this lucky?
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
LOU
Doyou ever feel like you’re living in a fairy tale? One where you feel like skipping everywhere and your best friends are adorable woodland creatures?
No?
Well, I do. And I don’t think it’s from the sex alone… although, the sexdefinitelyhelped. Also, the fact that Hal had my truck fixed in record time is also a contributing factor. It was ready by ten Friday morning.
Hallelujah.
The fact of the matter is, I’m happy. And part of that is because things with Chase and me didn’t end that night. I mean, I assumed they would. I told him they would, but the next day he showed up at the Little house in jeans and an Aries T-shirt that he told me was free with the purchase of his new sneakers.
The shiny shoes are gone. Hooray!
He came prepared to work—to help me. And do you want to know what else? He returned today too. In the same T-shirt but that’s okay. Right now, he’s in what will soon be the butler’s pantry, pulling down the trim. It’s tedious work. It’s nice to let someone else gently nudge the oak pieces from the plaster walls. I showed him how to label the back of each and write the corresponding number on the wall. He says it’s been years since he’s done work like this, and I believe him, but he’s caught on quickly.
While he’s doing that, I’ve been sanding down the old kitchen cabinets. I was going to stain them, but I changed my mind. I think I’m going to paint them a soft blue-gray hue, because the house needs something old that looks new. They’ll contrast nicely with the mahogany cabinets in the butler’s pantry as well. It’ll make that appear even more authentic as will the floor to ceiling hand-blown glass front cabinets I found at an architectural salvage place in Omaha. It’ll be the perfect place to display family heirlooms like china while also having room to house other appliances and glassware. They look amazing in that space, and I haven’t even sanded them down and restained them yet
It’s been fun having him here. And I’m not talking about fun in the sexual way, although he’s pulled me into his arms on several occasions and kissed the heck out of me. Kissing got a little out of control in the soon-to-be butler’s pantry when he slid his hand into my jeans and gave me a lovely little orgasm.
I could get used to this.
I know this is only temporary. He said as much. I know he’s leaving soon; I mean, his life is in Los Angeles. Not here. But I decided last night as I laid awake in my bed that if he showed up today, I was going to enjoy it. There’s nothing wrong with a fling, right? Especially one I’ll remember long after he’s gone.
“Lou?”
“Yeah?” I take the three or four steps to the doorway to the pantry.
“I fucked up.”
“Oh?” Stepping into the room, I turn and see what he’s referring to. The plaster wall near the entry is crumbling away. “It happens. When you work on a house this old, that’s going to happen.”
“I thought you’d be angry?”
I shrug. “Nope. I had to replace three walls beneath the upstairs bathroom.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. A leaking pipe. I couldn’t save the walls. It’s no big deal, babe.”
Oh, shit. I called him “babe.”
I half expect him to throw down his pry bar and leave, but he doesn’t. He merely smiles. “All right. If you say so.”
I do.
“Keep going.” I point to the trim above the door. “After you get this off…,” he can get me off again.Stop, Lou.I want to laugh, but I keep a straight face. “You can start sanding the pieces.”
“Lucky me.”
No. I’m the lucky one. Patting the doorway, I turn and head back into the kitchen. With all of the lower cabinets in place, I walk in and around the space, making sure it’s going to work. I think it will.
“When you replaced the walls in the other room, did you discover any treasures?”
I blink, letting his question settle. I do, sometimes, find things in the walls. “Some old newspapers, a button from William McKinley’s presidential campaign, and, oh….” I leave the kitchen and make my way into what will be the dining room. The same room that needed the walls replaced. Back in the kitchen, I find him standing in the doorway waiting for me. “I found this.” In my palm is a small gold coin. “I haven’t checked it out on the internet yet, but it’s pretty cool. I was thinking of drilling a hole in it and turning it into a necklace.”
