“Why’s he here?” he asked.
“Remember, Mom and I told you about it this morning?”
“Huh?” His face was blank. “What?”
“Mom?” Jewel called toward the kitchen. “Can you come in here?”
Mom came out with a dish towel in hand. “What is it?”
“Can you remind Dad about what’s going on? Aaron is here, and I need to go walk the building site with him.”
“Building?” Dad looked even more confused.
Mom nodded to Jewel. “I got this.”
“Thanks.” Jewel hurried out the front door, waving to Aaron as he parked his diesel pickup in front of the house. As she went over to speak to him, he pulled out a clipboard, a large measuring tape, and a bundle of wooden stakes.
“Need a hand?” she offered.
“Yeah.” He handed her the stakes and a bulky hammer. “You can be my assistant.”
“You got it.” She squinted in the sunlight, pointing to the section of land she felt was the best spot for placing the new house. “I think it should be over there.”
“I checked county records to see where your waterline and septic and electric are supposed to be.” He held up some papers. “Unfortunately the house was built so long ago, we can’t be sure these are right. But I got the locators coming in tomorrow.”
“Locators?”
“They mark underground waterlines and things before anyone starts digging.”
“When will that be?”
“Could be as soon as Friday. Or else early next week. Depending on another job I got going.”
“Wow, that’s fast.”
“You just happened to show up at the right time.” He winked. “And talked to the right guy.”
“Well, I’m very grateful.”
After some walking and poking around, they confirmed where the septic tank and lines were most likely located. “So placing the new house over here will probably work out great. And we’ll pop the new septic tank over there, with the drain field going that way.” He pointed it out.
“A new septic tank?”
“Yeah. You can’t run both houses on the old one.”
“Right. So another expense?”
He nodded, making a note on his clipboard. “Unless you want to use an outhouse.”
“No thanks.” She frowned, wondering what her bank account would look like when this was all said and done.
Before long, they were measuring and pounding in stakes and then, as she compared the site to the blueprint Aaron had brought, she changed her mind. “I want their main view to look out toward the hills,” she told him.
“That makes sense.”
And so they rearranged the corners and, once again, she walked around looking out the imaginary windows, until she was finally satisfied. “This looks perfect.”
“Your parents will have a nice view,” he agreed.
