“I’ll let her know tomorrow, then.”
Over the last few months, I've learned some new tricks to clean certain areas. The world of technology was amazing.
“What rooms?” Which one could I start on first? My fingers are already itching to get busy. Or maybe it was the thought of having something to do that I knew I was comfortable with.
“You’ll have to talk to her, but it sounded like it was almost every room. She wants a deep clean of everything before painting, or upgrading some areas.”
That left me with too many options.
“Write down what items you need from here, and what stuff you need to pick up. Or we can go get the stuff you want this weekend together.”
I nodded. My outings were getting easier to handle, but it was tempting to take the easy way out.
I no longer jumped every time a male got too close or raised their voice. I hadn’t freaked out over things some people would consider simple.
It was a long and slow process, but I was getting there.
I was getting better at picking out things that I needed. Wants were still not something I was great at, but Dawn didn’t push more than I could give.
Back in my room, I found one of the many notebooks and pens, as there was no shortage of those in the entire house, and sat in the middle of the bed. Without thinking too much, I pulled the stuffed animal to my lap before starting on the list of cleaning supplies.
Chapter 28
“Why are you cleaning?”
I jerked, dropping a rag that I had been using to do one final sweep of the doorframe.
“Don’t scare the poor boy, Jasper,” Mrs. Less huffed. She had sat down not too long ago at the table with a cup of tea. She had been talking about the latest drama of one of her shows she always watched.
“Koda shouldn’t be the one cleaning. I said I’d take care of it all.” Glancing at Jasper as I bent to pick up the rag from the floor, he didn’t seem too upset. Maybe more annoyed than anything. And tired.
“You have a full-time job. You can’t do everything around here on your own. Trace will be going back to school next week. Koda is more than capable of helping. Plus, I’m paying for his time.”
“Grams,” Jasper sighed, folding his arms across his chest. I turned enough to keep both of them in my visual. More to see how theyinteracted than in fear. “I said I had it all under control.”
Given how dirty the kitchen was when I began, I didn’t think Jasper really did. Between him trying to clean out every room, and working and getting his brother to places, he really didn’t have enough time to deep clean, either.
Mrs. Lee also wanted to hire someone to paint eventually, but before anyone could get in here to do that, the walls needed to be scrubbed down, along with everything else.
The kitchen was the first room so far, since it was mostly cleaned out and decluttered already. Mrs. Lee was still working on getting rid of more stuff from some of the drawers and cupboards, but otherwise it wasn’t overly cluttered.
“So do I, Jasper. I know when my own grandson needs some help around here. God sure knows I can’t do much to help.” With that, she stood from the table, tea gone cold or forgotten. “But since you’re home, I’m going to go back to my shows.”
“And where is your cane?”
“Pfff,” she waved a hand through the air. “I don’t need that for a few feet of space.”
“Hardheaded woman.”
“I heard that!”
I shook my head, returning my full focus back to the wall. Doing so hid my smile, because although Mrs. Lee was getting upthere in age, she was as strong headed as anyone else could possibly be.
“You really don’t need to clean for us, Koda.” Jasper stepped closer; arms still folded across his chest.
I shrugged, not really minding one bit. It gave me something to do, and I enjoyed Mrs. Lee's antics.
“What time did you even start?” He looked over the work I’ve done.
