I smile over at Colton, trying to include him in the conversation. “Are you going?”
“Nah, that’s for old people,” he says, then his eyes grow wide. “Not that you’re old.”
Laughing, I say, “Oh, I’m old. We don’t have to pretend.”
Gus shakes his head. “He never goes out. Just plays Fortnite every waking hour.”
Colton turns a little red and looks down. “I’m trying to qualify for the big tournament in July. I could win a million dollars.”
“But you won’t,” Gus says.
My mouth drops open and I wish I could say something to smooth things over, but then I realize it might be kinder to pretend I didn’t hear that.
Gus points to the tool. “Do you remember how to use that?”
Colton glares instead of answering.
“Your ma will be here at four to pick you up.”
“’Kay.”
Colton slides his headphones on and trudges over to the far corner of the yard to get started while I turn and pick up my spade, hoping Gus will take the hint and leave.
Thankfully, he does. As soon as his truck pulls away, I say, “Thank Christ,” under my breath.
Colton laughs, and I spin my head toward him, shocked that he heard me. “Sorry, I thought you had your music on.”
“I was changing playlists.”
“I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t very nice of me.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad, too.”
* * *
It’s almost six o’clock when my muscles decide it’s quitting time. I’ve scraped and painted the two large window boxes under the front windows. They’re now a soft white and I can already picture them spilling over with wave petunias. Liam is still working upstairs, but thankfully the smashing and thumping have stopped. I peek my head through the plastic sheet that has been hung over the entrance to my bedroom. The wall is gone already. “Wow! This looks incredible! I can’t believe how big it’ll be.”
He looks up from his sweeping and nods. “Yup, I’d say you made the right choice.”
“Obviously,” I answer with a playful shrug.
“Say, Abby, I was thinking of hiring Colton to help me with the roof. But since it is your roof, I figured I better check with you first.”
"I don't know. Is it safe?"
"Well, not as safe as being on the ground, but not as dangerous as you might think. I’ll harness him up so if he falls, he won’t hit the ground. His manbits’ll be sore for a few days, but he won’t break his neck or anything."
“What a lovely image, thanks for that.”
"Anytime,” he says. “It'll save my back and save you a fair bit of money if he does even a halfway decent job."
“I suppose I should pay him myself for this. And it’s probably worth more than ten bucks an hour.”
Liam nods. “Fifteen at least, but that’s still less than half of my rate.”
"Good point,” I say. “Why not? What’s the worst that could happen?"
Liam winces. “Ooh, famous last words.”
