“Don’t worry, we’ll go back so you can get more treats.”
At the mention of treats, Scout’s ears perked up, but since I didn’t hand him anything, he went back to looking out the window, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
When we came to the first stoplight, someone called his name. He was like the town mayor, only everyone loved Scout. He would happily accept any pets if people were willing to stop and give him some.
Luck was on my side when the Rusty Nail hardware store came into view: I found a spot out front that didn’t require me to parallel park. Scout was allowed inside, but I left him in the truck since I wouldn’t be gone terribly long.
The door chimed as I walked in, and I followed the voices toward the register. Rusty, the owner and a friend of mine, waved when he saw me and went back to talking with the lady at the counter. I made my way to the back, where he kept his lumber, and began gathering the necessary pieces.
“Whatcha making?” Rusty asked moments later.
“Fixing the Vaughns’ porch,” I told him as I held a two-by-four out, checking to see if the piece of wood was warped.
“Ah, I’ve talked to Miriam about replacing the wood with Trex, but I’m not sure she can afford it.”
Trex decking was a high-performance material engineered to resist fading. It didn’t splinter and shouldn’t warp if installed correctly. It was also pricey upfront but would last at least twenty years, if not up to fifty.
The thought crossed my mind to buy a handful of boards and slowly replace each one, but I quickly dismissed it. “Enticing,” I said to Rusty and shook my head. “As is, she’ll be mad I’m even doing this much.”
“Ain’t that the truth. I swear every time she’s in here, she’s talking about some project she found on Pinterest. I never think to ask if she’s actually done any of the jobs she’s told me about.”
I laughed. Cutter had mentioned the same thing a time or two. “Yeah, I’m not sure. I’ve never been past the porch. I was over there this morning and noticed the boards needed to be replaced. I figured I could at least get that started for her, especially since it’s nice out.”
I wasn’t about to tell him what was going on with her or how she wouldn’t fight me on helping her out now. How sad was it that it took her dying to accept help? I shook my head and added another board to my flatbed cart.
Where I failed in this project was not measuring the deck beforehand or inspecting each piece of board. Right now, I had to guesstimate the size since, at some point, I’d decided to replace the entire front portion.
“You taking the whole thing down?” Rusty asked.
I shook my head. “I think it might be best if I go board by board. I hadn’t planned on replacing any joists or jacking the roof up. Might just piecemeal it for right now.”
He slapped me on the shoulder. “Holler if you need some equipment.”
“Will do.” After I finished loading the wood, I stopped by the nail section and picked out what I thought I’d need. It didn’t escape me that I was doing all of this in haste, and I knew why.
Antonia.
As much as I didn’t want to think about her, I was. Her standing there on the porch, with the sun shining down on her. She glowed and took my breath away.
If this had been any other morning, one not marred by the news of a friend and parent being terminally ill, I would’ve been thrilled about Scout running up to her. I’d be the first to admit I would totally use my dog to flirt with someone, especially if that someone was Antonia.
My heart may have skipped a beat or two when she invited me to stay for coffee. Sitting there and watching the day come to life was peaceful, despite the heaviness that surrounded her. I’d lost people in my life, but never like this. I’d never had to be someone’s caretaker.
I took my supplies to the counter, where Rusty stood chatting to another local. The name of the fellow escaped me, but we greeted each other like long-lost friends anyway. More people knew me than I did them because of my former career and my current one as a coach.
When I’d first moved to Grove Hill, I was treated like a celebrity. It didn’t matter where I went; someone was asking for my autograph or a picture. This lasted for about a year and now only happened when a tourist came to town and I just happened to show up where they were, or when I was asked to make an appearance. I didn’t mind any of the fanfare. It made me feel loved and appreciated.
Rusty rang up my purchase and helped me load everything into the back of my truck. After he’d showered Scout with some attention, he reminded me about our standing trivia game at the local pub. Rusty, Jerome, me, and whoever we could rope in as our fourth usually dominated trivia night. Rusty had a knack for knowing the most obscure things, while I tended to get most of the sports questions correct, and Jerome rocked geography. We made the best team.
I drove straight to Miriam’s. She and Antonia weren’t sitting in the rockers anymore when I pulled in. I sat there for a moment and imagined what it would be like to have someone sitting on my porch and waiting for me to come home again. I had that once with my high school sweetheart, turned wife, turned ex-wife. There had been a time when we couldn’t get enough of each other, and then I got hurt.
It wasn’t my injury that drove her away or the fact that I wanted to retire instead of being demoted from a starting pitcher to someone who came in to relieve the starter or the reliever. It was that we didn’t see eye to eye on life, on living in a small mountain town, or having children.
Brianna wanted different.
I wanted more.
I shook my thoughts clear and shut off my truck. As soon as I opened the door to let Scout out, Antonia and Nova came outside. Another woman followed, who sat down and pulled Nova onto her lap.
