“You’ve gotta be kidding, right? You think I did this on purpose? I didn’t.”
“Nope. But I’m offering help, and because you’re angry at me, you’re refusing it. Like I said, self-sabotage.” He smirks as he sits on the curb and watches me.
“So now you’re just going to sit there and watch? Don’t you have work? I know the house still has more electrical to do.”
“I was on my way there now, but it can wait. I have it on good authority the boss won’t even know I’m not there yet. She’s temporarily preoccupied.” He leans his elbow on his knee, balls his fist and places it under his resting chin.
“Get over here and help me then.”
“Oh, nah, I better not. She’s all about doing everything on her own, and I wouldn’t want her to think I’m trying to change her or anything.”
“Fine!” I half-yell. “I’ll do it myself.”
He leans back, extending his long legs in front of him. “Nice day today.”
“Actually, no it isn’t. I’ve had a shit day so far.”
Meow. The Cat jumps out of the back, and goes to curl up with River.
I clear my throat and turn away from Cat, irritated he’s getting along with River.
“Why are you having a shit day?” he asks as he tilts his head up toward the sky.
“Because it’s shit,” I snap. “Okay? It’s just shit. And now, I have to change this damned tire.” Standing, I kick it, frustrated with how today is unfolding. “UGH!” I yell at the stupid tire.
“Seems like you’ve got a lot going on,” River says.
I swing around and look at him. “Aren’t you the bright one?” I snap.
“Why thank you. That’s awfully sweet of you to say.” He chuckles, then pets my fucking cat.
“He’s my cat, not yours.” I want to scoop up Cat and shove him back in my truck. But instead, I end up loosening the bolts on the tire, then jack the truck up more. Thank God for hydraulic jacks or I might have needed to call Charlie, and I don’t want to distract him from doing his job.
“I never said he was my cat. But seems the little fellow likes me.” River’s smugness is irritating me. “Oh, I forgot.” River stands, disturbing Cat. “Sorry, buddy.” Cat follows River to his truck.
Are you fucking kidding me? Cat is mine, not River’s! What a traitor. River returns with a coffee cup and a paper bag which I know are from Elle’s. He sits again on the curb, where Cat stretches out beside him. River rips the bag open and there’s a perfectly grilled cheese sandwich cut in half. Ugh, the least he could do is offer me half. “Do I get some?”
“Nope, get your own.” He bites into the grilled cheese, and pulls it away from his mouth. The cheese stretches, making me hungry and pissed off all at once. Awesome, now I’m hangry.
I finally manage to get the lug nuts off, and then the flat tire. Getting the spare off the truck is challenging because it’s heavy, but I still manage that too. Rolling the spare over, I squat in front of the wheel, and try to lift the tire high enough to slide it on the bolts.
“Need a hand?” River asks as he finishes his last mouthful of grilled cheese.
“Can you just lift the tire onto the thingies?”
“Thingies? Is that the technical term, or the Hope term?”
“I’m not a damn mechanic, River. I don’t know what they’re called.” God, he’s frustrating.
He lifts the tire onto the thingies, and steps back. “They are called bolts, Hope. There you go. I’ll see you at the house.”
“Wait, you’re leaving?”
River let’s out a deep sigh as he places his hands to his waist. He looks around, then turns to me. “Yep.”
“Just like that? You’re going? I’ve still got more to do here.”
“You’ll be fine. See ya.”
River walks over to his truck, gets in and pulls away from the curb.
I’m left standing on the side of the road, with black soot from the tire on my hands, and Cat meowing next to me. “Ugh,” I grumble.
I get the lug nuts back on, and get to the house as quickly as I can. I’ve got way too much work pending to be wasting time changing this stupid tire. And seriously, this day is already shit enough as it is. I don’t need more to happen.
Taking the two coffees and muffin out of the truck, I walk up toward the house. At least it’s looking fantastic. I can’t wait to see what’s been done inside.
As I walk up the makeshift garden path, my foot catches on something, and I stumble forward, making the coffee fly out of my left hand. “Shit! Why couldn’t it be Charlie’s coffee? Nope, it had to be mine,” I mumble under my breath. I stop for a second, close my eyes, and take a really deep breath. Please, let the rest of today go better than the morning has so far.
I walk into the house, and see just how much of a transformation there’s been since yesterday. The stairs have been framed up, the plumbing has been roughed in, the electrical is nearly completed, and the drywall has started going up. “Wow,” I say, completely impressed with how it’s all coming together.
“Problem with the counter,” I hear Charlie call the moment he lays eyes on me. He walks over and sees I’m holding only one coffee. “No coffee?”
“I dropped mine outside,” each word is filled with anger.
“Aha. So, you don’t want to hear about the counter then?”
I thrust the bag and the coffee at him. “Talk to me.”
“Drywall’s going up, and will likely be completed by the end of the week.”
I double look at him. “Are you kidding? The entire house will be drywalled by the end of the week?”
“Don’t get too excited, because that’s assuming we can be done with a few things upstairs.”
“First, talk to me about the counter.”
“The stone dealer called and said that when they were moving the stone you picked for the counters, the forklift tipped, the stone slid off and cracked. We can’t use it. He asked for you to go down and pick another piece of stone.”
“He’s punking us, right?” Seriously, I don’t need anything else thrown at me today.
“Afraid not. And…” His mouth twists as if he doesn’t want to tell me something.
“What?” I shoot at him in a monotone.
“There are three windows that were delivered for upstairs, but they’re the wrong measurements, and now we have to wait for the new windows to come.”
“How long will that be?”
“They said around three to four weeks.”
“Weeks? No. We need to move along faster than that. Show me.” I take a deep breath and blow the air out.
Charlie takes a sip of the coffee, and screws his nose up. “It’s cold.”
“Drink the fucking thing, and don’t even start. The morning I’ve had has been nothing short of shit.”
“Then I won’t tell you about the HVAC.”
I stop short of the steps leading to the second level. I look up, and sigh. “Tell me.”
“There’s a national shortage of the unit we’ve ordered because of some manufacturing problem. So, I told them to change the unit and give us something with the same specs that isn’t in short supply.”
“That’s no big deal, fine. Same price?”
“Eight hundred more.”
Of course. “It’s done, just move forward with it.” Walking up to the second level, we go into one of the three bedrooms, where River’s working. Fantastic. River looks up from where he’s laying cable, and smiles. Make this quick, because I have to get out of here as quickly as I can. “What’s the problem?”
Charlie points to the obviously large window leaning against the timber frame of the house. The window opening is too small for the replacement window. “That’s the problem.”
“That’s a good three inches too wide.”
“Four and a half,” Charlie corrects.
“And we’ve already framed in. The exterior is done on this side of the house too.”
“Yep.
”
“What’s it going to cost to recut and reframe the window opening to fit these windows?”
“We have to get the engineer back out to make sure the bigger windows will work up here.”
“And the cost?”
Charlie shrugs. “Maybe about a thousand.”
“Is that with the discount for sending us the wrong windows? Which three windows are the wrong size?”
“Bedrooms one and two” He points toward them. “There’s two in bedroom one, and one in bedroom two.”
I stand back in the room, trying to picture how this is going to work. The dynamics of this bedroom won’t change, but room two will have two differently sized windows. I walk out of this room, and go to bedroom two. Shit, it’s going to look odd with two different size windows in here. “Can you call them and see if they can make one more this size?” I point to the larger one. “Then we can set both these rooms up with the bigger windows, and the other two rooms with the smaller windows. If they’ve got a bigger one, get them to deliver it. Then call the engineer and see what we can do with them.”
“Sure. I’m hoping they have an extra one.” He places his coffee cup on the ground, and takes his phone out of his pocket. I leave him so I can go see what’s happening with the bathrooms on this level.
I don’t want to see River, so I check he’s not in the room before I go into the bathroom. Which is where River is. “Sorry,” I say as I back away from him. He swings around to look at me, and I notice he’s talking to someone on his phone.
“Yeah, okay. At six? Sure.” There’s pauses at the end of every one of his breaths. “Okay.” He places his phone back in his pocket, and smiles. “Do you need me out of here?” River’s so cold toward me, barely even making eye contact.
“I’ve come to check on what needs to be done.”
He gives me a short nod, then continues roughing in the bathroom. The air is stifling, and I need to get out of here. Lowering my head, I blink back the tears and head into one of the other rooms. A room where River isn’t.
Taking a moment, I compose myself while looking out at the barren yard.
“Okay, so I called the window place, they have another window the exact same size they’re sending over to us. I called the engineer too. He’ll be in this afternoon. Crisis averted. Well done, sis.” Charlie pats me on the back. I don’t say anything to him, I stand looking out to the backyard. “What are we looking at?” he asks as he stands beside me and mirrors my posture. Arms crossed in front of my chest, while gazing out where the window will be going.
“I’m just thinking.”
“Is it gonna cost you money?”
No. I’m thinking about my life. “Maybe. Is it a stupid idea to put in a pool?” I blurt the first, and stupidest thing to come to mind so I don’t have to tell him how I’m feeling sorry for myself.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Charlie’s double take. “First, why would you bother? The ocean is less than ten minutes by car. Maybe even five minutes. Second, do you have extra money you haven’t told me about? Because if you do, you can throw some my way. I need a new truck.”
Rolling my eyes, I tilt my head. “Your truck’s fine. It’s not even a year old.”
He half shrugs. “I want a new one.”
“You can have mine when I upgrade.”
“Yours is two years older than mine!”
“Thank you for reminding me I need a new truck.” Turning, I walk out of the room. I hear Charlie cursing that I’ll be getting a new truck before he does.
“Wait, that’s not fair!” he calls from behind me.
I look over my shoulder, and smirk. “Perks of being the boss. Unless of course you want the financial responsibility of doing all of this.” I sweep my hand around.
“I can barely look after myself without your help. There’s no way I’d be able to do this too.”
“So, what you’re saying is: I love my one-year-old truck and I’m grateful you’re an awesome sister?”
“Whatever. Get out, I have work to do.”
Charlie does cheer me up. Chuckling, I stop at the door and turn. “I’m going to go pick tile for the bathrooms and stop at the stone place. Also, I’m going to go find something to replace the front door that’s here.”
“What’s wrong with the one we have?”
“Now that I see the space coming together, it doesn’t suit the house.”
“Whatever. You have the measurements, right?” I shoot him an are you serious? glare. “Good. Get out of here before I have you forcibly removed.”
“Forcibly removed?”
He points out the door and I can’t help but smile again. He’s managed to slightly lift my spirits, which I needed today.
River
I hold my beer bottle up, and wait for Jake to clink his against mine. “What are we celebrating?” he asks.
“Pain in the ass women.”
“Shit, yeah, I’ll drink to that.” He clanks his beer bottle against mine, then takes a long swig. “What is it with them?”
I shake my head, and shrug. “They’re irritating.”
“Yep.”
“They get under your skin,” I say as I take another long drink.
“Yep,” Jake responds.
“Then they’re unsure of what they want so they give us the cold shoulder.”
“Are you sure you’re not describing Elle?” Jake chuckles, then takes another drink.
We both look up to the giant TV behind the bar, and watch the game that’s on. Neither he nor I are really paying attention. “What are you going to do about Elle?” I look over to him, and catch him shaking his head.
“There’s gotta be a reason she’s so…” He shrugs as he furrows his brows. “It’s like she’s got all these walls up and refuses to let them down.”
“Have you asked her?”
Jake turns his head, and lowers his chin at me. “Really? Elle’s been in Hope River for what? Five years? And she’s not close to anyone. I think Hope’s her first friend. She knows everyone, but hasn’t really formed any close friendships with anyone.”
“Maybe she’s a really private person who doesn’t want to open up.”
“Or, she doesn’t want relationships so she can up and leave if she needs to.”
Lifting my beer, I stop before it gets to my lips. I notice Jake does the same thing, like he’s had an AHA moment. “You think she’s hiding something?” I ask, totally intrigued.
Jake sighs. “Nah, I doubt it. Elle’s just…I don’t know, Elle. Truthfully, I’m not sure I’m ready for anything, not after…” He pauses and slightly shakes his head. “Anyway, talk to me about Hope.”
After what?
I let out a low groan. “That woman is gonna be the death of me.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“She needs time to figure out that she wants me.”
Jake laughs. “Cocky much? What if she doesn’t want you?”
“She wants me as much as I want her. But she’s standing in the way of us being together. She’s hell bent on leaving Hope River once she’s done with the house. And not once has she asked me what I want, she’s too caught up in what she thinks she wants.”
“Or what she thinks she needs. But it’s not a bad thing, at least she knows what she wants.”
“Here’s the thing, Jake, she doesn’t. She says one thing, and the moment we’re together, everything she says is gone and she wants to make us work. But she’s not giving us a chance.”
“You two have history, right?” Jake asks as he scoops up some nuts and shoves them all in his mouth.
“Yeah, we do. She’s adamant on leaving here though, and going back to her old life.”
“Don’t be too hard on her, River. She walked out on a scumbag who hit her.” He claps his hand to my back.
I know what’s happened with Hope and the ex-asshole, but I’m sure she’d want me to let on about it. “What?” I ask, slamming my beer on the bar and turning to look
at Jake. “He hit her?” Jake nods. “What do you mean? Who is he? Where can I find him?” Standing, I’m ready to go find this prick, and take care of him. He’s made me angry, all over again.
“Calm down, Casanova. I don’t know who he is, but I can tell you he’s not from around here.”
“It’s her ex-boyfriend? Jake, if he shows his face around here…”
“You’re not going to do anything. If he shows up, I’ll take care of it. Now, sit your ass down and finish your beer.” He pointedly looks to the bar stool. Sitting down, I straighten my shoulders and cautiously look around. “You’ve gotta calm down.”
“She makes me crazy is what she does.”
“I hear you, brother. Look, how long until the house is done?”
“Maybe another three or four weeks.”
“Then you have three or four weeks to decide what you want, and go after it.”
Scratching at the back of my neck, I feel my jaw tighten with frustration. “I know what I want. I want her. She has to figure out that she wants me too, but she keeps fighting it, and backing away more and more.”
Jake chuckles, as he stands and places his hands in his pockets. “Come on, let’s play a game of pool, so I can kick your butt and win back that money you stole from me last time we played.”
“Stole? I won it, fair and square.”
“You took advantage of me.”
I make my hands into fists, and bring them up to my eyes. “Boo-hoo, little Jakey had his ass handed to him, and now he thinks he can beat me,” I say in a condescending child-like tone.
“You’re a dick,” Jake spits, trying to goad me into a cheeky exchange. He smacks my back jokingly. “Let’s up the ante.”
I don’t like this. “Yeah, how?”
“If I win, you have to take Hope out on a date.”
“I’m done with her, Jake. She’s screwed up and doesn’t know what she wants. Until she makes her mind up that she wants me, I can’t put myself through her hot and cold routine anymore.”
Jake looks around as he puffs his chest out. “Fifty bucks then?”
I hold my hand out to him and he shakes it. I’ve gotta get Hope off my mind, and this is a good place to start. “Rack up.” I grab a pool cue and roll it on the table making sure it’s straight. Why the hell do I have to be in love with someone who’s emotionally fucking challenged? I wish she’d get out of her own way so we can start our lives together.
Hope's River Page 27