Home Improvement — a Love Story

by Tara Lain

  “Two and a half acres.”

  “Wow.” The centerpiece of the back was an enormous pool, not quite Olympic standard, but it would have served a good-sized community. “At least it’s full of water. It must not be in too bad repair.”

  “No, it’s pretty good, but the filter equipment is total trash. It leaks like the West Wing.”

  Gabe snorted. Who dreamed Jerry had a sense of humor?

  Jerry turned in a circle, like he was seeing the mansion for the first time. “It’d been on the market for years and people were scared off by all the work.”

  Gabe stared at him. Giving the tour, Jerry had put together the most words he’d spoken end to end since Gabe met him. “And you’re not scared of the work?”

  Jerry shook his head and grinned like a loon. Clearly, this was his baby. “No, I’m not worried.” His smile lit up his face, making his unusual eyes shine. “Not since I met you.”

  Chapter Three

  “UH, ME?” Gabe’s voice came out squeaky. He cleared his throat. “What does meeting me have to do with anything?”

  Jerry smiled. “I heard your friend, the big man, telling someone that you’re the best person in the whole store. That you know about everything and can do everything.” He waved a hand around the big space. “Obviously, that’s what I need.”

  What the hell? “Uh, Jerry, what you need is an architect and an interior decorator.” He pointed toward the pool. “And a landscape architect and pool guy too.”

  “Okay. Good. I’ll write that down.” He walked into the house, and Gabe followed him to a polished-wood, built-in counter where Jerry grabbed a notebook and pencil, then jotted something in it. “So who shall we get?”

  “We?”

  “Um-hum. Who’s your favorite architect, for example?”

  This is crazy. Gabe walked over to the counter where Jerry stood. “I’m just an employee at ImproveMart. I don’t have any special expertise in architecture. Or landscaping, or interiors, or much of anything else you need. If you have a call for some more cabinet handles or other miscellaneous hardware, come and see me.”

  Jerry grabbed Gabe’s forearm with a surprisingly strong grip. “No, please. I need help. I trust your judgment. I’m—I’m not good with people.”

  He also had a talent for understatement. “I have a job.”

  Jerry released him, but his expression pleaded. “I’ll pay you more.”

  Gabe wiped a hand over the back of his neck. “I appreciate the offer, but I have some tenure at my job. It’s not flashy, but it’s steady, and that’s what I need. I have a family.”

  “Oh.” He gazed at Gabe with his two-colored eyes glittering. “Of course you do.” He looked down at his notebook. “But you can see that this job will go on for a long time.”

  “Still….” He didn’t say, I don’t know you from Adam and why should I go to work for a guy with two camp chairs and a mattress?

  “Would you be open to working for me part-time? You could hire the people we need and then keep working for ImproveMart if you want to. I’ll pay you anything you ask.” He smiled shyly. “And you can buy all the materials from ImproveMart.”

  “Once you have an architect and designer, they’ll have ideas as to where you should source your materials.”

  “But you’ll make the decisions.” He said it with total certainty.

  Gabe’s brain was going to explode. “Jerry, this house is going to cost a bundle, no matter where you get the materials. Maybe you should work out a phased plan so you don’t get in over your head, you know?”

  Jerry frowned and stared at his notebook seriously. “Oh. Should I? I was thinking I’d like to have the whole thing done in time for next Christmas.”

  Gabe counted on his fingers. “That’s eight months. That would be really ambitious, to say nothing of expensive.”

  “But we can do it, right?” He smiled, and Gabe wanted to smile back, even if the dude was wacko. No, the wacko one was Gabe, because what he really wanted was to help Jerry. Obviously, if Jerry went around trusting people with no more evidence than a brief encounter in the hardware department, the man was going to end up in a heap of trouble. Gabe felt responsible. Maybe he could find him a couple of budget consultants to help.

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll ask around some and see if I can find an architect and maybe a landscape guy, because I noticed some trees that probably need to be removed from your property. First I’ll talk with my, uh, family, because if I take another job, it cuts in on my time with her.”

  “Oh, of course. I understand.” He stared at his hands and chewed his lip.

  “But I’m sure we can use a little extra money since we’ve got some big expenses coming up.”

  Jerry’s smile gleamed like someone turned on a lamp inside him. “Oh, I’d love to help out with the expenses.”

  “I’ll see what she says.”

  “Yes, of course.” He gazed at Gabe through his surprisingly long, dark lashes.

  “I’ll call you.” Gabe walked out the same door he’d come in, even though he had to make his way around the house to get to the driveway. If I find a landscape guy, I’ll have to do something about this entrance. Maybe a torii gate to let visitors know how to walk to the front door?

  His steps paused. What the hell am I thinking? Jerry probably can’t even afford a gravel path.

  JERRY CASTOR stared at the broad back and long legs of the man he’d mysteriously put in charge of his house. What the hell am I doing?

  Gabe’s tall form disappeared around the corner of the wacko front yard that had no consistent path to the front door. It was like the people who built the house hadn’t wanted anyone to find them.

  Works for me.

  He stepped back and closed the front door, then just stood there. The silence. Oh man. It was as thick as water, and he wanted to swim in it forever.

  He turned and walked back to his kitchen, pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, and took a swig.

  When he’d bought the house, admittedly on a wildass whim, insanity hadn’t been his plan. Call Margot and let her handle it. End of agenda. But every time his hand reached for the phone, he yanked it back like he’d been burned. No. No interference. He wanted something for himself.

  Then he’d turned around in that store and seen Gabe Mason.

  His cell rang and he smiled. Maybe Gabe has a question? But his pocket wasn’t vibrating.

  The ring sounded again, and Jerry frowned, sighed, and opened the drawer on the far side of the island. He glanced at the screen and then clicked it on speaker. “Hi.”

  “What the fuck, Jer? Where the hell are you? Why hasn’t anyone heard from you? Are you even checking your emails?”

  He didn’t say anything. Fred was a one-man conversation.

  “When you said you were going on a personal retreat, we thought you meant to the ashram or the monastery. We didn’t expect you to vanish from the face of the earth.”

  “How do you know I vanished?”

  Silence.

  “It’s not exactly a retreat if you’re spying outside the gate or the wall, now is it?”

  Fred rallied. “Nobody went inside the gate or wall, now did they?”

  “Uh, brother dear, how would they know I’m not there if they didn’t? You don’t need to know where I am every minute. Just leave me alone.”

  “I do need to know. Come on, Jerry, a lot of people are counting on you. You can’t just walk away from your responsibilities. Just tell me an address and I’m there.”

  An image of Gabe flashed in Jerry’s mind. “Sorry.” He hung up, and when the phone rang again a minute later, he didn’t answer.

  GABE GLANCED at Ellie, who was bent over her laptop doing homework at the dining room table. He had his own laptop balanced on his knees while he researched architects and design-build firms in the area.

  “What’cha doing?” She didn’t even look up. Women had eyes in places men never got them—like the tops of their heads.

>   “Uh, actually this unusual thing happened today.”

  That got her attention. “Tell me.”

  “This customer came in yesterday, and Harry got me because the guy was so shy he could barely tell Harry what he wanted.”

  “But of course he talked to you.” She smiled.

  “Uh, yeah.” He cocked his head at her.

  “Because you’re really easy to talk to. You know that, right?”

  “I never quite thought of it like that, but anyway I helped the dude, and he went away. But then he came back today, and he started talking about all this work that needed doing at his house. Then he asked me to come and see it. I’m thinking maybe there’s a big sale in it for ImproveMart, so I went to his place in Ashland.”

  “Ooh, did he try to lure you in to see his etchings or something?” She waggled her eyebrows. “You know those freethinkers from Ashland.”

  “Excuse me, what do you know about etchings?” He gave her a mock scowl. She’d had a few school dates, but so far no major boyfriend.

  “Let’s see, the birds etch the bees and then—”

  “Okay, no further details required.”

  “So you went to his house….” She made a circular motion with her finger.

  “Yeah, and it turns out to be this amazing place. A huge property with a giant swimming pool on two and a half acres.”

  “Wow.”

  “But in terrible condition. Really run-down, lots of delayed maintenance. And here’s this quiet, shy guy living in this huge place with two camp chairs and a mattress on the floor.”

  “Oh my gosh. That’s so sad. He must have spent all his money to rescue the house, and now he’s all alone—”

  “Yeah, that’s what I think too, but he offered me a job. He says he’s not good with people—I tried not to laugh because this guy makes Howard Hughes look like the life of the party—and wants me to take over finding people to work on his house. He says I can make all the decisions.”

  She raised one dark eyebrow. “No kidding? I mean, can he pay you to make all the decisions?”

  “That’s the question, isn’t it? Anyway, I told him I already have a job.”

  Her dark eyes widened. “Really? You don’t want to make all the decisions?”

  “Well, when I refused, he asked if I’d work for him part-time.”

  “Oh.”

  “I was thinking, if he actually can pay, it might be a good way to earn extra money for college. I could try it, and if it’s not worth it, I can easily quit without jeopardizing my real job.”

  “That’s a lot of work, Dad. You won’t get any rest.”

  “Well, mostly I’ll get less time with you, but summer’s coming, and if I’m still at it, I was thinking you could come with me and swim in his pool and stuff.”

  A grin spread across her face. Ellie loved to swim. “Hey, it sounds like this dude needs furniture in a big way, and I happen to know a guy who can make some for him.”

  He chuckled. “Let’s make sure he can pay me minimum wage first.” But he could sure picture his furniture in that amazing house. “So what do you think?”

  “I think it sounds like a new challenge, and you need one. I’m all for it.”

  “How’d I get such a great kid?”

  She made a snorting sound, but she smiled.

  “And we don’t have to care how much your concert tickets cost, right? Did you already order? Maybe you should get box seats or something.”

  “It’s not the opera, Dad. I got really good seats.”

  “Three? Four?”

  “Two. You and me.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded.

  “So what days shall I book on my busy social schedule?”

  “Two weeks from Friday.”

  “Ah, the actual birthday. Shall I book a hotel?”

  “I think I’d rather be home to tell everybody about the concert on Saturday. If you don’t mind driving.”

  “Don’t mind at all.” Neither of them said their budget didn’t need a couple hundred dollars in hotel fees littering up the credit cards.

  “So you’re going to tell this guy—what’s his name?”

  “Uh, Jerry.”

  “You’re going to tell Jerry you’ll help him?”

  “If you say I should.”

  She leaned back on the dining room chair. Their house might be basic, but their furniture was fantastic, thanks to a lot of hours in his workshop. “Go for it, Dad. It’s not much of a risk.”

  He inhaled slowly. His reaction to Jerry might actually be a risk, but he was a grown-up. He didn’t have to start rolling on the floor with a tongue-tied loner just because he had an amazing ass. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “Who are you going to recommend?”

  “Remember Jorge Alvarez who I worked for one summer?”

  “He sold some of your furniture.”

  “Exactly.” Ellie knew every person in the United States who liked his furniture.

  “Yeah. He’s reliable, has a good eye for design, and doesn’t cost a lot.”

  “Sounds perfect. I’m looking forward to meeting Jerry. What’s his last name?”

  Gabe stopped scrolling through his contacts. “Huh. I actually don’t know.”

  She laughed. “You sure you have a new client?”

  “Nope. Not sure at all.” He laughed with her, but he pulled out his phone, found Jerry’s number, and texted, Are you still interested in having me work for you?

  The little bubbles started bouncing instantly, showing an answer on its way. Jerry must have been staring at his phone. Yes, for sure. I researched and found that $80 an hour is average for a construction supervisor, but you’ll do more than that so how does $100 sound? Start right away.

  Gabe stared at the phone and forced his mouth to close.

  “Dad? What?”

  “Uh, Jerry wants me to start right away.” And he wants to pay a $20 an hour employee $100 an hour. Holy crap!

  “Oh, good.” She went back to her homework.

  Gabe madly typed, Will start right away. That’s too much money.

  We’ll see. Start tomorrow?

  Okay. BTW, what’s your last name?

  He waited several minutes, but he never got an answer.

  “I REALLY appreciate you thinking of me. This is a fantastic project, and I’d love to do it.” Smiling, Jorge Alvarez glanced at Gabe.

  Gabe leaned against the side of the living room fireplace as Jorge walked around the huge space, trying light switches and the controls for the fan shaped like giant palm fronds. “You think you can respect the architecture without spending an arm and a leg?”

  “For sure. It’s all here. Our biggest problem will be electrical in these solid plaster walls. Installing wall-mount televisions will be really tough. We’ll actually have to shim out the walls so we can run wires behind them. But it’s all doable, and we’ll work to keep costs down.”

  “I’ll expect estimates on each phase of the project, and I want to be billed regularly so your expenses don’t get ahead of the client’s bookkeeping, deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “So what would you do first?”

  Jorge waggled a finger. “The kitchen, I think.” He walked out of the great room into the open passageway that connected the dining room, family room, kitchen, and beyond. When they got to the open kitchen with its stack of empty takeout boxes, he said, “Seems like your client might need something besides pizza in his diet, so maybe we should redo this room first.”

  Gabe hopped up and sat on the edge of the island. “Am I right that this kitchen is kind of small for a house this size? By today’s standards, I mean?”

  Jorge nodded. “It’s a nice kitchen, but yeah. In a modern house this size, the kitchen would be twice as big.”

  “How about making this one bigger?”

  “What? How?” He looked around.

  Gabe walked to the far wall of the really ugly kitchen, which was positioned almost exactly
in the middle of the house. He tapped on the wall. “This wall isn’t plaster.”

  Jorge knocked on it for himself. “So I see. What’s on the other side?”

  Gabe led him to the run-down laundry room that was separated from the kitchen by a pretty thin wall. “Ta-da!”

  “So if we take over the laundry room for the kitchen, is there someplace to move laundry?”

  “Yes. You’ll have to extend the heating system beyond the mudroom door, but I think we want to do that anyway. There’s a ton of room back there where we can put a laundry and other spaces as well.”

  Jorge grimaced. “Expensive proposition, heating all the rest of the enclosed space.”

  “But it’ll extend the usability of the house a bunch. Get your heating and air-conditioning guy in here, and I’ll show you the areas where we need to expand the ductwork.”

  “You’ll probably need a new unit.”

  “Maybe, but the one that’s down there looks to me like it could heat the White House, so we’ll see. Bring in a designer, and I’ll tell him or her what I’ve got in mind. We can go from there.”

  “Okay. Day after tomorrow works. I can schedule my designer by then. Same time?”

  “Yeah. Three thirty is good for me.”

  “So do I get to meet the client?”

  Gabe shrugged. “He wasn’t here when I arrived. No idea when I’ll see him again.”

  “Aren’t you discussing plans with him?”

  “To be honest, Jorge, he put me in charge, and I don’t really know yet what that means. But I’m moving ahead with what seems best for my client and the property.”

  “Want me to see more upstairs?”

  “No. Bring your appraiser tomorrow too, and we’ll break down the whole job by project based on specialties.”

  Jorge stuck out his hand. “Honor and a privilege.”

  Man, Gabe sure hoped that turned out to be true.

  Chapter Four

  GABE WALKED to the door with Jorge, but as soon as it closed after him, Gabe glanced at his texts. No messages from Jerry. When he’d arrived earlier, there had been a blue Prius in the driveway and the front door was unlocked, but no sign of Jerry. Of course, this was Ashland. People walked places and left their doors open when they did it. Still, it was a big house….