by Alora Kate
Matt, his two assistants Jane and Bobby, and Cole pulled up in the driveway shortly after we had arrived.
“We’ll have Cole film here first and get you going, then he’ll head over to the next house,” Matt said. “You get ten minutes with the families, assess the kitchen, and then the van will take you to the shop. If you have questions ask Jane. She’ll go wherever you go, along with Cody and Lucas, who will be running the cameras non-stop.”
We filmed outside for a minute before they brought us inside. The home was small but had an open floor plan like mine, and they made great use of the room. I could tell right away that they were happy, outgoing people because they had lots of bright colors around the room.
Our ten minutes with the family went fast but I learned a lot. They had three kids, ages five, seven, and nine. They were very busy with sports and school activities, and admitted their prior kitchen had little storage and wasn’t easy to get around in. I made a note that I had to focus on giving them more storage.
I sent Felix to measure the kitchen while Jefferson mapped out the appliance areas. I sat at the kitchen table and started drawing out plans, using all of their information. We agreed on new paint for the walls. The color they had now was an off white and even though it was clean, the kitchen still looked dingy. Felix said we’d get the right color of paint depending on the color of the cabinets. I told them my thoughts about the cabinets being a lighter color than the walls and maybe putting a tile backsplash behind the sink.
We reviewed the plans and continued to discuss multiple options as we made our way to the store. The cameras were rolling as we walked in and got to work. The other teams weren’t here yet, and I wasn’t sure if we’d see them in passing or not. Even after all these weeks, I still worried about the cameras. I needed to quit thinking about them and the other team and focus on what I was doing. Felix went in search for paint and supplies, while Jefferson came with me. We ran down the long aisle that was right in front of us and in the middle of the sore. There were shelves that had items on them, on each side of us, but we went straight to the cabinets that were in the back part of the warehouse.
Jefferson went to one end and I went to the other and met up back in the middle.
“They’re either too large or too small,” Jefferson commented, and I nodded my head in agreement.
“Think we could put two different ones together?”
“Probably could make something work,” he said, motioning me to follow him. “Look at this one.” He stopped in front of a one long set of eight cabinets. “This one is maple. It’s a straight grain and with darker walls, it’ll make for a more dramatic kitchen. We’ll have to take it apart though.”
“The price?” I asked cautiously. I didn’t want to get my hopes up or waste time with this one if we couldn’t get it.
“It says $899.00, but there’s a green sticker on it.”
“Maybe it’s on sale?”
“That would help us.”
“Let’s measure it, get our drawing out, and see what we can do with it.” I felt hopeful, but I wasn’t even sure it would work for us.
Jefferson measured it and gave me the numbers to jot down on our notes. When he was done, we went over the space of the kitchen a few times with no luck.
“It’s too much.” I dropped my pencil and took a step back.
“We’ll take it apart.”
“They’re too tall for above the sink,” I told him.
“So we don’t put them above the sink. Four on each side. Maybe a little shelf above the sink for the soap and rags?”
“Will all four of them fit on each side?”
“It will be a tight fit but yes, they’ll fit. The sink will be in the middle with the dishwasher on the right side.”
“What about the left side?”
“We’ll need another cabinet down there.”
“Pots and pans,” I suggested.
“Yes, and we can put two more on the side with the stove.” He pointed to the wood under the cabinet. “We’re taking it apart anyways so this piece could be used for part of the countertop.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“We’d still have to figure out the other side.”
We were able to find the bottom two cabinets that were in a different section and they were a little darker but we both agreed they would look fine. There was also a small space by the fridge that we needed to fill.
We met up with Felix who picked out light gray and soft blue paint to go on the walls. He got some clear coat, white paint, and a few cans of finisher. He said the contrasting colors complemented each other, which would make them appear brighter and cleaner. We wanted that but I still wanted a splash of color somewhere.
The green sticker on the cabinets gave us a nice enough discount that we were able to purchase the rest of the items. We only had a little over a dollar in change leftover.
“We need to look for tile,” I told them while we climbed back in the van. “I think a splash of color above the sink would look good.”
“If we can find any tile,” Jefferson said.
“We need something above the sink,” I reminded him.
“We’ll find a shelf or two, and maybe paint something on the backsplash if needed,” Jefferson offered.
“And the countertop! You guys have been in that junk yard, where the hell will we find a counter top for the other side?”
“We’ll figure it out, Madi,” Felix assured me and gave me a short shoulder squeeze. “We got this.”
I was still worried.
Chapter 11
“No countertops!” I yelled to Jefferson who was in the same aisle as me looking through the junk. I hadn’t been down this aisle before. “Nothing we could use either.”
This wasn’t good. We were running out of time and the only thing we found were three matching little shelves we were going to put in the spot next to the fridge. Something had to go there and Felix said he could sand them down and paint them to match the walls. It was nothing special though. I still wanted something a little different, something unique in the kitchen to help it stand out more.
“Hey guys!” Felix yelled from the opening of the aisle. “They opened one of the red aisles!”
We grabbed the wagons and ran to catch up with him. It was further away, passed the green ones, and further from the starting line. These were always red, which was off limits.
Skidding to a stop, I saw the red sign was gone and was replaced with a green one. “It’s a trick.”
“That’s why I haven’t ventured into it,” Felix said inspecting the aisle from where he stood. “The red sign is clearly gone and I’m pretty sure that color is green.” I turned around and couldn’t see Jane anywhere so I asked Cody if he could get a hold of her. He did this with his radio and she replied, “Green aisles are safe.”
“So it’s ok?”
Cody asked her again and she repeated, “Green aisles are safe.”
“Well then,” Jefferson said and Cody put the radio back on his belt.
We couldn’t hesitate or waste any more time. “It’s green. Let’s go,” I told them pulling my wagon behind me. Nothing happened as we started down the aisle. No one came running out to stop us and no sirens went off.
“We have less than an hour left, Madi,” Felix reminded me, looking down at his watch.
“We need countertops. Something we can paint or put titles together...”
My mind went to Rocco’s bar top. It was clear glass with pieces of beer cans scattered around it. It was unique. Different. And a really great idea.
“Guys, do you think they’ll let us use family photos?”
“What?” they said together while pushing things around and tossing them aside.
“Their family photos. Do you think they’d let us use them for our design?”
“Ask Jane,” Felix said while Jefferson asked, “Why?”
“Got an idea, but we’ll need glass for the counter top, two pieces. Eve
n if it’s just the one side that has the two larger cabinets under it.”
“Okay,” Jefferson muttered while he kept searching for stuff.
“We can put the pictures between the glass and the wood. It’ll be different and we need something unique to set us apart from the other two teams.” My voice was moving fast, excitement bubbling up inside me.
They both thought about it for about five seconds.
“We better find some glass then,” Jefferson mentioned. “There has to be shit in this aisle that can be used. Why else would they wait until this challenge to open it?”
“Spread out,” Felix ordered and tapped on his watch. We were running out of time.
“Any size glass would do,” I yelled over my shoulder as I took off to look for glass and tile. Cody followed me and Lucas stayed in his position to film the other two guys.
I glanced over everything quickly, trying not to miss what I was looking for. I saw more car parts, clothing, broken dishes, broken toys, and pieces of metal.
I bent down and reached for something that felt like plastic wiring. I pulled on it with no luck, so I started digging around it. Once it was free, I realized it was a dishwasher drawer and this one still had the wheels on it. I had an idea for the bottom cupboards and this would be perfect. I set it next to me and dug around in the same area. After a minute, I gave up, moved a few feet down, and started over.
“Metal!” I yelled and started grabbing them from the top of a small pile. “It could be the bottom layer with the glass on top!” They weren’t in great condition and most were bent, but we could figure something out. It was better than nothing.
“Glass!” one of them yelled and I swung my head their way. “Small broken pieces. Dirty. But maybe we could glue them together or something, almost like a mosaic?”
“We don’t want them cutting themselves!”
“No shit. Do you think we can use Google?”
Google. That would help us tremendously.
“Cody? Google?”
He called to Jane and we patiently waited for an answer.
“Felix?” I yelled.
He waved the glass above his head again then reminded me of the time. “We got ten minutes!”
Cody let me know we were able to use Google, and a little more stress washed away.
I ran down the rest of the aisle to scan the contents. I saw a small curved piece of metal sticking out from a pile, so I reached out and pulled it up. It was a sink spout. Nice, tall, and thin, but that was it. No handles for hot and cold water.
“It’s doesn’t have to match,” I said aloud, tucking it under my arm. Even though the show said they’d give them a new sink, maybe we could switch this out. I kept searching in that pile hoping for tiles.
“Tiles,” I chanted. “I need tiles.”
I was glad I was wearing gloves because this junk was dirty and gross. I had gotten used to the smell by now, but some parts and piles were worse than others.
“Yes!” I found one tile. It was black and probably one foot by one foot, but we could cut it or just put the one piece above the sink.
Another idea hit me.
I ran back to Felix. “I got an idea for this.” I wiggled the tile at him.
“Just one?” he asked, grabbing it from me and turning it over. “No cracks.”
“It looks new,” Jefferson said joining us.
“I doubt it’s new.” I put my hand out and Felix gave it back to me.
“They could have planted shit in the piles,” Jefferson whispered leaning into our circle more.
“That’s like cheating,” I hissed softly, glancing at Cody who was moving closer.
“They can do whatever they want,” Felix said. “We got a few minutes; let’s go see if there are anymore.”
We all started running and skidded to a stop where I found the black tile. We frantically started digging, hoping to find more. “Two minutes,” Felix reminded us and I was glad we didn’t have to be at the line for this one or we’d be screwed. When the time was up, it was up. We were to bring our wagons to the van with us where there’d be crewmembers; they would load our things into a separate truck and follow us over to the house. We had two hours today to spend at the house. We had ten hours each day at the house for the next two days. Then a day off, then we’d film the finale showing the families their new kitchens.
“Found one!” Felix shouted. “Black, same size.”
“Even though its only two pieces,” Jefferson flashed a smile, “it’s like hitting the jackpot.”
“I’ve got ideas for these pieces,” I told them standing up. Jane’s voice came over the radio telling us we had one minute to go and we set the other tile in the wagon and started walking back to the van.
I felt good walking back to the van. I could do this. We could do this. I had faith in the team and I was glad that Felix and Jefferson picked me.
“We got this,” Felix said full of confidence and Jefferson agreed as we climbed into the van. I sat in the first seat alone, and a quick shot of pain shot through me. If Isaac was here, he’d say, Don’t slack off.
And I wouldn’t.
Chapter 12
Rocco watched Adalyn walk into the bar and he smirked. She should have heard by now that Rocco called Madi last night. They talked for hours. It relieved all his stress and made him one happy son of a bitch. He woke up smiling and was thinking about their future already. He wanted to live with her. He wanted to marry her, for her to share his last name. He wanted to see her glow with a baby bump, knowing she was having his child. He wanted everything with her. Everything he never had and everything they both deserved. Together.
He knew it might take Madi a few days or weeks to get used to the idea, but he knew someday it would happen. And it would be bliss.
“Rocco,” she greeted and slipped onto the stool in front of him. “You look happy.”
“You already know why.” He couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
“I do, and I come bearing gifts.”
He watched her dig in her purse and he tossed his wet rag down on the bar and grabbed a dry one. “What kind of gift?”
“This is what she wants,” she said pushing a piece of paper towards him.
He picked it up and saw a picture of some rings. Matching rings. Above it, in fancy lettering, 3 Piece Tungsten & Sterling Silver 1.25 Carat CZ Solitaire Wedding Set.
“You should engrave the rings, also,” Adalyn said and he glanced up at her. She was smiling and looking at him like he was about the save the world. “She’d love that.”
He set the paper down and asked, “Don’t you think it’s too early?” Even though he had already planned on marrying her, he desperately didn’t want to scare her off.
“Madi knew that Rudd and I were going to get married before we even became friends.”
“So you think the same thing about Madi and I?”
“Rocco,” she sighed, reaching out for his hand, “even though I knew nothing, I saw the way you looked at her every time you came into the store, every time we visited the bar. It was obvious and I even asked her several times why she wasn’t dating you.”
“What did she say?”
She pulled her hand back and shook her head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“It’s okay, I already know.”
She started tapping the paper. “I’m not trying to pressure you or tell you to propose the minute she steps off the plane. I’m just saying that if you do propose, this is what she wants. Just trying to help. So...”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Beyond beautiful.”
Rocco looked at the picture again. It was definitely unique and classy, like Madi. She had her own style and this would fit right in. It was totally her.
She slipped off the stool. “I just want my best friend to be happy and I know you’d make her happy, Rocco.”
He heard her sniffle and cocked his head to the side.
“Are you gonna cry?”
; “No,” she cried anyway.
Rocco came out from behind the bar and pulled her into his arms.
“Have the wedding after I have the baby,” she cried softly. “That way I’m not fat, and give you guy’s time to settle in together. Oh, and that way I won’t cry the whole time.”
“Okay. After.”
“I want a new dress from Steph and Sam and I want to look pretty,” she added.
“You’re pretty all the time.”
“Thanks, Rocco.” She wiped her tears after she took a step back. “You’re so, so nice.” She started to cry again.
The front door opened and Rudd walked in. “What the fuck?” he growled when he saw Adalyn crying and rushed to her.
“I didn’t do anything!” Rocco explained, taking a step back.
“Rudd,” she cried turning into him, “Rocco and Madi are getting married!”
“Why are you crying about it?”
She stepped back. “I’m pregnant. It’s the hormones!”
“Fuck.”
“Don’t cuss at me,” she cried. “I can’t help it.”
Rudd picked her up bridal style and nodded at Rocco.
“Best man,” Rocco yelled at him and he stopped. He jerked his chin to the side before walking out the door. It made sense to have him as his best man because he knew Adalyn would be the maid of honor.
If he could plan everything for her, it’d take off some of the stress. Adalyn already did the most important part, and he knew that Madi would also want Steph and Sam to make her wedding dress.
He went back to the bar and sent Madi a text.
Thinking of you, good luck.
He knew she wouldn’t reply until later tonight because she was working on the finale, and that was okay. As long as she knew he was thinking of her.
He started making a list of the things he needed to do before he saw her again.
Chapter 13
“Our two hours is up,” Felix said putting his hand on my shoulder. I stood up from the floor and frowned.
The floor.