“Don’t even think about it,” Maddy warned.
John smiled and walked through the house.
The crew arrived promptly at eight the next morning, and Maddy offered them some of her very best West Coast coffee. It was duly appreciated, and they lost no time in getting to work upstairs. Maddy lost a little time; it took a while for her body to loosen up enough to get back to what now seemed an endless sanding job.
At noon she picked up grinders at the highly recommended Theo’s Deli and served them on the porch with lemonade. John helped himself to a sandwich and then excused himself to go see his sons.
“Thanks for the grinder, Maddy,” he smiled at her, and then turned toward the others. “I’ll be back in half an hour. Don’t get too comfortable.”
Maddy, quickly distracted by the porchful of interesting young men, had them re-introduce themselves. They went on to explain how each had come to work for Fordham-Davidson Renovations.
Frank Davidson insisted that he was both the F and the D in FDR. He was the computer guy and in charge of all things electrical. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and was the most likely to kid around and keep things light.
Travis and Tom were both college students who spent their summers working for FDR. Travis, red-haired and generously freckled by the summer sun, was a bodybuilder and not at all shy about displaying his strength, especially in front of Maddy. Tom, a bit shorter than Travis, was dark complected with brown hair, and probably spent the same amount of time at the gym. He was the serious one of the bunch. Willy, the plumber, worked on select jobs for John. He was tall and lean, and always smiling.
“Can I get you guys anything else?” Maddy asked as they finished their meal. They declined with contented smiles, just as John came up the steps from the beach.
“Don’t you all look relaxed?”
They did. Willy had his long limbs propped up on the newly sanded railing. Travis was tipped so far back in his chair, it was uncertain which way he’d land when he came down. Tom was sitting closest to Maddy, and Frank sat in the rocker grinning. John found himself unaccountably irritated by the whole scene.
“We are discussing important renovation details,” Willy assured him with a grin, making no effort to adjust his rather un-businesslike pose.
“Well, I hate to break up your meeting, boys, but we have to get back to work. Thank you for lunch, Maddy.”
Maddy looked at him, a little surprised. Where was the guy who’d pegged her balcony with shells the day before? John met her gaze with a brief, professional smile, and turned to talk to Frank. With groans of protest, the others got to their feet and collected the remains of their lunches. John led the way back upstairs and they followed, smiling at Maddy and adding their thanks.
By quitting time, Maddy was thoroughly stiff. The day had warmed considerably, and though she’d covered herself with sunscreen, she knew that her arms and neck had taken another hit. She’d regret that later. Having finished the sanding, she finally sat down in her rocker and let the breeze lift the hair from her temples. Not long after she stopped her work, she heard the rumbling of feet descending her stairway into the kitchen. The men filed out onto the porch for a debriefing.
“Help yourself to iced tea or whatever. I can’t move,” Maddy groaned, vaguely remembering and momentarily dismissing her de-termination to be tough and relentless in her work pace.
The boys met her with a chorus of teasing concern and offers to get her a drink, a pillow or whatever else she might need.
Putting the back of her hand against her forehead she whimpered, “Why, I would so enjoy a cold drink.”
Three grown men nearly fell over each other to meet the need. Frank watched with amusement, while John rolled his eyes.
“I’ll never get another decent hour of work out of them. They’ll be killing each other to wait on helpless Miss Maddy,” he observed wryly.
Maddy dropped her arm and drawled, “I’m paying good money for your services, Mr. Fordham, and I do appreciate the attention to detail.”
Travis was the first on the porch to offer Maddy a glass of tea. She accepted it gratefully, flashing him an altogether dazzling smile that almost kept John from commenting. He pulled his eyes away, turning his attention to Travis.
“Hey, Travis, there are two other thirsty people out here. One of us signs your paycheck.”
“Willy’s got you covered, John. Frank, you can expect Tom to wait on you.” He looked back at Maddy and winked. “I won.”
“I had no idea that restoring a house was going to be so much fun,” Maddy replied with a contented yawn. She was too tired to do anything but enjoy sharing her porch with five interesting men, who for the moment were willing to do her bidding. How long could it last?
“It’ll be fun, alright,” John interrupted her pleasant, self-absorbed reverie. “We’ll be short two of our crew tomorrow, so we could use your help tearing out the old carpeting upstairs.” He smiled at her wickedly.
Maddy considered her contractor. He was not being nearly as charming as he’d been earlier in the week. “I think I’ll leave you boys to the inside jobs,” she decided. “Maybe I’ll start stripping the shingles off the roof instead.”
This brought a laugh from the others, and John shook his head with a smile. Maddy was ridiculously appealing, even when she was a mess.
He stood up and finished the last of his drink. “Thanks for the tea, Willy. Gentlemen, why don’t we clear out so that Ms. Jacobs can rest?” He glanced her way and couldn’t help but grin as she started to pull herself out of her chair. He extended a hand to help her up, but she waved him off.
“Oh, I’ll be keeping up with you guys. A warm bath, and I’ll be good to go,” she braced herself on the table as her knees started to buckle beneath her.
“About that,” Willy said. “You know you need a whole new water heater, right? I ordered one, and we’re hoping it comes in sometime next week.”
Maddy’s countenance fell with an almost audible thud. Next week! She hadn’t really expected it to be fixed so soon, but next week? She dropped back into her chair. She simply didn’t have the energy to haul buckets of hot water through the house, which was her only hope for a warm bath. She wished she’d thought of that before she spent her last ounce of energy on the stupid rails.
John almost felt sorry for Maddy, she looked so forlorn. “We’ll get it in as soon as possible,” he assured her.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll just go jump in the ocean,” she replied with a grimace. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
The men said their good-byes and began filing back through the kitchen. Tom was the last to leave, and he stopped and regarded Maddy.
“If you need a hot shower,” he began.
Maddy looked up, surprised. Too tired to think better of it, she played along. “Just give me an address…”
Tom’s look wasn’t playful. “I can just hang out here and wait for you.”
Maddy was spared responding to this suggestion by a call from the doorway. “Tom, got a minute?”
He turned with a shrug. “Later, Maddy,” he said, and walked into the house.
Maddy sat back in her chair, convicted and irritated. Of course, John heard their conversation. Would he come out and reprimand her, too? She bristled when she heard the door open. Apparently, the answer was yes.
“Maddy?”
She turned to him with a bit of an attitude. “Yeah?”
“Tom shouldn’t have started that conversation,” John said carefully, “but you might want to,” he hesitated, “just be a little careful.”
Maddy was too tired to express the defiance she felt. “I think I can handle myself with these guys.”
John was more bothered than he cared to admit, but he wasn’t going to argue with his employer. “Okay, I’m heading out. I’ll see you on Friday.”
Maddy’s defiance dissolved into concern. “You won’t be back tomorrow?”
/>
“I have a job up in Augusta,” he said. “Travis and I will be there most of the day. We might get back tomorrow afternoon.”
“Oh,” Maddy replied. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
“See you then.”
Otis stopped by a few minutes later while Maddy was still brooding. She thought about asking to use his shower, but apparently she’d behaved scandalously enough for one day. She sighed with frustration as she tried to muster a smile.
“Hey, Otis. How’s it going?”
“Doin’ good, Miss Maddy. How are you?”
“I’m tired.”
“You look like you’ve put in a long day,” he said gently.
“I have. And I just got scolded by my contractor.”
“Scolded? Surely not by John?”
“I surely did,” Maddy replied. “He says I need to be more careful around the crew.”
“In what way?”
“I don’t know. How I talk to them, I guess.”
“Now, that’s probably good advice.”
Maddy rolled her eyes.
“Well, you hardly know them, and it’s probably best to be a little cautious,” Otis said, watching her scowl grow. “Now, don’t get offended. I worry about you over here with a houseful of men.” He shook his head. “I just don’t want anyone harassing you.”
“You can be sure John won’t allow that,” Maddy replied, half in frustration, half in she knew not what emotion.
“He seems a decent fellow,” Otis conceded. “I guess he’ll look out for you.”
“And don’t forget Burt,” she reminded him. “Oh, I forgot Burt!” She’d shut him in the room off the kitchen during lunch and never let him out. She ran into the house.
“Oh, Burt, I’m so sorry!” she cried as he trotted off as quickly as his big form would allow. “How could I have forgotten my dog? Why didn’t he bark?” She watched Burt meander down the beach, happy with his freedom.
“Oh, he’ll be alright. He probably had a good long nap.”
“I hope so.”
“I won’t keep you,” Otis said. “You get yourself some rest tonight.” Doing his characteristic wave over the shoulder, he called out, “See you tomorrow.”
Maddy plopped down into the rocker and watched her dog start to chase a seagull and then think better of it. He ambled back up onto the porch a few minutes later and greeted her with his forgiving dog smile. Maddy scratched his ears and hugged his neck. “I’m so sorry, Burt. I’ll never forget you again.” She eased herself out of the chair and remembered the cold bath awaiting her.
“That should make Mr. Contractor happy,” she mumbled as she slowly climbed the steps to her room.
Maddy awoke on Thursday morning with a vague feeling of discontent. The feeling of discomfort was much more acute, but at least she was getting used to that. She wandered out onto her balcony and considered the dark horizon that stretched out before her. The discontent slowly revealed its source, and she wondered if John was as bothered by their last interaction as she was.
He’s probably used to all kinds of difficult homeowners, she decided. She was just one of many eccentric people he dealt with all the time. This observation did not comfort her at all.
She shivered. It was definitely chillier this morning, and it smelled like rain. She remembered John’s prediction and wondered what rain did to a sunrise.
Maddy decided to spend the morning at the library, looking for re-sources on Victorian renovation. She marveled at the information available; there was one whole book on porches alone. There’s no excuse for being uninformed now. She selected several volumes and a few magazines and sat down to read.
She was completely immersed in the complexities of the tripartite wall when she looked at her watch and realized it was noon. She couldn’t believe how quickly three hours had sped by, and was glad to feel a little more knowledgeable about the job she was undertaking. She packed up and walked down the street to Theo’s and ordered a sandwich.
While her food was being prepared, she looked around the small store at the many pictures on the walls. Some were framed newspaper articles; others were black and white photos of the lobster industry from decades earlier. Maddy scanned the display with interest, and the young man at the counter had to call her name twice when her order was ready. She thanked him and left with her meal, happy that even the lunch stop had been so enlightening.
Back at the house, the men were sitting on the porch, eating their lunches and planning the afternoon’s work. Maddy greeted the crew and went in to set Burt free. The guys cleared a path for him so that he could head down to the beach.
“Don’t you worry about him wandering off?” Travis asked.
“I guess I should,” Maddy speculated. “He’s just always been so good about sticking close to me. I’ve never really worried about having him on a leash unless there are people around, and then it’s just for show.” She shrugged. “He tends to stay pretty close to the house unless I’m with him and he comes when I call him. If he’s upset enough not to, then no leash could hold him back anyway.”
Willy shuddered dramatically. “I hope I never upset your dog.”
“I hope you don’t, either,” Maddy grinned.
Moments later, Burt strolled up, and Frank bravely stepped forward to scratch his ears.
“See, he’s not so scary,” Maddy said, impressed. “I don’t think John cares for him much.”
“I’m not surprised,” Frank answered. “He had a run-in with a dog at a house he was restoring last summer. It was supposed to be empty,” he added. “The dog didn’t take kindly to John letting himself in.”
There were groans around the porch, and Maddy grimaced. “I guess I’ll have to stop teasing him.” She walked her dog to the door and pushed him inside.
“Oh, don’t stop teasing him,” Frank replied. “Keeps him humble – it’s good for him.”
“Keeps who humble?” The object of their discussion came up the steps from the beach, and everyone but Frank looked guilty as John and Travis joined them. “Gotta be me, by the looks on your faces,” he acknowledged.
Maddy immediately colored; she didn’t know John well enough to read his face. Normally, she would have taken Frank’s advice, but she had John’s advice to consider as well. She held her tongue.
“Oops!” Frank answered remorselessly. “How are things up in Augusta?”
“Everything’s on schedule,” John answered, content to change the subject. “How did you do here?”
“The plaster’s drying and we got some of the wallpaper stripped. We started on the carpet in room four, just to see how the floor looked. So far, it seems to be in decent shape.”
“That’s great,” Maddy and John responded simultaneously.
Frank looked from one to the other of them, grinning speculatively. “Anyway, no surprises so far.”
The men got back to work upstairs, and Maddy buried herself in finances, which eventually took her downtown to the bank. She didn’t get home until after everyone had left for the day, and she immediately went upstairs, eager to see what they had accomplished. The walls were stripped and significant repairs made. Splotches of Spackle covered nail holes and other dents and cracks that were made in ways that she couldn’t begin to imagine. Every spot had been sanded smooth and was ready for primer. She ran her hands over the walls and smiled. They were doing good work.
The carpet had been removed from the four bedrooms, and she was glad to see that it was out of the house altogether. Someone must have hauled it to the dump because she hadn’t seen any evidence of it outside, either. She looked at the floors and agreed with Frank; the damage underneath was minimal. There were still a lot of nails around the periphery that needed to be removed, but the floor looked salvageable.
She thought of the moment that John and she had responded identically, and smiled.
four
When John arrived the next morning just ahead of the others, Maddy was ready for him. She met him at the door with, “Good morning, John. We need to talk.” She looked up at him expectantly, conciliatory coffee cup extended.
John took the cup and thanked her. “What’s up?”
“Come out to the porch,” she directed him. “I can think better out there.”
John followed, and Maddy turned as the door banged! behind them. Looking up into his eyes, she lost a little steam, but pressed on.
“I’m sorry I reacted negatively to your warning the other day.”
“Maddy,” John began.
“No, please, I need to say this.” She took a deep breath. “You made a good point; I know better than to feed that kind of interaction. It won’t happen again.”
John smiled and regarded her with interest. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled a little back.
“I’m sorry if I came on too strong with the advice.”
Maddy rolled her eyes. “It’s okay.”
“I think we were both pretty tired.”
“And irritable,” Maddy added.
John nodded.
“Especially you,” she qualified.
John’s eyebrow went up. “Me?”
“Sure,” Maddy answered. “The rest of us were having fun, but you were just,” she paused, “not.”
John gave her his ‘look,’ and Maddy studied her newly sanded railing.
“Maddy.”
She looked back up at him, hands on her hips, determined to muster her elusive confidence.
“I just feel responsible for how they behave around you,” John explained. “I don’t want them encouraged to take any more liberties than they’re inclined to take already.”
“Wow. That was unnecessarily complicated. Why don’t you just say ‘don’t flirt with the crew’?”
“Don’t flirt with my crew, Ms. Jacobs.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Mr. Fordham.”
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