Page 63 of Forever and Other Lies

He’d heard that she’d put up the money when Jamie had been turned down by the bank. It had been a decent thing to do, and a smart investment. Yesterday and Tomorrow was a flourishing business.

He stepped into the workshop that had once been an auto repair shop. Now it was converted into a woodworking shop and massive storage unit. Old furniture was stacked along the back wall, waiting to make it to one of the work bays to be stripped, refinished, and reimagined. Jamie was truly talented. He brushed a hand across a long harvest table that sat in the center of the first bay, in the process of being stripped of white paint and brought to its original wood finish.

New furniture wasn’t built this solid. The table was beautiful and well made with intricately carved legs. “Has she sold this table yet?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Jayna stopped to look at it. “Are you thinking that it would look great in your dining room?”

“I am,” he nodded. “But what about chairs?”

“Those we can find on Wayfair,” Jayna waved towards the back wall. “Over here are the mantels.”

He followed her to the stacked pile of reclaimed beams and wooden fireplace surrounds.

“This one looks long enough,” she pointed to a large wooden beam. Reaching into a crate, she pulled out two matching wooden corbels. “With these corbels attached underneath, it will look stunning against the stonework of your fireplace.”

He agreed.

“And this,” she moved to a stacked pile of old windows. There was an arched frame missing the glass. “If you had a mirror cut to fit, it would look incredible on the mantel.”

He also agreed.

“Now for the area rug,” Jayna walked to a corner where rolled rugs were piled. “Jamie salvaged this old Persian rug the other day. It’s 9 x 12, and I think it is soft cream with greens and rust tones.”

She pulled out a rug that was covered in cobwebs and about fifty years of embedded dirt. “It will be the perfect finishing touch in your living room and will enhance those gorgeous oak floors.”

“Uh, no. That filthy carpet is not touching my new floors. It belongs in the dump, and it should be put there by someone wearing a hazmat suit.” He frowned. “Seriously, stop touching it. You’re going to pick up a skin infection.”

“Don’t be such a wuss,” she dragged the carpet towards the car wash bay that had been left intact.

Again, there she went, calling him a wuss. What was wrong with this woman? He was not a wuss. He just had common sense. Could she truly believe this rug was salvageable?

She unrolled the carpet, and it was even dirtier than he’d originally thought.

“Patience, young grasshopper. Not everything is as it seems.”

Had she just quoted one of his favorite movies?

She unhooked the hose from the power washer that was mounted to the wall. Hitting the water button, she turned the water spray on the carpet and dark brown water immediately pooled. Now he understood the rubber boots.

“Wax on, wax off,” she swept the pressure washer across the carpet.

She was quoting Karate Kid.

“Here, give it a try.” She released the trigger on the sprayer and handed it over to him. “Jessica and I fight over this job. It’s somehow relaxing and so satisfying.”

He took the nozzle from her and pressed the trigger, blasting the dirty carpet.

Jayna flipped the switch to the shampoo setting and damn if she wasn’t right. The tension started to leave his shoulders as he slowly swept the foamy spray over the now soaked carpet.

“Okay, now for the really fun part,” she brought over a rotary floor buffer, setting it on the carpet. Holding out her hand, she took the hose from him. “Get that shampoo worked in.”

“It’s a floor buffer.”

“Yeah, it works great.”

He switched the machine on, slowly moving it across the carpet. The spinning disk immersed the shampoo deep into the carpet fibers.

Jayna stepped onto the carpet with a squeegee mop, pushing the excess water and shampoo toward the drain on the floor. “Can you grab the power washer again? Use the water setting. Give it another rinse.”

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