Page 9 of Tempting Tessa

“Hey, Jake, what’s up?”

“When the guys were taking out the sheetrock in the ceiling, they found another leaky pipe. We’ve sent one of our guys to go get the parts needed to fix it. I just wanted to let you know and show you what we found.”

“Thanks for the update. Will this cause any delays?” she asks me as I point out the damaged pipe.

“Not really. It should be replaced within the next couple of hours. As you can see they are almost done with the demo. With needing to replace the pipe they won’t be able to put up the sheetrock until tomorrow morning, but that isn’t a huge delay at all.”

“Sounds good. Like I said, we will be out of the way the next 3 days as I have to be at work at 6am and I work a 12-hour shift. Which reminds me, I need to give you a key for your crew for the next couple of days.”

“If you have it now I can take it, otherwise you can give it to our foreman on site, Jim.”

“Thank you, I will go find one to give to one of you,” she says as she heads off to find the key. She returns with it and hands it over to me.

“Thanks, I will make sure the crew has it tomorrow. I will keep you informed with our status each day since you will not be here when the crews are. Would text updates work best for you with your work schedule?”

“That would probably be best. I can’t always answer my cell while I’m working. But I usually am able to check my texts a few times throughout my shift,” she says to me as I place a tag on her key ring so it can be labeled with her job info.

“I’ll plan on texting you at the end of each day with updates, and then once the job is complete we can set up a time for the final walk-through for you to sign off on.”

“That sounds perfect. I will let you get out of here, as I’m sure you’re busy,” she says as I reach out to shake her hand.

The remainder of the day goes as planned. The roof crew gets the roof completely stripped and ready to be re-shingled. They also get the few pieces of siding that need replacing done. They will replace the gutters after the shingles are finished. The inside crew completes all demo and will be ready to start the install of sheetrock and start the mud, taping and texture tomorrow.

Tuesday morning arrives and my crews head out. The roof crew gets right to work on getting the shingles up and the inside crew starts hanging the new sheetrock. At the end of the day things have progressed how we expected and we should be finishing tomorrow with all the work. I stopped by a few times to check on the project and missed seeing Tessa each time.

Jake: Tuesday update – things went great today. We are still on schedule to finish tomorrow. The outside work is complete. All that is left is to paint the ceiling and install the flooring.

Tessa: Thanks for the update, Jake.

Wednesday morning, we run into a crew scheduling issue. Our commercial job is ready for us ASAP this morning, as the groundwork is finished and they need us to come in and start on the footings so that concrete can be poured. I was really hoping this issue didn’t come up, but I must send my crews over to that job site. I will figure out what I can do to get a couple guys over to Tessa’s house to finish. Thankfully, all we have left is to paint the ceiling and install the wood floor. If push comes to shove, I can do both myself. The more I think about it, the more I like that idea. I send her a quick text to let her know of the delay and that I’m working on getting it fixed.

Jake: Hey Tessa, ended up with a scheduling snafu this morning with our commercial job needing us today. My crews will not be at your house until later this afternoon. If they need to be there in the evening is that ok with you?

I know she is working and don’t expect to hear from her right away. A few hours later I get a text back from her.

Tessa: Oh, no worries. The evening is fine. I won’t be home with Ty until around 6:30 or 7ish. I would just ask that they be gone by 8 so I can get him to bed. We have to be up early tomorrow for me to get back to work.

Jake: Absolutely, thanks for being accommodating about this.

Tessa: Anytime

I get through the rest of the afternoon and load my truck with the tools I’ll need to lay the flooring and head for Tessa’s house. It’s been awhile since I laid a floor myself, so I’m thankful no one is around when I’m starting. I don’t want to look like a fool. I am about ¾ of the way done when Tessa and Ty get home. When she walks in and sees me laying the flooring she’s shocked.

“Hey Jake, I didn’t expect to see you here! Oh my goodness, the floor looks amazing!” she exclaims as she walks into the kitchen.

I chuckle at her excitement. “Yep, you got the boss today. My guys were all worn out and going to be at the job site until after 6 tonight, so I figured I would just come over and get the flooring done.”

“Well, thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“Do I get to help with the hammer now?” Ty comes running into the kitchen with his hardhat on and hammer in one hand.

Both Tessa and I burst out laughing. “We don’t need a hammer for this job, but if your mom is ok with you handing me the boards, you can be my helper,” I reply to him.

Ty looks up at Tessa with big puppy dog eyes and says, “Please, Mom, can I? I promise I won’t get hurt.”

“Ok, Ty, as long as you listen to Jake and do everything he tells you to.”

“Yes! I get to help!” he exclaims as he jumps up and down all excited.

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