Page 16 of The Friendly Fall

The whole thing needs to be rebuilt.

It’s not a difficult task, but I can’t finish it all tonight. My gaze shifts back to the front door, and my heart skips a beat, picturing Eliza walkingback out.

I pull my phone from my pocket and dial my best friend Daniel. “Hey man,” I say as soon as the call goes through.

“How’s the ramp repair?”

“Not great,” I admit, letting out a sigh. “The whole frame is rotten. I think it just needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.”

“Yikes,” he grunts. “I have that aluminum ramp that you could set up temporarily while you build the new one?”

“Yeah, I think I might have to. It shouldn’t take me long to build a new one, but I don’t have a ton of extra time on my hands.”

“You overstretch yourself,” Daniel says, his voice flat. “I can take over the float building project if you need to focus on the ramp, or we could work on it after church on Sunday.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I think I’ll just get it done during the evenings after work,” I reply. I almostalwayswould rather have help but, for some reason, I’d prefer to work on this project on my own.

“What’d you think of Marilyn Willis’s granddaughter? I heard from Vanessa that she’s from Chicago. I bet it’s a bit of a shell shock for her to come to a place like West Falls.”

“She’s really nice,” I say, trying to sound casual. “Seems to be, anyway.”

“Yeah? Has your mom started playing matchmaker yet?” Daniel bursts into laughter, and I groan.

“She’s told me her thoughts, that’s for sure.”

“She means well. And we all just want you to be happy. Even Vanessa is rooting for you to find someone, you know. She’s tired of taking you as a third wheel.”

I chuckle, though inwardly feel kind of bad. My best friend’s wife is a sweet woman, and I tag along more than she would probably like me to; even if she doesn’t complain or say anything.

“Well, I think I’m gonna go in and talk to them about putting up that temporary aluminum ramp until I can get the new one built. Can I swing by this evening and pick it up from you?”

“I’m almost done here at the barn. I’ll bring it to you to save time,” Daniel says. “I’ll be over there in about thirty minutes.”

“Sounds good, thanks.” With that, we hang up, and I wipe my hands on the front of my jeans. My boots crunch across the leaves piled up against the frame of the ramp, and I make a mental note to grab a rake the next time I come over.

I hop up onto the concrete porch and knock on the door.

Ms. Marilyn answers and then looks past me to the ramp. “Oh my … it’s even worse than I thought. Come on in.”

I nod, rubbing the back of my neck as I step inside. “It’s in bad shape.”

I glance around the inside of the house, and suddenly I feel like I just stepped back in time fifty years—or maybe into an antique shop. Either way, it’s warm and welcoming.

“Well, come on and sit down at the table. We can talk about it there.”

I glance down at my boots, which are too dirty to go past the entryway, so I slip them off and follow her to the kitchen. “I think I can just—”

“Wait just a moment,” she stops me. “Let me go get Eliza. She lives here now, too, and ought to be in the loop on this project.”

“Of course,” I say, taking a seat at the kitchen table as Ms. Marilyn disappears down the hallway.

My mouth feels dry as I wait. I smooth out my hair, which I know is a mess, and bob my knee up and down.

Why am I so nervous?

Before I can dive deeper into my unwanted apprehension, Eliza appears in the doorway, still wearing the same oversized gray sweatshirt and faded jeans. Honestly, she looks like a dream, but I don’t let my mind wander.

“So…” Eliza trails off as the chair screeches across the floor. She cringes adorably, her face scrunching up. “About the ramp…”

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