Page 17 of The Friendly Fall

“Yes, Nick was just about to tell me about it, and I thought it might be a good idea if you’re here for the conversation, too.”

“So you don’t get scammed,” Eliza says.

I laugh.

She shoots me green-eyed daggers.

She’s serious?

“He’s not going to scam me.” Ms. Marilyn rolls her eyes. “Eliza, you’re not in Chicago anymore. If this young man tried such a thing—which I know he wouldn’t—but if he did, I would just godirectly to his mama. I have a good feeling she’d straighten him right out.”

My face goes bright red as Eliza snickers.

Jeez. She made me sound like a mama’s boy.

“So.” I clear my throat. “Once I pulled the rotten boards off the frame, I realized that it’s in even worse shape than I initially thought. I think the whole thing needs to be rebuilt.”

“Mhmm.” Ms. Marilyn nods. “I have to agree with you. I’m no carpenter, but you know Robert was.”

I nod, thinking of her late husband. “Yeah, and I know he built that ramp for you, Ms. Marilyn.”

“Yeah, my arthritis can catch me on my bad days.” She gives me a weak smile.

Eliza reaches out and grabs her hand, squeezing it. “Pops worked hard on that ramp, and it lasted a long time.” The moment is touching as they exchange a warm glance, and I feel like an intruder for a moment before Eliza turns to me. “How soon can you get a new ramp built? There’s no way she can use the steps.”

I smile. “Daniel is on his way over with a temporary aluminum ramp. It’s not the first time that we’ve encountered something like this.”

“Daniel?” Eliza’s brow furrows.

“Daniel Morrow,” Marilyn says before I can say anything. “I think he’s about your age, too. But he’s married.”

Eliza’s face flashes with something that looks a little like embarrassment, but it quickly fades as she turns back to me. “So do we have to rent this ramp?”

I shake my head. “You don’t have to rent the ramp. It’ll just be set up until I can finish the new one.”

She purses her lips as if she doesn’t believe what I’m saying. “Do you know how much the new ramp will cost?”

“I’ll have to pull some measurements to get an accurate estimate, but I don’t want anyone to worry—”

“I don’t have money set aside to pay for a ramp rebuild,” Ms. Marilyn cuts in, her voice dropping off a little. “Eliza and I might just need to do it ourselves to cut the costs.”

“I’ll pay for it,” Eliza says to her, her face softening. “There’s no way that you and I can take on a task like that. It’ll take us forever, and even then, I’m not sure that it’ll be up to code. I’m not exactlyhandy.”

“I can’t let you pay for it.” Ms. Marilyn shakes her head. “You’re here to get a fresh start. I don’t want you spending all your savings on me.”

“I’m here tohelpyou, too,” she reasons, eyeing me for a split second.

“Look,” I say, interjecting. “I’m not going to charge either of you anything that you can’t afford.”I’m not going to charge anything at all.“Just let me take care of everything, and then we’ll work it out once it’s all done. That’s how I prefer to do things.”

Eliza nods. “That’s fair.”

Ms. Marilyn is less convinced. “I don’t know, Nick. It’s no secret that you’ve done a lot of work around here for free, and I don’t want that.”

Eliza raises her eyebrows at me but says nothing.

“You deserve to be paid for your time,” Ms. Marilyn adds.

“Well, I do take payment in cookies and lemonade if need be.” I shrug.

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