Page 64 of Reclaiming Home

The first two nights after we got Carys’s room ready, she still ended up sleeping in our bed anyway. None of us mentioned it in the morning.

Then, on the third day, Rian, Ben, and Max were set to arrive.

The house was ready for them, but the renovations would continue for months. This was the first step in getting our pack under one roof and I couldn’t wait for them to get there.

Carys had been flitting around the house all day, trying to make sure everything was exactly like it was supposed to be, while Kye went to get more groceries. Lina and I had started on the temporary fixes of the sunroom.

“We could put some long boards down and then put some particle board on top of those,” she mused as she looked down from her ladder.

She was fixing the new, heavy duty tarps to the fortified framework we’d built for the outer wall. She could see through the gaps where the windowed ceiling had once been, and was staring at the hole Kye had made falling through the floor.

“That’s true,” I said and handed her another large screw she’d wanted to put in to be extra sure the tarp would hold.

“I was thinking that if something happens and someone needs to go into the room, it would be at least a bit safer.”

“We can do that next week? Once we have the tarps in place, we can start taking apart the ceiling of my mom’s old room. At this pace, with the guys helping, I’m sure we can fix the roof, too.”

I held onto the ladder while Lina came down after deciding we were done.

“Yeah. Oh, and I asked Dad who he uses for windows, and I gave the company a heads up that you’ll be calling soon.” She beamed at me.

I knew what she was doing. Her name-dropping her dad who was a regular customer would make the windows cheaper for us just because of the referral.

“Thanks. I’ll call them after the weekend.”

We attached the tarps on the bottom so they wouldn’t flap around in the wind, and then we deemed that task done.

“If it rips, it rips,” I told her when she assessed our handiwork. “This is to keep most of the snow and water out, but we’ll have to gut the whole sunroom in the spring anyway. I won’t trust that floor, and the walls have water damage. There’s probably mold.”

Frowning, she sighed. “Okay. It annoys me to leave anything unfinished, but it is what it is.”

The leaves were falling already, and we’d get snow soon, I was pretty sure. It wouldn’t stick yet, but there’d be a lot of cold icky stuff.

Which reminded me. “Oh hey, the fireplace guy will be coming over on Wednesday. We’ll have them all checked and swept, and fixed where needed.”

“That’s awesome!” She grabbed the ladder before I could, folding it and then began to lug it toward the front yard.

Rolling my eyes, I took our toolbox and the trash that was left behind, and followed her more sedately. She was strong for a human woman her size and liked to remind me of that regularly. It was kind of endearing, and watching her carry the ladder like it didn’t bother her at all while she wasn’t very tall was funny. Sure, it might not have felt heavy, but it was just long enough to make it a bit comical.

I’d learned to know her by now, so I didn’t comment on anything, instead followed her to the front porch where we set down our equipment for the next day.

“You sure you want me to come tomorrow?” she asked as she pushed the ladder with her foot, making it settlejust soagainst the railing. Her organizational skills were out of this world even for me.

“You can, but you don’t need to.” I shrugged. “We could start later, maybe? I don’t think the guys have energy to stay up very late after traveling, but in case we do end up going to bed late….”

“That sounds good to me. How about I come by around midday? I’ll take my mom to lunch at the diner in town and then head over?”

“Midday is fine. Don’t rush on our account, have fun with your mom.” I smiled, briefly wondering how my life would’ve been if my mom hadn’t passed away so young.

“Okay! I’ll start driving home right now so I don’t meet the guys on the driveway.”

“Hey can you ask your dad about the equipment for widening the road in a few spots? I keep forgetting.”

“Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow!” She walked to her truck and waved at Carys who was peering out of the kitchen window.

About an hour later, I heard a vehicle rolling into the yard. My wolf was on the move before I made a conscious decision, and I shot out of the front door like a cannonball.

Rian got out of the driver’s seat, and braced for impact, laughing his fool head off.

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