Page 3 of Finding Her Strength

“Well, fuck me sideways.”

“I’d rather not,” Jared says unhelpfully.

“Until we know what those go to, we can’t keep going with the demo up here.” I sigh. “Can you finish tearing out the wall downstairs while I call the homeowners?”

“On it.”

I turn to walk out of the room. Calling the homeowners when something goes wrong is one of the worst parts of my job. It’s always a gamble as to how they’ll react. Every so often, they’ll be cool about it, but most of the time, they get pissed about unexpected issues.

Walking out the back door, I step onto the grass to make my call. The phone rings in my ear as dread swirls in my stomach.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Silvey. This is Levi Jackson with JM construction. How are you doing?”

“Hi, Levi. I’m fine. What’s going on?”

“Well, we’ve hit a bit of a snag. We found some random electrical wires in the wall that aren’t supposed to be there. We’re going to need to get an electrician out here to get it sorted.”

I hear a sigh on the other end of the phone and brace for the barrage of anger.

“Any idea on what this will do to our budget or timeline?” she asks. I hesitate, surprised at the normal tone in her voice.

“Um, not anything official yet. We’ve still got plenty of stuff to do while we wait, so the demo schedule should be fine.”

“Okay. Keep me updated.”

“Will do. Thanks for being understanding, Mrs. Silvey.” After hanging up, I stand in the backyard for a bit. The mild April air dries the sweat off my forehead while I try to calm down from the pointless nerves moving through me. I did not expect her to take the news so well. In most cases, these calls entail a lot of frustration, usually taken out on me. Despite having built up my walls to keep from getting my feelings hurt, it can still be hard to take the brunt of a person’s anger.

Taking another breath, I quickly call my electrician, Neal.He’s able to squeeze me in tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully, he’ll be able to get things straightened out before we get too behind schedule. I’m willing to work overtime to keep us on track, but there’s only so much I can do if we’re set back too far.

Shaking my head, I turn to go back inside the house. Jared is finishing the demo in the kitchen when I walk in. We’re tearing out most of the inside of the house since it hadn’t been updated since the seventies. If I never see another lime green kitchen again, it’ll be a miracle.

Using the exertion of demolition, I expend the last bit of nerves in my body from the phone call. We clear out the outdated cabinets, as well as the countertops, chucking them into the dumpster outside.

It’s dark out by the time we finish most of the kitchen. I tell Jared he can head home, but I stay behind to prepare for the next day. Some people say I work too much, which is probably true. I do work a lot of hours. I enjoy the work, though, so it doesn’t feel like too much to me.

When I’m finally done at the site, I pack up my stuff and jump in my truck to head home. Living in a small town, there are only a few apartment buildings, so finding a suitable place isn’t always easy. I got lucky with my apartment. They asked me to help them renovate, and in return, I get to live in one of the units at a discounted rate.

I could afford the regular rate, but with the cheaper rent, I’ve been able to save a hefty sum. One I hope to use on buying a fixer-upper house. After all of the places I’ve renovated over the years, you’d think I would want to build a brand-new house, but there’s something special about taking an old, dilapidated building and making it beautiful again. Plus, it’ll give me something to do in the evenings when I’m done working.

With nothing to do tonight, I call my brother, Cooper, to see what he and his wife, Quinn, are up to.

“Are you hurt?” Cooper asks when he answers, throwing me off.

“Uh, no. I’m fine. Why would you think that?”

“I just figured you’d still be at work right now, so if you’re calling me, it’s because you must have hurt yourself. Again.”

I roll my eyes, even though Cooper can’t see it. “I fell through the stairs one time. But no, I’m fine. We ran into a snag today, so I had to call it quits earlier than usual.”

“Quinn’s making… uh, some fancy dish I can’t remember the name of if you want to come over. You know how she gets.”

Quinn is constantly experimenting with food, creating new meals or overestimating how much my brother can eat. When that happens, she usually brings me a container of leftovers. And if I’m honest, she’s a better cook than my mom. A thought I will never say out loud if I want to keep my life.

“That would be awesome. I’m going to shower first, then I’ll be over. Does Quinn need anything?”

The muffled sound of Cooper’s voice tells me he’s asking. “Quinn says she needs frozen peas.”

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