Page 14 of Over the Verdant Hills
His mouth closed, and his lips pressed together. “Of course. You know I have no say in it. It has to be okay.”
“I’m sorry.” She wanted to say she was just talking to her ex and was in a bit of a mood, but she didn’t want to go into that. Because then she might have to go into more detail, and the last, very last thing she wanted to talk about was her ex. And that wasn’t just today, that was any day.
Of course, she was bummed because she knew it was coming, but she hadn’t wanted to admit that she probably wasn’t going to see her children most of the summer.
Maybe she could sneak in an extra week at the end of the school year and get them back an extra week before the next school year started.
But she wasn’t going to try to do that without her ex knowing. That wasn’t the way she wanted to be treated, and she couldn’t treat him worse than what she expected to be treated by him. That wasn’t right, even though she felt like he deserved it. After all, if it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t have to figure out how to divide up their kids.
“Do you have some experience in painting houses?” Josiah asked as he examined her work.
Part of her wanted to know what he thought, and part of her wanted to close her ears, because she couldn’t stand to be critiqued right now. She already felt like a horrible person. What had been so terrible about her that her husband hadn’t been able to stay true? That he would rather be with someone, anyone else, rather than her? That he would break up their entire family in order to get away from her? That he would let her move halfway across the country and not care?
“No. This is my first time, but Google is my friend,” she said, trying to lighten the mood and make a little joke.
“She has a sense of humor after all,” Josiah said, and somehow the way he said it kept her from taking offense at it. He…wasn’t like her ex, where everything was a competition. It was obvious in the casual way he stood and in the interest he showed in her work.
“I have all sorts of hidden talents.”
“I’ll say. You have a sense of humor, and you can paint houses. Two things I wouldn’t have guessed when I first laid eyes on you last week.”
“I heard you were working on a million-dollar yacht. I would not have guessed that about you when I first laid eyes on you last week.”
“I guess we both have hidden talents,” he said.
Suddenly she wondered if maybe he was fooling around with the wife of the owner of one of those million-dollar yachts. Or maybe he didn’t bother with the wife—he found yachts where the woman owned it and fooled around with her.
She tried to stop herself. It wasn’t fair for her to assign guilt to Josiah. They were very different, as she’d already observed, and Josiah wasn’t that kind of person.
Although she would have said Ted wasn’t that kind of person either.
“So you really think I’m doing okay?” she asked, hating that vulnerability but needing his reassurance. “I’ve been kind of worried that I’m ruining my grandma’s house.”
“No, it looks to me like you’re doing it perfectly. Better than I would have done it. Scraping paint is my least favorite job in the world.”
“Well, I don’t think the fumes are very good for me, but using this little thing has been almost miraculous. I found a video of it on social media and had to try it for myself.”
“I can never figure out which thing I need to hold in my dominant hand. I’m a lefty, and I want to hold them both over here, because my right hand is pretty much worthless.”
She laughed. “I actually had to juggle that for a little bit too, and it took me a bit to figure out that I wanted the scraper in my right hand, since it’s my dominant hand, but I need to be very careful with the torch, because I’ve burned myself a couple of times.” She held her wrist out to show him—there were a couple of red marks, but thankfully she’d had quick enough reflexes that she’d jerked her hand back before it had truly burned her bad.
“Oh boy. Looks like that wasn’t too bad, but those things are hot. You be careful.”
“I’m definitely trying to be. I would prefer to keep the skin on my hand and not broil it off.”
He grinned. “I’m not sure why, but that reminds methat I got some ribs out, and I’m going to make my famous barbecue ribs tomorrow. I’ll have to bring you guys some. I take it the kids are in school?”
“They are. And…ribs are my favorite.”
When she and Ted went out to a restaurant, she always ordered the ribs. And the waitress almost every single time thought the man was getting the ribs and the woman was getting whatever pasta dish or salad Ted had ordered. They’d always laughed about it.
“Claire?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, realizing he had said something, and she had no idea what it was. She’d been lost in the memories. Was that the way it was always going to be? Something would trigger a memory, and she’d remember what she’d lost.
“Nothing important. I just wanted to know if you wanted me to order some scaffolding or a lift. That’s what I was planning to use rather than a ladder. It’s a little safer.”
“I thought I would check and see if I was comfortable above the ground before I spent the money on renting any piece of equipment that was going to get me up higher than my comfort zone.”
