Page 25 of August
“I will, but we should be fine. Two crews are hard at work today, and all the materials have arrived on time, for once, so we’re on schedule.”
“Great,” Myra said.
She checked her email one more time to see if she had missed anything and headed home. It was just after three in the afternoon, so this would give her at least three extra hours to work on Elisa’s project. She estimated that if she was able to proceed on Saturday and Sunday for a few hours as well, it would take about two weeks to finish the interior work on her own, and the roof would take another week or two, depending on how bad the leaks were. From what she had seen, though, they were only just beginning and not bad in most places. One trouble spot would require more work, but they would be able to handle it. Her only concern was that they were in hurricane season right now, so she didn’t want Elisa to be without a roof, even in part, while it was being repaired since the heavy rains could hit at any moment. Myra, being a contractor, had to check the weather constantly, especially this time of year. She needed to know if there was anythingto worry about and how to alter her schedule if so. Nothing was on the radar for a major storm so far, but they might have some light rain this weekend, so she would wait to start the roof work until after it passed unless there was something that popped up between now and then.
Myra pulled into her driveway, got out, and locked her truck, deciding not to go inside and change into a fresh shirt again since it would mean that she cared what Elisa thought about her, and she didn’t, obviously. Okay… That was a lie. But she needed to be herself, and when she came home from work, she was usually at least a little bit messy. Sometimes, she had sawdust all over her clothes, while other times, she smelled like paint or paint thinner, as was the case today.
“Hi,” she greeted when Elisa opened her door.
“Hey,” Elisa replied, offering her a smile. “Come on in.”
“Are you sure? I kind of just dropped this on you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Elisa said.
Myra walked in and followed her back into the house.
“Are you hungry? I have some lunch leftovers. I made sandwiches. I thought I’d eat two, but I only ended up eating one. Not that I usually eat two. I just skipped breakfast, and– You know what? I thought I was hungry enough to eat two sandwiches, and that’s fine.”
Myra chuckled and said, “Yes, it is. You can eat as many sandwiches as you want.”
“Well, I only ate the one, but I have a turkey sandwich with mustard and cheddar, if you’re interested. I was just going to have it for dinner later, but if you want it, it’s yours.”
“I had lunch earlier, but thank you,” Myra replied. “And you don’t have to feed me every time I’m here. I appreciate it, but it’s not necessary. At this point, I think I owe you a meal.”
“I doubt it. I did my research, Myra. I know you’re giving me a sizeable discount here. I feel like I owe you a meal every time you come over.”
“You don’t,” Myra said. “Really, it’s fine. Like I told you, I can come over after my normal workday, so I’m not losing money or anything.”
“But you’re not reallymakingmoney, either, are you?”
Myra didn’t want to lie to her, so she shook her head and said, “It’s really not a big deal.”
“Can I at least help somehow?” Elisa offered. “I know I’m not super handy, but I can maybe pass you things.”
“You want to help?”
“Can I? Or will I just be in the way?”
“Depends, I guess,” she said. “But if you want to hand me things, that can be helpful.”
“I can do that. Let me get us something to drink first, and you can tell me what you need,” Elisa replied.
“Okay,” Myra agreed, liking that she would have more time with her.
When Elisa returned with two glasses of water for them, Myra walked her through the basics of the toolbox to make it easier for her to know what to hand her. Then, Myra began measuring. She’d already brought the lumber she would need last night after dinner, so now she had to take it out back to cut it down to size using the saw and the sawhorses she pretty much always brought to work with her in her truck.
“So, that’s going to go there?” Elisa asked, pointing.
“Yes. I need to cut it down first, but I’m going to measure all of them before I go out back and do that.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever sawed anything.”
“You want to try?”
“God, no.” Elisa laughed. “I’d do it wrong and ruin a piece of wood.”
“No, you wouldn’t. I have extras here, and it’s not that hard. I’ll draw the lines and set everything up. I’ll even help you hold the saw.”
