Page 20 of Ava
“Yeah, and with us being so far off from the road, then we can travel from here to the ranch on our ATVs. The girls you hire can even use them if they need to.”
“That’s good thinking,” Ava said, and turned to Morgan to see her frown, then she nodded and grinned at her brother.
“I always knew you were the one that got the brains.” They shared a laugh, and Ava sucked in her breath at how breathtakingly beautiful Justin was. His dark hair was all over the place, but he had one lock that fell to the middle of his forehead, and her hand actually tingled to reach up and brush it away. She wondered if it was as silky feeling as it looked. Giving herself a mental slap, she stepped back and walked a little away from the others, looking at all the space they had.
She frowned, then turned to ask, “Is this place done?”
“Not really, Josh made the comment that we should put up some benches along the back wall. I’m not talking benches to sit in, I’m talking waist-high work benches. You know, if we have to repair a vehicle or something.”
“I like that idea,” Ava nodded. “I know I do all the work on my own bike, and having to bend over is a bitch sometimes. Those benches would come in handy.”
“Yeah,” Justin agreed. “Other than the benches, there’s nothing else to do, unless Morgan wants us to put another coat of primer over the cement.”
“How many coats do you have now?”
“Three.”
“I think that should do it, are the floors heated?”
“They are. And the entire building has an HVAC unit, so there’s regular heat and air conditioning.”
“Is there a bathroom?” Ava frowned at him. “I’m only saying, because what if something happens and we have to hole up in here, and can’t make it over to the barracks.”
“There is, come this way.” Justin turned on his heel and walked away, over his shoulder, he looked at Morgan and winced.
“What?”
“I took the liberty of talking with Uncle Chip, and he made a recommendation. I followed up on it.”
“What recommendation?” Morgan frowned at him.
“On the outside is concrete blocks, then there is a layer of steel, after that there’s a layer of insulation, then another layer of concrete blocks. That makes the walls twenty inches thick.”
“So, this is like an above ground bunker?” Ava asked in awe.
“Yes, I know a little about what you’re going to be doing, and this is all for safety reasons. Back here is the bathroom, it’s a complete unit with shower, tub, toilet, and double sinks. And here...” He paused and opened a door. “Here is a complete kitchen. Once Alan’s done over at the house, he’ll be over here to put in the cupboards. As you can see, right now, we only have the appliances in. He thought the kitchen in the house was more important than the one here, but it will be done before snowfall.”
“I like this, and was all this in the original plans you drew up?”
“No, the town doesn’t know that this building has this kitchen, or the reinforced steel walls. They only know of its size.”
“You can get away with that?” Ava frowned at him.
“Yes, as long as you give them the dimensions, then it doesn’t really matter what you put on the inside. As long as everything is up to code, and we have the inspectors come out after every stage of the build. As we said last night at dinner, the inspectors finally came out and gave us the okay to continue after looking over the plumbing and wiring. Just this morning, we’ve been able to put up the insulation, and Johnny and Josh are starting on the drywall. Alan is working on the kitchen, while Alfie, and Alex are putting the insulation in the downstairs. When they’re done, they’ll start on the drywall.”
“And Chuck?” Morgan asked as she turned and looked at Ava. “Chuck is the foreman of the job, and he came with the J’s. They’ve been best friends since kindergarten.”
“Ah, can I ask where you all came from?”
“Rochester, New York. Just a small town a few miles out from the city, along the banks of Lake Ontario.”
“That’s one of the Great Lakes, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Justin nodded and followed the women out. “Ready to go see the house?”
“We are.”
“Morg, before we get there, I have to warn you.”
