Page 90 of Another Love, Another Time
“Sorry, Riv. I didn’t mean to sleep the whole time.”
“No worries. You obviously needed it.”
“Yeah, I did.” He rubs the sleep from his eyes.
“Let me help you bring your stuff in, and I’ll show you where you will be sleeping.”
He scoffs. “You mean I won’t be sleeping in bed with my wife?” He chuckles.
Some days, I wish I really were his wife, and he were my husband. It would be so much easier, but I know neither of us is romantically attracted to each other.
I slap the back of the head lightly and laugh. “Watch it, mister. Let me show you around.” We enter, and I take him to his room.
Auggie and I have already pulled the carpet up. I was pleased to find a hardwood floor underneath in perfect condition. I can’t believe people covered these floors with carpet. I’m hoping all the floors look as good as the ones in this bedroom and the main bedroom. We painted both rooms gray. Baxter doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to help me paint the rest of the rooms the same color.
“Wow, Riv. This looks good. Did you do this, or was it like this?”
I tell him I’ve only gotten the two rooms done so far. “That’s where you come in.” I point at him and grin cheekily. “Guess what we will be doing this week while you’re here?”
“I knew it. You’re going to put me to work.” He sets his hands on his hips. “I better be getting paid well.”
“In good food and drink,” I answer.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” He puts his luggage on the bed.
“Do you want to take a shower first, or do you want me to show you around first?”
He sighs dramatically. “Show me around first so I can see what I’m in for this week, and then I can cry to myself in the shower.”
“Whatever.” I smirk. “I know this makes you happy. You were probably stressing about not doing anything all week.”
He chuckles. “You know me so well.”
We walk back into the hallway, and I show him the room I’ll be using as an office, but for now, it’s storage. I show him the bathroom that still needs to be painted. Otherwise, I think I’ll leave that room alone for now.
We make it to the living room and dining room, and I wait for his reaction. I purposely haven’t touched this room, knowing that he would love it. Or make fun of it. He walks to the center and turns in a circle.
“I have no words.”
His reaction makes me giggle. The room is a poop green. It looks like it hasn’t been updated since the seventies. Green floral curtains cover the windows, while the furniture somehow matches. Even the carpet matches the bits of maroon in the curtains.
“Well, they definitely knew how to coordinate their colors, didn’t they?”
I double over, laughing. “This will be the first room I want to do,” I explain when I catch my breath. “We have people coming over this weekend, and I need your help ripping up the carpeting and painting. You think we can get it all finished before Saturday?”
“I think it’s doable. What are you going to do if the floor doesn’t look as good as the others?”
“I bought a rug. I was hoping that if there was a spot, it wouldn’t be very big. I can throw the rug over it until I can get it fixed. If it’s too big and I’m not ready, I’ll just ask Mackey to move the party over to his house. I really want you to meet the team.”
We move on to the kitchen, which will need to be gutted completely. For now, I’ll just paint it after the party.
He hasn’t said anything about the smell. When I first moved in, it smelled like old people. I’ve been trying to air it out by opening the windows and adding air fresheners from Bath and Body Works. Those seem to be doing the trick.
Next, I show him the laundry room, my bedroom, and bathroom.
“And that completes the tour,” I announce.
“It’s going to look really good when you get done with it.”
