Page 66 of Miracles and Marriage
“A friend recommended it. It could do with a bit more light.”
So much for romance, she thought with a wry sigh.
After they ordered, Zoe sipped her iced water. She wasn’t drinking wine tonight—not until after the baby came—if she should be so lucky.
What to talk about? Not work. Nor their odd relationship. Did she and Cal have anything else in common?
“I need your help,” he said.
“Oh?”
“The house Uncle Hal and I lived in was built in the 1920s. He upgraded it when he bought it but that was thirty years ago. I’m not much into that kind of thing. I like the way your apartment feels, so can you do something with the house before I try to rent it out? I thought we could go room by room when we’re there, deciding what needed to be done. I’ll make sure the electricity and plumbing is up-to-date, but I draw the line at figuring out paint colors.”
“I’d be happy to.”
Cal nodded. That was taken care of. He’d hoped she’d agree. He knew to build a team, people had to share a common goal. He’d thought about it a lot in his downtime in Europe. He and Zoe weren’t a team yet, though they did share one common goal. But he wanted more. A project they both could work on would do the trick—at least he hoped so.
“It’ll probably take a while,” he cautioned.
“I hope we can do it in a few weeks. You don’t want the house to remain vacant too long, at least that’s what Chloe is always saying. We can scope out the project this weekend, make a time schedule, list items to have repaired or replaced. Did you want to do the work yourself or hire someone?”
“Do it myself?”
Cal hadn’t thought about that. He remembered hot summer days when he and Uncle Hal had painted the entire downstairs.The walls hadn’t been touched since, if he remembered correctly.
She watched him. Did she think he couldn’t do it?
“You’d help, too?” he asked.
“Sure. I could get Chloe and Gabe to join in, I bet. If you really want things done fast, we could invite the entire Blackstone family down one weekend. With thirteen of us working, fourteen counting you, we’d sweep through in a day.”
“Let’s start out with you and me.”
The plan was to build something together, not whip through the project.
“Besides, I thought you weren’t going to tell anyone about our marriage.”
“I wouldn’t have to tell them anything about that, only say a friend needed help.”
“We’ll see.”
She laughed.
“You’ll make a perfect father. That’s what my folks say when they are stalling and will eventually say no.”
He liked the sparkle in her eyes and the sound of her laughter. It surprised him when she grew serious a moment later.
“It doesn’t bother you, keeping our marriage secret, does it? It’s not that I’m ashamed of it or anything.”
He shook his head.
“I understand you don’t want aftereffects if we don’t succeed. It’s fine, Zoe. Don’t worry about me.”
She bit her lip and gave a halfhearted nod.
“It’s hard not to,” she said.
What did she mean by that? He was used to taking care of himself. If anyone needed to be worried about it was her. He hadn’t liked the up-close impact of the pain she experienced each month. He hoped she could get pregnant soon.
