Page 3 of Waiting for Forever
“You still determined to do the lion’s share of the renovation work yourself?”
Paige nodded. “I’d like to. I think it will be a fun project. I’ve been all work and no play for years. It’s time for me to start chiseling out some time for myself.”
Tyson smirked. “I think you and I should discuss the concept ofplay, because I don’t think you’re fully grasping it. Renovating a house falls in the work category. Thehardwork category.”
Paige brushed off her brother’s joke. “You, Cal, and Harley are doing something to that house of yours nearly every single weekend.”
“Because we need to. Not because we love painting or power-washing the deck or retiling the kitchen floor. Those things needed to be done,” Tyson pointed out.
“Just like those things need to be done in my house. Besides, I recall you all had a lot of fun decorating the nursery.”
Tyson grinned. “That’s different.”
“I love home improvement projects. I did a ton of work in my last apartment that the landlord loved.”
Tyson barked out a laugh at her use of the term “landlord,” since she’d been renting her last place from Caleb. Regardless, he didn’t deny the truth of her statement. “Cal says it’s nice enough now that he can charge more rent for it. Still planning move-in day for next weekend?”
“Yeah.” Because Caleb was basically her brother-in-law, he let her out of the lease early and even offered his truck and strong back to help her move her furniture. Paige planned to move a bunch of stuff throughout the week on her own—like the fragile items, her artwork, and clothing. Simply because she was too excited to wait a whole week. Then she had no less than ten relatives lined up to do the big “official” move next Saturday, which was when she would be subjected to the “OMG, WTF” expressions.
Because the house really was…wow…so gross.
“You sure you don’t want to tackle some the renovationsbeforeyou move in? Cal hasn’t rented your place yet. If it’s as bad as you say…”
Paige shook her head. “The house is at least three times the size of my apartment, so it’s not like it’s going to be overflowing with furniture. And while it’s eye-assaulting ugly right now, it’s perfectly livable.”
Tyson grinned smugly. “Knowing you the way I do, I assume you’ve already got a schedule of what’s happening when, how long it will take to do each task, and how much it will cost.”
“Color-coded and printed out, hole punched, and stored in a brand-new three-ring binder,” she said, unoffended by his teasing. She was used to everyone poking fun at what they considered her overplanning ways.
“That’s my girl. Just don’t bite off more than you can chew,” Tyson said, ruffling her hair affectionately as she tried to push his hand away. As far as big brothers went, Paige had hit the jackpot with Tyson. Actually, she’d hit the jackpot with the whole family. Her cousins weren’t just relatives, they were her best friends. Paige referred to Gia and Jeannette as her sister-cousins, as they’d moved in with her family after their parents’ untimely deaths in a car accident.
Paige was also very close to her mom, the two of them talking on the phone practically every single day. While she loved her dad, and she knew he loved her, Paige had spent too much of her childhood living in fear of disappointing him. Dad had very strong opinions about her “wasting her hard-earned money” on a house that needed a hell of a lot of work, so she’d taken to avoiding him lately, just because she couldn’t listen to another of his lectures on making smart financial decisions.
“You don’t have to worry about me overdoing it in the house because you failed to list one of the most important column headings on my renovations chart. It also includes the three days each week I’ve scheduled Bobby Duncan to come help with the work.”
While Paige enjoyed painting and decorating, she knew she would need help with some of the projects she planned to undertake—namely, tearing up the shag carpeting, ripping out the wood paneling, and hanging new drywall in the dining room. There’d been a slow leak from the upstairs bathroom at some point, which had only been discovered when it leaked through the ceiling and down the wall of what was going to be Paige’s home office. Ms. Bly hadn’t bothered to have the drywall replaced.
Bobby, a local handyman, was going to be her muscle, and he had no problem doing a lot of those taskswithher. Paige figured if she’d gotten married and bought this house, it would be her husband working with her. Since she was sans hubby, she had to hire her muscle. For bigger issues, she’d simply hire a plumber or electrician as needed.
“There are some jobs that take more physical strength than I have or require two people,” she went on to explain.
“You could hire Beck Reed,” Tyson suggested. “Sounds like his construction business is starting to take off.”
“Nope,” Paige said. Beck Reed had moved to Maris three years earlier, and while he was making a name for himself as a local contractor, she had zero interest in working with the man.
“How about Mr. Ryan?” Tyson said.
Paige shook her head. “Rumor has it he’s retiring. Besides, Mr. Ryan and Beck are both general contractors, not handymen. They would bring in their own crews to do all the work, which isn’t what I’m looking for. I want to be hands-on every step of the way.”
“I say this with all the love in my heart, Paige, but you’re kind of a control freak.”
“Only kind of? Ty, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Tyson laughed, until they were interrupted by a deep voice.
“I’m glad you didn’t do one of these ridiculous things, Tyson.”
Paige and Tyson looked up as their father stopped next to them, paper plate full of food in hand.
