Page 24 of Grin and Bear It

“70s,” I corrected somewhat defensively. “And there’s no way I have the budget for that.”

“Light fittings,” Tyson said, flicking a switch on and off. “Looks like the wiring is OK though.” He walked down the hall and then flicked open the switchboard. “This needs updating though. Fuses?”

I wasn’t sure who he was asking that question of, but I bristled. My heart had sank the first time I’d had to replace a fuse, longing for those nice, neat modern switchboards too, but hey, we did what we could with what we had.

“I thought we were focussing on—”

“A repaint definitely.” I imagined Cole’s blue eyes taking in every brushstroke, every paint drip and growing colder by the moment. “Something lighter to brighten the place up. Maybe a warm grey?”

“What the hell is a warm grey?” I muttered but no one paid me any attention.

“And a complete kitchen fit out,” Lin announced, my kitchen seeming to shrink in size when he stepped into it.

“Damn, old lady textured glass and everything,” Tyson said, peering at the cabinets. “Some new cabinets, a glass backsplash, stainless steel appliances—”

“Whoa!” I threw up my hands as if to hold them off, but all three of them leaned on the kitchen benches tossing around ideas. “Guys, I cannot—”

“New tiles on the floor,” Cole added as Lin scribbled that down.

“Guys—”

“A range hood that works,” Tyson suggested, peering up into the old copper one I had presently.

“Hello? Is anyone hearing me?” I moved closer, trying to catch their attention. “Earth to hotties, come in, hotties.”

“Hotties?”

That’s what got their attention? The kitchen was abandoned as each one of them focussed entirely on me.

Unlike every woman in a rom com, I didn’t have a gay male best friend, so I didn’t know the proper etiquette. Was it OK for a straight woman to remark on a gay guys’ attractiveness? I wasn’t sure of the rules of objectification in this instance.

“Did she just say we’re the hotties?” Lin asked, grinning broadly as he looked at his partners.

“I think she did,” Tyson answered with a sly smile.

“OK, you’re all hot, so let's move on to the important part of the conversation.” I sucked in a breath and then when I let it out, I thought of Nash. “Everything you’re pointing out, I’m well aware of. This place is a crack den.”

Tyson snorted. “It’s not that bad.”

“Pretty close,” I amended. “I know all those things need fixing. I saw them when I first walked in here too, but you have to know why they haven’t been done yet.” I felt very small, very stupid and very vulnerable as I stood before them. “I don’t have the time, money or skills to complete them. I thought I would, but…” I shrugged. “I bit off more than I could chew with this place and…” I scratched my head, ready to write the place off entirely when a male voice cut in.

“But we do.”

Nash stood on the doorstep and the boys were at his back, looking around wide eyed. I felt curiously ashamed right now, remembering all the shitty comments the kids made every time something didn’t meet their perilously high teen standards in class.

“We have all three and we can get this job done for you, Ellie,” Nash told me, missing the reactions of his nephews. Their faces seemed to close down, their eyes taking on a familiar brittle quality. All emotion was scoured from their faces, leaving them as blank as dolls.

I wanted to accept Nash’s offer. Perhaps he and his guys were part of a kindly bunch of gay tradesmen that helped hapless women out of their DIY nightmares. But I couldn’t. I admit, I’d partly gone along with the journey there for a moment, because what they saw was what I saw when I first walked into the house. All the dated features wiped away and replaced with something sleek, modern and airy.

My home.

“That’s a little more than is required to make amends for what happened,” I told Nash, letting him down easy. “I seriously appreciate the offer but…” Coll was gonna kill me for this, but I couldn’t do this to Nash or the boys. “But it’s not a good idea.”

Chapter13

Nash

I could do this.

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