Page 8 of Room 1003

I squinted my eyes, then pointed at one label in particular. “Does that say banana?”

“Yep. I keep hoping I’ll stumble on a hidden room filled with bananas, but I haven’t found it yet.” He was trying—and failing—to keep a straight face.

“Don’t give up hope,” I said, grinning. The original plan was for me to install a breaker panel, so I dug out my parts and tools I’d need. “This’ll take me a while, so if you want to get back to work, go ahead.”

“Thanks. Call me if you need anything.” He lingered for a second, seemingly reluctant to leave, but after a moment, he turned and headed back up the narrow stairs, his flashlight beam bobbing out of sight. I could track his path upstairs through the creaks in the floor above me.

It was almost lunchtime by the time I got the new breaker panel installed. The whole job hadn’t been as simple as it could’ve been, but it was a good start. The problem, though, was that he still had a long way to go. Before I went upstairs, I inspected the exposed wiring I could see between the ceiling joists, and it wasn’t good. Coming back upstairs, I felt a bit grim.

“I’m in here, Ben,” Shane called. I found him in the dining room, papers and colored pencils spread out across the dining room table. I didn’t know what kind of work Shane did, as he hadn’t mentioned and it wasn’t my business to ask, but as I came closer, I was drawn to take a peek at what was on display. It wasn’t at all the boring paperwork I expected.

“Wow! These are really good,” I praised, leaning over and checking out what he was working on. They were sketches of cartoon characters, and one in particular looked familiar. “Hey, I know this one. Do you have a comic strip in the Saturday newspaper?”

His skin tinted with a blush, right to the tips of his ears, and he cast his eyes to the tablet in front of him on the tabletop. He gave a little shrug. “Yep, that’s me. Shane Howe, at your service.”

“That is so cool. Now I can say I met someone famous.”

“Oh, no, I’m not famous,” he quickly replied, shaking his head so hard that his unruly curls teetered. “It’s just the local paper, nothing major.”

“So far,” I corrected him. “You’re obviously really talented. I’m sure people are bound to notice.” Since he didn’t seem to mind my looking at them, I walked around the table, admiring his work. On the other side of the table, I found a sketch of another familiar face, but this time, from real life. I reached for it, unearthing it from the pile. “It’s Kit,” I said unnecessarily, in total awe. “This is… beautiful. It’s so detailed, it almost looks like a photograph.”

His shoulders crept up to his ears, his eyes still downcast. It was clear I was embarrassing him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.” I put the drawing back, then cleared my throat, ready to get down to business. “So, do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

He grimaced, and he looked more like he would rather I didn’t have any news at all. “Good, I guess.”

I walked over to the light switch and flicked it on. The overhead fixture turned on, and Shane tipped his head up, his eyes glistening. “Light!” he cried. “You did it!”

“I’ll rewire that plug before I go, but for now, you have a brand-new breaker box. I left all the labels blank for now, so you’ll still have to figure out which one goes where, but it’ll be nice to have a clean slate.”

“You’re amazing, thank you!”

“Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t heard the bad news.”

He seemed to brace himself, drawing in a long, slow breath. “Okay, hit me.”

“Your house is old, and unfortunately, it looks like, while someone did a few minor upgrades, most of the wiring hasn’t been touched. You have what’s called knob and tube wiring, which is safe as long as it’s properly maintained, which yours is not. You’ll want to upgrade it.”

“How urgent is it?”

I pondered how to answer his question. I didn’t want to scare him. “Well, I can’t tell for sure without seeing what’s inside your walls, but based on the near fire you had and what I can see in the basement… well, I would say it should be a priority.”

He was gnawing on his lower lip and twisting his wedding ring around. It was a reminder for me to try and keep myself in line, since I wasn’t the type of guy to lust after someone who was married, but my thoughts wandered, just as my eyes did.

“How much will it cost?” he asked, gaze unfocused.

“A ballpark, it could be anywhere from three to ten thousand.”

He closed his eyes and rocked back on his heels, as though I’d physically struck him. He couldn’t afford it, that much was clear.

For me, this was a job just like any other, and I couldn’t afford to work for free. But if he didn’t hire me, he would look for someone cheaper, and there was a chance that meant someone not as qualified to take care of the problem. I couldn’t just abandon Shane and his family…

“Would a payment plan help?” I offered. This wasn’t something I usually did, but when his shoulders sagged in relief and his face lit up with gratitude, it felt so good to know that I’d been the one to provide that for him.

“That would be amazing,” he gushed, reaching out and laying a hand down on my forearm. His touch was warm, but that didn’t explain how it coursed through me, far beyond skin-deep. “This house is… well, it’s a dream come true, but I feel like it could just as easily become a nightmare if I let it.”

I got that, as old houses like this were often balanced on that tipping point and could go either way. “I can come back tomorrow, if that works for you.”

“Oh. Do you have to leave already? I thought maybe you’d like to stay for lunch. I mean, I don’t have much, since the fridge isn’t… well, you know, but I’d really love if I could repay your kindness in some way.” He shrugged in the cutest way.

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