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“Why? What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s a whole-ass house,” Ryker says, looking around the quiet, tree-lined street. “A house that looks like it’s seen better days.”
“Just needs a bit of DIY.”
“Did they actually buy a house?” Ryker asks. “They’re, what… twenty-two?”
I shake my head. “No, they didn’t buy a house. It used to belong to Rach’s grandmother. She died about five years ago, and there was this whole fight about inheritance. There’s, like, four uncles and three aunts who all want in on it. You know how it goes. I don’t know all the finer details of their deal, but the point is Rach and Sawyer are going to fix it up, then the family is going to sell the place and divide the money. All goes well, Rach and Sawyer get enough cash to travel for a while and figure out their next step. Until then, they have a free place to stay. Everybody’s happy.”
Ryker gives the house another dubious look.
“Is that place even livable?”
“Don’t be a snob.”
I start to walk toward the front door and Ryker falls into step beside me.
“I’m not a snob.”
I snort. “Oh, yeah, you’re low maintenance, Mr. Eww-unfinished-walls-and-a-leaky-roof.”
“I’m sure you enjoy rain in your bedroom.”
“Well, maybe not that last one,” I allow. He laughs, and I knock on the door.
“It’s open!” Rach yells from somewhere inside. I push the door open, and we walk into more chaos. The place is full of remnants from the lives of multiple generations of the Griffin family. The number of buckets partly full of water that litter the floor between piles of stuff is a tad alarming.
“Hey! You made it.” Rach rounds the corner and gives me a hug. And then she hugs Ryker, too, like they’re long-lost friends. Which… maybe? I guess?
I nudge one of the buckets with my toe. “I thought you said the roof was patched for now?”
“It is,” she says happily. “Get this, a pipe burst last night. Just, like…” She makes a gesture that looks like a nuclear explosion with her hands and makes a whooshing sound with her mouth. “Water everywhere,” she finishes, looking around. “So, yeah. The buckets are here to stay, for a while at least. And upon further consideration, guess who did decide to splurge on a plumber after all? We did!” She accompanies that announcement with jazz hands.
“What a great idea,” I say. “Simply inspired. You come up with that all on your own?”
“Yup.” Rachel grins and lifts both her middle fingers up. “All on my own. With no overbearing, nosy input from anybody annoying at all.”
I shake my head and laugh. I’m not going to say I told you so, because I’m a bigger person. And frankly I’m just happy they decided not to try and do it themselves. It’s been a few weeks of her and Sawyer saying “How hard can it be?” about everything, even though electricity and plumbing are two things better left to professionals. It’s life advice from that time way back when I still had a normal family. A father whose hobbies included flipping houses, and who took his son with him to help with those projects.
I shake off the thought and roll up my sleeves. “Okay, you have us booked as your unpaid servants for the whole day. Take advantage while you can.”
“What do you mean unpaid?” Rach demands. “We’ll compensate you for the work.”
“In money?” I ask.
“Money,” she scoffs. “How pedestrian. I’m disappointed in you, Bates. No. We’ll pay you in something actually useful. Good company.”
“I was promised food,” I say.
“Good company is like food for the soul,” Rach says solemnly.
“So I’ve heard. I’ll take food for my stomach, if at all possible.”
“Fine. You’ll get pizza.”
I nod. “Well, it’s more than I hoped for. Let’s get started, then.”
Rachel falls into step next to Ryker, happily chatting away as we move farther into the house.
