"Sure. If half of it comes from a box," her grandson said.
"So what if I use a shortcut or two. That's still cooking, I'll have you know," Mrs. Del Rio said.
Sammy smiled up at them. Though they seemed to be fighting, she could tell that they weren't really cross with each other. There was a lot of warm affection between Enrico and his grandmother.
They went to their own car and Mitch secured Sammy in her car seat. Noticing that she was fidgety and her feet were kicking again, he wished he knew how to cool her enthusiasm a little without sounding negative. He couldn't come up with anything, so he just kissed the top of her head and hoped for the best.
Following Mrs. Del Rio in her classic, dark red Chrysler Imperial, they set off for the fixer upper. It took longer to get there than Mitch expected. Mrs. Del Rio was behind the wheel and apparently in no hurry to get there. While driving through town, she stuck her hand out on every block and waved at people they passed by. Mitch could just imagine what her grandson was telling her about her slow driving.
She drove faster once they got out of town. The house was outside the town limits and then down a long, private driveway. As they pulled up in front, Sammy clapped.
The house wasn't as big as Mitch expected, but it impressed her anyway. They had never lived in a house, only apartments, and they had to move any time Mitch heard about a better job.
Getting out of the car then letting Sammy out of her car seat, Mitch was already scoping out what he could see from the front. He kept his expectations low, but right away he liked the look of the old place.
With two stories and a wrap around porch, it was a nice old, brick and mortar, country house. Shrouded by greenery on every side, the house didn't look so bad from the outside, but Mitch worried about the kind of mess he would find inside.
Mitch had his clipboard and pen in hand as he and Sammy went to join Mrs. Del Rio and her grandson. As he looked up at the treetops above them, Enrico's eyes took on a golden color of sunlight, and Mitch had to tell himself not to stare. But maybe a good-looking guy like that was used to being stared at. Mitch just hoped he didn't notice.
Turning more businesslike and stepping up onto the porch, right away Mitch saw that it needed some fixing. He went all around and made notes on how much work needed to be done.
Sammy was crouching down to look under the railing at the flowers in the overgrown garden. They were plenty of them though the garden had gone wild.
"Maybe Sammy should get off this porch before she falls through," Enrico said and gestured toward a hole where a board had rotted through.
"I can't fall in there. It's too small," Sammy objected.
"Is it?" Enrico said like he wasn't sure though the hole was only big enough for one of her feet.
Mrs. Del Rio tapped her high-heeled shoe on the porch and said, "I'm thinking you could start out here in case more of these boards are ready to go. Make the place safe to approach."
"We don't want Sammy falling through," Enrico added and Sammy made a face at him.
From the back part of the porch, they could see the back garden. It had nice open area and a cobblestoned path where Sammy spotted a broken, stone bench and pointed it out.
"Too bad about that," Enrico said.
"Daddy, can you fix it?" Sammy asked that about every broken thing.
Mitch hated to disappoint her. "I think it has to be replaced."
"We'll get a real nice bench to go there," Mrs. Del Rio told Sammy consolingly.
Mitch was just about to test out the railing, when he saw that Enrico was leaning against it. "Don't lean on it until I checked it out," Mitch warned him.
Enrico fixed him with a faint smile as he pushed away from the railing. The movement drew Mitch's attention to his lithe body and the smile to the curve of his mouth and the sparkle in his eyes. Damn, why was that guy doing that to him.
They were now heading to the front. Mrs. Del Rio unlocked the front door, but then couldn't get it opened.
"I can't budge it. That's one more thing for you to fix," she said to Mitch then stepped back and instructed her grandson to deal with it. "Kick it in for me, sweetheart."
"Sure thing," her grandson said, but he only shouldered the door to get it unstuck. Watching him do it effortlessly, Mitch noticed he was slim but strong.
Sammy noticed something else. "You didn't kick it," she said.
"I'm just lazy like that," Enrico told her. "Path of least resistance and all that."
Of course Sammy didn't know what that meant, but she grinned when Enrico winked at her.
