“There’s a paint store in town,” Rylan added. “We can run and pick out some colors. They can even give us samples if we want to try those out for today. See how we like them.”
“Oh, god,” Kota groaned. Hayes pushed the platter his way.
“Eat up. You’ll need your energy,” he teased.
Kota still looked mystified that we would want to do this ourselves. It wasn’t often that his background poked through his laid-back exterior, but now was definitely one of those times.
It wasn’t that he was afraid to work hard. He did that every day out on the ice. This was just the kind of job he had never considered doing himself.
We tossed out color options while we ate and did dishes.
After quick showers and clothing changes, we ran into town, finding the little mom-and-pop paint shop.
“What about something light, like a sage green?” I said, sorting through the samples and popping one out.
Rylan nodded his agreement.
“That’s a solid choice. I also think something like this might work. The light, grayish-blue would be pretty, and it would go with almost everything.”
He picked his choice out, holding it next to mine.
We stared at them both like the answer would just pop out of nowhere.
“What about a cheerful yellow?” Kota mused.
Rylan and I exchanged a quick look, not wanting to hurt his feelings but definitely not wanting yellow in a nest.
He snorted. “Okay, I’ll leave the color options to the omegas,” Kota laughed, holding up his hands and backing away.
Hayes and Greer had already filled a cart with painting supplies, everything from drop cloths to every kind of brush we could need, buckets, paint trays, the works.
“Alright, omegas, we’re done. Are you finished?” Greer asked.
“Do you mind me asking what you’re painting?” a little, old lady behind the counter called out as she walked over. Her hair was long and gray, tied up in a cute, little knot on top of her head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interject, but I just saw that you wereconflicted. My name is Mabel, and I thought maybe I could give you a hand. What are you trying to create?”
“A family nest,” I explained, happy for her input. “We each have our own nest, but we wanted one that was for the whole family to enjoy. Less my space and his space, and more our space. We need something neutral that we can put in there. Everyone is going to be contributing their own things to it, so it’s going to be a little bit of a mix-and-match.”
She thought it over, her eyes scanning each color individually.
Rylan and I both stepped back, letting her do her thing before she popped out a color card.
“So, there’s this color. It’s called Coffee Milk. It’s a hint of brown, but just light enough that it doesn’t overtake anything, and everything will go with it. It’s truly a neutral that you can’t go wrong with.”
Rylan and I held it next to our cards.
Honestly, next to the color she picked, ours looked almost too bright.
“Oh, she’s totally right,” I said, looking at Rylan, who was already nodding.
“Definitely. We’re going to need a bucket of this stuff.”
“One of the five-gallons?” she questioned, looking pleased with herself as we both nodded eagerly.
If this turned out how we thought it would, it would be a good color for hallways and other places, too. We’d definitely be back here often as we renovated the packhouse.
“Perfect. I’ll go make my alpha do the heavy lifting. We’ll meet you at the front.” She disappeared through the back door behind the counter and then came back a few minutes later with an alpha behind her.
He was carrying a five-gallon bucket with their logo painted on the front.
