“Yes, it is.”I let out a deep exhale.“And that beam there is gonna sag before lunch if he doesn’t brace it.”
The old guy glances at me.“You build?”
“I build.”Usually, apartment buildings and skyrises, but the basics are the same.
Straight wallsgood.Crooked wallsbad.
He lifts his mug, some of the coffee sloshing over his gnarled fingers.“I used to build too.”
I feel my brows lift.“You did?”
“I built the crab outside Grandma’s Crabs.It’s missing an eyeball, but that don’t bother me none.”He watches Rick heave up a crossbeam and wedge it into place.“That’s not how you?—”
“Nope.”
“And he didn’t brace it.”
“Nope.”
“And the spacers don’t look right either.”
I close my eyes.“I’m hanging on by a thread here, Harry.”
He makes a raspy chuckle.
Rick hefts another post into place and drops it into the hole.It immediately tilts.
I mutter, “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Chloe comes up behind me, handing me a mug with an ugly dog on it.
“You didn’t have to bring me this,” I say, taking it from her.With the town this busy, she’s got more to do than hand-deliver coffees.
“It’s okay.”She smiles at me, then at her dad.Her gaze flicks to the leaning posts, and a look of alarm flashes in her eyes.
“Height good, sweetheart?”Rick calls out.
“Um… height looks okay.But, I don’t know.Does it look quite straight to you?”
Rick waves a dismissive hand.“It’ll be fine.”
My jaw tightens.Quietly, I say, “No, it will not.”
Harry snorts into his mug.
Rick straightens and shoots me a look.“You got something to say?”
“Actually, I do.”With my mug in hand, I aim one finger at the pergola.“Those posts are off.The spacing’s not right.And if you leave the rafters like that, the whole thing’s going to sag.”
He scoffs and shakes his head.“I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive, kid.”
“And I’ve been building towers forty stories high since I was eighteen.I’m just telling you, man, it’s wrong.”
Harry clears his throat.“He’s right, Rick.”
Rick glares at him.“You stay outta it.”
“I would, but this is Chloe’s place,” Harry says firmly, his brows gathered.
