Page 37 of Manors & Mischief

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I’m not used to you being so accommodating.” She waits a beat. So much so that I almost answer until she speaks up, “I guess you’ve realized who’s the actual boss around here.”

Her remark catches me so off guard that I have to laugh. “Yes, Obi-wan, you just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

“I like this new attitude.”

Admittedly, I kind of do too, and it doesn’t hurt that I’ve caught her fire for the projects. Mom was right about me doing the work. This way, I know it’s being done correctly.

When I don’t respond, she says, “I have to go back outside to work on the yard, but I’ll plan what I want in my head, then I’ll draw it out, and you can tell me whether it can be done or not.”

It kills me that she’s the one working on the yard. I offered to help, but she said she couldn’t afford for me to do both, and since she can’t be the one getting the ballroom in good enough shape, she’ll have to be the one outside raking, clipping bushes, and mowing the lawn.

“Sounds like a plan,” I tell her.

She puts her phone down and ties the handkerchief in her hair. An oversized tank top hangs off her shoulders. The arm holes are long, showing off a sports bra underneath and a pair of dark leggings that hug her behind.

“I’m off,” she says.

I grind my teeth as she spins, taking her phone and heading outside. Once she’s there, I hear her phone speaker come on again, this time blaring The Beach Boys. Such an odd band for her to play, but in a way, it makes sense.

I get down to work because I know that once I finish what I’m doing in here, I can head out there and help. I fix the molding around the length of the room, tacking up pieces I found lying on the floor and also the new ones I purchased online that matched. When I’m done a few hours later, I peer around at all I’ve accomplished. The place is really coming together. I have to fix a few floorboards here and there that got warped, but really, our final step is painting the room. The lights will be low for the Haunted House and the Ball, so it doesn’t have to look perfect. Our main concern is safety. After a good cleaning, this room will be as good as new.

That said, I spot a window and give it a closer look. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of rot. Add new windows to the list, but they should last the season. Hopefully.

I check my watch when I finish and realize it’s past lunch. I search near my toolbox and don’t find a sandwich waiting for me. Peeking outside, I find Ember still in the trenches with the bushes lining the porch, so I head into the kitchen to make us lunch.

I make us up a few PB&J’s, throw some chips on a plate just like she does, and I head outside. The crisp air hits me first along with a high note from one of The Beach Boys singing about summer and girls and surfing.

Soon after, a short curse sounds from below. “You piece of antique garbage.”

“Oh Ember?”

She backs up, a pair of hedgers in her hand that look like they’re three times as old as her. I hold up the sandwiches, and she smiles, blowing a clump of hair out of her eyes. “Oh, thanks.”

My gaze travels down the length of her, and I cringe. She has cuts and scrapes all over her arms and shoulders. She looks like she’s been in a cage fight with a cat. “What have you been doing?”

“Fighting with these bushes, and these stupid clippers. They’re dull.”

“You should’ve said something, I have a sharpening kit.”

“Of course you do.”

She leans the hedgers against the stairs and stomps up them. Sweat clings to her, as well as her tank top. She takes the plate from me and plops down in one of the metal chairs. “Today is one of those days I hate being a homeowner.”

I chuckle.

“No, really. I mean it.”

I set my own plate down and then run back in for a couple of glasses of ice water. When I come back out, her eyes light up and she gulps eagerly from the glass. “Now that hit the spot.”

“It’s looking a lot better.”

“I wish it would hurry up and cut itself because I only have a couple of days until the Haunted History Tour. I haven’t even figured out who I’m going to dress up as to tell the stories, or for that matter, even have the stories I’m going to tell.”

“You’ll figure it out. Plus, I’ll bring my mower by.”

“There’s a mower in the shed, but I have no idea if it works. I couldn’t get it to start, but it makes a sound like it wants to.”