Page 17 of Audon

“Are you doing the work yourself or are you getting in touch with Booth Construction? You know that Mac will do you well if you use her.” He said that he’d already contacted her contractor and he was coming out soon to tell him how much the kitchen would cost. “You’re going to do the bedrooms on your own?”

“Yes. All they need is a good coat of paint. I’m going to have to have the bathrooms brought up to this century, but that shouldn’t be too much work if I have them come in and do them one or two at a time. They really are in good shape but just need some tweaking here and there.” She asked when she could come and see it. “I’m having all the carpets torn out of the main living area, so if you don’t mind that kind of mess, you can go anytime. I can’t go until tomorrow. The heat is making trouble for the grids we watch over, and I want to be on duty if something happens. If something happens.”

“I’d love to be there with you. Oh, son, I’m so happy for you.” She said that she was still upset that he’d not called her. “But I understand too. I have to find my phone at least twice a day nowadays. Especially when I’ve been doing things around the house.”

“I think I might have left it in one of the truck beds. If I do find it, it’s going to be smashed up and broken anyway. But I have this one now that’s supposed to be geared for workers. I even got the extra heavy-duty phone case for it in the event that I drop it again.” They talked about him coming over for dinner tonight, and he agreed. He had to have someone go in and clean up his condo so that he could sell it, but other than that and work, he was free to do what he wanted. “Are the rest of them coming over too? I was hoping just for the three of us.”

“I’m going to be babysitting Lizzy for a couple of hours. I’m so excited. She’s my first grandchild, and I can’t wait to spoil her.” Gilman grinned and knew why they were letting Mom babysit. Audon and Trin were going to go shopping for a new bedroom suit for their home. “She’s such a pretty little thing and looks at you like she knows what you’re saying to her. I just love her to pieces. Speaking of which, when are you going to find yourself a wife?”

“You have four women in your life right now. And one of them gave you a granddaughter, and two more are cooking you up two as we speak. Let a man get a house ready before we start talking about marriage again.” Mom laughed just like he had hoped she would. “I’m not dating all that much right now. I want to get my house in order and to sell off my condo. By then I should be ready to pounce on some woman to get her with child so you have even more grandchildren.”

“Behave yourself.” They both laughed this time. “Well, since I’m going to see you tonight, I’d better let you go. You keep your phone where you can find it from now on. I thought that you were avoiding me.”

“Never. You’re the light of my life. I will compare all women to you and find them lacking. You’re my hero, mom.” She told him again to behave. “I am. I love you. And dad. You’ve made me want to be a good man, and when a wife does come along, if she does, then I’ll be the best husband to her that I can because I was taught by the best.”

He was sure that he made his mom cry and hadn’t meant to. Just as he was ready to tell her he was sorry, his dad got on the phone. While he seemed confused as to why he was handed the phone, Gilman told him about the house.

“Good for you. Now all we have to do is get Stamos into one and all my boys will be homeowners. And with that, you might find yourself a wife and children. It’s all we wanted for you boys. A family of your own and a place to raise them. I’m proud of you, Gil.” He thanked his dad and told him how proud he was of himself too. “Good boy. I’ll take care of your mother. I don’t know what you said to her, but she’s crying tears of happiness. You’re a good son.”

“Thanks, Dad. I wouldn’t be what I am without you two.” Dad sniffled as well, and he decided to get off the phone before he was sobbing like a child. After telling him he’d see him tonight, that he was coming over for dinner, he rang off. He still had a lot of work to do and wanted to get onto it now.

By the time quitting time was coming around, he was hot and sweaty. He’d been careful about drinking a great deal, but he felt like he was sweating it all out. Which he supposed was a good thing. Drinking water while on duty in this weather was good for a person, and he’d been told by Kahana that if he ended up in the hospital because of dehydration, he was going to murder him. He knew better than to not have enough fluids while in the sun.

Getting off work, he went by his condo again to shower and change. He was going to wear shorts to his parents’ home and hope they were all right with that. They usually didn’t care what he wore so long as he was nicely dressed. This was about all he could manage in this heat and knew that they’d understand. Just as he was pulling into their driveway, he heard back from Mr. Ball about the things he wanted done in the kitchen.

“Because someone started on the kitchen before we could get in here, there isn’t a lot of destruction going to have to happen. I think that since it’s down to the sub wall, all we need to do is put in more plugs like you wanted and work from there.” He told him the price it would be. “That’s all inclusive for you. I know that when talking to you Hathaway men, you like things given to you all at once.”

“Yes, that’s right. We don’t want it in bits and pieces. Does that include one of the bathrooms too?” He told him that it didn’t but gave him the price of one bathroom. “I know you said it would be cheaper to do them all at once. How much more would it be to just get them all knocked out at one time?”

The price was better than he thought it would be, and he told him to do them then. He needed to have one bathroom ready, and Mr. Ball understood that and said he’d put someone on the master and the half one in the main all done first. That way he could still live there and have his needs taken care of at the same time. That was agreeable to him, and he told the man that.

By the time he was going into his parents’ house, he’d gotten things all set up to be living in his new home. He was excited to be able to stay in it right away. All he needed to do to make that happen was get his brothers to help him move his bedroom over to the Manchester home, and he’d be set. Then after getting rid of the condo, he’d be a homeowner and would be well on his way to getting to be like his brothers. Not married yet but homeowners like them.

After kissing his mom and hugging his dad, he was ready to get down to the business of eating. He was disappointed that Stamos was there but could cut him some slack, as he was in the same boat as he was. No one to cook for him when he was at home. The two of them got along really well, and he was happy to see him. He told him about the house and then brought them all up to speed on what he had talked to the contractor about. They were all happy for him.

“I’ll have my own bathroom in my bedroom so that I can stay there. The sooner I get rid of the condo, the better I’ll feel.” Dad asked him why he was in such a hurry. “The kids are out of school now and think that my yard is part of theirs. I don’t mind them so much when school is in session, but when they’re home it’s a loud nightmare. I’m sure I was one like them, but I like my peace and quiet at the end of the day. I’m goofy like that.” Stamos called him old.

“But I’m going to be like you. I want something with some property so that I can get away from the noise. It’s really something when I can go home at night, and the kids are all in bed. Or at least not out screaming in the yard.” Dad called them both old. “I agree with that. I’m betting that when we all come over you love it but are glad when we all go home. I know that I am. It’s too much to mess with.”

“I love it when you’re all here. But you’re right, it’s nice to have the quiet when you leave. I wonder how I’m going to be when the grandkids start to come over all the time? I hope I can put up with them more than I can my adult sons.” Everyone laughed, and he hugged his mom. She was a delight to have around, and he couldn’t imagine life without her. Thinking on that, he decided that he was going to spend as much time with his parents as they’d let him. He knew that they were getting around great now, but he worried about them being in the big house all alone. He was going to talk to his brothers about coming over more too.

He was off tomorrow and going to take his parents over to his home. He was proud of the fact that he’d gotten such a good deal on the place and was even happier that his mom had seemed so happy that he’d gotten something that she’d been wondering about for years. She just wanted a tour of the house because she’d heard so much about the woodwork in the home. He was happy that he’d decided to make sure that all the woodwork stayed with the house. He’d learned that from when his brother Axel had purchased a home recently.

Chapter 8

Pete thought it was easy to get the gun that he wanted. The Glock had been a nice fit for his hand, and the man that he’d purchased it from had even given him a lesson in firing it as well as loading the extra clip that he’d thrown in. People should all have one, he thought; it certainly made you feel like you could take on the bad guys and win.

He’d been thinking of a way to get back at Trinity. She’s screwed up his entire way of thinking, and he wanted her to learn her lesson. He didn’t want to kill her, just hurt her enough where she saw reason. She’d have to if she had a bullet hole in her leg or arm. That’s where he was going to get her. He’d been practicing pulling it out of his pocket for the last several hours, and he thought that he was about as ready as he could be. Pete would show her. She’d either learn her lesson or the next time it might be worse for her.

Pete didn’t care what happened to Trinity. He knew that she wasn’t the frump that he thought she’d be after having a baby. While he didn’t know what that meant to his son, he supposed he’d want her to look good if they ever had to go out into the town. She was going to be taught a lesson in that too. How to represent the family when she was out on his son’s arm. Then he thought about the baby.

He’d been right in saying that she had to get rid of it. There was no way I’m going to be having some brat drag me into babysitting her. And they’ll think that just because they’re grandparents that they’d be watching the brat for free. No way is that going to happen.

He thought about his wife and wondered what she was up to. Just last night she’d gotten lippy with him, and he’d had to pop her a good one. He would have thought after all these years she’d have learned her lesson in knowing how he liked to be talked to. Well, he’d taught her to keep her mouth shut when he didn’t want to hear her complaining. She might well have to be watched for a few days. There was no way he was going to allow her to get like that again. Like she was important to his daily life.

When the phone rang, even though it was right beside him, he didn’t answer it. That’s what he had servants for. They were getting paid to do his bidding, and the sooner that they learned that from him, the better off they’d be. He’d gone through enough people working for him, and the group that he had now were the best. He might not pay them as much as other people did, but he knew how to keep them in line.

“Mr. Jacobson, a Mr. Hathaway is on the phone for you. He said that it’s concerning the police that are at his door.” Smiling, he asked what the problem was. “The police can’t arrest his wife for being married to him. He seems to be a mite upset.”