AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. Manual labor is just that: manual labor,” she replied. “You are going to work with your hands - painting.”
Kyle nodded and listened distractedly as the crowd suddenly roared in delight as the auction continued in the distance, and he gave the elusive Miss Mattingly his phone number and accepted her business card.
“Text me when you have a day off this next week, and we’ll get this out of the way, okay?” the woman said bluntly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me? I’m late for a meeting…”
Kyle stared as she walked off. She was crossing the street, heading into the bank at the corner of Main and State Street, leaving him more curious and mystified than before at seeing her – and her reaction to his questions.
She looked almost like she was as bothered as he was regarding the auction, and the fact that she’d just purchased his time and company.
… And he was fascinated.
2
I can’t believe I just did that…Reyna thought wildly.I literally just hired and paid for some musclebound guy to come and paint the café – before I even own it!
This was ridiculous!
She was on her way to sign the papers at the title office and had seen the auction happening in town. Normally she stayed away because of her wilder days when she was a teenager.
Once, she was ‘that crazy Mattingly girl’that was always running around town. She was that wild child with the bleached black hair that was shockingly orange in photographs – and she’d shaved part of her head at her temple – along with shaved stripes in her eyebrows, because it was the cool thing to do…
Now, she was taking over the empty building that had once been her grandmother’s grocery store and had sat empty since she was a very young girl. The building interior was dilapidated, dusty, as were all the old cases that used to display jars of candies in the old photos she’d seen when looking through old photo albums.
Her mother talked about reopening the grocery – yet they never did. Then, as time passed, Ember Creek didn’t need the store anymore, especially now that there was a large grocery in the next town over.
The lack of need, her parents arguing about the property and what to do with it, everything just sat in limbo for forever… until now.
Now, the property and everything was being signed over to her since her mother wasn’t able to care for herself anymore. Dementia had set in, and it was painful to watch it progress. The lively woman that once laughed, smiled, and cleverly argued with anyone to get her way… was now frightened, scared, and barely recognized people on a bad day.
… And Reyna needed a way to pay for her mother’s care.
She’d moved out of her apartment, returned home, and started to get things in order as quickly as possible. It was a shock to find just how badly things had progressed since her father had passed five years ago.
Her mother, who insisted she was fine, would meet her at restaurants or the store to go shopping, and had hidden all the signs for so long… making Reyna feel terrible for not noticing.
The house was littered with filthy adult diapers, unpaid bills, the electricity was off in the house, and flies were buzzing everywhere. There was mold growing in the corners in the bathroom where the humidity had grown to be too much…
She’d walked in, breathed in, and walked back out in horror – turning to drive to the grocery store in Yonder to purchase garbage bags, bleach, cleaners, and call the utility companies. After hauling dozens of bags to the curb, opening every window, hanging fly tape, and wiping down every surface with the strongest chemicals possible, Reyna was actually able to turn on the air conditioning finally.
One disaster after another, one massive change following another… things were finally settling down, and today was the final bit of change.
The titles, power of attorney, and ownership were being moved to her care. Her mother was finally settled into a small nursing home that could help care for her about five minutes down the road – close enough for Reyna to visit easily.
The house was cleaned, molded items thrown out, and everything somehow was managed eventually… now it was time to focus on an income – and building a future here for herself and her mother.
Walking into the attorney’s office, she swallowed back the feeling of despair that seemed to hang over her, realizing that she was now the adult and having to take care of her mother.
Adulting was hard.
Hours later, Reyna walked out of the offices with the papers tucked neatly into a folder, clutched in her hands. The charity auction was now over, and she was still reeling at the fact that she’d been daring enough to do something so crazy.
She knew from painting her mother’s house that it was a massive amount of work and her arms still ached terribly from it. The reason she’d painted it, top to bottom, was because it was outrageously expensive to hire someone to paint, and hearing the auctioneer, combined with the ridiculously low dollar amount… she was hooked.
It had nothing to do with the handsome man, right?
That little voice tugged at her conscious, making her blush as she walked down the sidewalk to the small parking lot that lined the clearing where the pergola and several old pecan trees grew.
Looking down the street, she saw the familiar corner store with the yellowed newspaper taped to the windows to prevent anyone from looking inside… and walked towards it, instead of her car.
