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“Would you like to see what we’re going to do?”
She nodded. “Yes, that would be lovely.”
The first thought to pop into his head was that nothing could be as lovely as she was. His second thought was, back off Paxton. Too bad he liked his first thought better.
When she’d gone into the Cut n’ Curl for her morning shift today, the last thing Sandra had expected was for fate to have left her alone with Paxton. She couldn’t resist smiling. As much as she wanted no part of a new relationship, at least there was no harm in admiring the scenery. Paxton was tall and broad and as attractive as Texan boys can be.
Glancing around, she wondered what this project was all about. “I thought Mom said y’all were renovating Sadieville.”
“This is for a charity. Not part of our TV show.” He almost put his hand on her lower back to move her along, and instead settled for waving an arm towards the still standing walls.
“Do you often build houses for charity?”
“This is our first project with this charity. Sometimes back home, we did things to help out seniors or troubled families, but nothing to this scale.”
“This is a great location. Not far from Main Street, but setback enough up the street to have a neighborhood feel. I love the tree-lined street. Not an easy find in West Texas.”
Quinn began working on the framing as they moved across the empty space.
“Y’all are going to do this just the three of you?”
“All of us will be on it, and for a build of this size, and the speed, we’ll bring in some of our crew, but the way this charity works is that the future homeowner has to put in sweat equity by helping around the build.”
“Skin in the game,” she said.
“Exactly.” He waved his arm. “Now we’re standing in the future kitchen. There will be patio doors leading to the backyard. Over here,” he took a step around, “is the breakfast area.”
“So many homes have opted for an island with stool seating and eliminated kitchen tables. We need it for homework and projects that don’t mess with mom cooking in the kitchen.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “That’s why Neil always finds a way to fit it in.”
As Paxton kept talking, Sandra took in what a perfect house this was going to be. Not too big, not too small, practical, well situated, and the coveted big backyard she’d dreamed of for David since the day he was born.
“Outside is my domain.” His words broke her thoughts.
“You take care of landscaping?”
“Yes, but I will help inside as needed. We all know how to do more than our primary jobs. Neil is the architect, but he wields a hammer and drill with the rest of us.”
“And this is for who?”
“All we’ve been told is a needy family. I know sometimes they’re veterans, sometimes it’s a single parent, but no matter who, it’s going to be worthy.”
Paxton led her to where Neil had said the garage would be.
“Oh, wow. An attached garage is not common around here.” She loved the idea. The more common breezeways in this part of the country weren’t bad, but an attached garage is just so much better when juggling groceries and babies. Not that she would be having any more babies, but still.
“How much do the families have to help?”
“We don’t expect them to be contractors.”
Sandra nodded. “What do you expect them to do?”
“Clean-up is more helpful than you think. Then just about anyone can use a hammer. But most people can be taught to handle small power tools.”
She looked up at him to see if he was joking. “Power tools?”
“Drills are easiest, if they’re comfortable, a circular saw to cut two-by-fours.” At that moment, the buzz of the saw sounded as Quinn measured and cut a few boards.
