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A wry smile assured me he wasn’t too annoyed at my questioning.
“Cream and sugar?”
“Please,” I said. “Sorry. I’m a little nosy and sometimes have a habit of putting my foot in my mouth and chewing on my toes.”
“Hopefully not literally.”
“Not since I was at least three.”
He half-grinned. “Got any tips to stop that? Eli is a fan of his toenails.”
I wrinkled my nose up. “Oh, gosh.”
Brantley pulled his mug from the machine and sat opposite me. He piled three sugars and a dash of cream into his coffee, then smiled again. “If somebody had warned me how gross kids are, I might have reconsidered.”
“Well, that’s the reason I’m not a kid person,” I admitted. “I can’t deal with the toenails thing.”
“Ellie doesn’t do it, so there’s that.”
“Yeah, no. Have you ever been a teenage girl?”
“I’m one hundred percent sure I haven’t.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Well, my apologies for what will happen to you in ten years.”
“Thanks.” He fought an even wider smile. “So, the other stuff for their rooms…”
“Sure. Go on ahead.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened my Notes app.
He glanced at it with a quirked eyebrow, but didn’t acknowledge it otherwise. “The rooms aren’t huge, so I’d like to get them a higher bed, but not a really high one.”
Technical.
“A mid-sleeper? With room for a desk or something underneath?”
“That’s it, but I think Ellie would prefer a dress-up wardrobe with space for books, and Eli would prefer a “bat-cave” type thing.”
I smiled and nodded as I tapped that onto the app. “I can definitely do that. My dad is an excellent carpenter, and he’d be thrilled to take on that challenge.”
“Really? He’s a carpenter?”
“Family business.” My smiled turned wry. “Don’t think you’re the first person to be confused when I show up.”
“The K.Hancock throws you, that’s for sure.”
I sucked my lip between my teeth so I didn’t grin even wider. “Is there any other furniture you’d like built? Dad can build beds to match anything you’d be buying from a store.”
“I actually have their furniture. I planned to build it, but then the mold…Then parenting happened, and I’m starting to feel like I’ll never have time.”
I held up my hands. “Don’t worry. I can handle that for you, too. All I’ll need is you to get me photos of the furniture or links to them. I’ll pass it on to my father.” I paused. “You know that’s a little extra, right? The beds.”
He nodded. “It’s fine. They’ve had a rough time, and I want them to be happy.”
Something deep inside me warmed at that statement. “Why don’t you give me your phone number? I can pass all this onto Dad, and he can call you with a quote.”
“Sure. Do you mind?” He pointed to my phone.
I brought up the contacts and hit the button for a new one.
He input his name and number, then slid the phone back to me.
Well. That was the easiest I’d ever gotten a hot guy’s number.
“When do you think you can start?”
“Monday,” I replied, finishing my coffee. “I’ll need to come by a couple times this week to take some measurements for the bigger things and drop off some brochures for you. I’ll call ahead to let you know, but I’ll be here at eight-thirty on Monday morning to start tearing out that wall paper and flooring. Is that good for you?”
“That works. Can the kids go in their own rooms now the mold is gone?”
I stood, tucking my phone in my pocket. “Wipe the walls every day and leave the window open so it can dry out. If you do that, I don’t see why not.”
“Perfect. I need some peace back. Talking of peace…” He got up and darted into the front room.
I hovered awkwardly before I grew the courage to peek inside the room.
“Oh my god.” Brantley covered his face with his hands. “Where did you find the pens?”
“Ewi did it,” Ellie said.
“No! Ewwie did it!” her brother replied.
I edged a little further inside. On the lovely, cream wall of the living room was a dodgy looking fairy with one wing, all drawn in pink. Next to her was a strange dinosaur with purple spots that were half-colored.
As if he knew I was there, Brantley dropped his hand, blinked, and looked at me. “Can we add the living room to painting?”
He looked so helpless, so…exhausted…yet also like he was trying not to laugh at their artistic streak, that it took everything I had not to laugh, too.
“Good thing I have a lot of dust sheets.”
Chapter Three
“So.” Jayda leaned back on my bed and wriggled her toes in her stripy socks. My best friend had skipped out early on a bad date, promptly deciding to show up at my house with wine, ice-cream, and candy. “How about you tell me about your last date?”
