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After she disconnected, she reflected that it would’ve been nice, had her father been the type to shield her. But when he “stepped in,” the situation never improved, and Iris got accused of trying to pit her parents against each other. Dad wasn’t forceful enough to make a difference, and his wishy-washy approach often made things worse. Her mood was a bit glum as she ate the rest of her oatmeal.
As she washed her bowl, Eli came into the kitchen. “Hungry?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I ate earlier.”
“What did you have?” Iris was always looking for economical meal suggestions.
Eli tilted his head like that was an odd question. But he answered, “Scrambled eggs and toast.”
“Oh, eggs. Eggs are cheap. Note to self, buy eggs. Let’s go?” Oddly, she didn’t even need to clarify that she meant to the hardware store, not the supermarket.
Eli was a rare bird who could follow her thought processes, which were an awful lot like six squirrels unexpectedly loosed in a bouncy house.
This morning, his truck was parked behind her Sentra in the driveway, so it made sense for him to drive. She suspected he would also volunteer to retrieve the porch-fixing lumber for Henry Dale when the time came. At the rate they were going, she’dowe them both far more than a meal. Not that her homemade food was anything to brag about.
She didn’t say much as he drove to Carruthers Hardware. The men who ran the store were a married couple, and she thought one of them said his dad had owned the place before. Keeping track of details wasn’t her strong point, however. Iris greeted the dark-haired man who managed the place with a friendly wave.
“Back for more supplies?” Bruce called.
“You know it. Mitch doing okay?”
“He’s great. I’ll let him know you asked about him. He was all excited about the sale flyer he posted on social media yesterday. Any chance you saw it?”
“We did,” Iris assured him. “That’s why we’re here!”
That was the benefit of shopping at a store like this one instead of a big box place: learning people’s names and feeling like part of the community. She headed for the paint section since she knew where it was; she’d been here to buy the sage green a couple of weeks ago. For a minute, she stood looking at the color cards, trying to make up her mind. As Eli had said, it would be easier to use one color, but it had to be the right one, something pretty and peaceful.
“Any winners so far?” Eli asked.
She jumped a bit. He’d come up behind her so quietly that she didn’t even sense a flicker of his presence. “Not yet. This is an important decision. I can’t rush it.”
Her family would mock her for saying something like that. She could hear it now—It’s just paint, Iris.But it wasn’t, really. It was about building a mood, telling a story with each room, and picking a single color reduced the amount of personality she couldimbue. But this was a safer and easier choice; she could use textiles to add visual interest, whatever the walls looked like.
Eli nodded. “Any favorites then?”
“I’m stuck between Snow Day and Harbor Mist.” The first was pale and should brighten the walls, while the second was a cool gray.
“If the rooms were bigger, I’d say Harbor Mist, but with the space—”
“Snow Day then. We’ll look at this as offering a clean canvas. I’ll supply the basics, and our future roomies can figure out the rest.”
“Sounds reasonable. I like how you did the main bedroom.”
“I painted it green when I was planning to move in there,” she admitted. “But then I realized I could turn the attic into a studio and sleep up there.”
“And earn more,” Eli said.
She grinned. “There is that as well.”
“Do you have painting supplies already? If not, I have some in my truck.”
That made sense if he’d just finished flipping a house. Iris wondered idly how that worked; did the owners often let him stay there while fixing it up? But when it was ready to be sold, he probably had to relocate quickly, and it was probably tough to know exactly what date that would happen.
“I have what I used for the main bedroom, not enough for two people, though. So if you’re willing to dedicate your own—”
“Of course, it’s no problem. Then we just need the paint and some new plastic sheets for the floors.” He hesitated. “I know youdon’t have much to spend on house reno, but I was thinking… We’ll probably have paint left over. If we buy some self-adhesive wallpaper, we could do an accent wall in the front room then use the leftover paint in there.”
Iris could imagine the wall he meant; it was widest one in the space, and it was currently an eyesore, painted in some dreadful sponge-daubing technique that was supposed to make it look like a Venetian palazzo but failed on all counts. Neither the colors nor the style worked with the rest of the house. She’d figured that living with it was the only option, but now Eli gave her hope for a reasonably priced fix.
