Not So Easy (The NOT Series Book 4)

Chapter 20

“Long time no see,”said JoJo as I walked up the front sidewalk to the house.

More than three weeks had passed since the day I walked through with Calvin. I’d actually been back a couple of times since then, but always well after the crew was gone for the day. Because I set up the account, I knew that the power was on, which meant I could walk around the house without feeling like a cat burglar in the dark.

I hadn’t just been snooping. After seven years in my apartment, I’d accumulated more stuff than any one person needed. That meant having to decide what to keep and what to give away, and for that, I needed measurements from a few key areas to know what pieces would fit where.

The culling and packing had been a great distraction. I’d purposely kept my schedule light during August, and blocked out both the week before and the week of the move. I couldn’t afford to do so for too long, as being self-employed did not come with paid time off. No pictures meant no income.

“I’ve been packing,” I said, taking in the pretty new shrubs and the flower boxes along the front porch railing. “Whose idea was those?”

She followed my gesture to the boxes of colorful flowers. “I don’t know. Didn’t you order them?”

I’d spoken briefly to the landscaper, but only to say do something understated that won’t require a lot of maintenance. A gardener I was not.

“Not specifically, no. Is Calvin here?”

After weeks of radio silence, I’d received a message that I could do the final walk-through today. The message didn’t say whether he’d be here or if someone else would be in charge of the hand off.

“He’s out back,” she said. “They had an issue with the new garage door so he’s got the tech here taking a look at it.”

The tension that had been building since I left the house eased. “Can you do the walk-through then?”

“I don’t do those.” She stepped past me. “You can head out back and let Calvin know you’re here though. I’ve gotta run. Practice starts in thirty and I was supposed to be gone twenty minutes ago.”

If the house was finished, why was she even here?

“Is the house not finished?”

“It is now,” she said, walking backwards. “But be careful around the trim upstairs. I just finished the touch ups.”

With that she was gone. I considered going inside alone, but I also knew this walk-through had a purpose. If there was anything I didn’t like, that wasn’t complete, or was complete but not done correctly, this was my chance to point it out. Skipping that step meant any issues discovered later would be my problem to deal with, possibly at an added expense.

Calvin not only managed to bring the project in early, but also under budget. Despite spending an hour reviewing the itemized statement, I still couldn’t figure out how he managed to do both. Still, I did not want to spend additional money later because I was too much of a coward to endure thirty minutes in the man’s presence.

I made my way down the new sidewalk that led to the backyard. Thanks to the position of the house and tree coverage, this side got almost no sun, which kept it damp and grassless. Seeing as there wasn’t any real parking to speak of in the back, my family and friends needed a way around that didn’t involve trudging through a muddy mess.

Stepping back into the sun, I dabbed the sweat from my forehead. This August heat was going to be rough for the move, but I planned to bring over as much as I could in the next couple weeks.

Rounding the deck, which I loved and where I couldn’t wait to have my morning coffee, I navigated the circle of chairs around the firepit, following the sound of voices coming from the garage. Peeking in, I found Calvin right where JoJo said he’d be.

“We can’t have it jumping the track like this. Especially not when it’s brand new. The owner is going to expect it to work like it should.”

“Yes, I will,” I said, joining them in the dim space.

Thanks to the shade, it was much cooler inside, which was more spacious than expected for a one car unit. My secret visits were spent inside the house so I hadn’t checked out the garage. The shelving built along the back wall wasn’t my idea, but as I had big plans for lots of Christmas decorations, they were going to come in handy.

Without missing a beat, Calvin said, “Donna, this is Eddie Sharp. His company installed the garage door.”

“And we plan to make it work,” the man said, shaking my hand. “Congratulations on your new home.”

With slicked back dark hair and friendly blue eyes, Eddie was quite pretty for a man. His warm smile seemed genuine and not that of a salesman hedging for a referral, which I appreciated. My first thought was that he was exactly Lindsey’s type, then I spotted the wedding ring and realized that ship had sailed.

Not that she’d have tolerated me attempting to set her up.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’m looking forward to settling in.”

“You’ve got this?” Calvin said to him.

“Yes, sir. I’ll have it fixed today.”

“Okay, then.” He turned to me. “You ready to head inside?”

Chest tightening, I tried to relax my body, determined to hide how much seeing him affected me. “Sure, let’s go.”

Having Eddie as a buffer had helped to keep my nerves under control, but now the reality sunk in. I was about to be alone with Calvin in the house he made for me. With each evening visit, I noticed something new. A touch here. A detail there. All of which were his doing, not mine.

At first these finds had been annoying, but they were all things I wished I’d thought of. And now I had them. A little hard to stay mad when that was the case.

We made the trip past the firepit, up onto the deck, and into the house without a word. In the small foyer at the base of the back stairs, cold air surrounded me, cooling the sweat along my brow.

“You want to start upstairs or downstairs?” His tone was icier than the AC.

Since I did not want a repeat of our last encounter, I said, “We can start down here.”

He opened the door to the kitchen. “After you.” By the time I reached the island, he said, “I assume you already have a list.”

“A list of what?”

“Of things you want changed.”

This felt very much like we’d returned to him poking the bear. “Isn’t that what this walk-through is for? Why would I already have a list?”

“You’ve been coming by in the evenings so I assume you already know what you don’t like.”

There wasn’t anything I didn’t like. Despite his minor touches, I’d designed the whole thing, or did he forget that? But also, how the…

“Who says I’ve been here in the evenings?”

Calvin tilted his head to the right. “Mrs. Beaty next door. Thankfully, she called me instead of the police.”

“Mrs. Beaty needs to mind her own business.”

“That’s never going to happen. Which is lucky for you because she’s better than any security system I’ve ever installed.”

If that was the case, I might have to invite Mrs. Beaty over for tea. Better to have her on my side than against me.

“So what if she had called the police? This is my house,” I reminded him.

“Yes, it is. And having the police show up before you’ve even moved in probably isn’t the first impression you want to make with your new neighbors.”

Palms flat on the cool surface of the island, I struggled to keep my tone calm. This was not going to devolve into another fight. I would not give him that satisfaction.

“Are you suggesting I should have asked your permission before visiting my own house?”

Calvin shook his head, his tone matching mine. “You don’t need my permission. A heads up so I could let Mrs. Beaty know would have been helpful.”

If I had known that the head of the neighborhood watch group lived next door, I might have done that. Or I might have knocked on her door and introduced myself to prevent all of this. But I did not know about Mrs. Beaty the busybody, so I couldn’t have possibly known anyone needed notification that I would be walking into my own home.

Seeing no point in continuing this debate, I glanced around the kitchen in silence. In fact, we could do the entire tour this way. Unless there was something I absolutely hated or couldn’t possibly live with, I wasn’t saying another word.

With Calvin following a comfortable distance behind, I surveyed the living room. I’d already taken window measurements, and decided I wanted the back of the built-ins painted a different color, but I would do that myself as I had yet to figure out what color.

The fireplace was beautiful, and I could already see stockings hanging from the mantel. The tree would go in front of the big picture window, which could now be seen from the outside thanks to the removal of the ugly awnings.

The truth was, I loved it. I loved every single inch of the place. The memories were still here, but the house no longer felt like the dated, crumbling structure it had become. That wasn’t Bammy’s counter top and her mustard colored shag carpeting was long gone, but she was still here.

Only now, so was I. Calvin had been right all those months ago. In my mind, this was Bammy’s house. Looking around today, it finally felt like mine.

Breaking my silence, I turned at the entrance to the foyer and said, “Thank you.”

“You don’t want to see the rest?” he asked.

“I will, but I need to say something first. Thank you for doing this for me. I know you didn’t have time, and I didn’t always make it easy in the beginning.”

“Donna—” he tried to interrupt.

“Let me get this out. It was important for me to feel like I did this. That’s just who I am. I’m not good at asking for help, as my mother reminded me lately, but I wasn’t crazy enough to believe that I could renovate the house by myself. When I saw how much you did without me, it really hurt, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it. So thank you. Again.”

Not exactly an apology, since I still resented being left out, but none of this would have happened without him. I couldn’t ignore reality.

“Are you done?” he asked, making me want to take it all back.

“You know what? Never mind.” Vowing to never say anything remotely nice to this man ever again, I stormed off toward the stairs. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Donna,” he said, but I kept walking. “Donna,” he snapped again.

“What?” I snapped back from the bottom step.

“Don’t I get a turn?”

Just because he was being a jerk didn’t mean I had to be one, too. Dropping to sit on the steps, I said, “By all means, go ahead.” Then I braced for the argument.

“First off, you’re welcome. But let’s clear a few things up. JoJo wanted the summer off. Her mother said she needed to work, so I put her on this job. If she thinks she’d have had the summer off without this project, she’s wrong. I’d have put her on something else. I didn’t overload my schedule, or stretch my crew thin to do you a favor. I meant every word I said the last time you were here. I’m a contractor. I specialize in houses in this neighborhood. That’s why I wanted the job and that’s why I bid on it. Period.”

“Also, the crew doesn’t hate you. They’re pros. They do the work and they go home, so whatever encounter you had that made you think otherwise, you misread the situation. And yes, I asked them to make sure I wasn’t speaking out of turn. As for doing any of this without you, the only thing in this house that wasn’t directly designed or chosen by you is the mural. I apologize for overstepping. I thought that picture was cool, and I wanted you to have a reminder of how far you’ve come from the ambitious teenager with your first camera to building your own business. Again, my bad for not asking first.”

Like a deflated balloon, I sat on my perch unsure what to say. The only question I still had was how?

“How did you get the job done so quickly then? JoJo said you were pushing people to work overtime.” I was quickly realizing JoJo was perhaps not the best source of information.

Calvin closed the distance between us and set one foot on the bottom step. “I base my timeline on worst case scenario. I’d rather tell a client six months and have it take four, than tell them four months and have it take six. If we ran into termite damage, the foundation needed reinforcing, or if we’d needed to rewire the entire house, the job would have taken longer. Whether by luck or your Bammy watching over the place, none of those things were an issue.”

Reinforcing my last thought, he added, “Overtime is offered on every job when we need something done before bad weather moves in. That’s nothing unusual, and the guys appreciate the extra money.”

Feeling hope for the first time in weeks, I said, “So you don’t see me as a charity case?”

“Did I do this job for free?”

The six-figure bill in my phone answered that one. “Definitely not.”

With a sigh, Calvin rubbed a hand over his hair. “Donna, I’m well aware that you don’t need me for anything. Hell, you probably could have flipped this house on your own if you’d wanted to. It would have taken about six times as long, but when you put your mind to it, you can do anything. But like with this job, I hoped you’d let me do something for you now and then. Not because you need me to, but because you want me around.” Leaning forward, he braced an arm on his knee and tucked a curl behind my ear. “That’s all I want. Just to be around you.”

I couldn’t believe it. The man even made making up easier.

Scooting to one side. I tapped the step beside me. Without hesitating, he sat down and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Thank you for explaining all of that.”

“You’re welcome. Can we make a deal that you run anything JoJo tells you past me from now on?”

“Definitely.” Sitting up, I twisted so I could look into his beautiful brown eyes. “Can we also agree on no more surprises? I really don’t like them.”

He chuckled. “Noted.”

Sitting in a comfortable silence, I turned and leaned into him again. “I’m sorry, too, by the way. I guess I have enough of a temper for both of us.”

Calvin patted my leg, the heat from his palm warming my skin. “The more you trust me, the less these fights are probably going to happen. I’m willing to earn that.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “How very Saint Calvin of you.”

He leaned away, as if offended. “Saint Calvin?”

“You don’t think that fits you?”

“I’m not thinking much like a saint with you this close.”

Heat danced up my neck and warmed various other places. “Too bad there’s no furniture here yet,” I said, bumping his shoulder with mine. “Guess we’ll have to settle for making out on these steps.”

Swinging an arm over my head, he pulled me close. “You’re the boss.”

Trailing a finger along his stubble-covered jaw line, I held his gaze. “Thank you for making my dream come true.”

He kissed my forehead. “I’ll renovate a house for you any day.”

With a sigh, I touched his lips. “I don’t mean the house, but thanks for that, too.”

Brows furrowed in confusion. “What else have I done?”

“I’ll explain later. Can you just kiss me now?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

My mind went blank as he did exactly what I asked. Over and over until Eddie from the garage knocked to let us know the door was working as it should. Thankfully, we were leaned back far enough on the stairs for him not to see what we were doing.

Reluctantly, Calvin left me to go deal with Eddie. Lips warm and skin tingling from his stubble, I suppressed the giggle that threatened to reveal my presence. All I could think of was those endless days of writing Donna Hopkins over and over in my notebook.

If that lovesick girl could see me now.

The girl in the mural upstairs. That daydreaming preteen was still here, only now she was a lovesick woman amazed that the boy down the street really liked her. And that he happened to be the most patient man on the planet.

Lucky, lucky me.