9. Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Robinson
Robinson was floating around the house. He wanted to make sure he was there for the big reveal of their design collage, and he did like the energy the boys were bringing to it—playful, bickering, bantering, and trying to get Chuck’s attention on all their decisions—but he also had a plumbing nightmare to hopefully avoid.
Danni was with him in the upstairs bathroom and they were both staring at the screen of the borescope. Robinson was happy to say not a damn word until they got to the end, but apparently she was much more willing to tempt fate. “I’m shocked. It looks pretty decent.”
Which was…fair. Not good. Good would have been a lie. There were a couple other corroded fittings that were holding on by sheer luck, but so far, no sign of corrosion carrying past the new fittings that had been installed in the upstairs bathroom.
“We’re clear from the master suite, Danni.” Another one of the contracting crew poked his head in to deliver the news. “I’m bringing this one outside so we can check for anything from that direction.”
Robinson’s chest eased a little bit more. Confirmation that it hadn’t traveled to the master suite meant there was a good chance they could be in the clear. The upstairs bathroom was going to need gutting anyway, after they saw the mildew, so this wasn’t that much more work. If this held out…
“Robinson! Get your skinny butt downstairs!”
He rolled his eyes and rested a hand on Danni’s shoulder. “Aras calls. You got this or you want me to tell him to buzz off?”
“Go. I have another glamorous ten minutes of looking at gunky old pipes. At least.”
“Every girl’s dream, I hear.” Robinson turned and headed down the stairs, waved over by Aras and Mason as the cameras focused in. He looked at Mason. “We compiled?”
“Just about.” He gestured to the screen as it went from ninety-six to ninety-seven percent, then kept climbing. “Any scary news on the plumbing to fill the time?”
Chuck sucked in a sharp breath, but Robinson shook his head. “Nothing terrible so far. Haven’t seen any signs of the corrosion spreading upstairs. We were going to have to get into the walls for that bathroom anyway, so not a big deal. Just some new pipes and fittings that aren’t going to interact.”
Chuck released his held breath. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. Just give me a chance to lay into your last plumber.”
Before Chuck could respond to that, the screen of the laptop changed to show them the finished collage. It seemed…right. That was the first thought Robinson had when he looked at it—this fit what little he knew about Chuck so far. Simple lines on the furniture, muted colors, lots of wooden decor. The fixtures that showed up were sleek and simple, although Robinson did note one picture of a shower with a bunch of different jets and a rainfall head.
“Let’s check on the rest, here.” Mason reached over and clicked and the entire vibe changed. “I have to give credit where credit’s due, this is a nice feature. Let’s us separate out different profiles for the same house, so the boys’ rooms are all on their own collages.”
Robinson nodded as he looked at the dark, moody space. Lots of books, lots of plants, and big, bold furniture.
Ryan raised his hand. “Hope that one’s mine.”
Mason nodded, then moved on to the next. “This is Nick’s.”
It was night and day with Ryan’s collage. Pastels and soft lines, with several pictures showing fabric accents: heavy drapes, thick rug, and even a veiled canopy bed. Robinson…had doubts on how feasible that was, but it certainly all fit together.
Colby’s was once again different, bright and bombastic and probably in need of toning down—cool as a fire-engine-red paint scheme may have looked, it wasn’t particularly conducive to a good night’s sleep.
The boys started chattering with each other, and with their dad. Which lasted a good amount of time. Long enough for Danni to walk over to him, smiling. He stepped aside so the conversation wasn’t directly in the middle of everyone else. “I hope that smile’s because we have good news, not because you get to charge overtime to fix everything.”
“Good news. Borescopes show everything good on the inside, including downstairs. Still waiting for the all-clear outside, but seems like they got lucky on this one.”
Robinson’s shoulders dropped and he suddenly realized just how much extra tension he’d been carrying. “That’s great news. Thank you so much.”
She nodded. “I’ll wait for them to finish up outside, then we can make a plan of attack.” She leaned in close. “That’s some kind of design meeting, right? Any chance the plumbing is also reasonable and we get off easy?”
Robinson shrugged. “Doesn’t look bad, but I’m not willing to put my reputation on the line until we have a chance to talk with them about it.”
She sighed. “Makes sense. But the secret cooler full of beers is on me if it turns out to be easy.”
She walked away and Robinson made a mental note to stay aware. He wasn’t exactly an expert in women, but it seemed a little bit like Danni was flirting with him. Maybe she hadn’t gotten the memo about this particular show. Or maybe I need to show up in drag tomorrow. That’d do it . He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea.
Plus, the thought of anyone taking that kind of interest in him felt more than a little weird.
He headed back around and caught Chuck’s worried gaze, the raise of his eyebrow. Robinson flashed him a thumbs-up as he rejoined the conversation.
I could deal with it feeling weird from him, though.