Chapter 27 #3
The bed, an antique iron day-bed affair, had pride of place under the dormer, and the furniture had been painted, from green at the bottom to pink at the top, with a soft, creamy break in the middle, and all the colours melding together perfectly along the way.
“You did all this?”
Steven puffed up his chest a bit. “The ombré took some practice, but I got there.”
“You have missed your calling as a book seller.”
“You should have heard me cursing the paint in Jet’s room. All those colours, and not letting them get muddy and dull.”
“That’s paint? I thought it was wallpaper.”
“Nope.”
“He’s going to love that you did that for him.”
“I plan to install cork board on the other walls so he can pin up his own work. It won’t be so dark then. But I needed another pair of hands for that. Wyatt was going to come over tomorrow to finish it with me. Come on. I want to show you their bathroom.”
That room was equally as colourful, this time painted in various shades of blue-green and teal offset by copper fixtures, exposed pipes, and cedar cabinetry, making the whole thing look like something out of a steampunk novel.
“This is amazing.”
Steven grinned. “Turned out better than I thought. The pipes are on the outside because that was way cheaper, but I decided to just work with it. Ozzy found the cabinets at a second-hand place and had one of his guys sand them all down and clear-coat them for me.”
Myles ran his hand over the copper sink. It was full of uneven dents and divots, but that added to the overall appeal. “This is cool.”
“I hammered copper for, seriously, days.”
“You made this too.”
“Well, Ozzy found it, but it looked like crap. I polished it, and hammered it until it looked like it was supposed to be all dented like that. Then he had it coated so it doesn’t go green.”
Myes turned to him and yanked him into a bear hug.
“So, you like?” Steven wheezed.
Myles kissed him, long and hard. “I don’t know why you thought you had to keep me away until it was perfect. This is perfect.”
“Oh.” Steven dropped his gaze, and his grin faded. “You haven’t seen our space yet. It’s very not perfect.”
“Is Ozzy still working on it?”
“He’s done his part. But I have a lot of decorating and organizing. Myles, it looks like something out of a hoarder’s nightmare.”
“I doubt that.”
“No, you don’t get it. I had to clear the stairs for the workers, and it all got piled in places. The kitchen, the office downstairs, and our room. There’s so much.”
“Hey, hey.” Myles pulled his chin up with a finger so he could see his eyes. “We’ll do it together.”
“I wanted it all done for you. I’ve seen your place. You will not be okay up there.”
“You’ll be there.”
“Well, yeah. Obviously.”
Myles tapped his phone through his pocket. “Therapist on speed dial, remember? Part of what we talked about.”
Steven nodded.
“So show me that too.”
“You sure?”
“What’s the worst that can happen?”
“You run screaming for the hills?”
Myles grinned. “No chance.”
“You’re braver than I.”
“Says the hermit who drove across the country to prove to me that we would work.”
“I did do that.”
“You did. So I can do this for you.” He took Steven’s hand. “Come on. Show me your worst.”
It was true that the upper floor had a lot of work left to be done.
The walls needed paint, and trim had to be installed.
Piles of books, clothes, and years’ worth of a family’s accumulations had to be sorted and dealt with.
For once, Myles knew the old him, Micky, would have dealt better with the clutter and the dust. But he also knew that he could handle it now.
Maybe not as easily as he might once have, but he could.
And he would, because Steven needed him to.
“It’s a lot,” Steven said, fingering the bristles of a well-used paint brush sticking out of a ceramic mug full of them.
“Those were your mother’s?”
Steven nodded.
“You don’t talk about her much.”
“I was a lot closer to my dad. We all were. Mom was… flighty? Beautiful, and kind, and she loved us so much. But she had a tendency to turn inwards, sometimes for weeks at a time. She made art.” He shrugged. “I liked books.”
“You did all that panting in the kids’ rooms.”
“I’m not like her.” Steven looked at him, gaze more intense than Myles had ever seen it. “I’m a book seller. That’s what I do.”
“Okay.” Myles pulled him into a hug. “Tonight, we are going to make up the bed and do what we do there.”
“That being?”
Myles snickered. “Funny.” He kissed Steven’s hair. “Tomorrow, we get the kids over here, show them their rooms, then get to work finishing up what you started. Together. As a family.”
“I honestly don’t know what to do with her stuff.”
“Then we start someplace else. Will you trust me on this one? I have a bit of recent experience cleaning out my sister’s house. I know it’ll be hard, but you do not have to do this on your own. I can help.” He put a finger over Steven’s lips before he could respond. “I want to help.”
He got a single nod after a moment, and smiled. “Good deal. Now.” He pulled out his phone. “I’m ordering us food, because I have it on good authority that there’s going to be some magical mashed potatoes coming out of that kitchen across the street tonight, and I want in on that.”
“They don’t have delivery.”
Myles grinned. “They have Jet, which for us, is close enough.”